Unravelling the Mythology

God of War Ragnarök, the long-awaited sequel to 2018’s God of War reboot, will finally be with us this November 9^th. 

Despite being less than a couple of months away, very little has been shown off so far. Of course, that’s for the best, it’s always far more thrilling and enjoyable to discover a game’s secrets for yourself as you play through for the first time, but it also leads to a lot of theories and speculation as fans try to pick apart every clue. Luckily, Santa Monica Studios released a story trailer not too long ago, filled with sneak-peeks at the upcoming game’s combat, exploration, and, of course, story.

As a lover of both God of War and Norse mythology, I have had a look into what secrets this latest trailer might be hiding.

Tyr

The first thing shown in the latest trailer is Kratos severing some kind of chain that was keeping Tyr imprisoned. Those who played the last game should remember that much of its story revolved around Tyr – finding out what he had done to anger the Norse gods and where he had disappeared to. Well, it looks like one of the first things players are going to do in Ragnarök is find and liberate Tyr from wherever he is being held. And it looks like they may well assist each other in their quest against Odin.

One interesting thing to note is that Tyr still has his right hand. One of the few key details known about Tyr from the old Norse myths is that he lost this hand when the gods chained up Fenrir, the gigantic wolf. In the tale, Tyr promises Fenrir that they are only chaining him up to test his strength, but the great wolf doesn’t believe him. So Fenrir asks Tyr to put his right hand in his jaws. If he can break free, he will release it, but if he can’t, he will eat it. In the end, Fenrir couldn’t escape, and so Tyr lost his hand.

Fenrir is said to be one of Loki’s three children. And (Spoilers!) as Atreus is this story’s version of Loki, he is clearly much too young to have any monstrous children. That being said, Jormungandr, the world serpent (who is seen circling the Lake of the Nine in the last game), is also one of Loki’s three children. How did he end up in that game before he was born? He was punched so hard by Thor that he travelled backwards through time. Hopefully, some similar time-trickery will be involved in Ragnarök, as a showdown between Tyr and Fenrir is too good a spectacle to pass up. Especially as he seems to have been teased in an earlier trailer.

Odin

We know Odin will appear in Ragnarök – with the developers already confirming actor Richard Schiff will bring him to life on screen – but we haven’t yet seen what he will look like. Or have we?

Early in the trailer, Atreus opens the door to their house to see a bald, cloaked figure, shrouded in shadow, standing there. Could this be Odin? Possibly. The voice-over here seems to confirm it, with a new, ominous voice asking Kratos whether he really wants to start a war. We don’t get a good look at the shadowy figure, so it is impossible to tell if he has Odin’s traditional one eye (he lost the other by trading it with Mimir for great knowledge), or long beard. He does resemble the traveller Odin often appeared as in stories – a meek old man seeking shelter and hospitality – only minus his customary wide-brimmed hat. Letting him in would see him granting the householders a boon, whereas turning him away would see them suffer. Perhaps it is him, disguising his features, as he often did in the myths of old.

In these myths, Odin is ever seeking power and knowledge. He is the All-Father, the king of the nine realms, and he wants to keep it that way. In particular, he seeks out prophecies regarding his future. He stole them from the giants and learnt about Ragnarök, the end of the world, and since then did everything he could to try to prevent it. This included tying up Fenrir, who is prophesised to devour him as the world ends. If the game is following these myths, then Odin must know that Ragnarök has already begun – it starts with the death of Baldur by Loki’s hand and the onset of the Fimbulwinter (both of these events ended the previous game) – and so is presumably trying to dissuade Kratos and Atreus from doing anything else that might speed it along.

Interestingly, in the original Norse myths, it is Odin who is seen as the god of war, not Tyr. Odin was the one all battles were dedicated to, and he oversaw them all, sending down Valkyries to claim half the fallen warriors as his own and whisk them away to Valhalla.

Freya

Making her return from the previous game, Freya is no longer an ally to Kratos and Atreus, but a mortal enemy. After killing her son Baldur with a sprig of mistletoe (the one thing in all the nine realms that couldn’t swear not to harm him, as it was too young at the time), Freya is out for revenge on the player, and it appears she will stop at nothing to get it.

In the Norse myths, Freya is the twin sister of Freyr (a god who was teased in the first game and may make an appearance in Ragnarök) but, more importantly, is the goddess who rules over Folkvangr. This is another afterlife, a field of flowers where the other half of the noble dead, not claimed by Odin, are taken. We know that Odin and Freya, despite being husband and wife, no longer see eye to eye (due to Odin’s lust for violence and power), so will we see Freya wage war against him? Will the armies of Valhalla and the armies of Folkvangr clash at the end of the world?

Thor

At the very end of the trailer, we see our first glimpse of Thor in action. And it looks fantastic!

