Tuesday 6 May 2014

Legion of dogs

Well... I saw these:
Images stolen from Eve News 24, The Mittani.com, and http://uglebsjournal.files.wordpress.com/ respectively 



I am in love!

Their utilitarian yet elegantly designed hulls matched with agility and missiles makes my Khanid heart sing for joy! Of course, the possibility that they are well tanked as well is low, but if Mordu's Legion were producing heavily tanked missile boats, Khanid Innovations would be out of a job!

Rhavas of the Interstellar Privateer already beat me to the explanation of the naming conventions (and as he is far wiser in the lore of New Eden than me, is able to draw better conclusions). But lets dig a little deeper, and see if there are more connections to draw.

Garmur

Whilst it is referred to as a hell hound, that's not all Garmr from the mythology is. His primary function is to guard the gates of Hel, or the underworld. It also should be said that Garmr is not really a hell hound. His actual description is similar to that of Sleipnir, the best of steeds. Garm is the best of dogs.

Hel in this case can be seen as Null-sec. Mordu's Legion will be moving into Low-sec, which can be seen as the buffer zone between the Empires and the capsuleer sovereign alliances. Mordu's Legion might be hired by the Empire's to protect them from the null-sec capsuleers.

A little more worryingly, Garmr is also linked to Ragnarok, or the end of days. It is said he will be let lose and that they will be the slayer of Tyr. This god reference could mean Mordu's Legion are out to slay Angels, or capsuleers. Remember, you are Immortal, my fellow pod jockeys.

A little further digging for the truly paranoid, a little line from the Poetic Edda:

"The Völva states that a crowing "sooty-red cock from the halls of Hel" is one of three cocks that will signal one of the beginning events of Ragnarök.

Mordu's Legion were based in Null-sec. And notice the colour of their ships? And finally, I'll leave their badge here. I thought it was eagle, but I'm not so sure.



Naming convention here is Minmatar.

Orthrus

The brother of Cerberus (but with only two heads), this particular namesake is meant to be guarding a herd of red-cattle on the 'sunset' isle. He is eventually slain by Herakles.

Now, our sunset isle could mean low-sec. It is between two opposites of hi- and null-. Not much more to report on this front, however, when we start myth mixing, it becomes a little more interesting.

Orthrus, is said to belong to a giant, and they herd the red cattle together. Again, from the above Poetic Edda, we find mention of another red-cock crowing the start of Ragnarok, this time from Jotunheim:

"He sat on the mound and plucked his harp
the herdsman of the giantess, cheerful Eggther
a rooster crowed in Gallows-wood
that bright-red cockerel who is called Fialar"

Two giants, two herds, one dog and one rooster.

Naming convention here is Gallente.

Barghest

So now we come to the battleship, and this is where most of my digging dries up. It's said to appear at funerals of notable people, and is a shape shifter. Other than it being a dog, I have found no real connection between that and the Ragnarok roosters.

It is linked to other black dog mythologies, and they attack lonely travelers on roads. This is kind of fitting with their role.

The naming conventions all fall down here too. Barghest is a Germanic, or Anglo-Saxon derivation, with is hardly representative of any New Eden culture. It would have most links to Caldari naming conventions, however, as they have a tendency to name ships after mythical creatures.

Conclusions

So, there you have it. A little more connections made. They are named for dogs, as fitting for a mercenary group. Their naming conventions are quite eclectic, as Mordu's Legion have been known to take members from all races. At least two have tenuous links to the re-shaping of the world, and one has a link to funerals and death.

Does any of this matter much? Not really, and most of it is probably far fetched in connection building. However, should another ship, or connection to the third rooster in Valhalla be announced, then the theory will be correct.

It wouldn't surprise me though. In a month's time, the way industry in New Eden is done will be entirely changed, and we already have signs that the cluster is going through large changes. Although we only have our two cockerels, Ragnarok may indeed be at hand.

But the important thing to me is that these will be missile ships, and as the naming convention suggests, most likely Caldari/Gallente based. That means I'll be needing to train up Caldari ships. As a fellow dog-of-war currently working for the Republic, I find their ships most suitable for me!


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