Ragnarok

Connections

• Queen Nai, speaking to a confused Bödvar, comments on the "mostly correct" notion of Ragnarok

Context

"Ragnarok" comes from an Old Norse word meaning "Fate of the Gods." It is, in essence, the Armageddon or apocalypse of the world and the cosmos at large. In Norse mythology, the Norns (similar to the three Fates of Greek mythology) foretold of a terrible, unprecedented winter, lasting for three years with no respite of summer, endangering life on earth. The wolves that have been chasing the sun and moon for eons will finally catch their prey. The world tree, Yggdrasil, will shake, causing trees and mountains to fall and crumble. The great wolf Fenrir will break free. The world serpent Jormungand will cause tremendous flooding as he rises from the oceans.

As these disasters and monsters ravage the earth and all life on it, Loki will lead an army of giants to further spread destruction. Adding to all this, the fire giants of Muspelheim (led by Surt, wielding a flaming sword) will march across the rainbow bridge towards Asgard. Heimdall will sound his horn (Gjallarhorn) to call the gods to their final battle.

Odin, along with his chosen human warriors and legends (kept in Valhalla for this very day), will lose in their battle against Fenrir, although the beast will be slain by Odin's son Vidar. Another wolf named garm will fight the god Tyr, and they will kill each other in battle, as will Heimdall and Loki, as well as Frey and Surt. Thor will fight Jormungand, slaying the giant serpent, but dying by its venom soon after. Then, what's left will sink into the ocean, leaving nothing left but Ginnungagap, the void, the bottomless abyss that existed before creation, and will exist after Ragnarok.

Some sources say everything ends here, but others claim that a new, beautiful world will rise out of the waters, along with the gods that somehow survived. A human couple will come out from their hiding place and begin to populate the earth, and a new sun will appear.

This is the general legend of Ragnarok. As with many other things in Norse mythology, Ragnarok has been reinterpreted time and again in many different art forms, not the least of which the Marvel series of comics and films. Since Brawlhalla tends to stay fairly true to classic Norse mythology, their version of Ragnarok would likely have many similarities to the same event in the original legends.