Christopher Jefferson wrote:

> >
> >
> > ------- Message
> >
> > From: "Henry J. Cobb" <hcobb@slip.net>
> > To: megami@ML.usagi.org
> > Subject: Re: SKuld as a Valkyrie
> > Message-Id: <E0zajFA-00045M-00@mole.slip.net>
> > Date: Tue, 3 Nov 1998 08:23:44 -0800
> > Reply-To: megami@ML.usagi.org
> > X-ML-archive: http://www.win.ne.jp/~doi/ML/
> >
> > >In case anyone wants to know, Mr. Cobb is referring to "Der Ring des
> > >Nibelungen" (The Ring of the Nibelungs), a Norse tale which became the basis

> > >for Wagner's Ring Cycle (including the ever popular "Ride of the
> > >Valkyries"). It also inspired Tolkein.  Warning: this is not a
> > >light-hearted story, nowhere  near AMG in feeling.
>
> That would be "Das Ring des Nibelungen" (umlaut not included^_^).
>
> >
> >
> > But doesn't AMS (A Magicalgirl Show) deal with exactly the same theme of
> > conflict between desire and duty as the Ring Cycle?  (Especially in the
> > videos...)
>
> AMS, afaik, does not strictly fall within the Magical Girl category, as the three

> Megami are always Goddesses and don't have to undergo some ridiculous Sailor
> Soldier or Rayearth transformation just to change clothing and do a magic powers

> upgrade. Nope, if they want to get the powers, well, all they just have to do is

> call on their lesser angels and PRESTO CHANGO, thermonuclear weapons!
>
> Well, that's what Belldandy does when anyone so much as double parks in front of

> K1's motorcycle.
>
> >
> >
> > (I bet that Skuld thinks that a ring cycle is something a phone does when
> > an incomming call is being indicated.)
>
> Naaah.  Betcha that she's been hittin' the books as of late. Besides, the girl
> knows a telephone inside and out. She knows the difference.
>
> >
> >
> >         Henry J. Cobb   hcobb@slip.net          http://www.io.com/~hcobb
> >     Skuld is exactly the sort of goddess who'd
> >     love the smell of napalm in the morning.
>
> Skuld: "Do you smell that?"
>
> Belldandy: "What?"
>
> <CUT TO BELLDANDY AND SKULD SURVEYING THE RUINS OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD SURROUNDING
THE
> TEMPLE. CUT TO SHOT OF URD, SITTING DOWN, LOOKING OUT OVER WASTELAND, SAKE BOTTLE

> IN HAND>
>
> Skuld: "Do you smell that? That's napalm, Oneseema! I love the smell of napalm in

> the morning! One time we did a hail bombing down in Nifhelm. Not one body! Not one

> stinkin' demon body."
>
> Belldandy, recoiling in horror: "That's terrible, horrible."
>
> Skuld (pulls Stetson hat with  1/9 Air Cavalry insignia low over her brow, while

> arranging her kerchief): "Someday this war's gonna end, Oneseema. Someday...".
>
> (with apologies to Frances Ford Coppola, Martin Sheen, and Robert Duvall)
>
> Be Seeing You,
>
> Chris

Actually, it is "der Ring der Nibelungen", with the first appearance of "der" being
the
male nominative singular form of the article, while the second one is the
gender-neutral genitive plural form. And note that there is no umlaut in it. Please,

don't mutilate my parent language any more than it already is by it's very existance.

;-)
And I assume Skuld would have a good, hearty laugh about the "Ring Cycle", as well
as
about the "Nibelungenlied", as the original rhyme is also called. After all, she is
a
Norn, she set the whole thing in motion with her sisters, and she knows how it turned

out. Likely she knows better than we mortals do, given there were no survivors from

anywhere near the fighting according to the saga. At least not at the time of the
final
battle. And she'd probably be quite amused by the amount of rumour, magic, and
Christian point of view inflicted on the whole story over the centuries, apart from
the
fact that even the "Nibelungenlied" combines events from a space of four
centuries(don't take my word on this, it's taken from a school book) to the lives
of
one generation. Maybe she wouldn't even know either for a retelling of these events,

modern or old.
Napalm usage? Thermonukes? Skuld and her sisters likely would not be that violent.

Well, the Norse goddesses maybe would, but not Fujishima's incarnations. Good thing

these weapons were not known to the Vikings... Would have made for entirely different

legends, I believe.
            Andi