Misplaced Pages

#261738

52-439: Inspired by Nordic mythology , Northgard is a real-time strategy game where a Viking clan tries to take control over a wild continent. The game contains both single-player and multi-player modes, as well as a story-based campaign, with missions of increasing difficulty and complexity. Each map is divided into different regions, with each containing special resources such as iron and stone. Each region, however, can only support

104-455: A female being of the same name , may be ferried away by valkyries to Odin's martial hall Valhalla , or may be chosen by the goddess Freyja to dwell in her field Fólkvangr . The goddess Rán may claim those that die at sea, and the goddess Gefjon is said to be attended by virgins upon their death. Texts also make reference to reincarnation . Time itself is presented between cyclic and linear, and some scholars have argued that cyclic time

156-506: A fixed number of buildings. The game features dynamic seasons. For instance, farms will stop producing food during winter, while the consumption of wood will significantly increase during the same period. In the story, the player plays as Rig, a prince who seeks to avenge the death of his father the High King at the hands of Hagen, the ruthless leader of Clan of the Raven. The young prince will sail to

208-618: A fundamental belief in cyclic time . According to scholar John Lindow , "the cosmos might be formed and reformed on multiple occasions by the rising sea." Drawing in part on various eddic poems, the Gylfaginning section of the Prose Edda contains an account of the development and creation of the cosmos: long before the Earth came to be, there existed the bright and flaming place called Muspell —a location so hot that foreigners may not enter it—and

260-468: A male entity, Máni (Old Norse 'moon'); and the Earth too is personified ( Jörð , Old Norse 'earth'). Night appears personified as the female jötunn Nótt (Old Norse 'night'); day is personified as Dagr (Old Norse 'day'); and Dagr's father, the god Dellingr (Old Norse 'shining'), may in some manner personify the dawn . Bodies of water also receive personification, such as the goddess Rán , her jötunn husband Ægir , and their wave-maiden children,

312-463: A region in the center of the cosmos. Outside of the gods, humanity, and the jötnar, these Nine Worlds are inhabited by beings, such as elves and dwarfs . Travel between the worlds is frequently recounted in the myths, where the gods and other beings may interact directly with humanity. Numerous creatures live on Yggdrasil, such as the insulting messenger squirrel Ratatoskr and the perching hawk Veðrfölnir . The tree itself has three major roots, and at

364-586: A religious context among adherents of Germanic Neopaganism . The historical religion of the Norse people is commonly referred to as Norse mythology . Other terms are Scandinavian mythology , North Germanic mythology or Nordic mythology . Norse mythology is primarily attested in dialects of Old Norse , a North Germanic language spoken by the Scandinavian people during the European Middle Ages and

416-498: A second and final mention in the Poetic Edda in stanza 43 of the poem Vafþrúðnismál , where the wise jötunn Vafþrúðnir engages in a deadly battle of wits with the disguised god Odin: Vafthruthnir spake : "Of the runes of the gods and the giants' race The truth indeed can I tell, (For to every world have I won;) To nine worlds came I, to Niflhel beneath, The home where dead men dwell." Vafthrudnir said: "I can tell you

468-496: Is Njörðr's unnamed sister (her name is unprovided in the source material). However, there is more information about his pairing with the skiing and hunting goddess Skaði . Their relationship is ill-fated, as Skaði cannot stand to be away from her beloved mountains, nor Njörðr from the seashore. Together, Freyja, Freyr, and Njörðr form a portion of gods known as the Vanir . While the Aesir and

520-525: Is a surprising, elegant RTS that's laden with a very dull story." Writing for Rock, Paper, Shotgun , Max Cox wrote that Northgard was "easy to pick up but difficult to master", and one of the best real-time strategy games he had played. The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Northgard for " Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year " at the 22nd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards . Nordic mythology Norse , Nordic , or Scandinavian mythology ,

572-523: Is engineered by Loki , and Baldr thereafter resides in Hel , a realm ruled over by an entity of the same name . Odin must share half of his share of the dead with a powerful goddess, Freyja . She is beautiful, sensual, wears a feathered cloak, and practices seiðr . She rides to battle to choose among the slain and brings her chosen to her afterlife field Fólkvangr . Freyja weeps for her missing husband Óðr and seeks after him in faraway lands. Freyja's brother,

