Crack of doom
The "Crack of Doom" is the modern English for the Old English term for Ragnarök, the great catastrophe of Norse mythology.[citation needed]
The term became used for the Christian Day of Judgement, referring in particular to the blast of trumpets signalling the end of the world in Chapter 8 of the Book of the Apocalypse. A "crack" had the sense of any loud noise, preserved in the phrase "crack of thunder",[1] and Doom was a term for the Last Judgement, as Doomsday still is.
The phrase is famously used in the Day of Judgement sense by William Shakespeare in Macbeth, where on the heath the Three Witches show Macbeth the line of kings that will issue from Banquo:
- 'Why do you show me this? A fourth! Start, eyes!
- What, will the line stretch out to the crack of doom?
- Another yet! A seventh! I'll see no more:'
(Act 4, scene 1, 112–117)- meaning that Banquo's line will endure until the Judgement Day, flattery for King James I, who claimed descent from Banquo.
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world of Middle-earth, the Professor of Old English plays upon the phrase to provide the literal Crack(s) of Doom, physical cracks — fissures within the great volcano of Orodruin, also known as Mount Doom.
In the Time Tunnel episode, "The Crack of Doom", Tony and Doug try to convince scientists studying the volcano Krakatoa, that it is about to erupt cataclysmically.
In the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode, "Crack of Doom", a poker player finds himself digging deeper and deeper towards ruin.
Notes
See also
- The Crack of Doom (1989 Addison-Wesley Software Adventure computer game)