Lyngbakr Island
the prison of a chained leviathan
Lyngbakr Island was a strange rocky island in Svartalfheim where Mimir had long ago chained a great Lyngbakr to harvest its fat. Returning centuries later, Kratos, Atreus, and Mimir freed the captive creature.
Lyngbakr Island was an unusual island in Svartalfheim, seen from a distance as a scattering of odd rocky outcroppings, wreckage, and a great geyser rising from the water. It held the secret of a Lyngbakr, a vast sea creature that Mimir had chained there long ago, and to which he returned with Kratos and Atreus seeking to undo the wrong he had done. (God of War Ragnarök)
The chaining of the Lyngbakr#
In his youth, Mimir captured and chained a Lyngbakr in Svartalfheim so that he might harvest its fat for lantern oil. He thought it an imaginative and eye-catching way to earn the favor of Odin, and the scheme worked. The bound creature remained at the island, an assortment of rocky outcroppings and wreckage in the Bay of Bounty marked by a great geyser, for ages afterward. (God of War Ragnarök)
The return and the freeing#
When Mimir returned to Svartalfheim with Kratos and Atreus, he asked whether they might find a way to free the creature he had imprisoned so long ago. He had hoped it would have escaped by then, but it had not. Kratos was particularly horrified by the creature's bondage, for he himself knew what it was to be enslaved and oppressed. The three did their best to free the Lyngbakr, and Mimir expressed regret for what he had done, having since learned what it was to be imprisoned in one place. He was disgusted that the Aesir had not even troubled to end the creature's misery once it had served its purpose. Kratos offered to kill it, but Mimir refused, unwilling to let it die when it could be saved. Yet even freed from its chains and ropes, the creature would not leave its pen. When Kratos tried to encourage it onward, he observed that it had become accustomed to its chains. (God of War Ragnarök)
Frequently asked questions
- What is Lyngbakr Island?
- Lyngbakr Island was an unusual rocky island in Svartalfheim's Bay of Bounty, appearing from a distance as a scattering of rocky outcroppings and wreckage marked by a great geyser. It served as the prison of a chained Lyngbakr, a vast sea creature.
- Why did Mimir chain the Lyngbakr there?
- In his youth, Mimir captured and chained a Lyngbakr in Svartalfheim so he could harvest its fat for lantern oil. He thought it an imaginative and eye-catching way to earn the favor of Odin, and the scheme worked.
- How was the Lyngbakr freed?
- When Mimir returned to Svartalfheim with Kratos and Atreus, he asked them to help free the creature he had imprisoned long ago, having hoped it would have escaped by then. The three did their best to free it from its chains and ropes.
- Why was Kratos horrified by the Lyngbakr?
- Kratos was particularly horrified by the creature's bondage because he himself knew what it was to be enslaved and oppressed. He even offered to kill it, but Mimir refused, unwilling to let it die when it could be saved.
- What happened after the Lyngbakr's chains were removed?
- Even freed from its chains and ropes, the creature would not leave its pen. When Kratos tried to encourage it onward, he observed that it had become accustomed to its chains.
Sources
- GameGod of War Ragnarök, Santa Monica Studio, 2022
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Svartalfheim: where Brok and Sindri forged
The richest of the Nine Realms in minerals, and home to the dwarven smiths. Odin sealed the path to it for generations and bent its trade to Asgard.
Atreus (Loki): Kratos's Son and the Truth of His Name
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.
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.
Mimir
Mimir was a Celtic fae who rose to become Odin's advisor and the ambassador of the Aesir before the All-Father imprisoned him for over a century. Freed and reanimated as a disembodied head by Kratos and Atreus, he became their guide, conscience, and friend across the Nine Realms.
Odin
Odin was the King of the Aesir and ruler of the Nine Realms, the All-Father who slew the first giant Ymir to found Asgard. Obsessed with knowledge and terrified of his own prophesied death, he waged war across the realms and orchestrated the events that brought Ragnarok to his doorstep.
Mentioned in2 entries
Alberich Hollow: tunnel road of the Bay of Bounty
Alberich Hollow was a tunnel region in the north of Svartalfheim's Bay of Bounty, entered from the great wooden walkway above Dragon Beach. Its abandoned dwarven works held half of the seed that opened the road to Muspelheim, a rift into Yggdrasil, and the lair of the dreadful Grim Ormstunga.
Alberich Island: deserted shore of the Bay of Bounty
Alberich Island was a small shoreline in the far north of Svartalfheim's Bay of Bounty, abandoned by the Dwarves and overgrown with dry vegetation. Kratos, Atreus, and Mimir passed its shore during their voyage across the bay, and its heights held a rift in Yggdrasil, the gravestone of a berserker, and a fragment of the Amulet of Yggdrasil.
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