Guild wars 2 and norse Mythology

Guild wars 2 and norse Mythology

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Posted by: saventis.1485

saventis.1485

so i finally notice the similarity’s
they are so obvious and glaring to me now

Yggdrasil =the pale tree
Jormungand= means great beast is also called the midgaurd serpent known to be a serpent or dragon hes said to have been thrown into the great ocean that encircles midgaurd (i think this great encircling ocian may be ley lines and why the keep referring to them as streams and rivers)
Hes meant to have grown so big he encircled the earth and have grasped his own tale ( i liken this to the elder dragons except the encircle the word in a different way) and is said to end the word when he releases his tail

does anyone else have any similarity’s?
maybe we could work out what happens with the rest of the story just by looking at some old Norse ones

(edited by saventis.1485)

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Posted by: Wanderer.3248

Wanderer.3248

Jotun is a Norse word for giant. (Although the GW2 Jotun aren’t much like Norse giants).

There are also differences – the Norn have an animistic religion, which is definitely not Norse.

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Posted by: Wanderer.3248

Wanderer.3248

In another myth, when one of the Gods (Thor) kills the midguard serpent, the world ends, and all the Gods and Giants die. Only the Vanir (Elves), survive.

Edit: the Aesir die and the Vanir survive, my bad.

(edited by Wanderer.3248)

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Posted by: saventis.1485

saventis.1485

true
i noticed that one too heh
but like the universe as a whole is very similar
i think there were like 9 “worlds” or realms or dimensions
the pantheon of gods
the world surrounded by a giant dragon
The idea of an enormous “tree of life”
when the dragon wakes up and releases its tail the world would end
the gods interacting with mortals(tho this is true of most religions)

thats all i can think of off the top of my head

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Posted by: saventis.1485

saventis.1485

In another myth, when one of the Gods (Thor) kills the midguard serpent, the world ends, and all the Gods and Giants die. Only the Aesir (Elves), survive.

heh who are the elves?
the sylvari? or asura?

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Posted by: Konig Des Todes.2086

Konig Des Todes.2086

Norn and norn-related stuff have influence from norse mythos. This was even heavier in Eye of the North.

Sylvari and sylvari-related stuff have influence from Celtic and Arthurian mythos.

Charr and charr-related stuff have influence from Greek and Roman cultures (but not mythos), charr history having influence from Mongolian culture and history.

Asura hold some influence from latin, particularly in their city naming and the Elder Dragon they contended with (Primordus). One can also find Mesoamerican influences amongst their architecture.

Humans take from a myriad of different cultures, depending on the nationality of the human. Orr takes from Arabic (as do Largos), while Vabbians appear to have more Persian influences, Ascalonians being more medieval northern European, etc. etc.

Each of the minor races tend to take influence from a specific culture or mythos as well – though some like krait don’t seem to take from any culture or mythos. Hylek take from Mesoamerican (Aztec, Miyan, Incan) for example.

Trees being literal doorways to other worlds, especially white oak trees (which the Pale Tree is per The Movement of the World) was a common theme in Celtic mythos, and they often served as home to lower gods such as the Fae (now commonly called faries – but don’t let Tinkerbell fool you, Celtic Fae were no kind beings). This is tied to the sylvari in the Pale Tree being a metaphorical doorway into the Dream. The Nightmare Court were also inspired by the Unseelie Court – basically downright evil Fae who opposed the Seelie Court (I am dumbing it down greatly).

In another myth, when one of the Gods (Thor) kills the midguard serpent, the world ends, and all the Gods and Giants die. Only the Aesir (Elves), survive.

That’s rather off from how I’ve read it.

Thor and Jormungandr face off during Ragnarok – which the final battle between the Aesir (the Asgardian gods) and the forces of Sutr and Loki and Loki’s children (Hel, Fenrir, and Jormungandr). During said final battle, Odin was consumed by Fenrir, and Thor and Jormungandr kill each other in battle (Thor killed Jormungandr but the poison from the midgard serpent ended up killing Thor shortly after). Near the end of the battle, Sutr with his flaming greatsword burned all existence, leaving only the Yggdrasil untouched. With suspect of tampering by Christian monks, the story then goes on to say that all that survived the battle were two humans, a male and a female, that took shelter in the boughs of Yggdrasil.

