American Gods

In the long-term parking lot at Minneapolis airport, Shadow swaps cars. He, Czernobog, and Mr. Nancy meet a familiar face; Shadow remembers him as the man from House on the Rock who thought that he was Elvis Presley. Now, Shadow learns that the man is Alviss. He claims that he is the “tallest dwarf in America” (274). On learning about the death of Wednesday, Alviss is upset. He agrees to join Wednesday’s war and promises to bring his people with him. Though Alviss mentions a vigil, Mr. Nancy and Czernobog refuse to discuss the matter with Shadow. When they stop for breakfast, Czernobog talks about his dreams. Mr. Nancy takes a telephone call from the new gods, who want to deliver Wednesday’s remains to the old gods at a meeting. Mr. Nancy refutes Czernobog’s suggestion that this is a trap. He agrees to meet the new gods at the “exact center of the continental United States” (276): Lebanon, Kansas. This is the least sacred place in the country, according to Czernobog.

While traveling, they encounter other old gods who agree to join the fight against the new gods. In Lebanon, a woman waits for them at a motel. She introduces herself as Media, and she hopes that the meeting will be peaceful despite Technical Boy’s scathing comments and Mr. Town’s lust for revenge against Shadow. In his motel room, Shadow takes a short nap and dreams about a wolf surrounded by bodies hanging from trees. Wednesday appears before him and describes the traditional sacrifices performed in his name in Uppsala, Sweden. Shadow is confused by his own identity; Wednesday admits that Shadow is a “diversion” he used to lend himself credibility.

Shadow is roused from his dream by Media. They go to dinner, where Shadow talks with Media, Technical Boy, and Mr. Town while eating mediocre burgers and fries. The time Shadow spends interacting with the new gods is unpleasant. Outside, Shadow realizes that a mysterious associate of the new gods is none other than his old cellmate, Low Key Lyesmith. In reality, he is an old Norse god, Loki Lie-smith, but he insists that he is not friends with Wednesday. In fact, Wednesday’s death means the war between gods is over, and Loki is not upset about this. Shadow disagrees. He believes Wednesday’s death will unite the old gods and give them “something to believe in” (288).

Shadow finds Wednesday’s body in a candlelit room. Loki holds a short ceremony, where everyone says a short eulogy. To Shadow, the ceremony seems “pitiful.” Czernobog and Mr. Nancy swear revenge, but the new gods are nonplussed. Shadow carries the body out of the room, remembering his promise to hold a vigil in the event of Wednesday’s death. As Shadow leaves the room, Mr. Town hands him Wednesday’s cracked glass eye.

Outside, Shadow rejects the idea that he should leave the country. He wants to join the war against the new gods. Czernobog explains that the battle will take place backstage, where humans are not safe. Shadow insists that he will hold the vigil for Odin because “it’s the kind of thing a living person would do” (293). Shadow is told about the nature of the vigil: He will be strapped to the world tree in Virginia and must hang there for nine days and nights, just as Odin did in the Norse legends. The idea seems almost thrilling to Shadow. He goes to the tree, where three women wait for him. The women place Wednesday’s body at the foot of the tree, tell Shadow to undress, and then tie him to the tree. Then, Shadow is left naked and alone.

Shadow holds the vigil for Wednesday. As “fleeting bursts of color” (297) dance before his eyes, a squirrel runs along the branches and repeats the word “ratatosk.” Shadow dreams about a man with an elephant head and children who accuse him of failing them. When a storm begins, Shadow is freezing cold. He feels the real war—“the real storm” (299)—is beginning, and he feels overcome with joy. Shadow has never felt so alive, and filled with a sense of warmth, he falls asleep. Waking on the second day, Shadow is in “intolerable” pain. He talks to Laura, who claims that she is coming to him. The squirrel brings him water to satisfy his thirst. Shadow feels as though he is “[becoming] the tree” (301), as well as the squirrel and the hawk he sees around him.

The hawk is the Egyptian god Horus, who catches a rabbit and eats it in the tree. Shadow refuses the meal. Horus talks about the beginning of the war and notes that Shadow is dying. That evening, Laura arrives. Though she wants to cut Shadow down from the tree, he tells her to stop. Laura reluctantly admits that, finally, Shadow is “alive.” However, he is dying, and Laura is constantly thirsty. Shadow tells her to visit the three women who tied him to the tree. Laura wants to stay until Shadow falls asleep. He is overcome by a violent pain in his head, and he feels his heart stop beating.

Shadow descends from the world tree. At the base of the tree, Zorya Polunochnaya is waiting. Though there is no moon in the sky, she seems bathed in moonlight. Shadow returns her silver dollar, and she places it back in the sky, returning the moon. Shadow knows then that he is dreaming. Then, she gives Shadow two paths forward. He can select the way of hard truths or the way of fine lies. When he selects the way of hard truths, Zorya Polunochnaya helps Shadow remember his true name. To do this, Shadow recalls his entire life in reverse. He sees Laura, his dying mother, and then his mother dancing with Wednesday. Then, Shadow realizes that Wednesday is his father. He is “completely unsurprised” (308).

Shadow meets Bast and begins to understand that he is “already dead.” Though she is now in human form, he recognizes her as the cat from the Cairo funeral parlor. Bast gives Shadow the choice of three paths. The paths can make him wise, whole, or dead. Shadow cannot decide which path is right, so Bast reaches into his chest and takes out his heart. Examining Shadow’s heart, she advises that he take the path that makes him whole. This path, she says, will reach a fork. These next paths will either take Shadow to a “vast chamber” filled with the dead and forgotten gods or to a room full of lights.

Choosing to go instead down a middle path, Shadow reaches an underground lake and meets Ibis. The Egyptian god tells Shadow that he escorts people to “the world of the dead” (311). Shadow admits that he never believed in the Egyptian gods, so he is surprised that Ibis is the person to escort him. Ibis assures Shadow that it does not matter, as the gods “believed in [him]” (312). Ibis and Shadow cross a lake and meet Jacquel in his dog-headed form on the other side. Jacquel studies Shadow, and Shadow feels himself being judged. Bast hands Shadow’s heart to Ibis, and Jacquel weighs the heart on a set of gold scales. They weigh the heart against a feather. When the heart and the feather are balanced, Shadow does not have to give his heart to the eater of souls, Ammet. Having passed the test, Shadow is allowed to pick his final destination. He chooses to rest. He rejects heaven and hell and asks to “just let it end” (314). Ibis leads Shadow to a door that opens to nothing, and Shadow joyfully walks through.