SECTION 10

#1733085810262

624-596: Is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples , stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The northernmost extension of Germanic mythology and stemming from Proto-Germanic folklore , Norse mythology consists of tales of various deities, beings, and heroes derived from numerous sources from both before and after

676-516: Is those who die of sickness or old age. The Old Norse corpus does not clearly list the Nine Worlds, if it provides them at all. However, some scholars have proposed identifications for the nine. For example, Henry Adams Bellows (1923) says that the Nine Worlds consist of Ásgarðr , Vanaheimr , Álfheimr , Miðgarðr , Jötunheimr , Múspellsheimr , Svartálfaheimr , Niflheimr (sometimes Hel ), and perhaps Niðavellir . Some editions of translations of

728-732: The Poetic Edda , a collection of poems compiled in the 13th century, and the Prose Edda , authored by Icelander Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century. Together these sources depict an image of Nine Worlds around a cosmic tree, Yggdrasil . Concepts of time and space play a major role in the Old Norse corpus's presentation of Norse cosmology. While events in Norse mythology describe a somewhat linear progression, various scholars in ancient Germanic studies note that Old Norse texts may imply or directly describe

780-476: The Poetic Edda , a collection of poems from earlier traditional material anonymously compiled in the 13th century. The Prose Edda was composed as a prose manual for producing skaldic poetry—traditional Old Norse poetry composed by skalds . Originally composed and transmitted orally, skaldic poetry utilizes alliterative verse , kennings , and several metrical forms. The Prose Edda presents numerous examples of works by various skalds from before and after

832-498: The Nine Daughters of Ægir and Rán . Yggdrasil is a tree central to the Norse concept of the cosmos. The tree's branches extend into various realms, and various creatures dwell on and around it. The gods go to Yggdrasil daily to assemble at their things, traditional governing assemblies . The branches of Yggdrasil extend far into the heavens, and the tree is supported by three roots that extend far away into other locations; one to

884-494: The Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda feature illustrations of what the author or artist suspects the Nine Worlds to be in part based on the Völuspá stanza above. Ask and Embla—male and female respectively—were the first two humans, created by the gods from driftwood they encounter on a shore. The gods who form these first humans vary by source: According to the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá , they are Hœnir, Lóðurr and Odin, whereas in

936-560: The 13th century by Snorri and Gesta Danorum , composed in Latin by Saxo Grammaticus in Denmark in the 12th century, are the results of heavy amounts of euhemerization. Numerous additional texts, such as the sagas , provide further information. The saga corpus consists of thousands of tales recorded in Old Norse ranging from Icelandic family histories ( Sagas of Icelanders ) to Migration period tales mentioning historic figures such as Attila

988-687: The Christianization process and also frequently refers back to the poems found in the Poetic Edda . The Poetic Edda consists almost entirely of poems, with some prose narrative added, and this poetry— Eddic poetry—utilizes fewer kennings . In comparison to skaldic poetry, Eddic poetry is relatively unadorned. The Prose Edda features layers of euhemerization , a process in which deities and supernatural beings are presented as having been either actual, magic-wielding human beings who have been deified in time or beings demonized by way of Christian mythology . Texts such as Heimskringla , composed in

1040-601: The Hun ( legendary sagas ). Objects and monuments such as the Rök runestone and the Kvinneby amulet feature runic inscriptions —texts written in the runic alphabet , the indigenous alphabet of the Germanic peoples —that mention figures and events from Norse mythology. Objects from the archaeological record may also be interpreted as depictions of subjects from Norse mythology, such as amulets of

1092-435: The Nine Worlds surround the tree Yggdrasil. As recalled by a dead völva in the poem: I remember yet the giants of yore, Who gave me bread in the days gone by; Nine worlds I knew, the nine in the tree With mighty roots beneath the mold. I recall being reared by Jotuns, in days long gone. If I look back, I recall nine worlds, nine wood-witches, that renowned tree of fate below the earth. The Nine Worlds receive

