God Of War - Norse Mythology and Lore Explained | The Leaderboard

since its premiere in 2005 God of War has given us mythology with a heavy dose of hack-and-slash in the most recent installment Kratos finds himself pitted against the gods of Norse mythology this time with his son by his side but who are the new gods that Kratos has to contend with hi I'm jet-set from the leaderboard and we're going to give you a rundown of all of the Norse mythology in God of War [Music] Freya in God of War Freya first appears as the Witch of the woods she agreed to marry Odin to stop the war between the two factions of gods the acer and the Vanya has Odin's wife she was the warrior queen of the Valkyries and the master of satyr magic Odin picked up one or two things from her when Freya left Odin and fled to Midgard he placed a curse on her preventing her from harming any living creature a prophecy foretold that her son by Odin Balder would be killed leading her to place him under a spell of invulnerability god of War's Freya is a friend to Kratos Anat Reyes she's one of the first people they encounter who recognizes them for the gods they are and she proves a useful companion Freya's magic reanimates me mares head and she heals an injured at Reyes Freya's counterpart in Norse mythology is the goddess associated with love beauty fertility satyr magic war and death to be fair almost every Norse god ends up being associated with war and death she rides in a chariot pulled by two Greek hats when warriors die in battle Freya chooses half of them to go to folk of onder and the other half to go to Valhalla with Odin Balder God of War players will recognize Balder as a tattooed villain who just won't die he's the son of Freya and Odin half-brother to Thor and tear and uncle to Modi and Magni the game makes much of the fact that he's impervious to pain to make things worse he can't handle pleasure because of a spell cast on him by his mother Freya god of War's Balder is a manic restless character who not only brings some serious battles but also shows god's softer side when he pleads with Freya to lift his curse in Norse mythology Balder is the son of Odin and Frigg the best-known story about Balder deals with his death which leads to the beginning of Ragnarok his closest mythological analog is Apollo and he's described as beautiful bright shining and loved by all in the story of his death Balder begins to dream about his demise worried his mother promises that all things on earth will not harm her son except mistletoe low-key tricks Boulder's blind brother Hodor into shooting Balder with a mistletoe arrow killing him some scholars believe our christmas tradition of kissing under mistletoe is about Balder which is not only morbid but fitting given how horrendous holiday parties can get loki if you're watching this video you're probably deep enough in God of War to be immune to spoilers but if you're not turn back we've got a big spoiler coming your way in the form of Loki so it turns out at Reyes is Loki son of the Jochen Fey and Kratos the god of God killing and QuickTime events he's a young boy who's intelligent and compassionate but once he learns of his true nature as a god he gets way cockier it was Fay who taught at Reyes the languages of the nine realms in archery she wanted to name him low-key but Kratos argued against it naming him instead after his friend and fellow Spartan at Reyes he's not especially tricky or prone to lies or disguises but he's still young who knows how much he'll grow into his namesake I don't know about you but sassy got atreya seemed much more like the classic trickster God than the suite at Reyes we met in the beginning of the game Loki's parents are the Giants love fray and fall BOTS see he's referred to as the blood brother of Odin not of Thor Loki is the father of Hell goddess of wealth he'll German gun the world serpent and Fenrir the giant wolf that devours Odin at Ragnarok Loki is a trickster sometimes helping sometimes hurting but always playing by his own rules a trace is not a character in Norse mythology but in Greek mythology he was king of the city-state mycenean he was also the father of agamemnon and menelaus who was married to Helen you know of Troy in Greek his name means fearless god of War's at Reyes is certainly fearless but only time will tell if he embraces his trickster roots Thor Thor in the game is one of the leading antagonists even though he barely appears in the storyline at all Thor is the son of Odin father of Modi'in Magni brother of Baldur and all-around colossal jerk his primary goals are to wipe out Jotunheim and Odin's request thinking without the Giants that the gods can prevent Ragnarok and murder the crap out of Kratos Annette Reyes however he ends up leaving this task to his sons in Norse mythology Thor isn't a blond Adonis he's a ginger but he's the strongest of all the gods and becomes twice as mighty when he wears his magic belt he's the son of Odin and a yatin or giant sometimes called yourhd not only was Thor the ideal warrior but he also was invoked to bless weddings and father's fields he rides a chariot