With Assassin’s Creed Valhalla having been released for a little while by now, fans have had their time to get accustomed to the main character. Eivor is unlike most of the protagonists in the series, mainly due to the unique background of the character, among other aspects found in the game.
Due to the enormous length of Valhalla, a lot of facts about Eivor tend to get lost since players just can’t keep up with the abundance of information provided. Other times, things concerning Eivor have been released in accompanying works, including other media and interviews conducted with the game’s creators.
Updated January 7, 2022, by Tom Bowen: With the recently announced Dawn of Ragnarök expansion just a few months away, many players will soon be returning to the world of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. If the trailer is anything to go by, they'll once again be placed in control of Eivor; a Viking raider who's more than capable of holding their own in combat. The new content arguably makes this a great time for new players to check out the game as well, though they'll likely have a few questions about Eivor when they first begin playing. Thankfully, however, there's more than enough Eivor facts and trivia floating around to help get these new players quickly up to speed.
12 Is Eivor Canonically Male Or Female?
There actually is a canonical answer to what Eivor’s true gender was. In-universe, Eivor was a female Viking, although everything that happened if one uses a male option still happened to her.
The reason this is known is because of the release of a prequel comic book titled Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Song of Glory, where the female Eivor was seen. This was reconfirmed in the prequel novel Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Geirmund’s Saga as the female Eivor once again appeared.
11 Was Eivor Always Going to be Female?
The team reportedly came up with a few different ideas when it came to Eivor's canonical gender and explaining why players could choose between a male or female protagonist. At one point, Eivor was actually going to be male, with Layla simply able to project herself into the simulation as Desmond does in the first Assassin's Creed game. Ultimately, however, the team opted for a very different approach.
As a result, many believe the male version of Eivor to be non-canonical; something that the game itself arguably makes pretty clear. With this in mind, some have questioned why the male version of Eivor featured so prominently in Ubisoft's marketing of the game and others, why he even exists at all. As the likes of Tomb Raider and Horizon have shown, games with female protagonists can be just as good as their male-led counterparts.
10 Was the Character Always Called Eivor?
Funnily enough, Eivor was originally going to be known as Jora, which the dev team mistakenly believed to mean "kingly." This all changed, however, when Norse mythology expert Jackson Crawford came to look over their notes just a few weeks before audio recording was scheduled to begin. After the team's presentation, Crawford revealed that the name actually means "horse," which led to the last-minute change.
Interestingly though, the name Jora does still make it into the game, with the mistranslated moniker being mentioned when Eivor is in need of a fake name to conceal their identity in Vinland. Another proposed name for the hero, Valdis, also makes it into the game; eventually being used for Oswald's love interest.
9 How Old Is She?
Over the course of the story, Eivor gains the sort of wisdom one would have expected from Altair. However, she wasn’t close to the elderly age Altair was, as Eivor was born in 847 CE. The beginning of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was set in 856 CE, making her 9-years-old at the time.
The main part of the game begins in 872 CE, by which point Eivor is supposed to be a 25-year-old Viking. The course of the story takes place over a year, thereby aging her up once again, although she still remained very young in the main plotline.
8 Why Is She Called "Wolf-Kissed?"
Eivor had a number of titles, with one of the most prominent being the title of “Wolf-Kissed.” This is directly attributable to how she got the scar on her face. As a child, Eivor was left to her own devices after her parents’ death. At some point following this, she found herself at a frozen lake.
It was here that Eivor was attacked by a wolf. Her first hallucination of Odin occurred around this time, allowing her to kill the wolf with an axe and gain the title.
7 Who Is Part Of Her Family?
Eivor hardly had something that one would call a normal childhood. Before she even hit double digits in age, her parents were taken away from her. Their names were Rosta and Varin, with Eivor’s full name being Eivor Varinsdottir. Had she been male, it would have been Eivor Varinson.
She would then gain another father figure in King Styrbjorn, who ended up adopting her after her parents’ demise. Eivor also got a brother out of this, with her adoptive brother Sigurd being her closest form of kinship.
6 Why Is Her Burial Site Significant?
While fans might hope Eivor will return in the future, she's confirmed to be deceased. The significance of Eivor’s resting place was ultimately more important than one might think. She was buried in Vinland, which won’t sound like much if you’re not a history buff, but it's actually a very big bombshell if one is aware of it.
This is because Vinland was the name given to North America by Leif Erikson, the first recorded explorer to discover the region in around 1000 CE. This was over a century before Eivor’s death, meaning she was the first person to travel to this region and ended up passing there.
5 What Is Her Connection To The Isu?
It’s unlikely there was ever as big a reveal in all the Assassin’s Creed games so far as the revelation that Eivor was Odin in her past life. Not only did it mean that she was supposed to be the god that all the Nordic people worshipped, but that Eivor was also connected to the Isu.
The First Civilization had many figures that were eventually interpreted as gods by the humans, although Eivor’s connection is more significant since she’s the reincarnation of Odin, thereby making her an Isu as well.
4 Why Was Male Eivor Even An Option?
While one of the Assassin's Creed series' mistakes has been to make vague connections and offer lofty explanations, but this was done rather well. Most would be wondering why there was ever a male option for Eivor if she was supposed to be female in canon. This answer is actually given at the beginning of the game, although it takes until the end to figure it out.
The male Eivor appeared due to there being two different data streams detected for Eivor, one for herself and one for Odin. Due to the male DNA belonging to Odin, the Animus confused Eivor to be human to the point where it became an option to choose between male and female.
3 What Is The Meaning Of Her Name?
Perhaps the easiest giveaway of Eivor’s real gender is in her name if one knows their Norse language. That’s because Eivor is a female name, which is translated to mean “good luck” or “defender.” Her surname is based on her father.
In Scandinavian history, it was commonplace to use surnames based on patronyms, as in the father’s name and an affix of the relations of the person. The “Varin” was derived from her father and “dottir” translates to daughter.
2 What Character Was The Inspiration For Eivor?
While there might be cool characters in games you play after Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, it’ll be difficult to top Eivor’s personality. She was more feisty than most protagonists in the series, which stems from the fact that she was partially based on Furiosa from the Mad Max series.
It was her personality that was derived from the film character, although her appearance is also slightly reminiscent of Furiosa in some ways. The creators sought to take the fighter mentality found in Furiosa and adapt it into the Viking style of Eivor.
1 Which Actors Voice The Character?
Eivor obviously has two voice actors due to the male and female option, as the case was with Alexios and Kassandra in Odyssey. Magnus Bruun provides the male voice, and the female voice is that of Cecilie Stenspil.
According to Bruun, he was unaware the audition tape was for Valhalla, instead assuming it to be for an animated series called Black Wolf Saga. He wasn’t even a gamer but was aware of the popularity of the Assassin’s Creed franchise.