Ragnarök
/ˈrɑːɡnəˌrɒk/noun
In Norse mythology, the prophesied destruction and renewal of the gods and the world.
Did you know?In the surviving Norse sources, Ragnarök is not purely an ending: after the gods fall, the world rises renewed, with surviving deities and two human survivors.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*reg-
“To move in a straight line, guide, or rule; a possible ancient root behind the ‘godly rulers’ element.”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*raginą
“Counsel, decision, or divine power; the ancestral source of Old Norse regin, ‘gods’ or ‘rulers.’”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*rakō
“Account, reckoning, or fate; the probable ancestor of the second element, though its precise development is debated.”
Viking Age
Old Norse
Ragnarök
“The fate or doom of the gods; the foretold cosmic catastrophe in which gods, monsters, and the world are destroyed.”
13th Century
Old Icelandic
Ragnarǫk
“The destruction and subsequent renewal of the world, recorded in the Poetic Edda and Snorri Sturluson’s Edda.”
Modern English
English
Ragnarök
“The Norse apocalypse, commonly understood as the final battle and destruction of the gods followed by cosmic renewal.”