The Hyrulian Pantheon: Introduction

Since the series’ conception, the exact nature and structure of Hyrulian religion has been a mystery. We have known there are Goddesses and Gods, Guardians and Spirits, Temples and Sacred Places. What we haven’t known is how all of these separate deities exist in relationship to each other, if they believe themselves to be in relationship to each other in the first place, or whether or not there are different tiers, such as in many multi-god religions. 

I have always been fascinated by mentions of Gods and Goddesses within Hyrule. There is evidence within the games pointing to a larger picture, but the exact form and nature of that picture has always been clouded by questions. With the release of Skyward Sword, we have been given a wealth of new information, and we are continually discovering the ways in which this information fills in many cracks in Zelda Theorizing. What it has really done for me is allow me to make out the form and nature of the Hyrulian pantheon, and I would like to share that with you. Jump inside to read on.

Please note, there will be unmarked HEAVY SPOILERS in the 8th, 9th, and 10th chapters. There may be SPOILERS in the other articles, but they will be clearly marked by bolded text and kept in a single block.

 
Before we begin, there are a few things that need to be discussed so we are all on the same page. First, I will define the terms I will be using throughout the articles in this series. Second, an overview of the basic structure of the Hyrulian Pantheon will be presented, and lastly we will discuss basic archetypes.

 
The word “pantheon” is used in two ways: referring to a physical building or structure dedicated to all the gods of a particular civilization, and then, referring to all the Gods or Goddesses of a particular civilization. There have been many pantheons throughout history, including various eastern pantheons (India, China, Japan, etc.) African pantheons, Hispanic, Native American, Judeo-Christian, and of course the classic western Pantheons (Greek/Roman, Germanic pantheons). I will focus mainly on the structure and nature of the Norse and Greek pantheons, as I see the most parallels between them and the Hyrulian Pantheon. 

 
A “Mythology” is a collection of myths and legends from a particular culture. A myth is simply a sacred story passed down by people of that culture, often for the purpose of explaining various natural occurrences or mysteries within the universe. A legend is more of a story about mythical characters within the particular pantheon/culture the legend was created in. Legends and myths can evolve into religious beliefs over time. 

 
What we understand about the Greek and Norse pantheons came from what we have found of their art and stories. Their Myths. There are the legends of Hercules, for example, which detail many traditional Greek myths and mythological figures while talking about the hero that the stories were about. The Norse had two huge collections of stories called the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda. There are also the stories of Beowulf, the great mortal Norse Hero who defeated Grendle and his mother.


Greek Pantheon
Norse Pantheon

Following this line of thought, if we look at each game as part of a collection of legends about the same characters/gods from the same culture, then we can piece together the system of belief shared by all Hyrulians in the same way that archeologists and scholars have done throughout history. The problem with an approach like this lies in thinking of the games in a chronological timeline. If we think of the games as a history, then each game has a separate mythology; not all of the deity characters show up in every game. However, there have been articles written about the timeline where the each game, or set of games, are considered individual legends, or stories, rather than a chronological history. If we look at them this way, as a collection of myths about the culture, we can easily piece together a Hyrulian Pantheon. 

 
I use the term “Hyrulian” referring to all the races and people in the country of Hyrule. The term “Hylian” specifically refers to the Hylian race. Therefore, all of the different races are included in the general Hyrulian Mythologies, which makes sense as even members of the other races who claim to have their own Gods pay homage to Hyrule and to Hyrule’s three goddesses. They believe in the same set of Gods, but have different “patron gods” than the Hylian race. This phenomena was seen in Greek and Roman times. Although everyone in the country believed in the same gods, different Citystates had different patron gods that they honored most out of the larger pantheon of gods. 

 
There are a few characters and storylines common to the pantheons of various cultures, and they have come to be known as “archetypes”. No discussion of mythologies or pantheons is complete without a discussion of archetypes. To really be considered a traditional pantheon, the cultural myths in question need to share some, if not all, of these archetypes. 

 
For example, we have the Sky God and the Earth Mother. I would argue that Nayru and Farore, respectively, fulfill these archetypes. Din, though heavily related to the earth, seems to have more to do with fire and rock. The Earth Mother archetype is usually associated with plant life and animals, which we associate with Farore in the Zelda universe. This will be discussed in more depth in the Major Deities chapter. 

 
Many pantheons also feature a Sun Goddess and a Moon God. Sometimes, as in Greek and Roman mythology, the genders are flipped, but most pantheons feature a female sun and a male moon. Norse Mythology is no different, and neither is Hyrulian Mythology. Majora’s Mask, the story of Link in Termina, features Majora as a female antagonist and spirit of the sun, whereas the Fierce Deity is male and represents the spirit of the moon. These spirits could easily be seen as deities.

