From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the moon of Saturn named after Surtr, see Surtur (moon).

Surtr

In Norse mythology, Surtr (modern Icelandic Surtur, sometimes Anglicized Surt) is the leader of the fire giants in the south, the ruler of Muspelheim, the realm of fire. His name means "Swart" or Black, and at the end of the world, Ragnarok, his hordes will rush north like a south wind to overwhelm the gods.

In Snorri Sturluson's Edda (1179-1241): "Surtur is the one so named who stands on Múspell's border, guarding the land. His sword is flaming and as the world ends he will go out, make war against and triumph over the gods. And he will burn the whole world with fire" (Gimlé Gylfaginning, iv). Only Hodmimir's Forest will remain, because that is the only thing his sword can not destroy. He will kill the unarmed god Freyr as well.

Surtsey is a new volcanic island that surfaced off the south coast of Iceland in 1963. Its name in Icelandic means "Surtur's Island".

In the final battle, Surtr and his Fire-Giants burst forth: "In Surtur's grasp the Sword of Revenge blazes, adding a blood red colour to the twilight of the whole world."

At the end of the gods and the world, as it is said in Völuspá:

Surtur from the south

wielding fire

The gods' swords shine in the darkness,

like stars in the night

Mountains collapse into rubble

And fiends shall fall

Man walks the road to ruin

as the sky splits in two

• Surtr is, under the name of Surtur, a semi-recurring villain in the comic-book The Mighty Thor. See Surtur (comics).
• In the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Surtr is the god of fire giants.
• Surtur was also featured in the webcomic The Order of the Stick. [1]
• Swedish death metal band Amon Amarth has a song titled "Releasing Surtr's Fire"
• In the science-fiction series Starcraft, the Surtur brood is a heavy support force of the Zerg Swarm.
• Surtur is the final boss in Castle of the Winds.
• Surtr (Named "Surt" in the game) is a possible final boss in the video game Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth and Valkyrie Profile
• In Playstation 2 game Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, Surt is one of three bosses in the Diet Building.
• In Persona 3, Surt is a Persona the player can obtain after maxing out the Magician Social Link. It is the strongest Persona of the Magician Arcana.
• In David Lindsay's novel A Voyage to Arcturus, the protagonists travel to a planet of that star to seek a being called Surtur.
• The Pagans MC patch depicts Surt wielding a flaming sword, plus the word "Pagans" in red, white and blue.

• Gimlé Gylfaginning text.