The Writing Life: The Truth and Nothing But The Truth So Help Me Odin…
Sam and Odin
Is it okay to stray from the facts when you are writing mythology based fiction? Can you meddle with the archetypical character traits of historical figures? In the first book of my Legends of Orkney series, The Red Sun, there is a scene where my main character Sam confronts Odin who is represented as a golden eagle in the Yggdrasil tree, then morphs into an imposing human Odin complete with a set of “blazing topaz-blue eyes”. According to Norse mythology, Odin lost an eye to Mimir in exchange for the wisdom Mimir spoke. So why did I choose to show the Norse god with a matching pair of eyes?
Creative license imbues the author with the power to extract the elements of myth that intrigue and form characters and then embellish them to adapt to the drama of the story. Odin is the highest of Norse gods and attributed with creating the universe. He could change shape and often traveled about appearing as an ordinary mortal. But in this scene he reveals an imposing and omnipotent version of himself, and in my view would want to be seen as whole and complete, part of the vanity of being an all-god. Later in the series when we see Odin at home in his throne room in Valhalla, a closer version of his true physical self is revealed, missing eye and all.
This leads me to the second question: As you take existing people and places and manipulate them into your fiction, is it okay to freely borrow from reality to create your fictional world? I say absolutely! That’s what makes it interesting. When we think of the Hogwarts train arriving into London’s King’s Cross Station Platform 9 ¾, we know that particular platform doesn’t actually exist, but we do know the train station exists, and that London exists. This whole concept of a world within a world is what makes it so interesting and exciting to us because on the one hand it’s familiar and on the other it’s magical and fantastical, and we love the combination! This is what I have tried to create in the world of Orkney, this idea that we have the real world element of these islands that actually exist and have been lifted out of our world into the Ninth Realm of Odin, establishing a magical realm out of real world physical elements and history.
As I write my Norse based mythology fiction, I feel a sense of freedom that I can embellish on the archetypical myth that was the basis for Prose Edda and the foundation of the story of Odin and the other Norse gods, and that I have not just the right, but the fun privilege of fictionalizing it in a way that audiences can relate to and reconnect with an ancient mythological character in a new and different way, while still staying within the familiar identities of these figures. As an author, I think it’s important to give yourself permission to borrow liberally from existing mythology and places which are familiar themes to readers and then embellish it with your own point of view and populate characters who can challenge the existing mythological type into acting in all new ways with new behaviors and outcomes.
Keep embellishing!
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