The depths of Nastrond

Hello wizards today's lesson with be on a Nidhoggr or Nithogg as it's sometimes called which is a giant dragon (sometimes a serpent or both) which dwells in Nastrond gnawing at the roots of Yggdrasil.

Now in Wintertusk Nordri (whom with his kin I consider vikings or perhaps Jotunn [giants]) task the player with retrieving a tooth from Nithogg who gnaws at the roots of the great tree Grandmother Raven resides on.

It's peculiar that they decided to use this tree as the the one Nithogg gnaws on cause as the legend goes it was Yggdrasil Nithogg gnawed at which would mean Nithogg below here should be gnawing at Bartleby's roots beneath Ravenwood.

There is a connection to be made though from this pairing it involves 3 parties (technically 4) Nithogg, Ratatoskr, and Vethrfolnir.

• Ratatoskr was a squirrel which ran down the length of Yggdrasil carrying gossip to Vethrfolnir and a great eagle from Nithogg and back down to Nithogg my theory on the squirrel is it's tied to Nithogg. In all various cultures and mythologies fights and feuds rise usually at the implication of a person who wishes to see both parties fight for some cause. A perfect example of this is in Wizard101 Kol Shadowsong and The Coven in general used trickery and manipulation to pit the bear clans against the wolf clans. Usually this person will also lie, break promises, and even commit murder to see that their goals are achieved. (This is just a theory in general as such creature doesn't appear in the game)

• Nithogg who gnaws at Yggdrasil also lives in Nastrond a place of corpses, snakes, and poisonous rivers. Nastrond itself means Dead Shore Nithogg is said to reside here were he gnaws at one of the 3 roots but Nithogg also has another purpose he also devours the souls of murderers and Oath breakers. Now if you've read my theory on Ratatoskr you'll start to see the connection here. Ratatoskr is just the type of creature that Nithogg would devour. As in all cultures Murderers and Oath breakers are always promised the worse punishment also consider this Nastrond is located in or close to Helheim. Which is the Norse equivalent of the underworld

• Vethrfolnir was a hawk that sat between the eyes of a great nameless eagle who sat you guessed it atop Yggdrasil now while it quarreled with Nithogg (Mostly due to Ratatoskr's gossip) the great eagle was knowledgeable and knew many things. Theories say that this was a reference to Huginn and Muninn who were Odin's ravens who traveled the world gathering all news to Odin. Vethrfolnir is said to play a similar role delivering the world's news to the great eagle. Although Ravens aren't in this legend (other than reference; symbolism) I think it's safe to say the parallels between the knowledge of the great eagle and Grandmother Raven are quite apparent. Even the Raven race in Wizard101 is one of mysticism and cunning which Grandmother Raven is a part of.  

I think KI is getting more and more inventive with what they put in game and although this is all speculation it's so exciting to try and decipher it even though it's from my own interpretations of the mythology. I advocate all you wizards do the same as there are many secrets to discover. So far Wintertusk is my favorite update and although quest experience was low Grizzleheim was always one of my favorite worlds to play in. Certainly KI has upped their game and rekindled my interest in Norse mythology bravo KI bravo! Any thoughts and comments are appreciated I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Until next time your friend,
Alric Ravensinger