Odin Faces an Evil Man. A story from the Norse Mythology

Odin and Frigga come to Midgard, the land of the humans, to help choose a new king. 

*This story does contain some violence, so parents be aware. 

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Dougie Wuggy Story Howard. I'm here today at Coal Arts Summer Camp in Oakland, California. Let's give it up for Coal Arts Camp. All right. I'm here with a group of uh seven to twelve year olds here at camp. And if you want to find out about the camp, you go to www.colartscamp.com and you can sign up. And yeah. Okay. So today we are gonna do a story that's okay. Um this comes from the Norse mythology. Now, warning to parents. This is why this story has a little bit of um well, it's a myth and it has to do with gods and goddesses. So, but yeah, uh there's a little bit of of uh I guess you could say it's got a little bit of violence in it, but um so parents, if you have younger kids, you might want to listen to it first before you like listen to it in your car on a road trip or something, just to check it out. I guess you could I guess you could say it's rated PG. Okay. So anyway, it's just uh it's a myth, you know. Like if they can listen to Harry Potter or it's okay. I mean there's violence in Harry Potter, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. So I know some of you have listened to some of the Norse myths. Um, but let me go over who some of the characters are because you need to know this. So the the king of the gods, his name is Odin, and his wife, she's the queen of the goddesses, her name is Frigga. They live in Asgard, which is uh the world where the gods and goddesses live. And they have a they had a wall built around their city to protect them from the giants, and some other stories that I have told on my podcast. But this one is a little different because in this episode, Odin and his wife travel down to the land of the humans, they travel down to Earth. Okay, and here's how this story goes. So Odin and his wife Frigga, they have two jobs. One is to keep everything good in Asgard, which is the land of the gods and goddesses, but also they have a job to keep things good on Earth. And from time to time, Odin decides to go to Earth as a human, and his wife Frigga decides to go to Earth as a human, and he has different disguises, and this time he is looking down with his wife, and he sees this kingdom. He's looking down from his perch up in the mountains, and he he has a like a magic pool where he can see things that are going on on earth to check things out. Okay, you know, like some people have a crystal ball, and he's got like a magic pool, and he's and he can look in there, and he and he sees that there's his kingdom on earth, like in maybe like in Denmark or someplace. This was maybe like a thousand years ago, and there was a king, and he had two sons, and the king was old and was not in very good health, and he figured he was probably gonna die fairly soon, and he had to decide which of his sons would become the new king. Now, normally the older son becomes the king, right? That's kind of the way it works. But in this case, the king had a problem. The older son, whose name was Girod, was very kind, he was wise, he was a good leader, but he was not very good as a military leader. And their kingdom was about to be attacked. And he's like, hmm, I need a king who is like a good fighter. Now, the younger brother, whose name was Angar, was mean, selfish, jealous of his older brother, wanted to become the king, and he thought, but he was a very, very good like general and fighter and tough. Tough, mean, and a good fighter. And the king's like, man, I wish I could just make them both the kings. But they don't get along very well. And Angar is always jealous, and they and and but if I make Girod the king, then like he's he's kind of a weak, he's kind of weak. And and so he had a big decision to make. So Odin, the the the god, is looking down and he goes, huh. Why don't we have a test to see which brother would make a better king? So Odin and his wife travel down to Earth. Odin is disguised as a fisherman, and his wife is disguised as a fisherwoman, and Odin has his long beard, and no one can recognize him, and Frigga is just looks like a normal, they both look like normal humans, okay? And they go to this island and they build a little house there, and then they wait. This is all part of their plan, okay. If you hear beeping in the background, we are in a room that has a fire alarm, a smoke detector that about every minute beeps. So don't be distracted by that. Thank you, audience. Okay, please ignore the beeping. Thank you. Okay. So thank you for your attention to this matter. Well, one day the old king sent his two sons out on a fishing expedition, and they were about five miles from shore when Odin, with his powers, brewed up a big storm. Thunder, lightning, heavy waves. They lost control of their boat, and their boat sailed all the way to the island where Odin and his wife were the fishermen and his wife. And when and the boat crashes against the rocks, and the boat is destroyed. The two brothers manage to swim to shore, and they're like on the beach, just like they had almost drowned. And