How Norse Mythology Shaped 'Tales of Phantasia' Quiz

Answer: Yggdrasil

Yggdrasil was the source of the world's mana and thus magic: which was said to be Dhaos's - the primary antagonist of the game - only weakness. In the past, the tree was dying due to overconsumption of mana. Martel appealed to Cless Alvein and his friends to help save the tree: which they did, through use of the Unicorn's Horn and Mint Adnade's healing powers.

In Norse mythology, the nine worlds of lore were said to have been based around Yggdrasil, and it was said to have supported the universe.
Within 'Tales of Phantasia', Yggdrasil was also said to support the world: it was implied that there would be negative impacts on the world's long-term survival without mana, even without Dhaos's presence.

Answer: Spear

When initially obtained, it was noted that Gungnir was not as strong as it used to be. Of course, since it came from an ancient time, that is not necessarily surprising, but it is unclear as to why specifically this is the case.

In Norse mythology, Gungnir was a three-pronged spear which was said to have perfect aim and was always deadly, killing those it struck. Therefore, it was the ideal weapon for Odin, the Norse god of battle, to use against his adversaries.

Answer: Midgard

The city of Midgard had an onerous, unfriendly atmosphere encapsulated well within its music, and was largely militarised due to its role in warring against Dhaos. The MysTek cannon was one of the causes of the decay in the world's mana: usage of this cannon brought Yggdrasil, and thus the world's mana supply, closer to death. Dhaos targeted Midgard largely to prevent the use of MysTek technology and thus protect the world's mana for his own purposes.

Midgard was the human-inhabited world in Norse mythology. The realm was surrounded by an impassable ocean, with Jormungand within: a serpent so large it surrounded the world and could grasp its own tail. The gods at Asgard boxed Midgard away from the influence of the other worlds, especially the giants, in order to protect the humans.

The use of Midgard as the name of the most mana-consuming city might be a dig at the folly of humans in acting against forces greater than themselves.

Answer: Ymir Forest

The Ymir Forest was a relatively small location and was largely made up of bridges arranged in a somewhat confusing, web-like manner. Arche was not allowed in this forest, as she was a half elf, and the elves believed they misused the magical talents they had. The lizard-men can cause a swift game-over to the careless: their petrification attack is only made more severe by the fact only three party members can travel here.

Ymir was a frost giant in Norse tales, and was the first living creature in the Norse mythology. One of his progeny gave birth to Odin, the god of war; and it was Odin who slayed him, creating the world in his own fashion. Ymir's flowing blood of anguish killed all but two frost giants: they survived and went on to live in Jotunheim, the world of jotuns and giants. Jotunheim was a cold, unhospitable place with no fertile land: but the giants managed, nonetheless.

I doubt the forest being named Ymir has any particular allegory or alternative meaning to delve into. However, the elves were able to live for many hundreds of years, predating humans, and the forest's name after the first Norse life-form might be a throwback to that.

Answer: Heimdall

Heimdall was the village of elves. Although the elves disliked humans, they allowed them inside to fix two broken summoning rings: Arche was not let in due to their dislike of half-elves. Arche was caught sneaking in, however, and was sentenced to death. Her mother, the innkeeper, offered to take her place and thus they let her go, although Arche only realised it was her mother afterwards in an emotional scene. In the future, the party received the Star Broom - Arche's best weapon - from Arche's mother: she was kindly spared from death, it would seem.

Heimdall (or Heimdallr) was the watchman of the gods in Norse mythology. He would watch over Bifrost, the rainbow bridge to Asgard, the realm of the gods, with great tenacity. He also owned a horn, Gjallarhorn, which was said to be so loud it could be heard throughout the nine worlds.

Answer: Valkyrie

The valkyrie demanded the Gungnir back, as she claimed it was not his to keep. Just before Dhaos's flying troops attacked Midgard, the valkyrie spirited Cless to the Burning Tower, where he made the trade. The horse (who was able to talk) was rather nonplussed at being used for battle, and just wanted it over quickly. Once the battle was won, neither the horse nor the valkyrie visited Cless again.

Valkyries in Norse mythology would bring worthy warriors who died in battle to the hall of Valhalla. There, they would wait until the battle of end-times, Ragnarok, where they would fight with the gods. Those who were rejected after death were sent to live with the goddess Hel deep underground in a melancholy land.

