Ragnarök
Written by Adam Price
Directed by Mogens Hagedorn
Country of origin Denmark and Norway
Original language(s) Norwegian
David Stakston as Magne
Jonas Strand Gravli as Laurits, Magne’s brother
Herman Tømmeraas as Fjor, the high-school aged “son” in the Jutul family of Jötunn from Norse mythology
Theresa Frostad Eggesbø as Saxa, the high-school aged “daughter” in the Jutul family
Emma Bones as Gry, Magne’s and Fjor’s love interest
Henriette Steenstrup as Turid, Magne’s mother
Gísli Örn Garðarsson as Vidar, local tycoon and “father” in the Jutul family
Synnøve Macody Lund as Ran, principal of the high school and “mother” in the Jutul family
Nordic gods and ice giants in high school invited – and got – comparisons to Twilight, but it’s not nearly as dreadful. The Ice Giants are not vegetarians, the Gods don’t sparkle. And while there is some teen romance in it (teens are full of hormones, but nothing compared to nordic supernatural figures) it isn’t the cloying and annoying swoon-and-moon stuff that makes up far too many high school dramas.
Magne (Stakston) is a seventeen year old boy, bespectacled, dyslexic, and withdrawn who returns with his mother and brother to the town of Edda because of course Edda (played by Odda, a west Norwegian town every bit as picturesque as it appears in the series) after a long absence. Although it’s never alluded to in the series, I believe Laurits (Gravli) is Loki—he has a mischievous nature and likes to stir the shit. Turid (Steenstrup) leads a life much more prosaic than Thor’s mother, who was also his grandfather. Shortly after they arrive, Magne is accosted by a matronly store clerk who touches his forehead. Shortly thereafter, he no longer needs glasses, and discovers he can throw a sledge hammer a kilometer and a half. And we thought human puberty was difficult.
Edda is run by a wealthy industrial family, the Jutuls, who are actually ice giants. A century earlier, they buried tons of toxic waste under a large glacier, imagining it would never see the light of day. But then global warming happened, combined with environmental activism, and Magne’s friend Isolde, a Greta Thunberg doppelgänger, discovers the town is being slowly poisoned by waters spilling from the receding glacier. A tunnel appears at the edge of the glacier, Isolde investigates, and dies mysteriously.
Magne is slowly discovering who he really is, and the Jutuls notice him. Not just because he is a god, but because he threatens to uncover their toxic secrets and expose them to the town. Ice Giants aren’t noted for their subtlety nor their wit. Of course, neither are Gods, so it’s a pretty good match.
Norwegians claimed the series had a Danish flavor to it, and western Norwegians complained that the actors all spoke with an eastern Norwegian accent. Aficionados of Norse mythology complained it was incoherent and confusing, as if Norse mythology wasn’t already incoherent and confusing. (“I became a horse and so I’m my own grandpa!” Or something.)
North American audiences will be oblivious to such subtleties, and the result is an engaging, well-paced and well-directed six part series.
Now on Netflix.