Odin and his wife come down, they said, Oh, um, come, come to our shelter, we will take care of you. And so Odin decides to take care of the mean younger brother to make him a better fighter, even better. And Frigga decides to take care of the older brother, the nice, kind, wise one, but she wants to toughen him up a little bit. But she's, you know, she's like, if I can get him like in shape and get him to be a better warrior, then maybe he can become the king. Of course, meanwhile, back at home, the old king thinks that his boys have drowned because they've been missing for a week. And everyone's very sad because the two, well, they're not that sad about Angar dying, because no one likes him. He's like the spoiled mean younger brother. But they are sad that Girod is dead because he's the nice kind one and very generous. He would go into town and feed poor people. And Angar, even as a prince, instead of going into town and feeding people, at night he would go out with a band of of bad guys and rob people. That was a big thing. She was secretly a robber, yes. Even as a prince? Yes. Yes, he would go in disguise and he would like rob, he had like a band of like ten bad dudes, and they would go and they would rob people, and like he was a really bad dude. Now the the the king didn't really know about that because Angar did it in in secret. Okay. Did anyone else know? No, because he was in disguise. He always wore like a like a makeup? Not makeup, but like a mask or some some kind of mask or okay, yeah, some something like that. Well, a year goes by, and Frigga is training the older brother to be even kinder, wiser, and to be a good leader. And she gets him in shape. She has him running up mountains, she has him swimming in the ocean, getting him strong, and getting him and toughening it, toughening him up a little bit. And and Odin is training the mean younger brother to be like this really fierce warrior, even more like, here's what you do in a battle, and you have your troops over here, and you have your troops over here, and you come down, you're like, uh, and you like attack and you show no mercy to your enemy, and he's like, Yeah, yeah, I can do that. Yeah, he's like really and he's like training him to be a military guy, okay? And it's basically a contest between Odin and his wife to see who would make the better king. And after one year, they say, Okay, let's test out, let's test it out. They build a new boat for the two boys. They said, Okay, you can sail back home. And the two boys start rowing their boat back home, and they get about ten miles from the shore, and the younger brother comes up with a very evil plan. He says, Look, brother, there's a dolphin there. Check it out. And he goes, Oh. And the older brother goes to the edge of the boat, and Angar pushes him overboard, hits him with one of the oars, knocks him out to kill him, to drown him. And he rows away. Right? Because he wants to be the king. And he rows home, and he and then he gets up on the shore, and then he and it was like, Angar's back, Angar's back. We thought you were dead. He said, No, we lived on an island and we were sailing back, but but unfortunately, a storm hit, and I'm sorry to say this, but my older brother he got knocked overboard. I I jumped in to try and save him. But I'm sorry to say, the sea got him. He's gone. And it was like, oh no. And people are secretly thinking, why did it have to be him? Couldn't it have been reversed? But of course, nobody says that. And he's and then Angar says, My father, where's my father? Oh, I'm sorry, your father passed away. And Angar pretends to be sad, but he's not. He's like, he's secretly, yeah. My plan is working perfectly. My young, my older brother's dead, my father's dead, I get to be the new king. And he immediately takes the throne and immediately gets a bigger army of robbers, and every night he goes out with his band of robbers, and this time he doesn't even wear a disguise. He's like, I'm the king, I can do whatever I want. And he goes around like robbing and stealing and taking over other like he becomes a really bad dude. Like he really bad. Really bad, really bad. Evil. And every night they get they get all the money and jewels and stuff that they've stolen, and they pile it up, and they have this big like dining room, and every night they have this big feast. Just they just like they eat, you know, roasted pig and whatever. Eat and eat and eat and eat. And they have like they they get like these dancing girls, like dance, dance, and they're like, they're like just really bad dudes, okay? They're mean, they're cruel. And then Odin says, okay, I'm gonna go see what's going on. And Odin, using his powers, appears at the kingdom, but he's disguised. Nobody knows he's Odin. He's disguised as he's disguised as just a normal dude. Not the fisherman. Not the fisherman, a beggar. Like a beggar, basically. And he goes into the king's hall at night when they're having their big feast. And yeah, this is part of his plan. And he goes, he like nobody dares enter the king's dining room when he's having his crazy parties. And he goes up and he goes, Could you spare some food for a poor beggar? And the king's like, How dare you! How dare you?