It was also said that seeing a valkyrie before a battle would signal death for whosoever saw her. In 'Tales of Phantasia', this clearly didn't turn out to be the case, since Cless survived the battle.

Answer: Odin

The Burning Tower held Flamberge, a strong fire sword. It was full of lava: and without Nymph's Rings, virtually impossible to survive in without a LOT of healing. Not much was known about Odin: unlike the two other republics, there was no town which held any heritage of him. Despite this, the valkyrie who took Gungnir from Cless was based here, and so it was hinted Odin was still alive in some way.

Odin was the god of war and was perhaps one of the most significant gods in Norse mythology. Odin was strong, slaying frost-giant Ymir in order to fashion the world to his own preferences; thus, he was said to be the father of both gods and humankind. However, he was also wise: he received up-to-date reports on worldly matters from his ravens Huginn and Muninn. Additionally, he traded one of his eyes for a sip from Mimir's well of wisdom, granting him great knowledge.

Answer: Fenrir

Freezekill was a town on a cold island: it was a fairly morose place. Within the town, Fenrir's church sported a beautiful stained glass window and dramatic organ music. The beauty was short lived as Fenrir's cavern lay below the church; a long, arduous dungeon indeed. Appropriately, Fang Wolf guarded the Vorpal Sword.

I say appropriately because Fenrir was a wolf in Norse mythology. In the Ragnarok War of end-times, Odin was slain by Fenrir, who was devoured in his terrible jaws. Vidar, the son of Odin, avenged him through tearing those jaws apart with his bare hands.

Like Odin, Fenrir was one of the three dominant republics of the world. It is unclear whether Fenrir was alive or not at this point: Fang Wolf was not definitely Fenrir, but an avatar of him, perhaps. However, the countries of Odin and Fenrir were said to have been warring. This was known as the Ragnarok War, named after the Norse war of end-times.

In the game, the countries of Odin and Fenrir do both die out at roughly the same time, in a similar fashion to the Norse tale, showing a direct parallel with that tale.

Answer: Thor

Thor was the only one of the three ancient superpowers to have survived relatively intact, if deep underwater. Robot-type enemies lingered here, and many of the machines still worked for the party despite not having been used for many, many years. The light spirit Aska was used to power the city: in the future, she could have been freed and Klarth (or Claus) could make a summoning pact with her.

The kingdom of Thor mediated the war between Odin and Fenrir, the other ancient superpowers. However, a comet came down and sank Thor into the sea: the remaining people died not from drowning, but from starvation, since the city's forcefield protected them from impact damage. After this, Odin and Fenrir broke their ceasefire and eventually both fell as well.

Thor, in Norse mythology, was the god of thunder and storms. He lends his name to Thursday, one of the days of the week. His hammer, Mjollnir, was said to have caused a crash of lightning when thrown at his adversaries. He was said to have died in battle with Jormungand, the serpent who circled the world. He slayed the fierce serpent, but its poison ended his life after a few steps.

Within 'Tales of Phantasia', the same principle might apply. The comet could be likened to the serpent; it took its impact and was non-fatal, but instead destroyed the inhabitants of Thor through starvation and decay. Thor's technological advancement might also have lent itself to being named after the god of lightning and storms.

Answer: Fire and Ice

The Eternal Sword was one of Cless's best weapons, and was forged by Origin in the Treant's Forest after defeating him in battle. The Eternal Sword had power over time and space, and it prevented Dhaos from time-travel, enabling the party to enter his castle and defeat him.

In Norse mythology, the flames of fiery Muspellheim met the chill of icy-cold Niflheim to create the frost giant Ymir and a cow named Audhumbla, whom he sucked from to procreate with. Ymir gave rise, through multiple generations, to Odin, who slayed him and created the world in his own way. Yet, it was the interaction of fire and ice which gave rise to the initial creation of life.

In 'Tales of Phantasia' the elements of fire, ice, plus an aspect of time (Thor's Diamond Ring might have reflected their ability to travel through time) were what 'created' the Eternal Sword when combined. Therefore, this theme has most likely originated from the Norse tale of Muspellheim and Niflheim.