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The Light Novel series is the source material for the adaptation of the Anime and Manga series. The information and terminology on the article will be based on the source material rather than the adaptions. |
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The Goddess of Light (光の女神, Hikari no Megami) is one of the two Supreme Gods in Yurgenschmidt's religion. She and her husband, the God of Darkness, are said to rule over the heavens.
She presides over light, marriage, promises, and contracts.[3] Her divine instrument is a crown, and her divine colour is gold, which symbolizes the sun's rays.[4]
Mythology
Long ago, the Goddess of Light met the lonesome God of Darkness. They married and had four children together: Flutrane, Goddess of Water; Leidenschaft, God of Fire; Schutzaria, Goddess of Wind; and Geduldh, Goddess of Earth.[5]
However, the God of Life Ewigeliebe fell in love with Geduldh. He stole her away to be his bride and froze her in ice. It was the Goddess of Light who melted the ice to set her daughter free.[5]
Name
The vast majority of people in Yurgenschmidt are not even aware of the names of the supreme gods and even those that are, will almost always use only their titles. Only archduke candidates are permitted to learn the names at all. This is not due to societal norms however, but appears to be part of the gods' own design. The one time an archnoble researcher managed to make an archduke candidate tell him the names of the king and queen gods, the archnoble was consumed by black and golden flames until nothing remained, and the archduke candidate lost his divine protections of light and darkness, unable to ever regain it, even when invoking the names of the gods, which ultimately led to him being demoted to archnoble status.
While the story might have been made up to justify the secrecy, the fact that their names are even omitted from the High Bishop's Bibles gives it quite a bit of credence.
Due to this incident, students are strictly warned against ever uttering the names when someone else might be listening, and even the ritual to learn them is held alone, without even a professor being present in the room. Due to everyone learning the names in such private ways and never talking with others about them, nobody really knows whether the ones they themselves know are the true, unchangeable names or something personalized for or interpreted by them.
The names of the God of Darkness and Goddess of Light are an absolute necessity to successfully use Entwickeln. If only their titles are invoked, the structure with crumble back to dust within a couple of hours. Only with the names of the supreme gods can lasting structures be created. If everything is done correctly, the person performing the prayer will hear whispers and have the names appear in their minds with a blast of radiant fire, as if searing themselves directly into the brain. The ritual is very mana-intensive to the point that even Lady Rozemyne had to use two rejuvenation potions to provide the mana and to cope with the aftereffects.
The name Rozemyne heard for the Goddess of Light was Versprechredi[1]
Culture
Due to the goddess' association with marriage, the phrase "Goddess of Light" can be synonymous with "wife" or "lover." Saying "I want you to be my Goddess of Light" is a common form of proposal.[6][7]
Commoners believe that the door to the land of the dead opens only at dawn, when the Goddess of Light and the God of Darkness meet. The two gods are then believed to guide the newly deceased there when the morning sun has risen.[8]
Along with the God of Darkness, the Goddess of Light is a rare case of a deity that is always referred to by title, and not by name.
The Royal Academy contains a shrine dedicated to the Goddess of Light and her twelve subordinates, which grants a tablet, and a special word required to obtain the Grutrissheit, after one has prayed and dedicated enough mana to her. Since Rozemyne spoke the Goddess' name in order to do so, it is possible only Archduke Candidates are able to obtain her word. The word Rozemyne was granted was Austrag.[9],
Blessings
The Goddess of Light is invoked in several religious ceremonies and blessings:
- Starbind Ceremony During the Starbind Ceremony when couples are married, the Goddess of Light and her husband, the God of Darkness, are invoked to bestow blessings upon the newlyweds.
- The High Bishop's blessing Located at the very end of the High Bishop's bible, this blessing involves praying to all of the gods at once. It can only be used for another.[10]
Subordinate Goddesses
The Goddess of Light has twelve subordinate goddesses, including Gebordnung the Goddess of Order, Liebeskhilfe the Goddess of Binding, and Unheilshneide the Goddess of Purification.
Etymology
| Name | Japanese | Romaji | Assumed Etymology |
Assumed Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Versprechredi | フェアシュプレーディ | Feashupurēdi |
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Trivia
- When Myne redesigned her playing cards for Yurgenschmidt, she used the Goddess of Light, symbolized by a crown, to represent the Queen cards.[11]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 5 Volume 1. Chapter 12: Finishing the Archduke Candidate Lessons
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 5 Volume 2. Chapter 7: The Royal Academy’s Dedication Ritual
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 5 Volume 2. Chapter 1: The Royal Family and the Library
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 2 Volume 1. Chapter 1: Attendants and the Fealty Ceremony
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 1 Volume 3. Chapter 18: A Quiet Commotion
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 3 Volume 4. Damuel's Proposal
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 4 Volume 2. Honest Courting
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 2 Volume 4. Epilogue
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 5 Volume 5. Chapter 8: Circling the Shrines
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 4 Volume 9. Chapter 14: Separation
- ↑ Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 2 Volume 3. Chapter 4: Winter Hibernation and Handiwork