Ymir - The Gravel-yeller

Hey everyone,


Wolf Tamer is ready to bring you a new blog post.


This time I'm going to talk about Ymir.

1) Who is Ymir?

•  Ice wizards and wizardesses (yes I don't call them witches, and neither should you!) Have met this Frost giant before. He appears at the quest Horn of winter. I believe this is the quests that awards you with your own little Ice collosus!
• Later in the game, in the area of Wintertusk you encounter him again, at the end of nastrond.

This made me curious if he was related to some real life lore. And when I'm curious I HAVE to find out more about the subject.


2) Ymir related to norse mythology.

• Ymir (wich means: twin) also known as 'Aurgelmir' (which means gravel-yeller in old norse) is the founder of the race of Frost Giants.
• The oldest off all beings arose from melting of the ancient Glacial in the icy Elivàgar, because of his old age he is also known as 'The wise'

3) Ymir shaping the world. 

• In the following translated poem you find the Norse account of the creation of the present:

Old tales I remember  |  of men long ago.

I remember yet  |  the giants of lore [...]

Of old was the age  |  when Ymir lived;

No Sea nor cool waves  |  nor sand there were;

Earth had not been  |  nor heaven above,

Only a yawning gap  |  and grass nowhere.

Taken from wiki for people who like to read it, contains explicit words! (bold means relevant to wizard101):

According to these poems, in the beginning there was nothing except for the ice of Niflheim, to the north, and the fire of Muspelheim, to the south. Between them was a yawning gap called Ginnungagap and there a few pieces of ice melted by a few sparks of fire created a moisture called eitr, the liquid substance of life. Ymir was the first to be conceived as drops of eitr joined together and formed a giant of rime frost (ahrimthurs) and sparks from Muspelheim brought him to life. While Ymir slept, the sweat under his arms became two more giants, one male and one female, and one of his legs mated with the other to create a third, a son Þrúðgelmir. These were the forebearers of the family of frost giants or jutuns. They were nursed by the cow giant Auðumbla who, like Ymir, was created from the melting ice in Ginnungagap. Auðumbla herself fed on a block of salty ice, and her licking sculpted it into the shape of a man who became Búri, the ancestor of the gods (Æsir) and the grandfather of Odin.^[2][3]

Buri fathered Borr, and Borr fathered three sons, the gods Vili, Vé, and Odin. These brothers killed the giant Ymir, and unleashed a vast flood from Ymir's blood killing all the frost giants but the son of Þrúðgelmir, Bergelmir, and Bergelmir's wife who all took safety in a hollow tree. Odin and his brothers used Ymir's lifeless body to create the universe. They carried it to the center of Ginnungagap and there they ground his flesh into dirt. The maggots that appeared in his flesh became the dwarves that live under the earth. His bones became the mountains, his teeth rocks and pebbles. Odin strewed Ymir's brains into the sky to create the clouds, and took sparks and embers from Muspelheim for the sun, moon and stars. The gods placed four dwarves—Norðri (North), Suðri (South), Austri (East), and Vestri (West)—to hold up Ymir's skull and create the heavens.

It's becoming more clear now, I'm afraid Ymir is not sleeping there, he may have passed away as we can see the 4 'dwarves' Nordri, Sudri, Austri and Vestri at the end of the battle in Nastrond. They are there to hold up 'Ymir's skull', The above text also mentions The lifeless body of Ymir placed into the dirt, And we encounter him grounded in a dirt cave under a big tree in Nastrond.

That's it for now, all comments are appreciated. I will continue my hunt throughout the spiral to find what hasn't found before and to boldly go where... uh wait forget that!

'Till next time wizards!

Wolf Tamer.

Grizzleheim - 'King' Hrothgar

"Help me! I don't want to freeze in this cage!"

Hello everyone, I'm here again for another blog post!

Hrothgar - 'The caged King'


Hrothgar is an NPC (non player character) in Wizard101. He gives the quest 'Black feathers'. Where you must seek out Kormak, defeat him and release Hrothgar afterwards.

Well, Hrothgar is also the King that requested Beowulf's help to defeat his Grendel (A mythical monster in the Norse lore). I'm sure you saw some hopping around in your adventures through Grizzleheim!

Let's analyze Kormak some more, I strongly think that Kormak comes from 'Cormac'.

Cormak is a male name, the name is ancient in the in the Irish 'Gaelic' language. (see 'Gaels').

The name consists out of two parts; Cor / Mac

Mac is Old Gaelic for "Son of" and can be used as either a prefix or a suffix.
Cor is more debated about, but it can mean, Raven, in old Gaelic. This is quite interesting cause the 'Monster' you have to defeat to free Hrothgar IS a Raven (or at least a bird like character).

After defeating 'Kormak' you are able to uncage 'King Hrothgar'. Just like Beowulf liberated King Hrothgar in the legend...

Now here's the thing, I can find no trace from Beowulf himself throughout Grizzleheim.

I was wondering, ..., Are WE, the Wizards the Beowulf of this game? :)

Thats all, Hope you like it :), take care everyone
Wolf Tamer.

Grizzleheim lore connected to Beowulf

Hello everyone,

Today I'm glad to announce another post about grizzleheim. This area's lore has totally took me by surprise. I like walking around and figuring out how to transliterate the runes. People loved to hear me talk about them.

Well this post is a little different, but I'll try to link some of the Grizzleheim's lore with 'Beowulf'

Who or what is Beowolf you would ask yourself. Beowulf is both a Poem and a mythical Nordic Hero. You can find the whole poem here: http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~beowulf/main.html (both in old and modern English).

