The protective barrier of Elfhelm is a graveyard for Gaiserics Viking army, are they about to emerge now that it's broken?

In episode 361 Molda talks about an ancient Kingdom that tried to invade Skellig.

Molda: It is said that a long time ago, when this country was attacked by a big country from the continent
Molda: By sacrificing enemy soldiers, these were incited to attack them.

For some time now we have been speculating that Gaiseric was the one who led this ancient Kingdom due to his ties to the island and it's people.

Fast forward to episode 363 and we get a depiction of his former Lovers grave:

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The grave is a stone with these swirly symbols on it. When the crew arrived on Elfhelm they encounter a barrier which is there to protect the island. When comparing these 2 the imagery becomes immediately apparent.

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You might ask why i specifically put the viking title in regards to Gaiserics army, one of the main reasons is the possible inspiration that Miura took for the graveyard. A simple google search of a Viking graveyard will lead you to pictures that depict this

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I think the similarity is self explanatory.

Besides the graveyard i think Miura dropped some additional clues during Elfhelm, one of those would be the Golems that Casca sparred against.

When describing them Danan said: A long time ago, what were they called… "Vikins"? 2 …landed on this island. Using magic, I made golems from the armors and weapons that I stole from them.

Personally i believe that these Vikings she was speaking of was definitely the ancient Kingdom that tried to invade Skellig. Even in one of the earliest depictions of the warring ages during Gaiserics time, Miura used imagery that revoked the essence of Vikings. In addition the sword that Danan gives to Casca also bears the symbol of his Kingdom.

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All of this basically leads me to the latest episode where Griffith potentially broke the barrier of the island by also destroying the Spirit Tree of Elfhelm.

Could the spirits that seem to emerge beneath the city be of those that at one point fought under Gaiseric? Maybe this is one of the reasons as to why we haven't seen Skull Knight make his move yet.

Skull Knight sending off the souls of his men into the vortex of souls via his Beherit sword would be oddly poetic.

Btw im not saying that Gaiserics kingdom was solely a viking army, because that was obviously wasn't the case given what we saw from Falconia, but i think it could be tied to his beginnings as a conqueror, who started from the seas and made his way to conquering the mainland, creating the first empire.

It might explain why he was described as a man that came out of nowhere.
 
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Walter

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Staff member
Cool! I never connected the dots between the stones on the outskirts of Skellig and the grave of the Lady Medium of Cherry Blossoms we saw in 363. Seems obvious now that you look at them... Also to clarify, I don't think these stones are the definitive protection around Skellig. I think they're a part of it. Like the first puzzle, basically.

But anyway, if we accept that the Lady Medium’s grave is special and marks a “bound soul,” then we have to assume the same of these, given the similar markings.

However, the Lady Medium was special. So we would still need an answer for why the souls of Gaiseric's men would still be hanging around on the island. Why would they not migrate like normal souls? Were they all really just kept around as fodder for the wicker men? Seems awfully specific!

We've talked about Danan's particular issue quite a bit. The idea I've adopted is that after the Lady Medium was branded, she escaped the pull of the Vortex after death by effectively being reincarnated through some kind of (tree) magic. And she emerged transformed, as the Danan we know. I believe Gaiseric got similar treatment and emerged bound to his current armor.

But these soldiers? What's special about them? Applying the logic above, perhaps these graves are for souls who were also branded in that event from 1,000 years ago. And they were spared the vortex treatment by some magical technique that kept them bound here on Skellig. In any case... they don't seem friendly.
 
But these soldiers? What's special about them?
Yeah, this is the part of the theory that doesn't have much backbone at all, especially since Elfhelm already managed to deal with them once already. It does kinda create a cool look into the past without taking away from the main storyline though, which kinda fits what Miura was doing with the armor.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
The marked stones on the outskirts of Skellig should also relate to bound souls. But crucially—these don't have a vessel, as SK and Danan did. So they're floaters, and presumably were just manipulated by Griffith.

A more simple approach is that they were the former invaders, whose souls were trapped here on the island (maybe as a result of the island's unique protections, souls can't get out?). And now they've been summoned by Griffith to invade again. Right on cue for "causality to converge," 1000 years later.

Whoever they were originally, these particular souls didn't move on. If it was to avoid the Vortex, well... Griffith can simply collect what's owed. :griffnotevil:: Tax day is here, haha! :femto:: Let the reaping commence. I think it all works quite well, thematically. Particularly if they become something to fight in the traditional sense, as you already said. Guts and SK would have to fight branded former comrades of Gaiseric.
 

Walter

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It might be important to note that the stones according to puck were not always there
Indeed, Puck and Schierke’s lines in 342 about the stones are a kill shot for this idea:

Isidro: Hey! What are these, Puck?!
Puck: I wonder? They weren't here before.
Schierke: I guess they were created after "the day when the world changed".

I should have scrutinized those pages more last night before I weighed in on it. Sorry, everyone! I’ve got a terminal weakness for Gaiseric theories.
 

jackson_hurley

even the horses are cut in half!
Well maybe some souls did tried to do something when the world changed and thats when they created these kind of stones to seal them or something. We do see some ghosts/souls in the fantasia episode when the merging is done. Just a thought for ideas.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Interesting! Miura does often communicate states of mind through pupils. Perhaps this one indicates her fading life. But I don't see anything so distinct here that I'd make the logical leap that it's connected with the markings on her eventual grave.

Even if it did though, it would only serve as a nod to Miura being pretty clever. Because we already have a pretty good idea of what happened with her soul after this moment.
 
I find this really interesting. Also I suspect Skellig or at least its history being heavily influenced by a celtic theme - combined with viking war equipment and behavior I suppose. This image here is quite telling about its world inspirations: aside from the typical helmets and weaponry these soldiers are using these long metal pipes topped with a horses head (dragons head, you name it). Those things were the "Carniyx" - typical equipment of celtic armies. Interestingly they have not been weapons but musical instruments. Think of a really primitive hybrid between a horn and a trumpet made from bronze or copper.
Its purpose was not to strengthen morale among the celtic troups but to weaken the fighting spirit of the enemy they were facing. Historians suggest the Carnyx would have produced sound so profound in a mixture of tonality and horrific metallic screatching that the lord of a roman army being attacked this way must have felt as if the celtic otherworld itself opened its gates to spill out its chaotic hordes of crazy warriors.

Fun fact on the side: Skellig in Berserk and Skellige in the Witcher have the same real world islands as model. The island of Skellig lies at the shore of Ireland. That again is even more intriguing as Irie's Isle contains more than enough myths about fairies, leprichauns and Viking invasions. Also it has been one of the last resorts of original celtic communities led by the druids being persued by the roman empire. I am not sure wether druids are to be introduced in Berserk or if they will just keep it "simple" (nothing simple in these books but hey) by just calling the magic using humans sorcerers, witches and warlocks etc. . A thing that I can imagine appearing in Berserk is the celtic, druidic concept of "the Otherworld". That being a place the real world druids thought to enter via trance induced by drugs, rituals or both. Essencially that is shamanism in a way. That could be implemented in Berserk as some other way to enter the Astral World. That could be some ancient ritual forgotten since the times of Gaiseric or even some kind of special mushroom growing on one specific rock only etc...
 
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