Fenrir’s Fetter and the Power of Stories

Abstract

Abstract This lecture concerns the sometimes underrated power of stories to influence us, an influence that depends upon factors such as how closely a tale adheres to what we consider either possible or desirable. I examine legends, fairy tales, the gruesome urban legends children tell at sleepovers, and those stories handed down in families, communities, and nations which confer a sense of common identity and pride, sometimes at the cost of excluding others. Stories offer wisdom, solace, joy; they may also frighten or alienate. For good or ill they can change our perceptions of ourselves and others, and of the world around us.