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Norse Mythology and its connections to Final Fantasy VII
So I've decided to become a little less random and a lot more philosophical and smart with my journal entries, but I'll still throw in my random remarks since that's what makes Sp00n the Sp00n she is ^_^
Anyhow, I'm touching down on a subject that is interesting to me in both ways. The first is because it has to do with Final Fantasy VII, the second is because it has to do with mythology. I've always loved Mythology. It's one of the less boring aspects of History class. Entertaining to see how people interpreted (or possibly still interpret) how the world and its several woes were created.
There's Japanese mythology, Greek mythology, and then there's this mythology that no one ever really reads about called Norse mythology. I'm not so very sure myself (heh, go figure), but I'm pretty sure that "Norse" pertains to Norway. Neh, I asked Kino. She says yes! =D
Anyhow, here are a few connections I found between the two worlds of Norse mythology and Final Fantasy VII (and by "a few", I mean more than just a couple...)
Niflheim and Ginnugoga
Is it me or do those names look very familiar? Two of the most important places you visit in Final Fantasy VII are Nibelheim and Gongaga.
First off, Nibelheim. Nibelheim was Cloud's hometown, where he lived the average life. Never fit in with anyone, told everyday by adults that he was weak, different, blamed for things he didn't do. No, it wasn't an average life. He was the town's official scapegoat. Needless to say, Cloud's life wasn't really a happy one, and if you didn't already notice, saying "average" was sarcasm. Although, uh, I lived a very similar life Oo; But, in the grand scheme of things, you could say that Nibelheim made Cloud's life a living hell, including being experimented on in the Shinra mansion that overlooked the town.
Hell, ironically enough, is Norse mythology's equivalent of Niflheim. And yet, there would be no essence of life without Niflheim, for it is said that the cold realm of Niflheim came in close range to Ginnugoga, and created a liquid known as "eitl", or the substance of all living things!
Ginnugoga was a "seeming emptiness" and was south of Niflheim.
Gongaga was a barren wasteland full of "emptiness" and was south of Nibelheim.
So, what of the "creation of the substance of life"?
Well, as I see it, Cloud represents Niflheim, cold and closed. Ginnugoga, representing the hometown of Zack Fair, Gongaga, is therefore Zack Fair. This "substance of life" is not the outcome of buttsecks, no...It's the outcome of when the two meet and create a lasting friendship that is abruptly ended. Poor Zackary.
Midgard
Now that is too familiar a word to pass up. This has to do something with the game's begining city, Midgar, am I right?
I'm absolutely right, for a change! Midgard is another realm of Norse mythology that lays between Niflheim (hell) and Asgard (heaven). Therefore we can interpret is as a bittersweet place. It is also surrounded by an ocean of impassable water and a sea serpent by the name of Jormungand encircles it. [Jormungand is also the brother of Fenrir and son of Loki who is one of Odin's sons, as Kino pointed out.]
The word "encircle" entices me. That must mean that Midgard is a circular region, correct?
As is Midgar. Midgar can also be explained as a bittersweet place. As I played the game today, Barret explained, "Feels like home being back here. Makes me sick." This line truly defines the balance between good and evil, am I right? A place that makes you feel at home, but there's something just not right about it. Like the use of Mako. It makes people live very comfortable lives, but stealing life from the Planet in the process.
Also, the serpent known as Jormungand. There's a certain beast in the game named the Midgar Zolom, which is in fact a giant serpent that lives in a swamp very near Midgar.
Fenrir and Odin
Fenrir in Norse mythology was a wolf that was bound to the gods, and doomed to grow so large that the roof of its mouth would touch the sky while its bottom jaw would touch the earth when it gaped. It grew so large that it devoured Odin, and was slain by Odin's son. It was also Loki's son.
Odin in Norse mythology was the supreme god of wisdom, war, battles and death.
Fenrir in the Final Fantasy VII world is the name of Cloud's motorcycle in Advent Children, and the name of the strongest Keyblade (other than the Ultima weapon) in Kingdom Heart II. If I'm not mistaken, it is also the name of a gummi ship in that moronic mixture of Squenix and Disney characters.
Odin in Final Fantasy VII is a summon, which I discovered today that I was totally off on the whole "Grim Reaper" jazz. I get Hades and Odin mixed up somehow, don't ask, but Odin in FF7 is actually a yellow-ish green hulk with deer horns who rides atop a burly horse. I didn't really take a great a observation, but it seemed that the horse had extra legs. Anyhow, I believe that the name "Odin" wasn't really in anyway connected to Odin except for the fact that it is a particularly strong summon, other than Knights of the Round.
As for Fenrir the wolf that grew too big for his own good being converted into a motorcycle, an oversized housekey, and a Cloud-on-motorcycle-shaped spaceship? Pff...beats me.
But! You could assume that Cloud named his bike after this sad figure of mythology because he himself feels "bound". I'm sure Cloud never had the impulse to bite someone's hand, or...consume Odin because he got too huge, but the Fenrir that Norse people know certainly did.
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And now I bring you only a few more tid-bits of information that don't have anything to do with Norse mythology, although with the possible origins of two names.
Sephiroth - I suspect that in some language it can be translated into "seraph" which means "angel", which would make perfect sense since Sephiroth is a One-Winged Angel. But, I discovered that in the Jewish religion, Sephirot are the ten attributes that God created through which he can manifest not only the physical but the metaphysical universe...I know, right?
Jenova - Jenova, people think, is a portmenteau of "Jehova" and "nova", the Hebrew word for God and the Latin word for new. In other words, Jenova literally means "new God". Eerie thought, neh?
And thus ends my explanation that makes me feel oh so very smart. ^_^
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