Norse mythology?

[Dragonshadow]

I know this isn't a lot, but i think that one of the people who invented the Forgotten Realms was a fan of Norse mythology.

In N.Myth, Balder was a god who was killed by a dart of mistletoe.
In For. Realms, Baldur is the founder of baldur's Gate.
In N.Myth, Tyr had his right hand bitten off by the wolf Fenrir.
In For. Realms, Tyr is the god who converted Aribeth- missing his right hand.

If I find any more, I'll edit this post.
DS

[Stratos]

Yes, Tyr is the same god as in Norse/Germanic mythology.

Tyr -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The original Germanic god of war and the patron god of justice, the precursor of Odin. At the time of the Vikings, Tyr had to make way for Odin, who became the god of war himself. Tyr was by then regarded as Odin's son (or possibly of the giant Hymir). He is the boldest of the gods, who inspires courage and heroism in battle. Tyr is represented as a man with one hand, because his right hand was bitten off by the gigantic wolf Fenrir (in old-Norse, the wrist was called 'wolf-joint'). His attribute is a spear; the symbol of justice, as well as a weapon. At the day of Ragnarok, Tyr will kill the hound Garm, the guardian of the hell, but will die from the wounds inflicted by the animal. In later mythology, "Tyr" became to mean "god". He is also known as Tîwaz, Tiw and Ziu. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Source: Encyclopedia Mythica

Sounds familiar.

There are also a couple of other names from Norse mythology that pops up in D&D games:

• Aegir the god of the Sea: There was an armor in BG2 called Aegir's Hide. Perhaps just a coincidence.
• Berserkers
• Frost Giants and Fire Giants.
• Utgard or Uthgard.

Not to mention the Dwarves and the Elves.

Celtic mythology has also inspired the creators of FR, for example, Oghma is originally a Celtic diety.

[ 12-21-2003, 06:24 PM: Message edited by: Stratos ]

[spydar]

isn't Balder the Norse equivalent of Narcissus (sp?)?? or am I on crack, cause I could have sworn I was taught that in high school english.

[ 12-24-2003, 06:17 PM: Message edited by: spydar ]

[Stratos]

Nah, Balder was the Norse god of joy, beauty and light. The god Loki was jealous of Balders popularity among both gods and men, so he tricked Balders blind brother Hod into killing him.

Narcissus was a guy who fell in love with his own reflection and died. I have heard several versions of this story; one tells that he looked into a mirror, was mesmerized by what he saw and presumably died from starvation, while another says that he saw his own reflection in a lake or a stream and fell into it and drowned.

[Luvian]

The forgotten realm Tyr and the Norse one are the same. In one of my Planescape sourcebook, they said he went to Ttoril in an attempt to get more followers, since he was getting forgotten in the North panteon.

[Stratos]

Originally posted by Luvian: The forgotten realm Tyr and the Norse one are the same. In one of my Planescape sourcebook, they said he went to Ttoril in an attempt to get more followers, since he was getting forgotten in the North panteon.

It seems that alot of gods have left Earth lately considering none of our priests can cure wounds and raise dead. Bummer.

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

Tir is also a rune. I believe it looks like an arrow pointing up.

[Niadh]

One Narcissus story I read was that someone loved him and prayed for him to love her. So Aphrodite answered her prayer and said that he was near a pond, and the next person he would see he would fall in love with. Unfortunatley he looked into the pond and saw himself before dying later as a result of not caring as he loved himself too much.

[Arnabas]

Stratos, the old gods are still around, but few of us pay them any attention... They wait patiently for us to remember that they are there.

[spydar]

I've heard that there has been a rise in "pagan" religion over the past few years as spirituality takes hold in the younger generations. I know that shamanism has once again found a following among many Native groups in northern Canada.

Incidently, whenever I used to ask my dad what religion we were he would always tell me we were pagan [img]tongue.gif[/img]