Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Which Norse gods can you name? What media have you read, watched, or played that involves stories about the Norse gods?

Teaching Suggestion: Students’ prior knowledge about Norse mythology is likely to vary widely. After students respond to this prompt, they might use these or similar resources to gain background knowledge to read The Sword of Summer effectively. Following this, students may enjoy discussing aloud the works, reading materials, and games they have encountered that involve Norse gods and Norse mythology and analyzing their shared characteristics.

• This article offers a succinct introduction to Norse mythology, gods, and goddesses.
• This 4-minute video provides a brief overview of a wide variety of Norse gods and goddesses. To connect with the content of the video, students might note 3 gods or goddesses with whom they are familiar and 3 that are unfamiliar but intriguing.

2. What is Ragnarok? What does this concept tell us about the worldview of the Norse peoples who believed in it?

Teaching Suggestion: Many students’ ideas about Ragnarok will be based on pop culture and thus may include some accurate and some inaccurate information.