Uh...

[star-dragon5.livejournal.com]

Even the god Set (or Seth) – a god of chaos, the dry lifeless desert, foreigners, and other things threatening to the Egyptian mindset, and usually falsely mischaracterized today as the “God of Evil” (nonsensical term) because of his role in the slaying of Osiris – was ultimately an upholder of ma’at. Indeed, it is his strength upon which the world’s continued existence depends: Set is the god who stands in the prow of Ra’s solar boat and slays the serpent every night. He is the one god, in fact, who is strong enough to do so, and his scepter is both his personal symbol and a symbol of strength in general. (Yes, I have strong feelings about Set. And another frequently misunderstood myth figure, the Norse god Loki, who I might or might not make reference to sometime later.)

~condwiramurs, "Indestructible - Part V - The Wheels of Heaven"

Will someone please explain to me what the hell ANY of the above has to do with Severus Snape?

Also, this:

You know, when you think about it, a very, very last-minute gamble by a dying man to undergo Merlin’s initiatory ordeal might have many motivations. As indeed might Tom’s usurpation of that cave.

Some of the legends about Merlin, after all, state that he vanished from the world of men because he was imprisoned through a woman’s wiles. Imprisoned, not killed.

Some legends say, further, that Merlin’s protégé was immortal. "Rex quondum, rexque futurum,"

The legends hint that there may be a fourth route to immortality. Not the Philosopher’s Stone, not the Hallows, not a Horcrux. A mystery known only to Merlin… and perhaps to be revealed to a successor proven worthy by passing the ordeal of the cave.

~terri_testing, "Albus and the Birdbath"

Nice theory. Too bad there's no evidence that the damn cave was ever anything but a cave. And as usual, terri turns it into an opportunity to bash Albus.

Comments

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

Sure, I see that point, not to mention some self-sacrifice (though Ron doesn't go so far as to give birth to an eight-legged horse.)

Looked Loki up on Wikipedia. Since I've been out of school a while, I figure I can use Wikipedia for a quick reference. Anyway, in traditional mythology, Laufey is Loki's mother. In the Marvel movie Wikia, Laufey is his father.

[star-dragon5.livejournal.com]

Sure, I see that point, not to mention some self-sacrifice (though Ron doesn't go so far as to give birth to an eight-legged horse.)

Ron: And thank Merlin for that!

Looked Loki up on Wikipedia. Since I've been out of school a while, I figure I can use Wikipedia for a quick reference. Anyway, in traditional mythology, Laufey is Loki's mother. In the Marvel movie Wikia, Laufey is his father.

x.x Makes me glad I'm not into superhero movies. Mythology fail drives me NUTS.

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

x.x Makes me glad I'm not into superhero movies. Mythology fail drives me NUTS.

I've decided to look at the Marvel movies as a universe unto themselves. It helps, and Tom Hiddleston is cute.

Oh. On Loki's hair - no one's really sure about the color. He's been depicted with dark hair and with light by later imaginers. Not so sure about red, that seems to have been Thor's color until the old Marvel Comics version appeared.

[jana-ch.livejournal.com]

Thor's hair was certainly red in Norse mythology. Loki's was never specified in myth, but it was black in the old Marvel Comics that I collected in the Sixties and Seventies. Stan Lee's original version of Loki was a straight-up "God of Evil" with no ambiguity about him. I would never compare him with Severus Snape.

[star-dragon5.livejournal.com]

One of myth!Loki's nicknames was "Flame-hair," so yeah, he was a redhead. I wouldn't compare him or Set with Severus Snape, either. They each have a different fatal flaw, for one thing: Set's is jealousy, Loki's is malice, and Snape's is his inability to put the past behind him.

[seductivedark.livejournal.com]

I don't think I'd compare either Marvel!Loki or Eddas!Loki with Snape. They're both darker figures, but that's about it. Short reason: Snape is revealed as an agent of the Light by the end of the series while Loki gets darker and darker.

[star-dragon5.livejournal.com]

So we're all agreed, then? Good!

[jana-ch.livejournal.com]

We’re not necessarily all agreed, and that is good. The purpose of intellectual discussion is not universal agreement, but the stimulation of thought. It would be terribly boring if we were all agreed.

For example, if it were not off-topic, I would note that being “flame-haired” does not necessarily make Loki a redhead. He is, after all, a god of fire—a characteristic which is more obvious in Wagner’s version of the character than in Marvel’s or in the Eddas. But this is a Potterverse community, not a Marvel community, Norse myth community, or opera community, so I will refrain. But if anyone wants to discuss whether or not it works dramatically to have Loge show up in person at the end of Walküre to ignite the magic fire…

[star-dragon5.livejournal.com]

We’re not necessarily all agreed, and that is good. The purpose of intellectual discussion is not universal agreement, but the stimulation of thought. It would be terribly boring if we were all agreed.

It would.

Sorry about going off-topic. I can't EVER resist a chance to talk about mythology...