unknown 13:48

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 13:49

And he says, Let's teach this guy a lesson. Tie him up. And there's a pillar in the dining room. And they tie him up, and the king says, Let's have a little fun. Let's watch him burn. That does not sound fun. They get all this wood, they pile it up around him, they light him on fire, the flames go really high, and they're like, Yeah, burn, baby, burn. And when the flames go down, he's just like totally fine. And they're like, Okay. But they're like so like drunk and everything, they're like, oh, forget it. And they just pass it out. They're like, oh, we'll do it tomorrow. And some of them, and the king just goes to his room, and everybody else just kind of passes out. And in the middle of the night, guess who shows up? His brother. The older brother. He did not drown. He can swim. Remember, Frigat taught him how to swim? Yes. He swims ten miles. Oh my god. And and and but he but he realizes that he has to stay in disguise because if his younger brother, who's now the king, sees him, he will kill him or put him in prison. Yeah. So he'll probably kill him. Probably kill him. Okay, so he just goes into the village and he and he just starts a life as a as like making bread and stuff. And and and doesn't want anyone to know who he is. He's grown a beard, so no one recognizes him. But that night, when Odin is standing there having been burned, the young the older brother comes and says, have some water, have some bread. How could they be so cruel to you?

unknown 15:57

That's nice.

SPEAKER_00 15:59

The next day, he's Odin is still tied up to the pillar. And all the big bad king and his bad guys eat and they drink and they get drunk and they get crazy and they mean they said, Okay, let's get him again this time. More wood.

unknown 16:19

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 16:20

And they put the wood around him, and they're like, and they said, Burn, baby burn. They light him on fire. And the fire goes up to the ceiling. And when the fire dies down, there's Odin again, just like totally unhurt. And they're like, they're like, whoa. What is going on here? But they're also like drunk, and they're like, uh, forget it. And they just all kind of pass out, like, uh, we'll get we'll get them, we'll get you next time. Uh and they pass out. So I think they're gonna burn the castle. And that night, the older brother comes again, gives Odin, he doesn't even know it's Odin, he just, because he's kind and compassionate, he gives them, he gives him food and water, and he says, How can they be so cruel? The third night in a row, the evil king has his party, they get drunk, they're eating, like, let's get him this time. And this time they pour oil on him, they wrap a cloth around him to make sure he really burns. They get extra pile of wood, they burn, they throw the match on the on the pillar, the fire goes way past the ceiling. It burns through the ceiling. And it just burns, burns, burns, and all, yeah, yeah, we got him this time. And then the fire dies down. And this time, instead of a poor beggar standing there, it's Odin in his true form. Oh, jeez. And they all recognize him, and they're like, You're Odin. If we had known it was you, we wouldn't have done this. Please forgive us. And he goes, You are not forgiven. I came to your hall as a beggar. This is how you treat people. He said, I tr I trained you to be a leader, not a villain. And then he says, I was the fisherman. He goes, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please forgive me. He goes, You are not forgiven. You are acting like a wolf. You go out every night attacking and stealing. If you act like wolves, then you will become wolves. And with his power, he turns the evil king and his robbers into wolves. What the freak? And he says, Go! And they all like run out into the forest. And he finds the older brother and he says, I knew it was you. It's me, Odin, aka the fisherman, you will become the new king. And then Odin announces, you have a new king, Girod is alive, he is your new king, and everyone cheers. They're like, Yes! Yes! They're so happy because they're they're evil, the evil king is gone. And they said, What happened to Angar? He said, You don't want to know. He says, just a little hint, beware of wolves. And Girod becomes like this really great king and and a good military leader. So he has both the military part down. He becomes a good general and a good and wise king. And they said he ruled for like 50 or 60 years. Until he died. And Odin had to admit to his wife, he said, Yeah, you chose the right guy. I chose the wrong guy. You win this round. And that is the story of Odin and Frigga face an evil man. Give it up for the Duggy Wuggy Sprague. Over and out. Bye.