pulled by two goats and if he gets hungry he can kill and eat his goats bless their remains with Mjolnir and resurrect them so they can pull his chariot again Thor was the most popular God among warriors and ordinary people in North Society who often wore a hammer charmed the same way Christians wear a cross me mere in God of War me beer stands as a god of wisdom and knowledge he is Odin's counselor and ambassador he's imprisoned by Odin until Kratos cuts off his head and carries it around with him wherever he goes he claims to be the smartest man on earth so sharp that Balder doesn't believe he doesn't know Kratos his whereabouts Emir had previously advised Odin to marry Freya to end the Aesir von e'er war in-game me Mia is Kratos his sassiest accessory while cruising around the lake of nine he tells at Reyes much better stories than what Kratos was capable of and also plays a key role in interpreting lore that's uncovered throughout the game meme ears uncanny knowledge of the past and seemingly the future makes him an essential member of Kratos as crew the Mamere of Norse myth is slain by the venire because they believe him to be cheating on behalf of the Aesir they sent his head back to the Aesir Odin preserved the head and carried it around with him frequently calling on its wisdom me mere possessed a well that feeds the roots of Yggdrasil the World Tree Odin wanted to drink from the well but me Amir would not allow it perhaps mimir of myth is as sassy as the head in God of War syndra and Brock are two dwarf brothers who forged Kratos as ax Leviathan Sindri is also responsible for creating Thor's hammer Mjolnir the brothers have opposite personalities with Brock being aggressive and crafts while Sindri is nervous and cleaned to the point of obsession many refer to them as the holder brothers a Hall drah is a seductive female forest spirit similar to a nymph or a mermaid so maybe there's a side of the dwarf brothers we haven't seen who's your favorite brother let us know in the comments here at the leaderboard we love Sindri that fastidious little nerd in myth Brock and Sindri also called Brucker and a tree are best known for one story Loki bragged that another clan of dwarfs myths the son of Ivaldi were the best craftsman Brock challenged the sons of Ivaldi to a contest to see which brothers would make the most splendid gifts for the gods if Brock and Sindri won they would receive Loki's head as a reward despite Loki's best effort to sabotage them Brock and Sindri were judged to have created the best gifts but Loki would not let them take his head saying it would damage his neck instead Brock sewed Loki's mouth shut so the trickster couldn't brag of his cleverness Modi and Magni unlike in God of War for where Modi and Magni are Thor's children originally their sons of Odin they first show up with their uncle Balder trying to intimidate me Aamir into revealing to them some important information Magne is boastful and cruel while Modi is crude both sons have power over lightning just like their divine father they are always fighting each other over Thor's hammer Mjolnir but get this it seems that Thor favors Magni over modey modey plays a crucial role in at Rao's development we see at Reyes embracing his godhood by stabbing Modi right in the neck in myth Modi and Magni are the sons of Odin and a giant is called yarn Saxa their names mean brave and great respectively after Ragnarok the end of days Modi and Magni 7he return there but they aren't tremendous players in north mythology otherwise Odin Hugin and muninn while Odin doesn't appear in the game his influence permeates throughout the story Odin is the king of the gods father of Balder tyr and Thor and the one who imprisoned his advisor minier he's bright but also cruel and paranoid his son tears set up traps to keep Odin out of the realm of the Giants knowing his father wanted only to destroy them in return Odin murdered tyr Odin's Ravens are glowing green spies scattered throughout the game and when you killed him you get XP in Norse myth oh D is the ruler of the gods the god of wisdom magic and of course war and death only Freya is more skilled at magic than Odin even though among Germanic people magic was the purview of women it was considered shameful for warriors to be sorcerers many call Odin all-father because he created both the and humankind unlike many gods that are depicted as the peak of physical perfection Odin is missing an eye he plucked it out in exchange for a drink from the Emir's well one drink from the well gave him knowledge of the past present and future instead of sitting in the Hall of Valhalla in Asgard Odin prefers to wander the nine realms to see what's going on with his eye Odin is sometimes called the Raven God the most well known of those Ravens are Huyen and muninn who Ian means thought and while moon and often translates to memory it's more accurate to say desire they are sent out every morning to collect knowledge for Odin tear tear is the son of Odin Thor's brother and boulder's half-brother like Odin and Thor he does not appear in the game but has a prominent role in the