'Viking Apocalypse' Due Tomorrow

Viking apocalypse—or British weather? Experts from the Jorvik Viking Center, which is currently running its annual Viking festival in northern England, claim that the end of times as predicted in Norse mythology will be upon us tomorrow, when gods including Thor, Odin, and Loki will fight an epic battle causing the world to sink beneath the sea. Their confident prediction is based on Norse folklore that Ragnarok will happen after three freezing winters with no summers in between, which USA Today notes is a "subjective call" after two lousy summers in northern Europe.

The organizers—who have a countdown to doomsday on their website—say they're pretty sure the god Heimdallr blew the mystical Gjallerhorn on Nov. 15 as "a portent of doom," marking the start of a 100-day countdown to the Norse apocalypse, reports the Independent. "Ragnarok is the ultimate landmark in Viking mythology, when the gods fall and die, so this really is an event that should not be underestimated," the festival's director says. Two human survivors will remain to populate the world, but if your name isn't Liv or Livtrasir and you don't dwell in the underworld, you're out of luck. (In other Viking news, archaeologists recently uncovered a rare Viking "thing" under a parking lot.)