Re: new issue of afternoon


to megami@ml.usagi.org
from Brian Welch <bwelchz7@yahoo.com>
subject Re: new issue of afternoon
date Wed, 1 Aug 2001 10:37:24 -0700 (PDT)
--- Scott Kniffin <skniffin@pop300.gsfc.nasa.gov>
wrote:
> Brian,
> 
> Please do, I must have missed that post for some
> reason.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Scott Kniffin
> 
> At 08:21 AM 8/1/01 -0700, you wrote:
> 
> >As CuSO4 said, Kami-sama's opposite number is Hild,
> >Urd's mom.  Maybe I should repost Urd's family
> tree?

OK, since you insist... hehe.  

Those of you who were on the ML last year can just
tune me out now, there will be little you haven't
heard before.

Disclaimer:  Little of this is explicitly stated in
the manga, though all of it is at least implied. 
Don't take this as the gospel truth, it's just my
theory - though it's the only one I'm aware of that
ties all the loose ends together.

OK, for all this to work one must first accept that
the Lord of Terror = Loki -- A shackled/sealed evil
entity, whose release will bring the end of the world
in a conflict involving Fenris/Fenrir and
Jormundgand/Midgard.

Now, let's look at Urd's (and her sisters') Family
Tree:

Here is Loki's family tree from Norse mythology:

Frost Giant's Stallion--+
                        |
                        +------Sleipnir
                        |
          Loki----------+   +--Fenris
                        |   |
                        +---+--Jormundgand
                        |   |
          Angerboda-----+   +--Hel

I will ignore the Sleipnir branch as it isn't relevant
to this discussion.  For those of you who aren't
aware, Loki was Sleipnir's mother.  He had turned
himself into a mare to lure away this frost giant's
horse and, well, you can guess the rest?

Here is what the AMG manga SUGGESTS (not explicitly
laid out, but repeatedly hinted at) is the Lord of
Terror's family tree:

Lord of Terror--+   +--Fenrir
                |   |
                +---+..Midgard
                |   |
Unknown---------+   +--Hild--+
                             |
                             +--Urd
                             |
                          +--+
                          |
                         /
       Unknown God*-----<
                         \   +--Belldandy
                          |  |
                          +--+
                          |  |
       Unknown Goddess**--+  +--Skuld

* Some people believe that Kami-sama is the father of
the goddesses, but there is not a shred of evidence in
the anime*** or manga to support this claim.  From the
perspective of Norse mythology and some comments from
Hild in AMS, the Norse god Baldur the Bright is a
better fit.  Regardless, it is clear that their father
was a god and that Belldandy's and Skuld's mother was
a goddess, but that's unfortunately ALL we know.

** It is theoretically possible that Belldandy and
Skuld have different mothers, though there is no
evidence for this and it adds unnecessary
complication so I assumed the same mother in the
diagram above.

*** In the (Animeigo) dubbed anime Belldandy refers to
Kami-sama once as "father", but this is a
mistranslation from the original Japanese where she
always calls him simply "Kami-sama".

Evidence in AMG for this family tree:

1.  Urd is Hild's Daughter
2.  Urd is the 'rightful heir' to the Lord of Terror
3.  Fenrir is a more rightful heir to the Lord of
    Terror than Urd

Most of this geneaology is revealed in the "Terrible
Master Urd" story arc.  Dark Horse has a trade
paperback out with the entire 6 story arc.  Makes
very interesting reading.  When the Lord of Terror
(LOT) was killed(?) by Belldandy, the birthright of
power shifted to Urd.  However, as soon as Urd (as the
new LOT) freed Fenrir the power shifted to him,
indicating that Fenrir was a more fitting heir than
Urd.  Note that Hild is nowhere to be seen in this
segment, but then Hel had nothing to do with Ragnarok
when her father and brothers went crazy with
bloodlust, so it is fitting that she would be skipped
as a vessel for the power/personna of the LOT.  Hild
undoubtedly had the knowledge and power to resist her
family's legacy of destruction.

Note that in the AMG tree above I connected Midgard
with dots.  That's because in AMG, Midgard (the
antivirus program) was pitted against Fenrir (the
Ultimate Destruction Program).  Who knows where
Midgard fits into the AMG version of the family tree?

Brian W.





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