So what exactly are these four symbols? You’ll likely recognize the U-shaped symbol in the top right - it’s a Greek Omega symbol used to represent Ares, the God of War throughout the franchise. You can see the images of these symbols below for yourself: Kratos himself remarks that the runes adorning each corner of the image aren’t runes at all but symbols from different lands - symbols of other ancient cultures that exist simultaneously to Greek and Norse.

Without wading too deeply into story spoiler territory, we’ll say that there’s a certain scene in which Kratos and Atreus uncover one of the many story-images in the game depicting a scene from Norse mythology. Naturally, then, even as we embarked on our adventure across the frigid northern lands of Midgard, we couldn’t help but wonder where the series might go in the future, and we think one scene in the game might actually provide one almighty great clue. For the first time, God of War lore confirms that ancient mythologies existed concurrently, and Kratos is obviously able to travel between and interact with them. Yet the change in setting has also teed up a new layer to the series’ narrative. The deities and ancient figures of Scandinavian folklore make for a colorful cast of characters, and the ethereal beauty of the game’s eight Norse Realms are some of the most visually interesting locations we’ve ever seen in a video game. It’s safe to say that the transition from Greek to Norse Mythology has been a resounding success for God of War.

God of war mythology