This version of Thor is a far cry from the blonde, muscle-bound hero many might instinctively imagine from the Marvel movies, but he is far closer to the Thor of Norse legend. Thor is meant to be red-haired with a bushy beard, and is said to be incredibly strong. This version, despite his potbelly, certainly fits the description, looking more like a god ready to enter a world’s strongest man competition (and come out on top) than Marvel’s toned supermodel.

This look also fits with his personality in the most well-known of Thor’s stories. In these myths, he is only ever really depicted as being angry or hungry. He is not a particularly clever god, preferring to smash problems with his hammer until they go away, rather than think things through. And when the problem is one that cannot be solved by breaking or killing things, he will inevitably turn to Loki to fix it for him.

The look of his hammer, Mjolnir, is also accurately based on carvings and jewellery found from the time. Like in the movies, Mjolnir returns to Thor’s hand once he has thrown it. But as an interesting touch, this trailer shows that he has to click his fingers for it to return. Will the player have to cut them off during the final clash against Thor to prevent his hammer from coming back to him? And will they be able to wield the mighty Mjolnir themselves?

What is known, is that Thor is very, very angry with Kratos. In the last game, Kratos killed his two sons (Magni and Modi), and if the player returned home at the end of the game, they would see a vision of the God of Thunder’s arrival, ready to take his revenge. But will that vision come to pass? Thor may well serve as this game’s ‘Stranger’ fight, introducing the god in a stylish smackdown. The trailer, however, appears to show Kratos and Thor duelling on the frozen Lake of the Nine, so it is quite possible players will have to face off against him multiple times along their journey.

In the myth of Ragnarök, Thor is killed while fighting Jormungandr, and fighting him alongside the enormous serpent could make for a truly epic boss battle.

Valkyries

Players who scoured every inch of the six realms available to travel to in God of War 2018, will no doubt have fought these fearsome warriors already. In that game, they were merely optional bosses, locked away by Odin, with their spirits freed once they were defeated. In Ragnarök, they appear to have a much more story-focused role. Two can be seen battling Kratos in what appears to be the Ginnungagap (the primordial void from which life began when the fires of Muspelheim met the fog of Niflheim).

In the mythology, the Valkyries descend upon the fields of battles, taking one half of the noble dead to Odin in Valhalla, and the other half to Freya in Folkvanger. In the game, it is unclear whether they still carry out this rite, but they are known to be a group of formidable warriors commanded by a queen. Originally, this queen was Freya, but after her estrangement from Odin, another Valkyrie, Sigrun took her place. Interestingly, the Valkyries who appear in the trailer seem to be working for Odin. Perhaps they are sent to stop Kratos after he refuses to hear the All-Father out.

Hati and Skoll

The two wolves seen standing beside Atreus partway through the trailer are Hati and Skoll.

According to the Ragnarök prophecy Odin stole, when the world ends, Skoll with devour the sun and Hati will devour the moon. When this happens, all the realms will be plunged into darkness and will be overcome with chaos – nothing will grow, brother will turn against brother, and the gods themselves will start to fall.

The trailer shows Atreus starting the two wolves off on their chase. It seems he is actively trying to continue Ragnarök after accidentally starting it in the previous game. But will this prophesy actually come to pass, or will Atreus fight against his fate?

Mermaids

Strangely, there is no analogue for these mermaids in old Norse myth. Mermaids are Scandinavian creatures, appearing in folklore and fables like that of Hans Christian Anderson, but they do not appear at all in any surviving stories from the times of the Vikings.

It seems Santa Monica Studios just added them in for fun, as part of their own interpretation of the myths. Or is this a tease of something more? Perhaps players will travel far, far outside the nine realms during this adventure.

All Nine Realms

The trailer may also have given us our first glimpses at some of the three realms players were barred from visiting in the first game: Asgard, Vanaheim, and Svartalfheim (also known as Nidavellir by the dwarves).

It has been confirmed that all nine realms will be open to travel to in Ragnarök, and they appear to be just as diverse and richly detailed as in the first game.

Asgard is the home of the Aesir, the major gods. This is where Odin and Thor call home, and may be the battlefield in which Kratos will finally bring the All-Father down.

Vanaheim is the home of the Vanir, the magical gods. This is where Freya once lived, and may be where players will meet her brother, Freyr, and find out more about their past.

Svartalfheim, or Nidavellir, is the home of the dwarves. The blacksmiths Brok and Sindri hail from this realm, and this may be the place to go to find upgrades and weapons capable of slaying the gods.

So, that’s everything I could find from the trailer, but I am sure there is still more waiting to be discovered. The developers have even said that God of War Ragnarök is larger in scope than fans can possibly imagine, and that this trailer shows but a fraction of what they can expect when they get their hands on it this November.

So, will Surtr rise up and destroy Asgard? Will Atreus take command of the Naglfar (a ship built from the fingernails of the dead) and lead the armies of Hel against the chosen dead of Valhalla and Folkvanger? Only time will tell, and, personally, I cannot wait to find out!