Nordic Mythology Expert REACTS to Hellblade

I like how they swapped Fenrir’s skull for a boar’s, as the boar is a symbol of power and ferocity in many Celtic myths. It really shows how Senua is interpreting this foreign mythology through her own experiences.

I like her. Not sure if she's a gamer but it's always nice to see people who are respectful of the artform, and informative. 👍

It's important to note that the narration is filtered through a Celt's perspective of what the Norse beliefs are; this is why calling Surtr a fire god or calling Svartalfeim the dwelling of 'evil elves'.

She seems like the professor that you'd like to have as a professor

I'm not sure if the following is a spoiler, because of how inexplicit most of Hellblade is, but I'm warning just in case. The story is confusing because the setup and the visuals suggest it's an adventure through norse mythology, when it's not at all. The "adventure" is a schizophrenic projection of the mechanism of her broken mind finding the strength to let go of her pain. Norse stories had been told to her, but it poisoned her perception of the people from across the sea. It was also the vehicle she used to find herself again. It's beautiful honestly.

It's probably worth pointing out that the Mimir reference is actually an incidental side effect of the real purpose for the head Senua is carrying. The reason she's carrying DIllion's head is related to Celtic mythology, in which the head is "the seat of the soul" (correctly referenced in the game) - it's where the soul of a person resides while they live. Senua takes his head as a vessel in which she can carry his soul out of Helheim, so he can be delivered to his proper afterlife. This is also similar to the (already mentioned in other comments) fact that those blue glowing symbols in the air during combat were Celtic runes (there's also a scene later in the game with Senua in a pit, and those symbols can be seen carved into the walls of the hole she's in). It's probably also worth noting that Celtic people had 2 separate religions with separate pantheons, and most followers of both of those pantheons believed the other group also existed. They believed in very "real" gods, who were reachable in a physical way if you could get to the right places to meet them. Extending that belief to another culture's gods, after having an encounter with another culture who perform ritual acts in honour of those gods, is just a logical extension of that belief, as is the idea that the lands these foreign gods live in can be reached and the gods themselves confronted. The game isn't really so much an exploration of Norse mythology as it is an exploration of what the Celtic peoples would have believed about Norse mythology. it gets a lot of interesting details of Norse mythology right, but also gets many things wrong, while doing so so in ways that fit with those stories being filtered through 2 layers of different Celtic beliefs.

The symbols which flash are mostly ogham, an old Celtic runic script. The one with three circles is the triskelion, which isn’t a letter but rather a symbol representing a trinity which dates back to the Neolithic, and has been used by cultures across Europe since then. The Isle of Man still has a triskelion on their flag actually!

I would like to know, why nobody told her that Senua has schizophrenia. That this played into here views as what she saw. Why no one told her of druth being the one talking to her when she views the runes. That would have made her give us possibly more and even better insight into this at least in my opinion. She would have had the whole picture. Did love what she did give us though.

It's important to note that what Senua knows about Norse mythology is directly influenced what one of her Shaman told her and that was based on what he picked up on as a slave

5:49 The rune stones spell out a secret message: Seek Hela's truth in mirror. Gods betray us. Unmask fear. Not sure why the developers went with Hela instead of Hel but probably for the reason you mentioned. Senua's understanding of norse mythology is based on the version told to her by an old pict who spent many years as a viking thrall before he escaped and finally made his way home (but was badly burned during his escape). So we see it the way she imagines it based on what she was told.

I was today years old when I found that Senua was a Pict. I did not notice any of the gaelic/celtic symbols on my first playthrough! The blue paint on her face now makes all the sense in the world. It is just weird to see someone who believes in a totally different mythology (celtic) which end up dying and going to nordic mythological world.

Spoiler for the game, and if you haven't seen any of the promotional material. The thing about this game is that Senua is someone suffering from a mental break down brought on by numerous trauma from her life. She learns about Nordic mythology by a guy in the forest and views the world from that lens, her psychosis makes it "real". This gives the developer some leeway since the mythology doesn't need to be completely accurate since this is according to Senuas belief mixed with her celtic upbringing. The interesting thing about the game is that You are one of the voices in her head guiding her through this world, and since you view this world from Senuas eyes you never know what is real and what is fake. and how her mental issues are both a curse and a "superpower" letting her survive these experiences.

I would recommend basically anyone to play this game. It's a good game (and pretty short, too) with a lot of interesting mechanics. I really want to play the sequel; but don't have the right console. It's an interesting game that simulates mental illness (and wants you to play with headphones to hear the voices best). 11/10 for anyone looking for an interesting story without the AAA gimmicks.

I hope she do a breakdown of Hellblade 2 once it is ready

The doctor is watching Dead Island. Severing of limbs, various types of homemade weapons. There will be somewhere to roam).

hellblade is 10/10 experience

Very good series. Love to hear critique from an expert on the subject while being a novice with respect to the medium of delivery.

This is honestly such a good game, and I can't wait for the sequal 🙌

If it hasn't happened yet, her and Jackson Crawford should get together and talk on other norse topics in media.

HECK YEAH! Always great to see Dr. Van Dausen, especially to start off a new week and a new month!!! 💖😄💖