| “ | I hope that forfeiting my morality during this damned search would be enough. Now I see it was my own sacrifice that was required. | ” |
–Mótsognir | ||
Mótsognir is a character in God of War (2018).
Norse Mythology[]
Mótsognir (Old Norse "battle roarer") is the father of the Dwarfs and resides in Niðavellir (Old Norse "dark fields").
Mótsognir is the creation of Odin and his brothers, Vili and Vé, who fashioned him out of Ymir's blood and bones in the form of a maggot. These Æsir later gave him a roughly humanoid appearance and a human-like intelligence, which the rest of the dwarfs ("dvergar") later inherited.
This interpretation of the origin of the dvergar is given in Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda (Gylfaginning 14), and is quite disputed. The original text in the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá can easily be interpreted to tell a story of how the dvergar and the Æsir together gave shape and life to humans.
Biography[]
History[]
One of the sons of Ivaldi, Mótsognir was known to have been in Niflheim with his father when the latter had weaponized the realm's mists and died as a result of his work. Horrified at what his father had done, Mótsognir left a behind a message warning anyone who traveled to Niflheim to flee while also his renouncing his own kind and his intentions to go into exile in Midgard. Some time after going into exile, Mótsognir would go on to become king with his own castle and ruled over the local humans who lived there. The land he governed was vast, extending to two territories. He was known for making his subjects hunt dragons and other monsters for him, which he apparently enjoyed collecting and keeping in his castle.
A dream eventually drove Mótsognir to desire a legendary dwarven armor Dvegræðikr, believing it would spare his people of a gruesome death. He had three dragons captured in order to harvest their "Fury", killed innocent people to harvest their "Scream", but was gradually driven mad in his failure to find the third ingredient.
Mótsognir traveled to Konunsgard where he suddenly vanished.
God of War (2018)[]
Kratos and Atreus find writings about him during their travel. With time to spare, the duo investigates Mótsognir's castle, where they discover it mostly in ruins and his captured beasts either still chained up or running amok and killing people.
Kratos and Atreus decide to craft the legendary dwarven armor Mótsognir so deeply desired and proceed to gather the three ingredients. At Konunsgard, Kratos finds Mótsognir's corpse behind a secret room behind his throne. He had been killed by Hel-Walkers, becoming the "Ultimate Sacrifice" and the third ingredient himself.
Personality[]
Mótsognir is remembered best for his cruel nature, although he was initially a good king. Dreams of his people dying reportedly drove him to commit the very atrocious act's history to remember him for since he was convinced the things he did would save his people.
The people were ordered to believe in their king regardless of his failures and as time passed he became known as the "Bane of Mankind."
Mótsognir's failure to find the third ingredient to the legendary dwarven armor Dvegræðikr reportedly drove him mad towards the end of his reign. He understood, however, that he was a fool and only death could atone for his past sins.
Trivia[]
- It is interesting that Mótsognir was killed by the Hel-Walkers, as Mótsognir should be able to phase between the realms and escape his death. This could mean either Mótsognir chose to not to escape due to his guilt or that Hel-Walkers, like Dragons, can spot dwarves when they phase between realms.
Gallery[]
