The Trinity: Of Gods and Kings

The Trinity

4000 Years Ago

Tyr POV

It has been 1000 years, almost to the day, since I lost both of my children. My daughter died in that attack by the Frost Giants, and my son was quickly forced to take an unbearable burden for eternity to save an entire realm. The people of Asgard and Vanaheim all mourned with me and none blamed me for the colossal mistake of letting the Jotuns into our Throne room. Some held back out of pity, as I had paid the only price that day. There were minor injuries all around, but otherwise my son who had inherited much from me, picked up my sword and let lose the war that the Frost Giants so foolishly asked for. He and a few others had slaughtered all of the Frost Giants...every. Last. One. His show of strength had only come at a cost though. My little girl was faded now with her mother, my wife, in the void.

I blamed myself for this. How could I protect my kingdom, my allies, or the realms I was appointed to watch over if I couldn't even protect my daughter. What made it hit home even more was when my son selflessly took on the colossal task of keeping the Midgardian Branch of Yggdrasil attached. I was no longer worthy of being in charge of my father's creation. My son was my heir, and he took what should have been my burden.

My friend Odin tried to convince me that it would be ok when my son returned to us, he had even used his knowledge of the Primordial Runes to often show me my son. My son's suspicions had been correct. The branch would creak and moan even in the cosmic winds around Yggdrasil, if a single person had visited him, the whole branch would fail and Midgard would have fallen off of Yggdrasil altogether.

At one point though, Yggdrasil just swallowed his body. If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed it. His feet had been slipping under the strain, and it seemed that Yggdrasil knew that. He held strong to the chains, but it looked like his boots would lose grip. Then the unthinkable happened. Yggdrasil opened a hole in its bark and pulled him in. Then it closed, leaving only his forearms visible, holding the chains keeping Midgard attached to Yggdrasil. Both Odin and I had looked at each other. We summoned the Norns at the same time.

The three most powerful and entirely neutral Norns: Wyrd, Verdandi, and Skuld had appeared to us in moments. Of the many Norns, the three were the ones who represented the past, present, and future respectively. They did so with no malice or love in their hearts. Therefore they could be trusted to be impartial unlike the other Norns who took sides.

What was said next still haunts me. It gave me hope, but also saddened me to no end.

Flashback

I looked at the Norns and gestured to the bark of Yggdrasil that had swallowed everything but my son's forearms.

"What in the nine realms is this?! I've never seen Yggdrasil interact with the world like this! Beings can interact with it, like the eagle that sits atop Yggdrasil, that damn Squirrel that's always running up and down the trunk, and Nidhogg who chews upon the roots, but Yggdrasil itself has never showed signs of intelligence before!"

The three Norns bowed to Tyr and nodded to Odin. Then Wyrd spoke first.

"First born of the creator, worry not, Yggdrasil is not harming your heir. It is merely keeping him safe for when his job is done. It understands his sacrifice and will not let it go unrewarded."

I interrupted quickly, overjoyed to hear that one day my son's duty to hold Yggdrasil together would some day end.

"Do you know when that will happen? When will my son be free?!"