SECTION 20

#1733085810262

1144-647: The Norwegian woman Ragnhild Tregagås —convicted of witchcraft in Norway in the 14th century—and spells found in the 17th century Icelandic Galdrabók grimoire also sometimes make references to Norse mythology. Other traces, such as place names bearing the names of gods may provide further information about deities, such as a potential association between deities based on the placement of locations bearing their names, their local popularity, and associations with geological features. Central to accounts of Norse mythology are

1196-542: The Vanir retain distinct identification, they came together as the result of the Aesir–Vanir War . While they receive less mention, numerous other gods and goddesses appear in the source material. (For a list of these deities, see List of Germanic deities .) Some of the gods heard less of include the apple-bearing goddess Iðunn and her husband, the skaldic god Bragi ; the gold-toothed god Heimdallr , born of nine mothers ;

1248-532: The ancestor of modern Scandinavian languages . The majority of these Old Norse texts were created in Iceland , where the oral tradition stemming from the pre-Christian inhabitants of the island was collected and recorded in manuscripts. This occurred primarily in the 13th century. These texts include the Prose Edda , composed in the 13th century by the Icelandic scholar, lawspeaker , and historian Snorri Sturluson , and

1300-712: The ancient god Týr , who lost his right hand while binding the great wolf Fenrir ; and the goddess Gefjon , who formed modern-day Zealand , Denmark . Various beings outside of the gods are mentioned. Elves and dwarfs are commonly mentioned and appear to be connected, but their attributes are vague and the relation between the two is ambiguous. Elves are described as radiant and beautiful, whereas dwarfs often act as earthen smiths. A group of beings variously described as jötnar , thursar , and trolls (in English these are all often glossed as " giants ") frequently appear. These beings may either aid, deter, or take their place among

1352-567: The base of one of these roots live the Norns , female entities associated with fate. Elements of the cosmos are personified, such as the Sun ( Sól , a goddess), the Moon ( Máni , a god), and Earth ( Jörð , a goddess), as well as units of time, such as day ( Dagr , a god) and night ( Nótt , a jötunn). The afterlife is a complex matter in Norse mythology. The dead may go to the murky realm of Hel —a realm ruled over by

1404-504: The center of Ginnungagap and carved it. They made the earth from Ymir's flesh; the rocks from his bones; from his blood the sea, lakes, and oceans; and scree and stone from his molars, teeth, and remaining bone fragments. They surrounded the earth's lands with sea, forming a circle. From Ymir's skull they made the sky, which they placed above the earth in four points, each held by a dwarf ( Norðri, Suðri, Austri and Vestri —Old Norse 'north, south, east, and west', respectively). After forming

1456-486: The cosmological tree Yggdrasil to gain knowledge of the runic alphabet, which he passed on to humanity, and is associated closely with death, wisdom, and poetry. Odin is portrayed as the ruler of Asgard , and leader of the Aesir . Odin's wife is the powerful goddess Frigg who can see the future but tells no one, and together they have a beloved son, Baldr . After a series of dreams had by Baldr of his impending death, his death

1508-433: The course of three days, she licked free a beautiful and strong man, Búri . Búri's son Borr married a jötunn named Bestla , and the two had three sons: the gods Odin , Vili and Vé . The sons killed Ymir, and Ymir's blood poured across the land, producing great floods that killed all of the jötnar but two ( Bergelmir and his unnamed wife, who sailed across the flooded landscape). Odin, Vili, and Vé took Ymir's corpse to

1560-402: The dome of the Earth, the brothers Odin , Vili and Vé took sparks of light from Muspell and placed them around the Earth, both above and below. Some remained fixed and others moved through the sky in predetermined courses. The trio provided land for the jötnar to leave by the sea. Using Ymir's eyelashes, the trio built a fortification around the center of the landmass to contain the hostility of

1612-399: The events of Ragnarök when an immense battle occurs between the gods and their enemies, and the world is enveloped in flames, only to be reborn anew. There the surviving gods will meet, and the land will be fertile and green, and two humans will repopulate the world. Norse mythology has been the subject of scholarly discourse since the 17th century when key texts attracted the attention of

