That is a warrior's vow. It is full of the immeasurably benevolent defiance that characterizes our Gods.
And it is precisely what the Gods intend and are planning.
The idea that suffering is inevitable is a crock of shit, and our Gods intend to smash that crock to smithereens.
Some people think Ragnarok is some sort of "grim" and "dark" idea.
Bullocks. It's going to bring Baldur back to rule. Do you even get what that means? Baldur is going to rule!
And all of you who have given your hearts and souls over to the deceit and lying and cheating and slander of Loki, and the greed, fear-mongering, and raging hatred of Angrboda will be manure for the World-Tree.
See, 'cuz here in Norse religion, we don't accept that the monstrous is inevitable. Oh, challenge we like. There'll still be challenge in Baldur's world. But it won't be the kind that crushes you. The kind that crushes the spirit out of you, your kin, and your people. No, it will be the kind that keeps pulling you on to improve and discover everything you and the universe can be.
We're not about consolation, which is something both Christianity and lazy atheism offer : hey, suffering is inevitable, so let us comfort you.
Fuck that!
Is that what Thor's hammer stands for? No way!
It means, Even giants can be smashed!
So why don't the Gods just wrap the whole thing up now?
Well, evil has had time to seed itself and proliferate, and build its forces. So the Gods are building their forces. You see, they play to win.
Ragnarok is not a tragedy.
It is a comedy.
In the old sense of the word. It ends in victory.
But there are other reasons. The Ahriman-forces of Loki and his kin must be allowed to fully develop, so that when he serves his fated role and leads them to the battlefield, they will all be present, where they can then all be defeated, and the world will be rid of all such ill.
And don't try to shove my ears full of bullshit like the "need" for there to be "both" good and evil in order for there to be balance in the universe. Grow up. Don't you understand that ill is precisely the taking of events outside the balance? Good is the balance. Evil is that which constantly sabotages that balance, and thus takes things outside their wholeness.
There is yet another reason to not bring the whole thing to culmination just yet. That is love. The love the Gods have for this world, as messed-up as it is. There is still beauty to be had, and so long as the Midgard Serpent hasn't yet squeezed out every last opportunity for beauty, there are still treasures to be generated. "For the Gods so loved the world, they held back the final battle to allow it to ripen...".
There is a time in the struggle between Ahriman and Ohrmazd when Ahriman is given the upper hand, to spoil all he can. That is only part of the plan to gather up all into one head so that head can be guillotined.
In the meantime, we honor and venerate all that is still sacred, and has not yet been spoiled (or fully spoiled).
Think not that suffering, however overwhelming, is inevitable. Be a warrior. Vow to extinguish it.
That is, I think, akin to what the Einherjar swear.
And in the end, we will be victorious over all the perversions and corruptions of strength, talent, love, and joy that at present are so thick they often choke them out. And we will be victorious through strength, wisdom, and ferocity towards evil.
And if that sounds too Christian to your ears, tough shit.
It's actually a warrior's position. Are you fighting this war just to fight, or to win?