If you don't like reading poems, There are a couple of movies made about the legend of Beowulf.
I can recommend this one: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0442933/

The first thing I noticed about Beowulf relating with Grizzleheim was due to a nice comment from one of my followers: The Fabulous K

Most of the credits for this discovery go to him, Thanks wizard!

In my Blog Post about the translations in Nidavellir i translated 2 sentences on the ground:

On the arc was written:
"There do I see the line of my people calling to me, they bid me to take my place among."


And on the straight line:
"Among them in the halls of Vahallaz (Walhalla?) here the brave shall rest forever in time."


Now I want to talk about a movie called "The 13th warrior", it is based on the novel 'Eaters of the dead'
That novel was based on the Poem 'Beowulf'.


Now I want to show you a clip from that movie, be prepared to be surprised :)

It seems like I was quite close with the translations, I'm happy for that. I will of course further investigate links between both 'Lore'.

That's it, Take care everyone
Wolf Tamer.

The art of wizardry - Laying Plans

Hello everyone,

It's been a long time ago, I didn't had much time to play the last months.
And what better way to come back to the game with a new blog post :).

Let me first explain what this post is about.

I will try and put the knowledge of Sun-Tzu's 'The art of war' into a Wizard101 environment.

Sun-Tzu was an ancient Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher who is traditionally believed, and who is most likely, to have authored 'The art of war', an influential ancient Chinese book on military strategy. (from wikipedia)

You can find the whole English translation of the book to read online in this link: http://www.chinapage.com/sunzi-e.html

This post will contain 'The art of war' first chapter, I will try to do them all eventually :).

Chapter One -Laying plans:

1)
War is all around the spiral, You'll either be fighting off monsters, bosses or

even other wizards, It is important to understand you need to farm that gold, get those items, or feel the rush of a victory in the arena. This makes war a vital
part of Wizard101.

2)
If you enter a battle in Wizard101, You'll either come out victorious or beaten.
It is very important that you try what your wizard can and can't do, find out his
or her limit. This way you will learn to predict battle outcomes before you even
fought them.

3)
To predict these outcomes of fights a little easier there are five 'rules' you
should follow.


4)
* 1) The Moral Law
* 2) Heaven
* 3) Earth
* 4) The Commander
* 5) Method and discipline

5)
The moral law represents the loyalty of friends who you battle with, they should
be prepared to sacrifice themself for the greater good. As should you for them.
When you reach this bond with your teammates, your party will not fear a thing!

6)
Heaven represents the circumstances you face in battle. Which bubble is active?
what player or monsters is casting which spells? How can you change these
circumstances in your favor? You should be asking these questions all the time as
these circumstances keep changing every round.

7)
Earth represents danger and security, the chances to survive. You need to try and
grasp the 'terrain' you are fighting. Can you attack but still survive? are you
far enough ahead to go offensive? :)

8)
The Commander or in Wizard101 the leader of the party should have good wisdom of
the game. Knowing when and which decisions to make. He must be friendly yet
he must make his plans very clear. But most of all he should be able to adapt and
accept input from his party.

9)
Method and discipline represents the ability of each party member to know its
role in the party and trying to execute it in it's best abilities. Try to follow
the leader (Commander) to execute the teams strategy. And most of all learn
working as a team.

10)
These Five 'Rules' are of vital importance to every Wizard, Learn and practice
them and you will be victorious! Neglect them and you will put yourself in
danger!

11)
Therefore, In your decisions to determine the outcome of battles. Let them be
made the basis of a comparison, in this wise:

12)
* (1) Which party leader is imbued with the moral law?
* (2) Which party leader has the most skill?
* (3) With whom lie the advantages derived from the 'Heaven' and 'Earth' rules?
* (4) Which party follows orders well and who does this more meticulous?
* (5) Which party is stronger (based on gear/level/pets and so on)?
* (6) Which of the parties is the most experienced?
* (7) Which party is more fair and rewarding to play in?

13)
By means of these seven considerations you can forecast victory or defeat!

14)
The leader that acts upon these Rules & considerations will conquer, let him or
her be the one in command!

15)
If you understand what is told here, use it to gain a strategic advantage.

16)
With strategic advantage I mean get the best out of favorable circumstances and
swing the battle in your favor.

17)
All warfare is based on deception. Try and be as deceptive as you can be in
battle. It will add an extra difficulty for the team you are facing.

18)
So if you are able to attack, seem unable, when active; seem inactive, make him
or her think you are going offensive when on defense and the other way around.

19)
If the enemies has an advantage try to bait him with it and crush them when they
are in disorder.

20)
If the enemy is prepared, make sure you are prepared for him or her too. And if
He's in superior strength, try and evade him or her.

21)
If your enemy is equipped for a long fight, try and wear him down slowly. Pretend
to be weak, so that he or her may grow arrogant.

22)
If the enemy commander is at his or her ease. Try to disrupt and separate his
team from achieving their strategy. (use of disruptive spells).

23)
Attack when your enemy is not prepared, try to strike where no enemy could
expect it.

24)
These general 'Rules' lead you to victory. Make sure you keep adapting as the
way to victory keeps changing.

25)
The Wizard who wins the battle makes many calculations before the battle is even
fought.
The Wizard that lost makes only FEW calculations beforehand.
So, do many calculations to win, or neglect them and be defeated.
It is by attention to this point that you can foresee battle outcomes!


That's it for today, I know, it's a lot of reading. I do hope some of you enjoyed this post and learn to be a better Wizard in battle :).

Take care everyone,
Wolf Tamer.