 Warning, this video will contain spoilers after chapter 1047. You've been warned. Hello, my Nakamotachi, this is Joygirl. And boy, do I have a saucy discussion for you guys today. And I mean saucy. Saucy like ketchup, you know? Sweet, rich, red, red like the red line, but also red like the subscribe button. So if you enjoy fun, insightful discussions like the one that I'm just about to provide, then please do click that deliciously red subscribe button, which will mean that you are provided with updates and notifications for regular one-piece discussions. And now that you have clicked that subscribe button, at the risk of overdoing it with the metaphors and the jokes, let's dip into this saucy material, shall we? So I was actually doing research for a completely different topic. And in doing so, I accidentally ended up entering the nanya of Norse mythology and got a bit carried away, but I can't really complain because it filled up my time and alleviated my boredom during the break week. But also as I really dug quite deep into the mythology, I actually encountered a little gem. Now that little gem actually being a ferocious beast going by the name of Jormungand in Norse mythology who is also known as the Great Beast or the Midgard Serpent and as that last name suggests, Jormungand is a serpent or a sea serpent to be exact and one of Loki's three children. Now, according to Norse mythology, it is said that the deity Odin actually threw Jormungand into the ocean which covers Midgard, which is their word for earth. And it's said that the serpent actually grew so large that it encircled the entire earth and grasped its tail in its mouth. And when you actually look at some of the depictions of Jormungand, I'm sure that like me, there is one thought that immediately pops into your mind. The red line. But let's keep going. Because something else that is contained within this mythology is that it's said that when the serpent stops biting its own tail, that's when the Ragnarok is supposed to begin. Which, by the way, if you are unfamiliar with the term, the Ragnarok is another part of Norse mythology which is used to describe a series of events or catastrophes that will ultimately lead to the destruction of the world. And also, Ragnarok is believed to culminate in a great war between the gods, between demons, giants, wherein the end and the death of the world includes the death of Jormungand but also includes the death of gods. Actually translated, Ragnarok can mean the doom of gods. Now there seems to be some variation on the legends, especially about its ending. Some say that an innocent god is revived or some others say that two humans will emerge from the Idrazil, which is the world tree that actually survived the war and then that these two humans will repopulate the earth. But anyways, with this very quick, very brief lesson on Norse mythology over, how does this then relate to one piece? So like I said, the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw the Jormungand was that it reminded me very much of the red line, this huge expanse of red matter which encircles the entire earth. And so when I did some further digging around online, I found out that of course I wasn't the only one who picked up on this and a very curious detail that some people had pointed out was this little piece of dialogue, a very intriguing piece of dialogue that could be a potential clue. So you'll probably remember that at the end of the little garden arc, Dorian Broggy, the two Elbafian warriors, helped the straw hats continue their journey and overcome that giant fish. But something that may be much more easily forgotten or missed is a seemingly innocent flyaway comment that is made when they say that the only thing that this Elbafian warrior duo are unable to piece is the snake soaked in blood. And at the time when I first encountered this comment, I remember feeling that it was just a harmless comment. I mean, although it is a little bit odd and quite specific, something pretty insignificant apart from the fact that it further enriches the culture of the giants. But now with retrospect, I know, and I'm sure we know, that there is really almost never such a thing as a harmless innocent flyaway comment when it comes to One Piece. And we now know to actually read into these seemingly harmless innocent flyaway comments, and especially when they seem to concern a deity or a mythical figure, especially when it concerns a specific race in One Piece. I mean, I think we have learnt that, especially after the whole Sun God incident and the mention at Skypia. And so in a similar sense, this dialogue about a snake soaked in blood seems very specific and seems like it could be actually much more important. In which case, I think a case, a very strong case could be made that Dory and Broggy were actually referring to the Yomengand. I mean, not only do some of the real life depictions of the Yomengand actually portray him as red, but as this great serpent who is the gatekeeper to war and bloodshed, the words used by Oda, a snake soaked in blood seems quite fitting. But then in that case, how does this fit with the red line? I mean, obviously in Norse mythology, the Yomengand is an actual living, breathing creature, a snake, a serpent, whereas in the series, the red line is known to be a mass of land, a continent made up of islands all grouped together to form that big line. And now I do think that there could be multiple explanations as to how this connects. For example, the red line could have actually once been a real serpent, a real snake that existed, and then somehow formed into this mass expanse of land. And this could be just one of the many lies that we know the world government to tell about the world and about the formation of the world. I mean, there could be some deep lore underneath and covered by what seems to be this red expanse of land. But also, it could just simply be a metaphor. I mean, at the end of the day, this is Oda's story, and whilst it's clear that he obviously takes inspiration from a lot of sources, there's no rule or no need for him to stick to the story to the legends one to one. I mean, he could be just taking the symbolism and the metaphors and the meaning behind the stories, which does seem to be more in mind with what he does and what he has done with other legends and with other stories. So the red line of one piece could just metaphorically represent the great serpent of Norse mythology, whilst also tying in with the ancient belief system of the Elbafian warriors. Nonetheless, it's hard to deny that there does seem to be some sort of connection between the red line to the mythology of the Yomanganda. I mean, for one, we obviously know that Oda is often inspired by other mythologies and legends, but more specifically, Norse mythology and Norse culture. We know that Oda's love for pirates and his interest in this world sparked with his love for the cartoon series Vicky the Viking, where Vikings are really the OG pirates of the world. And we can really see this through the representation of giants in the series, especially the Elbafian giants, which were the first giants that we did see in the series. And it's very clear that the Elbafian warriors were heavily influenced by the