NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Ratatosk

In Norse mythology, Ratatöskr (drilling tooth, sometimes anglicized Ratatosk) is a red peach who runs up and down with messages in the world tree Yggdrasill and spreads gossip. In particular he ferried insults between the eagle at the top of Yggdrasill, and the dragon Níðhöggr beneath its roots. An expert in demolitions particularly land mines, Ratatosk is known for being a huge jerk. When weakened, he can regain his strength by listening to the sound of children united in song. Ratatosk is occasionally mistaken for a squirrel by the blind and mute, whom Ratatosk regularly beats. Image File history File links Ratatoskr in Yggdrasill. ... Image File history File links Ratatoskr in Yggdrasill. ... Norse, Viking or Scandinavian mythology comprises the indigenous pre-Christian religion, beliefs and legends of the Scandinavian peoples, including those who settled on Iceland, where most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled. ... Yggdrasil In Norse Mythology, Yggdrasil (also Mimameid and Lerad) was the World tree, a gigantic tree (often suggested to be an ash, an interpretation generally accepted in the modern Scandinavian mind), thought to hold all of the different worlds, such as Asgard, Midgard, Utgard and Hel. ... NÃÃ°hÃ¶ggr gnaws the roots of Yggdrasill in this illustration from a 17th century Icelandic manuscript. ...

Modern Appearances

Ratatosk makes a minor appearance in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman comic book, as an accidental "midwife" to Thor in a story told by Loki. He also appears in Gaiman's novel American Gods. Ratatosk appears as a woman running a temp agency for the gods in Esther Friesner's "Temping Fate" and is quoted as saying "I am Ratatosk, the Dark Squirrel of Doom!" Neil Richard Gaiman () (born November 10, 1960) is an English author of science fiction and fantasy short stories and novels, graphic novels, comics, and films. ... The Sandman was a comic book series written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics for 75 issues from 1988 until 1996. ... For other uses, see Thor (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that Loki and the dwarfs be merged into this article or section. ... American Gods is a novel by Neil Gaiman. ...

Ratatosk also appears in Poul Anderson's Operation Luna. He is never seen, but his tracks are seen and his strength is mentioned. Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926â€“July 31, 2001) was an American science fiction author of the genres Golden Age. ... Operation Luna is the 2000 sequel to the 1971 fixup novel Operation Chaos by Poul Anderson. ...

In the (currently) Japan-release-only game, Shin Bokura No Taiyou: Gyakushuu no Sabata (which would have translated into Boktai 3: Sabata's Counter attack), there is a major enemy named Ratatosk. This continues the trend in Boktai games where many characters, especially villains, get their names from the Norse mythology. Boktai is a video game series created by Konami for the Game Boy Advance handheld console. ...

Paul Muldoon's poem 'Hopewell Haiku' features the lines, 'The razzle-dazzle / of a pair of Ratatosks / on their Yggdrasill.'

In the Marvel Comics mini-series, Thor:Blood Oath, Thor and the Warriors Three are aided by Ratotosk, who gives them information on how to acquire special apples guarded by the Eagle that resides at the top of Yggdrasill. The Warriors Three are a group of fictional characters who served as supporting cast members in Thor published by Marvel comics. ...

In the Larry Niven novel Rainbow Mars, plans are made to capture Ratatosk, but the "Yggdrasil" space elevator tree causes a water crisis and these plans are abandoned. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Rainbow Mars is a science fiction novel by Larry Niven, in which humans from Earth visit the Mars and find it populated by the creations of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ray Bradbury, C.S. Lewis, H.G. Wells, and Stanley Weinbaum - in short, all the great acience fiction writers who have... A space elevator would consist of a cable anchored to the Earths surface, reaching into space. ...

In the PS1 game Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, Ratatosk appears as an enemy monster.

In the novel Hellboy: The Bones Of Giants, by Christopher Golden, Ratatosk appears as a talking squirrel that provides Hellboy, whose right stone hand is fused with the Hammer of Thor, with critical information several times throughout the novel. Hellboy is a fictional Dark Horse Comics character created by Mike Mignola. ...

In July 2007, Namco-Bandai revelaed the production of Tales of Symphonia: Knight of Ratatosk, a new title for Wii set two years after the events of the original Tales of Symphonia. Tales of Symphonia ) is a video game first released for the Nintendo GameCube and later for the PlayStation 2. ...

