[The Bear's Lair] God of War (2018) and Norse mythology - Vol. 3

In this new appointment with the Bear's Lair, the 34th in this series dedicated to myth in video games, we will continue to analyze the influence of Norse mythology su God of War (2018).

This part of the journey is more human than mythological, in the sense that between one puzzle and another, between one ax and another, we see more and more emerge the paternal side of Kratos, which begins to soften noticeably towards the son. No more chatter and sentimentality: here we have to continue.

The third part of the journey into the mythology of God of War 4

After following the first steps of Kratos and Atreus, and having faced a second stage dedicated to Yggdrasill e alfheim, we are now returning near the Lake of Nine: a stretch of water that hides secret temples, titanic statues and passages towards the Nine Worlds of the Norse myth, as well as a few other little surprises.

Enter Sandman Jörmungandr

Our heroes are once again at the heart of Midgardr, the nexus: the complex of towers, temples and portals that together allow you to reach the other Kingdoms. The voice of the horn echoes in the valley e Kratos, who like a new Dantesque Barbariccia had the cul di Mímir made a trumpet, finds himself in front of the beast we mentioned last week: the cause of the variation of the water level, none other than the good old Jörmungandr in person.

The titanic serpent of the world, so huge and mighty that it can surround the entire Middle Earth, makes its voice thunder again, after having devoured apparently at random a statue of Thor, With whom Jörmungandr has / will / has had (?) an account pending, but this time the dialogue with mimir it comes a little too close to comic relief, but so be it.

Once it is understood that, after all, those tiny bipeds with severed heads in the trailer are not all that friends of the Aesir, the dear Miðgarðsormr realigns the gigantic mechanism of the portals, and moves its immense bulk a little so as to further lower the level of the Lake of Nine, revealing new secrets to the Ghost of Sparta.

But who or what is this huge snake with a powerful voice and unimaginable strength? Freya will tell Kratos that, one fine day, Jörmungandr it simply appeared in the Lake of Nine, to then take up residence there as Guardian of the Tyr temple following a battle with Thor, the god of the storm, which ended with nothing.

Not having clear ideas yet, mimir comes to our aid: it tells us that according to the ancient prophecy on the Ragnarok there will be a second confrontation between Thor and Miðgarðsormr, and the latter will be hit so hard that Yggdrasill will be damaged, and Jörmungandr it will be sent back in time… that is, to the moment of the first encounter with the bearer of Mjollnir. I know, I know, time travel and time paradoxes are always confusing.

Be that as it may, the Miðgarðsormr strangely proves more than helpful with Kratos and above all with Atreus, allowing the trio (two and a little, actually) to even explore his stomach, to recover Mímir's other eye, contained in the statue of Thor bitten by the beast and necessary to continue the journey towards Jötunheim. Hmmm.

A little bit of curiosity about Miðgarðsormr

Even in the Norse myth Jörmungandr it is a huge water snake, large enough to surround the whole Midgardr; just like in God of War (2018) It is one of sons of Loki and the giantess Angrboða, and not only has he already had a confrontation with the god of the storm, but he is also one of the protagonists of the Ragnarok: in the'Edda in Prose a second titanic confrontation with Thor, which will succeed in eliminating the Miðgarðsormr but he will in turn be killed by the poison of Jörmungandr, after taking just nine steps.

Like the Five-Finger Blow Heart Blast Technique Pai Mei, in short, but more badass.

The usual gem of this column: Jörmungandr in many respects recalls the figure of Crono, the grandfather of Kratos. Besides an important link which we will discuss later, in the concluding part, the two have in common the fact that they both swallow the former god of war whole, both are summoned blowing a horn, both cover a key role in their respective stories and both are in between the last remaining elements of his own primordial species.

A detail that shows, in part, the depth of the research of the creators of the game: when we summon Jörmungandr we see a small, apparently insignificant message appearing Eitr imbued. In Norse mythology thePoison it is in essence the primordial broth which is the basis of life, so much so that even Ymir -the first Giant- was born from it, and is secreted by snakes, including Jörmungandr: it is comparable to the venom of snakes.

This is perhaps a foreshadowing of a future clash between Thor e Kratos, Mjollnir against theAx of the Leviathan enhanced by veleno del Miðgarðsormr?

Magni and Modi, sons of Thor

We do not know, since in this chapter of the saga unfortunately we will not be able to see the god of storms, lightning and thunder. But we will meet his children: first Magni, who has the opportunity to taste - quite literally - theAx of the Leviathan, and then Modi. Many times.

