--- title: When Will the World End? Ragnarok Norse Viking Apocalypse on Saturday description: This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but with a sprawling Nordic god fight canonical: https://time.com/8785/the-apocalypse-starts-saturday-at-least-according-to-the-vikings/ author: Kate Knibbs article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-02-19T17:14:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:07:14.534Z og:title: When Will the World End? Ragnarok Norse Viking Apocalypse on Saturday og:description: This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but with a sprawling Nordic god fight og:url: https://time.com/8785/the-apocalypse-starts-saturday-at-least-according-to-the-vikings/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt97405a3a48a562d9/698682e0adae449e56541b19/nf_sunstone_0311.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1400 og:image:height: 788 og:image:alt: Replica of a Viking ship by Greenland. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: When Will the World End? Ragnarok Norse Viking Apocalypse on Saturday twitter:description: This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but with a sprawling Nordic god fight twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt97405a3a48a562d9/698682e0adae449e56541b19/nf_sunstone_0311.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Apocalypse Starts Saturday, at Least According To The Vikings > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Kate Knibbs](https://time.com/author/kate-knibbs/) ## Kate Knibbs Feb 19, 2014 5:14 PM UTC  Replica of a Viking ship by Greenland. Replica of a Viking ship by Greenland. Russell Kaye—Sandra-Lee Phipps/Getty Images by [Kate Knibbs](https://time.com/author/kate-knibbs/) ## Kate Knibbs Feb 19, 2014 5:14 PM UTC It’s the end of the world as the Vikings know it, and it’s probably fine: Ragnarok, the Viking apocalypse, is coming this weekend. In Norse mythology, Ragnarok goes down after the god Loki’s wolf grandson Skoll eats the sun, a very unchill thing to do. His brother eats the moon. This somehow unleashes their wolf-dad, Fenrir, a noted bloodthirsty curmudgeon. The Midgard snake Jormungand will surface from the depths of the sea. It gets worse from there. All the gods, like Odin, Thor, and some others that do not currently have days of the week named after them, show up to fight each other. It’s kind of like the Hunger Games but with pissed-off ancient deities. The earth will sink, the world will burn, and things will get maximum gnarly, death-wise. And it’s supposed to go down this Saturday, February 22\. Believers in the United Kingdom are [holding a festival](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/weird-news/viking-apocalypse-end-of-the-world-predicted-to-happen-on-saturday-but-dont-cancel-your-weekend-plans-yet-9138092.html) called Jorvik to celebrate, but for Viking lovers who can’t make it to York, eating a lot of Nordic smoked salmon and rocking back and forth crying hysterically is a perfectly acceptable way to join the festivities. Good news, though: after the world is annihilated by a bunch of ornery ancient gods, it’s supposed to be restored as an idyllic paradise. 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