AC Valhalla Wrath Of The Druids DLC RealLife Druid History Explained

AC Valhalla Wrath Of The Druids DLC: Real-Life Druid History Explained

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The mysterious Druids have been something of a fascination to modern audiences. Brush up on Druidic history before AC Valhalla’s Wrath of the Druids.

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AC Valhalla Wrath Of The Druids DLC RealLife Druid History Explained

The first major post-release DLC for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, titled Wrath of the Druids, is set for release in March. Ubisoft has plans to include quite a bit of DLC in Valhalla this year. The expansion will take players to Ireland in a story revolving around a cult of druids called the Children of Danu. Druidic culture was largely subsumed by Christianity in ancient Europe, but interest in the mysterious and powerful men grew during the 19th century as part of the Romantic period. Aside from being a prominent Dungeons & Dragons class, Druids may be unfamiliar in their historical context. Here’s a quick look at the history of the learned Celts known as Druids.

Oddly enough, the leading source of information on the Druids is Roman general Julius Caesar, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. Caesar (himself a historical figure in Assassin’s Creed Origins) would have encountered the Druids during his campaigns through Gaul, a region spanning France, a bit of Belgium, the western edge of Germany, and northern Italy. This conquest of the Celtic Gauls took place 58-50 BCE, over 900 years before the events of Valhalla, which begins in the year 873 CE. National Geographic notes that Druids could be found outside of Gaul as well, in ancient Britain and Ireland.

The Druids remain so mysterious because they kept no written records of their own, which is why Caesar has the most thorough account of them. Druids will fit right in to Assassin’s Creed, since the series has a long history of mysterious figures, including the unknown present-day Templar leader. According to Caesar, the two most esteemed group of men in Gaul were the noblemen and the Druids. Druids were most often knowledgeable elders of their Celtic society. Their training could last upwards of 20 years, and covered many topics, including pagan religious lore, astronomy, philosophy, and verse.

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Because there are no primary texts from Druids themselves, it is impossible that there will ever be a perfectly clear and factual understanding of the religious leaders. Many accounts and consequent depictions of Druids paint them as violent fanatics, which is convenient for the artistic liberties usually taken regarding historical figures in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. These depictions are in part because, beginning under the reign of Roman Emperor Augustus, a couple decades after Caesar’s assassination in 44 BCE, Druids and their rituals were actively suppressed in the Roman Empire, since they were seen as acts of rebellion against the conquerors of Gaul.

Depiction of Druids in AC Valhalla: Wrath of the Druids

By the time Assassin’s Creed Valhalla takes place, the collapse of Western Roman Empire had happened roughly four centuries ago (Encyclopedia Britannica). The Eastern Roman provinces would survive for centuries as the Byzantine Empire until being usurped by the Ottoman Empire in 1453. The fall of the Western Roman Empire coincided with the rise of Christianity in western Europe. In 313 CE, Roman Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, accepting Christianity as a legal religious practice.

Christianity is the predominant religion in England when Eivor arrives to establish a new home for the Raven Clan. Although the rise of Christianity is directly related to the fall of paganism throughout Europe, medieval texts suggest Druids were still present in Celtic society, and their role had transitioned to that of healers, magicians, and spiritual guides.

Valhalla post-launch DLC Wrath of the Druids, according to Ubisoft, will take players to Ireland to “unravel the mysteries of an ancient and mysterious druidic cult,” and will involve “myths and folklore, […] haunted forests and dazzling landscapes.” This suggests that Valhalla will lean heavily into the image of Druids as ritualistic barbarians. This concept of them probably doesn’t apply to all Druids, but it does have historical precedent. Cults also have precedence in Assassin’s Creed, since Odyssey focused on protagonist Kassandra hunting down the Cult of Kosmos.

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Roman scholar Pliny the Elder wrote of Druidic belief, “To murder a man was to do the act of highest sacrifice, and to eat his flesh was to secure the highest blessings of health.” Sacrificing human life seemed to be a common occurrence for Druids. Another Roman writer, Tacitus, observed a Druidic ritual during a battle in Wales in which the Druids “[covered] their altars with the blood of captives and [consulted] their deities through human entrails” (National Geographic).

Druids made sacrifices for various reasons, including to aid those wounded in battle or people dying from sickness. Their preferred sacrificial lambs were criminals, but innocent victims were chosen if no other alternative was available. The most notable form of Druidic sacrifice was the construction of a massive, wickerwork sculpture – often in the shape of a man – that was then filled with live people and burned.

Before Roman occupation of northwestern Europe, Druids often performed their ceremonies in a forest clearing, thus their close association with nature in modern media. The promise of exploring haunted forests in Ireland (a new setting for Assassin’s Creed), indicates that Eivor will most likely encounter Druids performing terrible rites in their ancient manner. The entirety of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla takes place among the ruins of the Roman Empire, so it is only fitting that this cult of Druids will return to their mysterious and bloodthirsty past.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/ac-valhalla-wrath-druids-dlc-real-life-history/

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