After the death of Magni, the poor Modi informs us that now everyone will think that damn hammer (Mjollnir) will only happen to him because his older brother was already dead, while in reality he worked hard to deserve it.

In the meantime, he recalls the scene of POWER, UNLIMITED POWER! by Palpatine, and while there is taunta a Atreus which, in its own small way, alters not a little.

The boy soon collapses to the ground, unconscious, but at that point Dad arrives with one Spartan Rage worthy of the name, e Modi he goes away whimpering and whimpering.

Let's take a little leap forward in history: Atreus it will scrounge badly and, in front of a Modi brutally beaten by his father Thor, who deems him a coward, will completely lose his compass and skewer the poor fellow with a knife forged by Kratos.

The mythological version of Magni and Modi exists, and how if it exists! Even there the two are fThor's son: dalla jötunn Iron scissors ebb Magni, and with another the giant not better identified generated Mood, while with the most famous Sif brought into the world Thrùd.

In Cyberbullying dell 'Poetic Edda both are counted among the survivors of Ragnarok, as well as heirs of the Thor's hammer, but that's not all: their strength is also praised in the myth of Hrungnir.

Born headless and heartless, poor jötunn Collapsed he received stone prostheses, notoriously less performing than brain tissue, and therefore became a bit of a simpleton; Odin invited him into his upstairs room Asgardr, to have fun at his expense and make him a sort of gigantic jester. The Aesir made him drunk with mead, whereupon he took the jötunn the annoying hangover and became violent and quarrelsome.

While the others gods of Asgardr they took it well and had a great time, Thor decided to play the spoilsport and hit with Mjollnir the stone head of Collapsed; in the fight not only the giant's skull was shattered, but also his weapon: a gigantic one whetstone to sharpen, which exploded into a thousand fragments, thus generating all sharpening stones present on Midgardr.

A fragment of this whetstone lodged in the skull of Thor, which moreover was crushed by the enormous size of the corpse of the jötunn. No one was able to move the heavy body to free the god of storms, not even Thor himself - since he too was drunk filthy-; he was rescued by his he son Magni, just three years old, who grabbed him the giant and moved it with ease, while mocking the drunken father.

In God of War (2018) the story is the same, but mimir adds a detail: they were both brothers to save their father, but the credit was attributed only to Magni because he was the blonder of the two. Hence the jealousy of Modi towards Magni.

The highway to Hel-heim

We still remain in the area of family stories: in one of the most touching scenes of the game, in which Kratos appears human and desperate as a mortal father di fronte al sick child, with the help of Freya we find that the only way to cure Atreus from the recurring evil that afflicts him consists in procuring ourselves a rare ingredient, located in the icy kingdom of the underworld: the heart of the Guardian of the Bridge of the Damned.

THEAx of the Leviathan it will be of little use in Helheim, then Kratos recovers its iconic blades, carefully placed in the basement of the cottage he shared with Atreus and Faye.

A vision of Athena it reminds us that no matter how hard we try, we don't escape our past. Kratos, by now become badass also in the dialogues, he replies that he will also be a monster, but he is no longer the monster of Athena.

Brok gets excited, physically, in seeing them Blades of Chaos, and both he and his brother sindri they will put their dwarven paws on it, to improve and enhance them as we continue in the story.

The umpteenth katabasis of Kratos, that is, his descent into the afterlife, does not last long: just enough time to mate the Guardian of the Bridge of the Damned, i.e. the troll Powerful Helson (Hel-son, son of Hel!), To tear out his heart with a delicate surgery and take a look around, and then run back to Freya and from the poor Atreus, sickly and feverish.

It is noteworthy that in Helheim, the Realm of Hel, you don't seem to be the mistress of the house: Whole, daughter of Loki e Angrboða just like Jörmungandr e Fenrir. While the latter are already present in the world, perhaps due to time travel, it appears that Whole it has not yet been given by Odin in the homonymous kingdom, and even that it does not exist yet. Hmmm.

Looking around us a bit, we notice a giant bird who, in the background, observes us placidly; it could be Hræsvelgr,Body swallower which we find in Cyberbullying dell 'Poetic Edda and in Gylfaginning dell 'Edda in prose.

Basically it is one the giant with the habit of transforming into a giant eagle and perching in thenorthern end of the world, waving their own huge wings and generating a strong icy wind.

