Christ, Thor and the Midgard Serpent, para. 1

I’ve been translated a 26-page essay by Otto Gschwantler from around 1968 that examines the connections of similarity between aspects of Christ with Thor and the Midgard Serpent. Below is the first paragraph. 

Christus, Thor und die Midgardschlange 

Otto Gschwantler 

1968

1. The German mythology offers a series of motives, that shows a noticeable similarity with Christian ideas. It is reminiscent of Havamal 138, where Odin himself says: 

„I know, that I hang

on windy tree

9 long nights

with the javelin wounded

consecrated to Odin, 

myself to myself.“ 

The question here cannot be clearly answered to this day, namely, is this a random similarity with the crucifixion or a known Christian influence? Also the light figure of Balder, his death and his return after Ragnarök, shows in its overall appearance and tension some details reminiscent of Christ. One also has to again affirm or to deny Christian influence in this instance.