ABSTRACT
Inspired by English Romantic artist Joseph Mallord William Turner's painting of a sacred grove and sanctuary of the goddess Diana in Nemi, Italy, James Frazer described how a tree in the grove, the embodiment of Diana, was guarded by a succession of priest Kings of the Wood. Frazer noted that a candidate for the priesthood could only succeed to the office of King of the Wood by slaying the current incumbent, and he retained office until he himself was slain. Frazer claimed that such a cyclical, recurring theme underpinned all myth. This is indeed an important feature of a magical orientation of mind. Themes of cyclic renewal of life and death find their climax in Ragnarok, the so-called twilight of the gods. The whole scheme of Northern mythology was a drama, leading to a climatic battle. Ragnarok was a huge turning point that brought about death and destruction before a rebirth of a new cycle of life.