Northgard - Misplaced Pages Continue

1664-450: The foggy land of Niflheim . In Niflheim was a spring, Hvergelmir , and from it flow numerous rivers. Together these rivers, known as Élivágar, flowed further and further from their source. Eventually the poisonous substance within the flow came to harden and turn to ice. When the flow became entirely solid, a poisonous vapor rose from the ice and solidified into rime atop the solid river. These thick ice layers grew, in time spreading across

1716-643: The form of three gifts. After the cataclysm of Ragnarok, this process is mirrored in the survival of two humans from a wood; Líf and Lífþrasir . From these two humankind is foretold to repopulate the new and green earth. Norse cosmology Norse cosmology is the account of the universe and its laws by the ancient North Germanic peoples . The topic encompasses concepts from Norse mythology and Old Norse religion such as notations of time and space, cosmogony , personifications , anthropogeny , and eschatology . Like other aspects of Norse mythology, these concepts are primarily recorded from earlier oral sources in

1768-569: The game by releasing several downloadable content packs, including one based on Ragnarok in October 2018. The game received generally positive reviews upon release, according to review aggregator Metacritic . Fraser Brown from PC Gamer compared the game favourably to the Age of Empires series and The Settlers series. He liked the unique gameplay systems, though he found the story to be uncompelling. He concluded his review by saying that " Northgard

1820-486: The god Freyr , is also frequently mentioned in surviving texts, and in his association with the weather, royalty, human sexuality, and agriculture brings peace and pleasure to humanity. Deeply lovesick after catching sight of the beautiful jötunn Gerðr , Freyr seeks and wins her love, yet at the price of his future doom. Their father is the powerful god Njörðr . Njörðr is strongly associated with ships and seafaring, and so also wealth and prosperity. Freyja and Freyr's mother

1872-488: The god Thor's hammer Mjölnir found among pagan burials and small silver female figures interpreted as valkyries or dísir , beings associated with war, fate or ancestor cults. By way of historical linguistics and comparative mythology , comparisons to other attested branches of Germanic mythology (such as the Old High German Merseburg Incantations ) may also lend insight. Wider comparisons to

1924-453: The gods. The Norns , dísir , and aforementioned valkyries also receive frequent mention. While their functions and roles may overlap and differ, all are collective female beings associated with fate. In Norse cosmology , all beings live in Nine Worlds that center around the cosmological tree Yggdrasil . The gods inhabit the heavenly realm of Asgard whereas humanity inhabits Midgard ,

1976-411: The gods. The cosmos in Norse mythology consists of Nine Worlds that flank a central sacred tree , Yggdrasil . Units of time and elements of the cosmology are personified as deities or beings. Various forms of a creation myth are recounted, where the world is created from the flesh of the primordial being Ymir , and the first two humans are Ask and Embla . These worlds are foretold to be reborn after

2028-504: The intellectual circles of Europe. By way of comparative mythology and historical linguistics , scholars have identified elements of Germanic mythology reaching as far back as Proto-Indo-European mythology . During the modern period, the Romanticist Viking revival re-awoke an interest in the subject matter, and references to Norse mythology may now be found throughout modern popular culture . The myths have further been revived in

2080-470: The island of Northgard to fulfill its mission, and in the process it will meet other clans and creatures. At launch, the game features eleven missions. There are four victory conditions for the game's standard play mode, which allows players to combat other clans, controlled either by artificial intelligence or other human players. The game was first announced by developer Shiro Games in August 2016. Northgard

2132-447: The jötnar. They called this fortification Miðgarðr (Old Norse 'central enclosure'). Finally, from Ymir's brains, they formed the clouds. From Ymir's eyebrows they crafted a stronghold named Midgard . When they were walking along the seashore, they found two trees and shaped humans of them. Odin gave them spirit and life, Vili gave them wit and feeling, and Vé gave them form, speech, hearing, and sight. They gave them clothing and names:

