The Gods In Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song

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In Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song,” one of the lines sung is “The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands, to fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming” (Zeppelin). These lyrics in particular greatly speak to the purpose of the whole song: recalling the beliefs and the history of the Norsemen, the people who lived in Scandinavia before it became Christianized (Norse Mythology 756). In the universal purpose held by all humans, often two core traits are seen: that of myths, which provide explanations and lessons on life, and deities, who not only create the world, but dictate human behavior and establish order. In the Norse mythology, these universal ideas in all humans can be seen through the myths, the of how…show more content…
But, this mead garnered the interest of Odin, the foremost and most powerful of the gods in the Æsir. Taking the task upon himself to retrieve the mead for the Æsir, Odin disguised himself as a farmer, and offered to work for Suttungr, claiming he could do the work of nine men. At the end of the growing season, Odin would go and steal the mead, but was caught in the act by Suttungr. As Odin assumed the form of an eagle and escaped, the giant did the same and gave chase. During this pursuit, a few drops of the mead fell down to the Earth and gave some people basic knowledge. Eventually, after getting the mead to the Æsir, Odin decided to award drops of the mead to humans he believed were great composers of writing (Sturlson 93-94). This myth indirectly provides insight about why the Norsemen believed in myths such as these. They believed that if they followed the example of the gods such as Odin, they could become great and adventurous like them. The myth also tells very much about how the Norse’s myths fulfilled the basic purposes of mythology. Their myths, like this one, explained how things came to be, in this case how human knowledge arose. These myths also taught them how to live, which in the case of the Norsemen, was to become great and adventurous, and to maintain faith and diligence to the
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