Mythology is an important subject for Vikings, and there are cultural depictions of their Gods and Goddesses everywhere. You can expect to see plenty of it in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, where you assume the role of Eivor, as a male or female, who heads a Viking settlement and has to lead raids amongst others throughout the area. Here’s some critical information you should know about Odin and other Nordic Gods.
Odin
Odin is the Allfather in Nordic mythology. He’s associated with wisdom, healing, royalty, death, knowledge, war, battle, and many more things. The Allfather is obsessed with magic, believing it to be the gateway to understanding everything, and even preventing Ragnarok, the end of everything, and the birth of something new. He was so obsessed with knowledge, he hung himself from the branch of Yggdrasil, the World Tree, and stared down into the pool below it for nine days and nights. He even gave his eye up to Mimir to drink from the Well of Urg, granting him further knowledge.
We briefly see Odin in the Valhalla trailer when the main character Eivor looks to a tree during a battle and sees a hooded old man. The man disappears, and later becomes a raven, Odin’s animal symbol as he regularly transformed into one to spy on others and used traditional ravens to serve as his spies.
Thor
Thor, son of Odin, was the God of Thunder and Lightning. Notably, he carried an incredibly powerful hammer called Mjölnir into battle. While Thor was the God of Thunder and Lightning, he was often seen as Odin’s enforcer, endlessly fighting and destroying Odin’s enemies through Nordic mythology. Many Vikings called to him for protection before combat, and to lead their weapon to victory. It is said that when Ragnarok comes, he and the world snake, Jörmungandr, will do battle with neither of them winning, and both falling at the end.
Loki
Loki was the trickster God. He was capable of changing his appearance and sex to appeal to those he was attempting to trick. He was the focal point of many problems in Nordic mythology, such as starting the events of Ragnarok, where he tricked the blind God Höd to use a mistletoe arrow against the God of Light, Baldr, killing him. He had many children, three of them instrumental in Ragnarok: Fenrir, Hel, and Jörmungandr. While we only see Odin in the trailer, we might expect to see a little bit of Loki in the story because of his popularity.
Tyr
Tyr was the God of War in Nordic mythology, but he was also the God of Law, Justice, and Honor. He was the most loyal and trustworthy God among those in Nordic mythology. When Odin and the other Gods were attempting to bind Fenrir to a mountain using unbreakable chains to prevent Ragnarok, he placed his right hand into Fenrir’s mouth to prove they were not lying to bind the great wolf. When Fenrir realized this was not true, he ate Tyr’s right hand, who kept it in place.
Freyja
Freyja, also commonly referred to as Freya, was the Norse Goddess of love, fertility, death, and battle. It was said that Freya would arrive at a battle at the end to lead at least half of those who had fallen in battle to her hall Fólkvangar, and Odin took the other half to Valhalla. She is often sought after by many Gods to make her their wife, but she as a singular husband, Óðr, who is often missing in Norse mythology, and she is consistently depicted as searching for him.
Hel
Hel was the ruler of the Underworld and the Goddess of Death. She had two halves, where one body was that of a beautiful woman, and the other half was that of a decaying corpse. She judges all who come through her halls, and judgments both mortal and God when they arrive. After Baldr’s death, Hel kept him there, despite the pleas from Odin’s wife, Frigg.
Vidar
Vidar was the God of Vengeance, due to how he was foretold to avenge Odin’s death during Ragnarok by slaying the fearsome wolf, Fenrir. Little is known about Vidar, but he is one of the few Gods in Norse mythology who survives Ragnarok. He is also known as the “silent” God and is almost as powerful as Thor.
