Hræzlyr
the dragon of the Heart of the Mountain
Hræzlyr was a great dragon that made its lair in the Heart of the Mountain, the highest peak in Midgard. He attacked Kratos and Atreus on their ascent and was killed when Kratos drove his neck into a spike of crystallized World Tree sap. One of his teeth was used to imbue Atreus' bow with lightning.
Hræzlyr was a great dragon that made its lair in the Heart of the Mountain, the highest peak in Midgard and a former dwelling of the Jötnar. He attacked Kratos and Atreus as they climbed toward the summit, and after a long and dangerous battle Kratos slew him. According to the smith Sindri, Hræzlyr was the first of his kind to be killed in centuries.
The dragon of the mountain#
Hræzlyr was a male dragon who lived in the Heart of the Mountain, the highest peak in Midgard and a place that had once been a home of the Jötnar. He was an enormous beast, possessed of strength, durability, and stamina in proportion to his size, his body sheathed in thick, tough scales and armed with great claws and teeth. His most fearsome power was the lightning he spewed from his mouth, which he could fire upward to call lightning raining down around him. Dragons could also perceive dwarves even as they moved between the realms, and it was by this sight that Hræzlyr was able to spot Sindri despite the smith's efforts to flee.
His wings were misshapen and atrophied, an adaptation to a life spent in the confined tunnels and caves of the mountain rather than in open sky, so that over his life he had physically developed to suit the cramped depths he haunted.
The battle and his death#
When Kratos and his son Atreus were traveling through the mountain's interior to reach the summit, Hræzlyr attacked them on their way up. After a brief clash the dragon retreated toward the exterior of the peak, where he came upon the dwarf Sindri and set upon the smith. Atreus intervened to protect Sindri, and Kratos engaged the dragon directly.
The fight continued until Hræzlyr spotted Atreus and Sindri and tried to kill them both. Kratos seized the moment, using a nearby crane to restrain the dragon and force his neck onto a large spike of crystallized World Tree sap. The spike exploded, destroying a great portion of Hræzlyr's neck and killing the monster. According to Sindri, he was the first dragon to be slain in centuries, since the Grand Culling of the Wyrms.
Legacy#
After his death, one of Hræzlyr's teeth was put to use, imbuing Atreus' bow with the dragon's electrical power so that the boy's arrows carried lightning of their own. Among the monsters Kratos faced in Midgard, Hræzlyr was the largest he fought, and his fall marked the first death of a dragon in a very long age.
Frequently asked questions
- What was Hræzlyr in God of War?
- Hræzlyr was a male dragon that lived in the Heart of the Mountain, the highest peak in Midgard and a former dwelling of the Jötnar. He attacked Kratos and Atreus during their climb to the summit and was killed by Kratos.
- How was Hræzlyr killed?
- After Hræzlyr attacked the dwarf Sindri and then tried to kill Atreus and Sindri together, Kratos used a nearby crane to restrain the dragon and force his neck into a large spike of crystallized World Tree sap. The spike exploded, destroying much of the dragon's neck and killing him.
- What happened to Hræzlyr's tooth?
- After Hræzlyr's death, one of his teeth was used to imbue Atreus' bow with the dragon's electrical power, giving the boy's arrows lightning. According to the dwarf Sindri, Hræzlyr was the first dragon killed in centuries, since the Grand Culling of the Wyrms.
Sources
- WikiHræzlyr — God of War Wiki entry
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Related entries
Dragons
Dragons were massive reptilian predators that roamed the Norse realms, breathing fire laced with lightning and capable of flight. Several distinct kinds existed, from the six-limbed Dragons of Midgard to the wingless Drakes of Alfheim.
Atreus
Atreus was the son of Kratos and the Jotunn Faye, born in Midgard and given the hidden name Loki. Across two great journeys he grew from a sickly boy into the prophesied champion of the Giants, the god of mischief whose fate was bound to Ragnarok.
Jotunheim
Jotunheim was the homeland of the ancient Jotnar, hidden away by Tyr after Odin's genocide drove the giants to the brink of extinction. It became the tomb of their race and the final destination of Kratos and Atreus on their journey to scatter Faye's ashes.
Kratos
Kratos was the demigod son of Zeus who rose from a Spartan general to the Greek God of War, destroyed the pantheon of Olympus in a quest for vengeance, and then began again in the Norse realms as a father seeking to leave his bloody past behind.
Midgard
Midgard was the realm of mortals, shaped by Odin from the body of the giant Ymir and set between Asgard and Helheim. It was the home Kratos chose after leaving Greece, the land where Atreus was born, and the realm where the great winter of Fimbulwinter fell.
Sindri
Sindri, also called Eitri, was a dwarven smith of the Nine Realms who, with his brother Brok, forged Mjolnir and the Leviathan Axe. Polite, fastidious, and haunted by a secret resurrection, his grief after Brok's death drove him to a cold and vengeful end.
Get new articles in your inbox
No spam. New lore drops, canon conflicts, and deep dives only when they’re worth reading.
Some links on Lore Fortress are affiliate links. If you buy through them we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.