Why is it so - that modern humans struggle to understand our myths and fairy tales? Well, there are several reasons for it, but one major and all-encompassing reason is our perception of time.
We will not explain the reasons for this accumulative lack of understanding here, but rather explain in wich context our myths and fairy tales should be understood - and not at least in wich context our forebears told and understood them.
So, what is time?
Is it a line from beginning to end? From Aldrdaga until Ragnarök?
Is it the parts of past, present and future?
What we can say, is that time is perception. We all have a perception of time. We can also make the statement that no modern human being can grasp the concept of eternity. The only perception of time we are able to really grasp is the instant. The only actual time for mortals.
If we pragmatically and theoretically try to define timelessness, it would be like if you had a stopwatch - a magic watch that could stop the world around you, and you could walk around in it, like in a paused movie. What you did in this case, was to go from the state of finite to infinite.
The only way you can stop the present is as an infinite - an immortal so to speak. You would not have a normal perception of time anymore. You would actually be able to percee eternity.
Our myths and fairy tales are timeless. They are eternal. Like Mother Nature. Like outher space. Yes, they contain the perception of the instant in their entertaining format - but they all spin in circles and never end. They are above time, above the instant - and beyond our perception of it. The same way that Aldrdaga is Ragnarök and Ragnarök is Aldrdaga. The same way that you are your ancestors and your ancestors are you - in paused instant.
This understanding and perspective is crucial if you want to even begin to grasp what our dear European and Norse myths and fairy tales are all about.
In the core essence; it is what makes them pagan.