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strong influence on the Jesus stories as well.
THE NORSE SAGAS
    The Norse had a pantheon that included a father deity (Odin), a mother goddess (Frigga), a goddess of love and sex (Freya), a dying/resurrecting Sun god (Balder), and a warrior god (Thor). Like the Greeks, the great gods and heroes of the North were warlike, and their greatness was proven in battle. Mortal men earned their way into the Nordic heaven, Valhalla , by proving their courage as warriors.
    The Norse myths deal with the gods and their battles against demons, giants, witches, and mythical monsters. In addition to their gods, however, the Norse revered human heroes like the dragon slayers Sigurd and Siegfried, the martyred king Volsung, and the great warrior-maiden Brunhilde. The Norse hero Beowulf was celebrated in an epic poem that is acknowledged as the first great literary work in the English language. Later, English author J.R.R. Tolkien drew heavily upon the Norse sagas when creating his epic story-cycle, The Lord of The Rings .
    Like Judaism, the Norse religion is apocalyptic and linear. All of history is a progression toward Ragnarok or the “Twilight of the Gods.” Ragnarok is the final battle between the forces of order (led by Odin) and the forces of chaos (led by Loki), followed by the end of creation. Like the Hebrew prophecies, which promise a new heaven and a new Earth, Ragnarok is to be followed by a golden age in which all men and gods will live in peace.
    The Norse legends had a major influence on modern comic-book superheroes. In many ways, the ancient Norse heroes are the closest in spirit to the superheroes in their noble and self-sacrificing warrior ethos. Two of comics' most important creators, writer Stan Lee and writer/artist Jack Kirby, drew heavily on the old Norse epics and legends for their hero, the Mighty Thor. Many of the gods—Balder, Sif, Odin, Loki, and Heimdall—became regular characters in the Marvel Universe, where they play the same kind of role that the Greco-Roman gods played in Fawcett's Captain Marvel stories.
    All of these ancient gods and heroes took a long and circuitous route back to cultural prominence in the modern world, when the social upheavals of the Industrial Revolution finally summoned them from their long and fitful slumber.
    3 See Zechariah Sitchin, The 12th Planet (New York: Harper, 1999).
    4 Marvel is currently using the Eye of Horus as the logo for its Icon imprint.
    5 W. M. Flinders Petrie, The Making of Egypt (London: Macmillan, 1939), p. 77.
    6 See Paul Kriwaczek, In Search of Zarathustra: The First Prophet and the Ideas that Changed the World (New York: Knopf, 2002).
    7 See Alice A. Bailey, The Labours of Hercules: An Astrological Interpretation (New York: Lucis Pub, 2000). Labor IV - Part 2. Also Storm, Dunlop, Collins Atlas of the Night (New York: Harper Collins, 2005), p. 66.

CHAPTER 5
AN EMPIRE OF THE MIND

    In the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution powered a rapid expansion of the British Empire under Queen Victoria, as indigenous spears and swords were overcome by mechanized firepower. England's imperial reach was such that their motto became “The Sun never sets on the British Empire.” The common British citizen didn't benefit greatly from this imperial expansion, however. Conquered nations were difficult to keep conquered, and the spilling of British blood was needed to hold faraway protectorates. Military recruiters enticed men with the promise of exotic delights in balmy lands. This had a particular appeal for the working classes trapped in the cold, rainy, dirty, and repressed British Isles.
THE FRUITS OF EMPIRE
    Even if it didn't always benefit its citizens financially, Western imperialism bore fruit in the looted cultural treasures brought home to museums and universities. For along with colonialism came a relentless, worldwide campaign of archaeological exploration. Discoveries in Egypt rekindled an interest in Egyptian mysticism, particularly in Britain and France.