Wagner, Beowulf, and Xena: Three Great Tastes...

[lwood]

Meanwhile, on Logo, the Queer Channel (check your local cable or satellite company for channel number), my TiVo's Filters of Norsey Goodness caught an episode of Xena: Warrior Princess.

Where Xena, back during her Bad Old Days, was running around doing Bad Things, but talked Odin off the Tree by waking his bloodlust, in return for which he made her a Valkyrie. These are the Bad Old Days, which Xena proves by goading five young warriors to die hopelessly, but gloriously.

But she gave all that up to nick the Rheingold, having already forsaken love, and forge the expected ring with the expected curse, to which I can only say...dammit, they shoulda paid for the rights to the Right and Proper Soundtrack! I want my nineteen tuned anvils! My Tubas of Great Power! My...right, I forgot we have no budget.

Now, during her Good New Days, she's teamed up with Siegfried Beowulf to kill Fafnir Grendel, although actually there are two, and one is his mum, formerly a Valkyrie named Grinhild.

I'm really rather annoyed, though, as I recorded only one part...of three.

Fansites to the rescue!

The second part gets the Beowulfbits that couldn't be well-mixed with the Ringbits: Amnesiac!Xena gets rescued by Beowulf from certain marriage to Hrothgar. Eh, whatever. Back to the Ring!

By the end of the three-parter, Siegfried₂ Xena goes through a ring of fire (which was formerly a Valkyrie named Brunnhilde) to wake Brunnhilde₂ Gabrielle. Gabi's in the fire because Xena put the Ring during her Good New Days without forsaking love, which also gave Xena amnesia, because we had to get that in there somewhere since the Gibichungs have been clomped over the head and tossed into the same ditch with the Nibelungs and, probably, Tom Bombadil.

But this was all a ploy for Odin to get the One Ring of the Nibelungs, which fails, because Xena talks Grendel's Mum back into being Grinhild, who Odin really loved all along (Frigga, presumably, being over in the ditch with the Gibichungs, Nibelungs, and Tom Bombadil).

It's all burnt, and then the Rhine floods and drowns the flames... The Rhinemaidens get their Shiny back, Gabrielle and Xena reaffirm themselves as the Not-Very-Ambiguously Lesbian Duo.

Snark aside, though, this was well-written by... R.J. Stewart. I want the three-parter on DVD for Cheesy Viking Movie Night! Wah!

-- Lorrie

Comments

[lwood.livejournal.com]

what is more sad is that when i try to visualize deities, i see odin as the actor who played him on Xena.

...I can't complain, as my similar image owes a lot to James Morris, who sings Wotan in most modern productions of Wagner's Ring.

But at least he's in an eyepatch. ;)

My head used to explode at the 'mistelling' of myths RJ Stewart used to do in both Xena and Hercules, but often there were details that one had to delve into the mythology for (i.e. there is an Autolycus in Greek lore who was a master thief) and i think his characterization of the gods' personalities was RIGHT on, for the most part (with the exception of whiny zeus...what up?)

Well, from watching this, I could see that the author had deliberately done his homework, but that a lot of that had been curling up with Wagner--e.g. the Valkyries going about on flying horses, instead of wolves with snakes for bridles.

I also wasn't going into that episode expecting "hard" fantasy, because, hello, it's Xena. Moreover, a strict retelling of either component tale would have sat very poorly with modern audiences who expect happy endings and clean victories, which just doesn't happen in medieval European storytelling.

i still think xena's patron deity should have been a kick ass artemis, though...or artemis and the luscious ares could have competed for xena's heart and soul....

Or, hey, she coulda stuck with Odin, he obviously has the shinier side benefit package. 8-P

-- Lorrie