“THE RAVEN”: AN ODYSSEY THROUGH NORSE MYTHOLOGY*

This study purports to find the correlation and the affinities between Edgar Allan Poe`s “The Raven” and the very aspect of Norse mythology. To do this, the tales from Norse Mythology will be juxtaposed through the lines of “The Raven”. In a way; it will be an odyssey through Norse mythology to the implications of Poe in his poem “The Raven”. Despite the fact that “The Raven” is acknowledged for its gothic elements, this paper is bold enough to vie or challenge to find the preliminary connections between the transformation concept in Norse mythology (the examples for these transformations will be displayed through the text), and the flow of the possible images that Poe pictured in his mind. The raven, as the predominant symbol of the poem is also one of the major animals that the gods Odin and Thor turned themselves into. From this perspective, Edgar Allan Poe might have taken raven as a symbol to utilize throughout his lines. That is to say, now that the raven is a symbolic animal that has undergone some changes in the various mythologies; Poe might have been affected from this event. Therefore, using the raven as the core aspect of the poem could be an ingenious symbolism to make the possibilities infinite. As we know, Edgar Allan Poe had serious mental breakdown which affected all his works. Nevertheless, this would never ever reduce the paragon of his works. Otherwise, today Van Gogh’s works wouldn`t be so popular. Thus, we can assert that losing the so-called balance or logic of the life sometimes brings unusual works that turn the conventional approaches upside down. Consequently, what Edgar Allan Poe tries to infuse is that by using a conventional symbol from Norse Mythology, he disembarks at various harbors in an unconventional way. For this reason, the study seeks to encrypt all the modifications that Poe might have applied in “The Raven” by depending on the classical tales of Norse Mythology.

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Turkish Studies - Language and Literature-Cover

ISSN: 2667-5641
Yayın Aralığı: Yılda 4 Sayı
Başlangıç: 2006
Yayıncı: ASOS Eğitim Bilişim Danışmanlık Otomasyon Yayıncılık Reklam Sanayi ve Ticaret LTD ŞTİ