culture and the values of Vikings, which is why there have been so many speculations about what we could expect from Elbaf, speculations between characters like Shanks, for example, and his possible connection or representation of the Norse god Tear, who also lost his arm, and I have actually made a video about that, so feel free to watch that after this one. But also, we obviously have characters in One Piece, whose names are actually directly taken from Norse mythology. For example, Loki, a prominent figure within Norse mythology, is the name for the Prince of Elbaf. So then if we continue thinking about what the influence of this legend of Yomanganda could mean for the One Piece series, we could actually be looking at how the final war may erupt. I mean, for a while there's been a speculation that the red line will have to be destroyed alongside Marijua as this artificial barrier that was actually created by the world government. And it's been speculated that this destruction of the red line will also result in the realization of the all blue and that this will grant freedom to not just Luffy, but to everybody to roam the seas. And so if we adopt those ideas about the red line being an artificial barrier that was created by the world government, those who call themselves the celestial dragons as fake gods, in that sense, viewing the final war as like the Ragnarok, the doom of the gods, a great war which actually culminates in the death of gods. This idea of the doom of the gods is actually quite fitting, as well as the idea of the world being cleansed and then being able to start a fresh and a new after this great war. The Yormanganda is an example of what has been called the Uroboros in history, the word Uroboros referring to symbols and representations of a snake with its tail in its mouth. This seems to be a symbol that has been seen countless of times across history, across vastly different cultures and amongst other things and other meanings, the Uroboros is also thought to mean and to refer to this idea of an eternal cyclic renewal. And I think that this idea is also quite an apt description for the story of One Piece, especially the theme and the idea of inherited will in One Piece as this inherited will passing down generations. You know, this theme of seeing parallels between important figures across generations is something that we are quite familiar with in the series. So in that sense, the breaking and the destruction of the red line as the land where the celestial dragons reside, you know, on top of the red line on Mary Joie, the destruction of this barrier and the symbolic representation of the celestial dragons being above everyone else, this could work really nicely as the metaphorical breaking of the Uroboros, the One Piece equivalent of the Uroboros, you know, in the sense that the destruction of the red line is the breaking of the eternal cycle of oppression that the world government has ruled over. And in that case, it makes a lot of sense that this will all be kicked off from Elbaf or at the least that it will be unearthed in Elbaf and that this sort of lore, these sort of reveals will come to light in Elbaf. I mean, apart from the obvious link between the Elbafian warriors to Norse mythology and Vikings, it's clear that Oda has some sort of affinity to Vikings which he represents as the Elbafian warriors in the series and in a similar way to how we knew that Oda would go all out at Wano. You know, in the sense that Wano is obviously representative of his home country to which he has a certain affinity and really I think you would agree with me that he hasn't disappointed when it comes to, you know, going all out and showing off everything at Wano, an arc where even aside from all the hype action we also got some huge reveals and revelations. I think it's safe to say that we can also similarly expect some massive reveals in an arc which seems to be based on the culture which sparked his inspiration for the entire series. In terms of in-series logic, it also makes perfect sense given that giants live a lot longer than humans. So giants really are the perfect source of information if they also remember more than the ordinary human because the events, the historical events of the past, all of this deep lore and mysteries, maybe events that only happened, you know, just a couple of generations ago for them as compared to the average human. But also because the fate of giants seems to be such a great source of interest for the world government that I can't help but think that giants must be a lot more intricately involved and related to all of the deep lore in the series than they seem. I know that the explanation of why the world government is so interested in giants is because of their natural strength, which, yes, in and of itself is also a good reason, but I do still feel like it does go deeper than that. I mean, for example, a very wild example, mind you, giants may even be related to the moon races and, more specifically, the Burka moon race. And the reason why I say this is because Burka is actually the name of a real location in the world, an island in present-day Sweden, but back, you know, way back when, it was actually a well-known trading centre for the Vikings, where Vikings-Gandanaevians were trade with other ethnicities. Now, obviously, in One Piece, we associate Burka with one of the races who live above on the Sky Islands, who we know to have originated from the moon, but it seems like there could be a Viking connection in the real-life world, and so that means that there could actually be a connection to giants in One Piece if Oda does decide to import that element into his story. And this information, this detail about Burka is actually what got me down this rabbit hole of Norse mythology in the first place, because I was actually looking up and researching on the moon. But anyways, that's a whole nother topic. In any case, there really are a lot of potential speculations that could be made about giants, about the red line, about the origins of the One Piece world as we know it, and how all of these are connected. I mean, we could go back to the legend of the Yggdrasil in Norse mythology, that world tree, which seems to symbolically match the sunlight tree eve that we have in One Piece as a tree that bridges the realm between worlds in the sense that it bridges the underwater, the undersea world to the land above water. And this may or may not be that big tree that we saw in Elbaf in Big Mom's flashback. But anyways, I'll leave it here for now, but I would be interested in hearing your speculations and also your thoughts on my speculations, so make sure to leave a comment below. Please don't forget to like and share the video and please do subscribe if you liked hearing this discussion. You can also join our Joyfleet Discord server or even become a Patreon member. And I would like to thank all our patrons for help supporting the channel. And by the way, if you liked where I was going with this whole tree discussion, then please do take a peek at my video that is wholly dedicated to my speculations on the trees of One Piece, which will be posted where at least one of my fingers will be pointing. But anyways, this is Joy Girl and I'll see you again soon.