Categories: Norse mythology stubs | Creatures in Norse mythology Norse, Viking or Scandinavian mythology comprises the indigenous pre-Christian religion, beliefs and legends of the Scandinavian peoples, including those who settled on Iceland, where most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled. ... Divided between the Ã†sir and the Vanir, and sometimes including the jÃ¶tnar (giants), the dividing line between these groups is less than clear. ... In Old Norse, the Ã†sir (singular Ãs, feminine Ãsynja, feminine plural Ãsynjur, Anglo-Saxon Ã“s, from Proto-Germanic *Ansuz) are the principal gods of the pantheon of Norse mythology. ... Vanir is the name of one of the two groups of gods in Norse mythology, the other and more well known being the Ã†sir. ... The giants Fafner and Fasolt seize Freyja in Arthur Rackhams illustration to Richard Wagners version of the Norse myths. ... For other uses, see Elf (disambiguation). ... In Norse mythology, the dwarves (Old Norse: dvergar, sing. ... For other uses, see Troll (disambiguation). ... The Valkyries Vigil, by the Pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Robert Hughes. ... In Norse religion the einherjar or einheriar were spirits of warriors who had died bravely in battle. ... The Norns spin the threads of fate at the foot of Yggdrasil, the tree of the world. ... For other meanings of Odin, Woden or Wotan see Odin (disambiguation), Woden (disambiguation), Wotan (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Thor (disambiguation). ... This 19th century representation of Freyr shows him with his boar Gullinbursti and his sword. ... In Norse Mythology and Germanic paganism, Freyja (sometimes anglicized as Freya) is the fairest of all goddesses. ... It has been suggested that Loki and the dwarfs be merged into this article or section. ... Baldr. ... TÃ½r, depicted here with both hands intact, is identified with Mars in this illustration from an 18th century Icelandic manuscript. ... For other uses, see Yggdrasil (disambiguation). ... In Norse mythology, Ginnungagap (seeming emptiness or gaping gap) was a vast chasm that existed before the ordering of the world. ... For other uses, see RagnarÃ¶k (disambiguation). ... Image File history File links Mjollnir_icon. ... Look up Poetic Edda in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Younger Edda, known also as the Prose Edda or Snorris Edda is an Icelandic manual of poetics which also contains many mythological stories. ... Excerpt NjÃ¥ls saga in the MÃ¶Ã°ruvallabÃ³k (AM 132 folio 13r) circia 1350. ... The Volsung Cycle is the name of a series of Germanic legends based on the same matter as Niebelungenlied, and which were recorded in medieval Iceland. ... The Tyrfing Cycle is a collection of legends united by the magic sword Tyrfing. ... A rune stone in Lund Rune stones are stones with runic inscriptions dating from the early Middle Ages but are found to have been used most prominently during the Viking Age. ... Old Norse is the Germanic language spoken by the inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300. ... The orthography of the Old Norse language since the introduction of the Latin alphabet in Iceland is a thorny subject. ... Norse mythology provides a rich and diverse source which many later writers have borrowed from or built upon. ... Viking Age is the term denoting the years from about 800 to 1066 in Scandinavian History[1][2][3]. // The Vikings have been much maligned in European history, due in large part to their violent attacks on Christians in the first centuries of their excursions out of Scandinavia. ... The skald was a member of a group of courtly poets, whose poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry. ... In literature, a kenning is a compound poetic phrase, a figure of speech, substituted for the usual name of a person or thing. ... The BlÃ³t was the pagan Germanic sacrifice to Norse gods and Elves. ... Seid or seiÃ°r is an Old Norse term for a type of sorcery or witchcraft which was practiced by the pre-Christian Norse. ... Numbers are significant in Norse mythology although not to the extent which they are in some traditions e. ... // Places Asgard BifrÃ¶st Bilskirnir Breidablik Elivagar Fyris Wolds Gandvik Ginnungagap Helgardh Hlidskjalf Hvergelmir JÃ¶tunheimr Leipter River Kormet Midgard Muspelheim Nastrond Nidavellir Niflheim Ormet Reidgotaland Slidr River Svartalfheim Utgard Valhalla Vanaheim Vimur Yggdrasil Events Fimbulwinter RagnarÃ¶k Artifacts Balmung Brisingamen Draupnir Dromi Eitr Mjolnir SkÃÃ°blaÃ°nir Gram Gungnir...