Again, this is a fairly brief summary and skips over a lot. And it should be noted that there will be variances depending on who translated the texts. There’s seldom a word-for-word transcription, and there’s often cases of the translator embellishing the tales to make them flow better while still staying to the original mythos.

The elves were not the Aesir, but were the third group of societies living on the highest of the three planes (there were 9 worlds/realms, but 3 planes in which these worlds existed on, each plane having 3 worlds; the highest plane was home to the elves, the Aesir, and the Vanir; the middle plane was home to humans, jotun, and dwarves (aka dark elves – they were one and the same in norse mythology); and the lowest plane was home to Hel and those who died of sickness and old age).

Dear ANet writers,
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.

(edited by Konig Des Todes.2086)

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Posted by: saventis.1485

saventis.1485

Norn and norn-related stuff have influence from norse mythos. This was even heavier in Eye of the North.

Sylvari and sylvari-related stuff have influence from Celtic and Arthurian mythos.

Charr and charr-related stuff have influence from Greek and Roman cultures (but not mythos), charr history having influence from Mongolian culture and history.

Asura hold some influence from latin, particularly in their city naming and the Elder Dragon they contended with (Primordus). One can also find Mesoamerican influences amongst their architecture.

Humans take from a myriad of different cultures, depending on the nationality of the human. Orr takes from Arabic (as do Largos), while Vabbians appear to have more Persian influences, Ascalonians being more medieval northern European, etc. etc.

Each of the minor races tend to take influence from a specific culture or mythos as well – though some like krait don’t seem to take from any culture or mythos. Hylek take from Mesoamerican (Aztec, Miyan, Incan) for example.

Trees being literal doorways to other worlds, especially white oak trees (which the Pale Tree is per The Movement of the World) was a common theme in Celtic mythos, and they often served as home to lower gods such as the Fae (now commonly called faries – but don’t let Tinkerbell fool you, Celtic Fae were no kind beings). This is tied to the sylvari in the Pale Tree being a metaphorical doorway into the Dream. The Nightmare Court were also inspired by the Unseelie Court – basically downright evil Fae who opposed the Seelie Court (I am dumbing it down greatly).

In another myth, when one of the Gods (Thor) kills the midguard serpent, the world ends, and all the Gods and Giants die. Only the Aesir (Elves), survive.

That’s rather off from how I’ve read it.

Thor and Jormungandr face off during Ragnarok – which the final battle between the Aesir (the Asgardian gods) and the forces of Sutr and Loki and Loki’s children (Hel, Fenrir, and Jormungandr). During said final battle, Odin was consumed by Fenrir, and Thor and Jormungandr kill each other in battle (Thor killed Jormungandr but the poison from the midgard serpent ended up killing Thor shortly after). Near the end of the battle, Sutr with his flaming greatsword burned all existence, leaving only the Yggdrasil untouched. With suspect of tampering by Christian monks, the story then goes on to say that all that survived the battle were two humans, a male and a female, that took shelter in the boughs of Yggdrasil.

Again, this is a fairly brief summary and skips over a lot. And it should be noted that there will be variances depending on who translated the texts. There’s seldom a word-for-word transcription, and there’s often cases of the translator embellishing the tales to make them flow better while still staying to the original mythos.

The elves were not the Aesir, but were the third group of societies living on the highest of the three planes (there were 9 worlds/realms, but 3 planes in which these worlds existed on, each plane having 3 worlds; the highest plane was home to the elves, the Aesir, and the Vanir; the middle plane was home to humans, jotun, and dwarves (aka dark elves – they were one and the same in norse mythology); and the lowest plane was home to Hel and those who died of sickness and old age).

I cant believe i didnt see the sylvari being influenced that way
i mean now you mention the fairy court (seelie? no idea how to spell sorry) it seems so obvious (lucky i actually do know a bit about the fey and such heh)

and you could say that the char take the greek mythos however the worship the titans rather than the gods? yes? maybe?

