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Norway is a Scandinavian unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula.
History[]
Prehistory[]
During the Isu Era, the territory of modern-day Norway was inhabited by the Æsir, who primarily resided in the realm of Asgard and were led by Odin. At some point, the Æsir became engaged in a war with a rival group of Isu, the Vanir, which came to an end after Odin's political marriage to Freyja, securing peace between the two groups.[1] The Æsir also regularly came into conflict with the Jötnar from Jotunheim, led by their king Suttungr,[2] and were sometimes the victims of schemes orchestrated by one of their own members, Loki, who over time developed an antagonistic relationship with Odin.[3]
After their demise during the Great Catastrophe, which wiped out the entire Isu civilization,[4] the Æsir would come to be revered as gods by humanity. Odin and his closest companions made up the main pantheon of gods in Norse and Germanic mythology and religion.[5] Secretly however, Odin and his brethren sought to ensure their survival by seeding their genetic code into humanity's gene pool, ensuring they would be reborn as humans millennia later.[6]
Middle Ages[]
During the Viking Age, Norway consisted of multiple petty kingdoms and clans, each led by a jarl. Due to the conflicts between the various clans, as well as Scandinavia's unfavorable conditions, this period saw a major increase in maritime exploration by the Norse, who pillaged, looted, traded and settled as they went.[7] The beginning of the Viking Age is traditionally dated as 793, when the first known Viking raid occurred in Lindisfarne, an island off the northeastern coast of England. One of Juhani Otso Berg's ancestors participated in the expedition.[8]
Heillboer burning, 855
In the 9th century, the region of Rygjafylke was plagued by the conflict between two clans in particular: the Raven Clan led by King Styrbjorn Sigvaldisson, and the Wolf Clan led by Kjotve the Cruel. In 855, Kjotve led his warriors on a raid on the village of Heillboer, massacring the population, including Varin and Rosta, the parents of Eivor Varinsdottir, who were allies of the Raven Clan.[9] Eivor was subsequently adopted by Styrbjorn and raised alongside his son, Sigurd, who in 870 embarked on a two-year voyage away from Norway.[10]
That same year, Eivor thwarted a Wolf Clan attack on a village, hoping to secure an alliance between the settlement and the Raven Clan, and in the process captured Gull, a slave of Kjotve, who was the reincarnation of the Isu Iðunn.[11] Gull led Eivor to the Temple of Heimdall in the Feiknstafir mountains, which contained an Apple of Eden.[12] However, the temple collapsed during Eivor's battle against Wolf Clan members also coveting the Apple, forcing Eivor to abandon it while Gull was left to her fate.[13]
In 872, Eivor led a party of Vikings to Rygjafylke's southern mountains in pursuit of Kjotve, but despite managing to kill his youngest son Hrolfr,[14] the jarl escaped with a set of scrolls.[15] Eivor continued to pursue Kjotve for the rest of the year, getting herself captured at one point before escaping and rescuing her ship's crew.[16]
It was during this time that Sigurd returned home to Fornburg from his expedition, accompanied by the Hidden Ones Basim Ibn Ishaq and Hytham, whom he befriended during his journey.[10] As the Hidden Ones sought to kill Kjotve, who was secretly a member of the Order of the Ancients, they helped the Raven Clan assault Kjotve's fortress, during which Eivor slew the jarl in a holmgang.[17]
The Unification of Norway
Kjotve's death allowed King Harald of Alrekstad to unite Norway's petty kingdoms under his rule, ending the constant wars between clans and becoming the first King of Norway. As Styrbjorn was among the jarls that swore fealty to the new king, Eivor, Sigurd and other members of their clan elected to leave the country to escape Harald's rule, settling in England.[18] Other Norsemen that left their homeland during this time included the Sons of Ragnar, led by Halfdan, Ubba and Ivarr, all three of whom were children of the legendary Viking raider Ragnar Lothbrok;[19][20] and Geirmund Hel-hide.[21] All of them went on to join the Great Heathen Army, a coallition of Vikings led by Guthrum that aimed to invade England.[22]
In 877, Eivor and Sigurd briefly returned to Norway to access the Yggdrasil Chamber, an Isu vault which Sigurd's visions were guiding him to.[23] The siblings found the vault in the mountains of Hordafylke and connected themselves to Yggdrasil, experiencing a simulation of Valhalla, until they both decided to return to the real world. Upon doing so, they were attacked by Basim, who had followed the pair. As the reborn form of Loki, Basim sought revenge on Eivor and Sigurd, who were the reincarnations of Odin and Týr, respectively, but was ultimately defeated and trapped in the Grey.[24]
Around 889, Eivor visited King Harald and Sigurd, who had since settled in Norway, at the longhouse in Alrekstad to say her goodbyes before she sailed to Vinland. Harald invited Eivor to lead an expedition to Iceland to send supplies to his friend Ingólfr Arnarson, but the shieldmaiden politely declined the offer.[25]
World War II[]
Eddie Gorm infiltrating Vemork
On 27 February 1943, during World War II, the Assassin Eddie Gorm infiltrated Vemork, a hydroelectric power plant that housed Die Glocke, an alleged time-traveling device developed by the SS Obergruppenführer and German Templar Gero Kramer. Kramer, having been subjected to the Nazis' übermensch project, was able to easily overpower Gorm and placed him within Die Glocke as a test subject.[26]
Kramer ordered Nikola Tesla to activate the machine, though the scientist had secretly sabotaged it. When the Allies simultaneously infiltrated the facility and destroyed the heavy water storages, Die Glocke was rendered inert and the Nazis were forced to abandon their plans.[27] In April 1944, after occupying Denmark, Germany invaded Norway and set fire to a village.[28]
Modern times[]
By May 2014, the Assassin Mentor William Miles had set up his personal bunker in a hidden cove near the city of Tromsø.[29] After he cut contact with the Brotherhood due to mourning the death of his son Desmond, the crew of the Altaïr II tracked William down in an attempt to convince him to return to the Assassins.[30]
In August 2020, the Assassin Layla Hassan traveled to the Yggdrasil Chamber, hoping to use the Isu device to reverse the strengthening of the Earth's magnetic field, caused by Desmond's activation of the global aurora borealis device in 2012. After entering the Grey, she met the trapped consciousness of Basim Ibn Ishaq, who helped her achieve her goal but tricked her into releasing him. Layla then elected to remain inside the Grey with "the Reader" and help him study countless calculations, while Basim used the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus dropped by Layla to rejuvenate his physical body and be reborn in the modern world.[31]
Etymology[]
The name "Norway" comes from the Old English word Norþweg meaning "the way to the north".[32]
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
- Assassin's Creed II (appears in Glyphs only)
- Assassin's Creed: Initiates (mentioned only)
- Assassin's Creed: Conspiracies (first appearance)
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Song of Glory
- Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
- The Way of the Berserker (mentioned only)
- Wrath of the Druids (mentioned as "Lothlinn")
- The Last Chapter
- Assassin's Creed: Rebellion – The Ravens' Wound
- Discovery Tour: Viking Age
- The World of Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Journey to the North – Logs and Files of a Hidden One
References[]
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