Notice the similarity with the Lucifer described inInferno by Dante Alighieri: has some huge wings that generate icy winds, swallows bodies of the damned and is stuck toends of the world of the underworld.

The true identity of Atreus - part 1

Let's get back to us: recovered themagic ingredient da Helheim, Kratos come back from Freya, but not before having had a vision of Zeus, which provides the astute mimir the missing clue to associate Kratos al god of war of Greek pantheon, whose exploits evidently reached Scandinavia.

On the other hand the Blades of Chaos, the visions of Athena and the indelible marks on the Spartan's skin might already have provided a fairly accurate indication of his identity.

It is right there divine nature of Ghost of Sparta and the same Atreus to make the boy periodically ill: the divine spark, repressed for too long, comes into conflict with the mortal half (?) of the Spartan's son and Faye / Laufey.

In a sudden twist, Kratos he decides to reveal to his son not only his own divine status, but also his own Atreus; the boy understandably learns the news with enthusiasm and leaves Kratos between bewilderment, worry and some amusement.

Atreus storm of questions the Spartan, in an attempt to try to understand their divine powers, but be it Kratos is mimir they don't get too out of balance. The boy begins to take a rather slippery and dark path: the divinity gives him to the head, in short, despite the repeated calls from his father.

The scene of the Kratos confession it's very touching, as is the delivery of a forged knife from Greek and Scandinavian metals: a symbol that passes by from father to son, and what it smells like rite of passage.

The same Atreus emphasizes this by asking "Am I a man now?" to which Kratos he replies that no, now it is something much greater, as well as much greater are his responsibilities.

If you are in your thirties or older, this passage will probably have struck a chord of your being that you would never have suspected a few years ago.

Grendel, from Beowulf to God of War

After this moment of introspection and exploration of the complex relationship between fathers and sons, which is already difficult when there are no deities and demi-gods involved, the journey resumes: we find ourselves exploring the depths of Tyr temple, now accessible after moving Jörmungandr.

In the crypts of the temple you come across a name that left me perplexed for a moment, before provoking a hint of a smile: overcome traps and puzzles in search of the Black Rune, necessary to pave the way towards Jötunheim, the time comes to confront the Guardian. Indeed, with the Guardians.

Ice Grendel, of the Stone Troll Tribe, e Grendel of the Ashes, of the Fire Troll Tribe, have been placed to guard the Black Rune, in the depths of the Twicked of Tyr. With their elemental powers, and the enormous totem poles they use as clubs and apparently as a spinning top, the two beasts are not very easy to defeat, but Kratos and Atreus in the end they are right about the two trolls.

Ma Grendel is not just any troll: it is the first element of the triad of supernatural adversaries that the legendary B is facing. Do you remember? The monster threatened constantly heroot, the palace of the Danish king Rushing, and so did the Swedish hero B he decided to cross the sea, probably in the Strait of Kattegat (Vikings intensifies), and to undertake the task of freeing the area from the presence of the monster.

The struggle between Beowulf and Grendel represents the archetypal clash between the fearless hero and the evil monster, between St. George and the Dragon, Between good and evil. To face it on an equal footing, and perhaps to deserve the Valhalla, B he strips off his arms and armor, grabs the monster naked as a worm, and tears off his arm with mere brute force. When the Barbarian / Warrior specializes in grapple, in conclusion.

The poor Grendel will go to die in his lair, infuriating his mother, the Merewife, and triggering a cycle of revenge that will culminate with… no, I won't spoil the poem: I suggest you read it yourself.

In addition to this ancient Anglo-Saxon poem, many of the characters in the story also appear in the equally Anglo-Saxon Widsith, as well as in various Scandinavian works such as the The Chronicle of Lethrense, the The Annals of London and Deeds of the Danes; the stories of those same heroes are also narrated in the oldest legendary saga of Hrólfr Kraki and in Saga degli Skjöldungar, not to mention two other works by Snorri sturluson, best known for his Edda in Prose: the Saga degli Ynglingar and Fiction.

Speaking Edda Poetica e in prose: some of the characters we find in the B they are also mentioned in the Gróttasöngr and in Gautrekr saga. In short, the events of that family, so to speak, have fascinated her Scandinavia and the Anglo-Saxon area for about a millennium or more.

The story of God of War 4, on the other hand, she is thrilling us to the point that we will have to dedicate at least one more article to her Bear's Lair which, as always, at this point gives you an appointment for next Wednesday with the fourth part of journey of Kratos in Norse mythology.