… yea i thought wanderer’s story seemed a little off.
i mean i dont know enough about the subject to discount it
but yea just didnt seem right heh

well if you do read this are there many parellels we can draw from these religions that could perhaps lead us to some answers about the story? or are there just to many?

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Posted by: Konig Des Todes.2086

Konig Des Todes.2086

Charr worshiping titans was established long before they had obtained any Greco-Roman ties in their culture, and before they even had much in the way of Mongolian influences either. ArenaNet used that just to flesh them out for GW2 alone. And the titans have held no connection to the Greek mythos Titans aside from name and being primordial forces (by GW1’s standards).

ArenaNet tends to only go to historical cultures and myths just to flesh out their racial cultures and establish a naming scheme. I can’t really say there was ever a point that the plot was influenced – heavily or otherwise – by said myths and cultures, at least beyond the dwarves turning to stone (in Norse mythos, dwarves would turn to stone if they were touched by sunlight; unlike in GW2, this killed them) but that’s a very loose connection, in all honesty.

I wouldn’t take much in the way of mythology to find out where ArenaNet’s going. Half the time – and ever increasing – I’m not really sure they know where they’re going.

Dear ANet writers,
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.

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Posted by: saventis.1485

saventis.1485

hmmm okay good to know and yea the primordial forces and they were called titans was the only reason i thought about it

yea i know i was hoping there may be some way to tell if they had a plan

i mean i think they do
i have faith
i have to
otherwise i will have to leave the world i love so much

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Posted by: dace.8019

dace.8019

The game is full of fantasy tropes, which were in their turn fuelled by Norse, Celtic, Greek & Roman and so on.

It’s right to say that there’s similarities but in alot of cases these stories mainly give form or theme to these items and don’t necessarily ascribe a kind of narrative destiny that fulfils the tale they’re based on.

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Posted by: CureForLiving.5360

CureForLiving.5360

In another myth, when one of the Gods (Thor) kills the midguard serpent, the world ends, and all the Gods and Giants die. Only the Aesir (Elves), survive.

Aesir aren’t elves, since elves originate in Norse mythology elves are elves. Trolls might be dwarves though… Well it’s important to remember that most of Norse Mythology was captured during the 12th century well into the Christianizing of Europe (so accurately is iffy).

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Posted by: Stooperdale.3560

Stooperdale.3560

I believe the Aesir and Vanir were the two families/tribes that were the Norse Gods.

As with the Arthurian legends, modern portrayals of the Norse legends always make changes that obscure the original source, but this has been going on for a thousand years so what we consider to be an early source will itself be an interpretation.

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Posted by: Rym.1469

Rym.1469

Slavic mythology could be a very interesting addition to the game tbh. It’s far less about said “myths” but features everything in everyday’s life as it was often an explanation of new experiences, sins and cover for lies.

The “grand tree” thing can be also linked a little bit to the role that Oak had in german myths.

[rude]Antagonistka – Revenant, EU.
[SALT]Natchniony – Necromancer, EU.
Streams: http://www.twitch.tv/rym144

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Posted by: Neilos Tyrhanos.5427

Neilos Tyrhanos.5427

In another myth, when one of the Gods (Thor) kills the midguard serpent, the world ends, and all the Gods and Giants die. Only the Aesir (Elves), survive.

Just a note; the Aesir were not Elves, but the primary group of Norse deities (those kittenided in Asgard). The Elves were the Alfr and Svartalfr (“dark elves”, often seen as dwarfs). A small number of humans were supposed to survive Ragnarok, either taking refuge in the branches of Yggdrasil or, alternatively, in three surviving fortresses.

(edited by Neilos Tyrhanos.5427)

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Posted by: saventis.1485

saventis.1485

i guess i just have a love of the norse mythos after reading a book called rune marker(suggest u read it)

i guess im finding similaritys because religious stories often have alot of similaritys
however lets not get in a religious debate please… i get kinda arguey on that subject( guess im to opinionated) heh