Nordic Mythology in Smartphones

[RoGeorge]

Fooled around with a retired Samsung J5 Galaxy (model from ~2015), mostly to use it as a logger/display for an indoors weather station, also tried to root it.  Not very sure why trying to root it, the phone can be used as a temp/humidity/pressure display just as it is, without rooting.

The sensors are sending temp, humidity and atmospheric pressure by Bluetooth LE.

To root the phone, Odin is the software to upload firmware into the phone.  Odin is the frontend, under the hood Odin sends the uploading commands to Heimdall, a command line tool, while Frija, another program, can search online and download stock firmware to upload with Odin. 


Bluetooth - "Bluetooth is the Anglicised version of the Scandinavian Blåtand/Blåtann (or in Old Norse blátǫnn). It was the epithet of King Harald Bluetooth, who united the disparate Danish tribes into a single kingdom; Kardach chose the name to imply that Bluetooth similarly unites communication protocols."

Odin - "Odin has many names and is the god of both war and death. Half of the warriors who die in battle are taken to his hall of Valhalla. He is the one-eyed All-Father, who sacrificed his eye in order to see everything that happens in the world. He has two sons, Balder by his first wife Frigg and Thor by Jord."

Heimdall - "Old Norse Heimdallr, in Norse mythology, the watchman of the gods. Called the shining god and whitest skinned of the gods, Heimdall dwelt at the entry to Asgard, where he guarded Bifrost, the rainbow bridge."

Frija - "Frigg, also called Friia, in Norse mythology, the wife of Odin and mother of Balder. She was a promoter of marriage and of fertility. In Icelandic stories, she tried to save her son's life but failed. Some myths depict her as the weeping and loving mother, while others stress her loose morals."


Well, didn't root the phone yet because I couldn't figure out the Magisk install part, that's another story, but I feel half Viking already. 

[newbrain]

If you want to read a very pleasant, rather complete and interesting stroll in that field, I would advise "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman.

[TimFox]

Harald Bluetooth is historical, not mythical.

[RoGeorge]

"Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman

Wikipedia says the book was written by an English author of short fiction and other genres, and in the intro of the book the author sais some of the parts are not accurate.  There also was a BBC radio play based on the book.  Not sure how to take the book.

Is that a book about Norse history/mythology, or a fiction/drama based on Nordic myths?

[themadhippy]

No surprise considering were nokia and ericson originated,both were fairly large players when the mobile phone started to get popular

[TimFox]

"Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman

Wikipedia says the book was written by an English author of short fiction and other genres, and in the intro of the book the author sais some of the parts are not accurate.  There also was a BBC radio play based on the book.  Not sure how to take the book.

Is that a book about Norse history/mythology, or a fiction/drama based on Nordic myths?

The classical mythologies, such as Greek/Roman and Norse, do not have canonical scriptures in the sense of the Hebrew Bible.
In Greek, there is Hesiod's epic poem Theogeny that collects the stories, but the later Roman Metamorphoses by Ovid is also popular (and differs somewhat from Hesiod).
Karl Galinsky stated "Ovid's relation to the Hellenistic poets was similar to the attitude of the Hellenistic poets themselves to their predecessors: he demonstrated that he had read their versions ... but that he could still treat the myths in his own way".
The Norse myths were not written down before Scandinavia converted to Christianity.
Snorri Sturluson collected most of what we now know as Norse myths in the 13th century:  he was writing for a Christian audience, and some of his work was meant to entertain.
Gaiman's book is well written, and I recommend it:  it is his retelling of the Norse myths, following an ancient tradition of myth collection.
There are analogous English-language books about Greek mythology, such as the ever-popular Bulfinch's Mythology, published in 1867.
My favorite recent book about Greek mythology is Roberto Calasso's (1994) Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony  https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/22865/the-marriage-of-cadmus-and-harmony-by-roberto-calasso/ .

[Benta]

To get down to Earth:
the basic reason for using those kind of names is to avoid copyright/trademark issues. "Bluetooth" was created in that vein at a (beery?) evening session of the Ericsson folks.

[TimFox]

The Nordic bards were also known for their alcohol consumption.
When I was in college (during the late 1960s), a pious conservative wrote a letter to the Minneapolis Tribune newspaper complaining that the US military had named its missiles after pagan gods:  Jupiter, Saturn, Titan, etc.
We composed a letter in snarky response, asking if that writer would prefer that our "death-dealing missiles of destruction" be named instead after the Apostle Paul, John the Baptist, and the Blessed Virgin Mary?

[aeberbach]

Neil Gaiman may have been making up the part where Sif says to Loki "I hate you so much right now". But it's an enjoyable book, nothing conflicts significantly with what I had already read in other places, and how accurate is anything we read about norse mythology? Pretty much all of what we know comes from two Icelandic works of literature. Were those authors 100% accurate? Did everyone agree back then? Even Valhalla may not have been thought of as we think of it now: https://norse-mythology.org/concepts/death-and-the-afterlife/