story unlike Odin who is feared and distrusted tear is well loved by the people of the nine realms he is very wise and cunning and willing to share his wisdom while Odin keeps it to himself Tyr wanted peace between the Giants and the Aesir unlike his father Odin who only wanted to defeat them the Giants work together to build tears temple one of the central regions you explore in the game from which you can reach the other realms tear is the god of law and justice oh and also war because they didn't already have enough gods of war in some sources he's the son of Odin but in others he's the son of the giant hey Mir he was once the leader of the gods but over time his role was overtaken by Odin and Thor he's often called the bravest of the gods but he's only got one hand as he sacrificed one to the giant wolf Fenrir when the gods tried to bind him nine realms Yggdrasil and the Bifrost in God of War the Bifrost is a device that holds the light of all time using the device you can travel to any of the nine realms which are intertwined with the world tree egg drasil you move an actual physical realm travel bridge using the Bifrost to connect two towers in each of the nine realms only gods could travel via the Bifrost and legend mortals would burn up if they set foot on the Rainbow Bridge but the nine realms are connected by the world tree egg drasil egg Drasil was the tree odin hung from for nine days and nights in return for learning runes the magical writing system of the Vikings it's the most beautiful and most significant of all trees the nine realms at links are Asgard home of the Aesir were the honorable dead rest in Valhalla and folk of anger vanaheim home with a veneer Alfheim home of the lydell's mid the world of humans Tolkien was inspired by this term to call the world middle-earth vital time home of the dwarves and the Dark Elves which are thought by some scholars to be one in the same mu spell hime the realm of fire nifflheim land of ice Jotunheim the land of the giants where meemers well can be found and helheim home of the dishonored dead Fafnir sindri tells you Fafnir is a dwarf he has a storeroom full of treasure including a whetstone syndra wants you later find a chained up dragon that me Amir calls Fafnir when a trance asked why he's a dragon now Mimar answers merely funny how life works in him in myth Fafnir was the son of a dwarf king he was the most reliable and most aggressive of his father's sons so he took up the task of guarding his father's treasure eventually becoming a dragon he ends up slain by the mortal heroes stigand the foster son of his brother regan the story of Fafnir defeat is actually the inspiration for vogner's opera Siegfried world serpent jörmungandr the world serpent can be found encircling Midgard the which tells you he's destined to battle Thor at Ragnarok world serpent scales are an essential item used for upgrading your weapons in God of War you can find the scales around the lake of the night the name of the world serpent is your man gaunt which means Great Beast it's a sea serpent that encircles Midgard the world of humans ancient people believed your Mangan's movements caused earthquakes your manga is the great enemy of Thor during Ragnarok Thor and Yurman God have their showdown and eventually kill each other your man God is the child of Thor's other nemesis Loki and the giantess anger boda Seder Seder is an evil type of magic in the game used by enemies like Reavers and revenants to the ancient Norse say there is a type of magic that focused on learning and changing destiny practitioners would go into a trance and travel outside their bodies through the nine realms to gather information and bend fate sader was a woman's magic and men who practiced it gave up traditional masculine roles in Norse society Freya was the goddess most associated with satyr sorcery but Odin was also quite adept at it Seder was concerned with the Norns three deities analogous to the Greek fates fate was a much looser concept in Norse than Greek mythology and was subject to change at the will of the gods elves and even humans with Kratos moving from Greek to Norse gods it's anyone's guess who's next our vote is for ancient Egypt I'm jet-set and thanks watching our overview of the mythology of God of War did we miss anything comment below and let us know don't forget to click the bell icon to become part of the notification squad and if you like getting more from your games subscribe to the leader board your home for video game facts [Music] you

Channel: The Leaderboard

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Rating: 4.8736877 out of 5

Keywords: god of war, god of war 4, god of war mythology explained, god of war lore, norse mythology, god of war norse mythology, loki, thor, odin, asgard, mimir, midgard, freyr, vanir, baldr, asatru, god of war baldur, god of war loki, god of war 2018, kratos, god of war thor, the mythology behind god of war 4, atreus, norse, norse gods, god of war gameplay, nordic gods, the leaderboard, then vs now, video games

Id: adbsBiWKsFI

Length: 13min 29sec (809 seconds)

Published: Thu May 10 2018