Góðan Daginn Vikings!
Sit back and prick up your ears, warriors! The tale you are about to hear is so bloody, heroic, and terrifying that some call it unbelievable. Oh… but it happened. In today’s devblog, we will present you the history of the Old World and Ragnarok that led to its end. However, do not be afraid, as every legend, even the darkest one, has a spark of light in it… and this very spark gave rise to the New World known as Gimle.
Ragnarok
According to the prophecy, Ragnarok had to be preceded by three important events:
• Death of Baldur – the god of goodness, beauty and wisdom
• The birth of the three children of Loki and Angrboða: dreadful wolf Fenrir, a giant snake entwining Midgard named Jörmungandr, and goddess of the dishonorable dead – Hel
• A three-year winter called Fimbulvinter, which was to be the harshest winters ever seen
The character we’ll start our story with is Loki, a Jötunn, once counted among the Aesir as the god of deception and mischief. According to ancient legends, it was he who was to take command of the army marching on the divine realm of Asgard and its people. But let us start from the beginning.
Before Loki’s heart filled with hate and resentment, he was a frequent and welcome visitor to Asgard… well, at least until he got under someone’s skin with his malicious nature. He was invited to Asgard by Odin himself, who – with the use of a special blood pact – made them brothers. Odin promised that his guest’s blood would never be shed by the Aesir, even despite the fact that Loki was Jötunn.
In the past, Loki often played tricks on other gods, sometimes malicious to the point where Thor wanted to take his revenge and simply crush him with his storm-enhanced hammer. The point of no return, however, was the murder of Baldur – the embodiment of good, beauty, and wisdom. Insidious Loki tricked Baldur’s blind brother named Hodur and made him unintentionally shoot an arrow at his otherwise invulnerable brother. That event caused Loki to be banished from Asgard and chained to a rock in a deep, dark cave. The gods of Asgard decided to put a venomous snake just above Loki’s head and made it drip its burning poison… forever.
Although his wife Sigyn tried to mitigate Loki’s torment by holding a bowl over his head to collect the snake’s venom, the scorching drops sometimes found their way to his body, causing him unimaginable pain. The rage and a lust for revenge grew in imprisoned Jötunn and made him imagine how he would repay Odin and all the Aesir for the wrongs they had done to him.
In a completely different place, just after the great winter of Fimbulvinter ended, Sköll and Hati – two dire wolves chasing the sun and the moon – finally caught up with their prey. The roosters of Asgard, Jotunheim, and Niflheim did not stay idle and crowed alarmingly, to which Garm, the great hound guarding the gates of Helheim, replied with his terrifying roar.
The next stages of the prophecy unfolded. Loki managed to break free from his shackles and, full of anger and lust for vengeance, assembled an army of his racial kin, Jotnar. His ranks were strengthened by his two sons: the giant wolf Fenrir, who also broke free from his bonds, and the mighty serpent Jörmungandr, who emerged from the depths of the ocean. The undead legions from the underworld of Helheim also heeded the Loki’s call and joined him under the command of his daughter Hel. The last force in Jötunn’s revenge-hungry army were the fiery Giants called Muspells, commanded by their fiery lord Surtr.
And so, the Loki’s forces were ready to attack. Soon the army found itself on the enormous ship Naglfar and set off to its destination. As soon as the divine guardian Heimdall saw the impending threat, he immediately blew the horn of Gjallarhorn to inform all the gods of Asgard and the warriors of Valhalla of the oncoming battle. The great war deciding the fate of reality itself was about to begin.
The course of the battle
Short after landing, both armies rushed towards each other. Asgard was filled with the clash of weapons, battle cries, and the screams of the dying. The day of the sword and axe finally came. In the midst of the tumult, thousands of fighting warriors, and pure chaos, there were a few remarkably significant clashes.
The first to die was Freyr, the son of the mighty Vanr Njord, who was unable to defend himself as he lacked the weapon he once gave up in order to find his beloved Gerdr. The god of war Tyr fought his duel with Garm, but died in his devouring maw, killing the beast with a powerful blow just before he fell. Thor finally stood up against his ancient enemy, Jörmungandr. The god of thunders struck Jörmungandr with enormous force, dealing him a killing blow. Thor could not enjoy the victory for too long, however, because Jörmungandr poisoned him with his last breath.
Loki died fighting Heimdallr. They both fought bravely and, till the very last breath, neither of them could emerge victorious. They both died from the dozens of wound they received during the fierce combat. This bloody day, however, was to consume even more notable, glorious figures…
No one, not even the father of Asgard, great Odin, can escape their destiny. The commander of the army of the gods and warriors of Valhalla was crushed in the powerful jaws of the wolf Fenrir, just as prophesied. Fenrir was the Allfather’s nightmare until the very end, heralding his death. When Odin’s death was noticed by Vidar, the silent god, he immediately moved towards Fenrir, and having the wolf’s mouth opened, he stabbed him in the heart with a spear.
At the very end, when almost all the gods had fallen and only the warriors of Valhalla remained on the battlefield, the ruler of Muspells Surtr drew his sword and swung it so hard he set fire to Asgard and the whole Yggdrasil tree, including all its worlds. The flame consumed everything in its path, not sparing both the Asgard and Loki’s armies. Even Surtr himself and his Muspell warriors could not escape this destructive force. There was only fire… everywhere…
The end and the beginning
Finally, the burning Yggdrasil tree began to sink in the waters of the Endless Ocean. The hiss of extinguished flames filled the reality, and when the very last of burning leafs on the Yggdrasil crown plunged into the water… there was nothing. Impenetrable darkness and deaf silence, just as in the Ginnungagap emptiness, began their reign.
This way the prophecy about Ragnarok came true, exactly as the Norn sisters, who weaved the fate of the whole world, had predicted. And although Odin and the gods of Asgard tried to change the course of the prophecy, neither of them succeeded. But the fate of the reality was not to end like this…