Northgard - Misplaced Pages Continue

2184-429: The liquid melted and dropped, and this mixture formed the primordial being Ymir , the ancestor of all jötnar . Ymir sweated while sleeping. From his left arm grew a male and female jötunn, "and one of his legs begot a son with another", and these limbs too produced children. Ymir fed from rivers of milk that flowed from the teats of the primordial cow, Auðumbla . Auðumbla fed from salt she licked from rime stones. Over

2236-463: The man was called Askr, and the woman Embla. They were the ancestors of mankind who lived in Midgard. The brothers made for themselves in the middle of the world a city called Asgard , where the gods lived. Personifications, such as those of astronomical objects , time , and water bodies occur in Norse mythology. The Sun is personified as a goddess, Sól (Old Norse 'Sun'); the moon is personified as

2288-457: The mythology of other Indo-European peoples by scholars has resulted in the potential reconstruction of far earlier myths. Only a tiny amount of poems and tales survive of the many mythical tales and poems that are presumed to have existed during the Middle Ages, Viking Age, Migration Period, and before. Later sources reaching into the modern period, such as a medieval charm recorded as used by

2340-436: The mythology, Thor lays waste to numerous jötnar who are foes to the gods or humanity, and is wed to the beautiful, golden-haired goddess Sif . The god Odin is also frequently mentioned in surviving texts. One-eyed, wolf - and raven -flanked, with a spear in hand, Odin pursues knowledge throughout the nine realms. In an act of self-sacrifice, Odin is described as having hanged himself upside-down for nine days and nights on

2392-471: The pagan period, including medieval manuscripts, archaeological representations, and folk tradition. The source texts mention numerous gods such as the thunder-god Thor , the raven -flanked god Odin , the goddess Freyja , and numerous other deities . Most of the surviving mythology centers on the plights of the gods and their interaction with several other beings, such as humanity and the jötnar , beings who may be friends, lovers, foes, or family members of

2444-592: The plights of the gods and their interaction with various other beings, such as with the jötnar , who may be friends, lovers, foes, or family members of the gods. Numerous gods are mentioned in the source texts. As evidenced by records of personal names and place names, the most popular god among the Scandinavians during the Viking Age was Thor the thunder god , who is portrayed as unrelentingly pursuing his foes, his mountain-crushing, thunderous hammer Mjölnir in hand. In

2496-608: The true secrets of the Jotun and all the gods because I've journeyed into all of the nine worlds below Niflhel Where the dead dwell below Hel." The Nine Worlds receive a single mention in the Prose Edda , occurring section 34 of the Gylfaginning portion of the book. The section describes how Odin threw Loki 's daughter Hel into the underworld , and granted her power over all Nine Worlds: Hel he threw into Niflheim and gave her authority over nine worlds, such that she has to administer board and lodging to those sent to her, and that

2548-406: The void of Ginnungagap . The northern region of Ginnungagap continued to fill with weight from the growing substance and its accompanying blowing vapor, yet the southern portion of Ginnungagap remained clear due to its proximity to the sparks and flames of Muspell. Between Niflheim and Muspell, ice and fire, was a placid location, "as mild as a windless sky". When the rime and the blowing heat met,

2600-471: The well Urðarbrunnr in the heavens, one to the spring Hvergelmir , and another to the well Mímisbrunnr . Creatures live within Yggdrasil, including the dragon Níðhöggr , an unnamed eagle , and the stags Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór . Old Norse texts mention the existence of Níu Heimar , translated by scholars as "Nine Worlds". According to the second stanza of the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá ,

2652-482: Was released via Steam 's early access program on February 22, 2017. It was released in full for Windows PC on 7 March 2018. Console versions followed with releases on the Xbox One on 24 September 2019, Nintendo Switch on 26 September 2019, and PlayStation 4 on 3 October 2019. Mobile versions were released for iOS devices on 13 April 2021, and Android devices on 23 August. Following the game's release, Shiro supported

SECTION 50

#1733085810262

2704-425: Was the original format for the mythology. Various forms of a cosmological creation story are provided in Icelandic sources, and references to a future destruction and rebirth of the world— Ragnarok —are frequently mentioned in some texts. According to the Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda poem, Völuspá , the first human couple consisted of Ask and Embla ; driftwood found by a trio of gods and imbued with life in

#261738