Why does Ragnarok feel so central to Norse myth?

I read the fatalism less as “nothing matters” and more as a way to make courage matter even when success is out of reach. The ending is known, but the choices made before it still shape what kind of figures the gods are.

I’d be careful about treating Norse myth as one tidy belief system with a single message. The stories come through different texts and tellings, so Ragnarok can be a powerful theme without proving that everyone understood the gods or the afterlife in the same way.

The harsh environment might be part of how modern readers make sense of the bleak tone, but it is hard to draw a straight line from climate to theology. I’d treat that as a possible influence, not the explanation. The myths’ tangled family ties and recurring conflicts offer plenty to think about on their own.