I would like to talk about the representation of Norse
mythology within popular media, specifically about the character Odyn inte in
the MMO World of Warcraft. In this interpretation of the character, his origins
and backstory are very different, but his personality and primary motivation
(to prevent/prepare for the end of the world) are still the same. As part of
his plan to stop the apocalypse, he decides to create a flying fortress known
as the Halls of Valor (Valhalla). He accomplishes this with the aid of a
sorceress, his adopted daughter Helya. His next step is to figure out how to
recruit his immortal army. Like the original Odin, Odyn is constantly in search
of new knowledge, and he decides to take this opportunity to learn more about
the nature of death. Odyn decides to create a task force of damned souls who do
not fully exist in either the realm of the living or the dead, so that they can
carry the spirits of the fallen to the Halls of Valor. Helya objects to this,
and threatens to crash the Halls into the ground if he does not change his
mind. Odyn immediately kills her and turns her into the first of the Val'kyr
and uses magic to bind her to his will.
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| Odyn |
Helya does eventually manage to break free along with many
other Val’kyr, and traps Odyn and his army inside the Halls. She then creates
her own realm Helheim underwater, and dedicates the next few thousand years to
murdering heroes and claiming their souls so that Odyn can’t have them.
According to the Poetic Edda, Brunhild was imprisoned by Odin for killing his
champion, and it seems that the main cause of his anger with women is that they
make decisions and interfere with his plans. What is really interesting to me
is that Helya incorporates aspects from a few different Norse goddesses, and
all of them compete with Odin over control of the afterlife. Most obvious is
the comparison to Hel, a death goddess who has dominion over those who die
dishonorably, usually from sickness or old age. Like the Val’kyr, she is half
dead and half alive. Next is Freyja/Freya, who receives half of the souls from
battlefields, while the other half go to Odin. According to some sources, she
is also the queen of the Valkyries, which fits with Helya being the original
and most powerful Valkyrie. “Helya” also appears to be combination of “Hel” and
“Freya”. Finally, Helya’s design and visual theme are mostly likely based off
of Ran, a sea goddess who is associated with drowning. Ran carries a net which
she uses to drag sailors into the water.
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| Helya |
After Helya’s rebellion, Odyn attempts to rewrite history by
claiming that she was turned into a monster by her own magic, and then begged
to work as a Valkyrie as part of her atonement. At some point, a new Val’kyr
queen shows up, named Eyir. Where she came from is currently unknown, but she
is entirely loyal to Odyn and serves as a kind of proxy for him as the head of
a religion which revolves around training shield-maidens to willingly become
Val’kyr. She goes along with Odyn’s plans, including an assassination attempt
on a woman named Sigryn, whom Odyn does not want to become the future queen of
her people. This is based on a prophecy that she will either save her people or
doom them forever, and he is unwilling to take that chance. She survives, and becomes ruler.
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| The Halls of Valor |
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| Bonus: Black Hymdall |
https://wow.gamepedia.com/The_Legend_of_Odyn
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A1n
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