Gods of the Old World
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The Gods of the Old World are a collection of fictional supernatural beings modeled after real-world pagan deities. In the Warhammer Fantasy setting, there are many fictional deities provided to add color and verisimilitude to the game’s background. Most or all of these entities seem to be analogues of real-world gods, chosen to present a war-torn, grim, perilous, and adventurous world.
The setting does not emphasize a creation myth, origin stories, or myth-cycles. The core stories for the setting tend to focus on Sigmar, the national patron god of the Empire, the Empire being the main setting of the Warhammer background.
The Warhammer setting’s artificial mythology presents views of the gods as evolving over time, and worship of particular gods waxing or waning as political and social changes affect the people of the Old World. Gods that are presented as popular and influential in the early timeline may be presented as less important in the later, “current,” period. The mythology also presents differing perspectives and conflicting accounts of the gods, similar to inconsistencies in real-world mythologies.
Different material presents slightly different ideas on what the gods are; whether they are genuine local divinities, Chaos entities created or shaped by mortal minds, or leftover intelligences from the great disaster that shaped the Warhammer world, is unclear.
This article addresses only the gods of humans in the Old World. Gods of other races are dealt with in other articles or under those races’ entries.
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[edit] International Gods
Taal and Rhya represent nature and agriculture. They are presented as the male and female aspects of a more abstract deity, Ishernos. They are presented as brother and sister of, or as part of a trinity with, Ulric. They are apparently derived from nature gods of Northern Europe.
Ulric is the god of winter, wolves, and battle. He is presented as brother of Taal and Rhya, and the original patron of the mortal Emperor Sigmar.
Manann is the god of the sea. He is derived from the Greek and Roman gods Poseidon and Neptune, and shares most of their characteristics
Morr is the god of death and dreams, based on Thanatos and Hypnos. He seems to be part of a group of southern gods, with his wife, Verena, and their children.
Verena is the goddess of justice and learning, and by extension academia and administration.
Shallya is the goddess of mercy and healing, and directly interested in doing good and promoting weal, unusual for the generally grim and harsh Old World setting. She is the daughter of Morr and Verena, and sister of Myrmidia.
Ranald is the trickster god of trade, crime, and deception, based on Hermes, Mercury, and Loki. His background in the context of the Old World pantheon is unclear; he may be the son of Morr and Verena, or a mortal who tricked his way into immortality.
[edit] Regional Gods
Sigmar is presented as a mortal king who ascended to godhood after uniting the primitive tribes of the central Old World into an Empire. This character is among the most developed, and many stories regarding his achievements and activities are related in the Warhammer setting’s fiction and colour text. He is the patron god of the Empire, and widely worshipped in that nation, but rarely worshiped outside its boundaries. Sigmar has no clear and obvious single inspiration in classical, Norse, or other mythology, but may be comparable to the deification of Julius Caesar.
The Lady of the Lake is a mysterious goddess worshipped by the upper class of Bretonnia. Other than being the patron goddess of Bretonnia and their nobility, she has no clear function; she is, however, actively involved in the lives of her worshippers, regularly appearing to and inspiring the knights of Bretonnia to glorious deeds in her name. She is obviously based on the Arthurian Lady of the Lake, who was not considered a divine being. The Bretonnian Lady of the Lake is not worshipped outside Bretonnia, except by some knightly expatriates.
Myrmidia is the goddess of warfare, warcraft, and soldiers, and an important goddess of Estalia and Tilea. Worship of this goddess is spreading, unlike most regional divinities of the setting, and she is becoming popular with middle-class professional soldiery of the Empire.
Hashut, the Father of Darkness, is the patron deity of the Chaos Dwarfs. He is the god of fire, volcanoes, and industry. There is no evidence to suggest that anyone other than the Chaos Dwarfs worship him. Hashut's origins remain a mystery.
[edit] Gods of Kislev
Kislev, the region of the Old World corresponding roughly to the Slavic lands of Russia and Poland, has its own gods, as well as worshipping Taal and Rhya, and Ulric. These gods may be intended by the designer to be part of a greater northern pantheon.
Ursun, Father of Bears, is the ruler of the Kislevian pantheon, appearing mainly as a giant bear.
Dazh is the god of fire, the hearth, and hospitality. Apparently based on Svarog and Dazbog.
Tor is the god of thunder and lightning, and a popular warrior god. Apparently a combination of Thor and Perun.
,==Minor Gods==
The Warhammer setting has a number of lesser divinities, some local, others widespread but with a narrow focus of office or patronage. This list is by no means complete.
Bögenauer is a local patron god, or perhaps a kind of locus genius, representing the town of Bögenhafen. This deity first appeared in Shadows Over Bögenhafen; the idea that locations have such personifications has not been well developed in the Warhammer settings, but crops up occasionally.
Handrich is the god of commerce and prosperity, mainly worshipped by merchants and the rich. His largest cult and temple are in the great trading city of Marienburg.
Khaine is worshipped as the god of murder by a few Old World humans, mainly assassins, murderers, and similar supplicants. Among elves Khaine is a divinity with much broader provenance; the High Elves regard him as the god of war, while the Dark Elves hold him as their main patron god, the god of killing, murder, and apparently a force of natural selection.
Lucan and Luccina are the twin patron gods of the Tilean city of Luccini, where they are said to have founded the original ruling royal family. They, and the city, are symbolized by a leopard.
Olovald is the god of the marshes and delta in the Wasteland. This deity’s cult has largely been subsumed by the cult of Manaan, but the entity seems to still be active, and has a secret cult in Marienburg.
The small numbers of Elves of the Old World chiefly worship the traditional Elven Gods, Kurnous, lord of the wilds and the hunt, and Isha, goddess of nature and life, but a sect of the Wood Elves of Athel Loren known as Wardancers serve the deity known as Loec, Lord of the dance and free spirit.
[edit] Chaos Gods
Worship of the Chaos Gods is strictly forbidden in virtually all of the Old World, but such worship does occur, as part of the setting’s background, to provide internal and external conflict. There is a more detailed Wikipedia entry for these beings, but in brief, these gods are:
Tzeentch, trickster god of change, magic, and intellect. Nurgle, god of disease and entropy. Khorne, god of rage and destruction. Slaanesh, god of pleasure and experience.
The Norse of the setting worship all or some of the four chaos gods in some fashion, as the Norse live relatively near to the Chaos Wastes, but also an array of other, mostly local, gods.
[edit] Sources
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Black Industries, 2005 Shadows over Bogenhafen, Games Workshop, 1988 Dogs of War, Games Workshop, 1998 Tome of Corruption, Black Industries, 2006
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