 
The death deity archetype I can’t discuss here because of spoilers. See “The Evil Gods” section for more information on the Hyrulian God of Death. 

 
Perhaps most interesting is the existence of a Trickster figure within various mythologies. In Norse Mythology, which we will discuss in depth, that figure is called Loki. At best he is a trickster, at worse he is malignant and borders on evil. To counter the trickster figure, there if often a heroic God that keeps the trickster in line. I believe that Majora is the trickster in Hyrulian Mythology and Fierce Deity is the Heroic god who steps in to tame him. This relationship will be discussed in more depth in the Minor Gods chapter. 

 
One last aspect of a collection of cultural mythologies that make up or involve a specific pantheon is the existence of archetypal stories found in most if not all mythologies. First is the creation myth, in which we find out how the world was made. For Hyrule, we are told that the three goddesses came from a distant nebula and created the world with perfect balance and then left. This is a very brief summary, but this myth will be discussed in more depth in chapter two, Hyrulian cosmology.

The Creation of Hyrule

Next, there if often an “origin of death” myth. In Native American mythology, specifically the Nez Perce version as all tribes have slightly different myths, the tale often goes that Coyote, their trickster figure, traveled to the land of the dead to bring back his wife. Death told him that he could have her back if he could travel across the five mountains and not look back to see if she was following him. On the final mountain he couldn’t take it anymore and looked. Because he looked at her, she returned to the land of the dead, and so death enters the world through recklessness. In Christian mythologies, the Snake tricked Eve into committing a sin, disobedience, and so death enters the world through the sin of disobedience. 

 
A similar myth exists in Hyrulian mythology. The Triforce exists in the sacred realm and the goddesses have left the world in perfect balance to govern itself. Many recountings of this time period say that the people were happy, the land was peaceful, there was perfect harmony in the world. Then knowledge of the Triforce spread, and the people began to fight and kill each other for its power. Death enters the world through greed and the desire for power.

After the Battles for the Triforce

Yet another common myth found in many mythologies, including Hyrulian mythology, is the story of the flood. There are many different circumstances surrounding this myth, but ultimately the world is flooded completely and a few survivors live on mountaintops at some point in time. Can anyone say “The Wind Waker’s opening legend”?


Classic Illustrations from Three Different Cultural Mythologies

The Hyrulian Flood Myth

If we look at the games as a collection of cultural stories, legends, and myths, it is clear that there are many parallels between common archetypal characters and archetypal storylines found in most cultural mythologies and cultural pantheons. I believe that using these “legends of Zelda” as a tool, evidence of Hyrulian culture, we can piece together a scholarly and plausible argument for well defined Hyrulian Pantheon. In the weeks to come, we will delve into the various characters and levels of that pantheon. 

 
The articles in the series will be separated into ten chapters as follows:

 
1-Introduction
2-Hyrulian Cosmology
3-The Major Gods
4-The Minor Gods
5-Demi-Gods
6-Guardians
7-Spirits
8-The Evil Gods
9-The Hylia Problem
10-Conclusion

 
As previously stated, the last three chapters will have heavy Skyward Sword Spoilers. Elsewhere, they will be clearly marked.

 
PREVIEW OF CHAPTER 2:
Before actually discussing the gods themselves, we need to understand how the Hyrulian people think of their world in a physical and metaphysical sense. Within the study of ancient mythologies, this is called the cosmology of that culture. In the next article we will take a look at Greek and Norse Cosmology, and compare it to Hyrulian Cosmology as outlined throughout the games. 

 
Please note that this series is not attempting to force theological beliefs onto the Hyrulian society. The writer is aware that Zelda’s mythology is often compared to eastern religions because of where it was created, but found fascinating results by looking at more medieval pantheons for comparison because of the medieval setting the games take place in. She is also aware of the recently released book, Zelda and Theology, which attempts to preach a Christian message using a popular culture figure, Zelda games. This is not at all what this series is attempting to do.

Author: The Wolfess

Jennie Marie, also called The Wolfess, is getting her Masters of Fine Arts in Poetry at Eastern Washington University. She is the author of a three-book Zelda fan fiction, The Doppelganger Trilogy and does freelance articles for Zelda websites. The Wolfess has written such articles as Zelda Wii Needs An Anti-Hero, Skyward Sword’s Art Style: Straddling the Line or Walking a New Path, and a ten-part series on The Hyrulian Pantheon currently running at ZeldaDungeon.net.

 
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