What if Barbarossa's sword is the Spear of Destiny?

[certainpersonio]

Preface: This is a ridiculous theory with minimal evidence in-game to back it up, but I just can't put it aside! So, with that out of the way...

 

What if Barbarossa's sword is the Spear of Destiny?

 

Assertion: The sword of Frederick Barbarossa is contains the Spear of Destiny (aka: Lance of Longinus, Holy Lance- will be used interchangeably).

 

Background: The Holy Lance is the spear, wielded by the Centurion Longinus, that pierces Jesus Christ's side during his crucifixion.(1) It is said to have mystical powers for those who wield it. It's specifically called the Spear of Destiny, because it's supposed to grant the wielder victory in battle. Notable owners of the Lance include Constantine the Great, Charlemagne, Frederick Barbarossa, and Hitler.(2) Legend is particularly poignant about the double-edged nature of the weapon. The wielder gains power and victory, but if they are to lose the Lance then doom should fall them. According to legend, Charlemagne carried the weapon through 47 successful battles, but died when he accidentally dropped it. It's claimed that the reason Barbarossa drowned in a river was because he had accidentally dropped the Lance into the water. Hitler gained possession of the Lance when he annexed Austria, and ordered it moved to Nuremberg. If it's to be believed, the Lance was captured by the Allies on April 30th, 1945, and not even an hour and a half later Hitler had committed suicide. 

 

Evidence: I have no hard evidence linking my theory to the game; all I have is history and mythology which leads to circumstantial evidence at best. Here's my best summary-

1. Barbarossa was in the possession of the Holy Lance. This is a common story surrounding the mythology of the Lance, but more importantly, you can actually track the ownership of the Austrian Lance back to the Hohenstaufen dynasty, of which Frederich Barbarossa was a member.
2. Some legends of the Joyeuse, the sword of Charlemagne, state that the Lance of Longinus was forged into the sword. Thus, there is a mythologic basis for claiming that the sword itself is the Holy Lance. (3)
3. In a story that I'm not sure I believe, a former Uboat commander claims the Himmler founded a society of knights that worshiped the Lance, and ordered the commander to take the "real" Lance to Antartica. At the very least it suggests that Himmler and other Nazis of the Ahnenerbe were interested in the Lance. (4)
4. Glitching Queen pulled game files of the murals on the walls of TFR. Interestingly, she found an extra mural that looks like it might go where a zombie spawn currently is. The missing mural depicts Barbarossa going into a cave and coming out with the sword. The relevance for me, is that one of the origins for the Holy lance is that it came from the Cathedral of St. Peter in Antioch during the first crusade. If you google the "Cathedral of St. Peter in Antioch", you are directed to the "Church of St. Peter in Antioch" which is considered one of the oldest Christian churches in the world; it is essentially a cave with a facade blocking the entrance. I wonder if a SH researcher found the connection and just drew that Barbarossa discovered the sword in the church. (5)(6)

 

Hypothesis and Theorizing: If we're hunting down pieces of the Spear of Destiny, our next DLC map will be in Nuremberg, not Berlin. This is because the Lance was stored in a museum there during the Nazi's rule. Furthermore, the Lance temporarily went missing towards the end of the war, but was discovered near the city by General George Patton. In the story thus far, our crew has escaped the bombing of Heligoland on April 18th, 1945, and is now headed towards the mainland to support the Fürher. Nuremberg was under siege by Allied forces from April 17-21, after which the city was lost and the war ended soon after. But what if in our story, Straub goes to Nuremberg under the pretense of helping the city defend itself from the Allies, but instead he's focused on retrieving the Lance?

 

Benefits of this theory: It gives the sword a reason to have supernatural power and a reason to fear it's completion. If the sword is forged from the Spear of Destiny, by completing it Straub/Barbarossa would start winning victories and change the outcome of WWII.

 

 

 

[Guest]

Hitler's successes as Nazi dictator have given way to a number of occult theories. One of the most common of these is the story of the Spear of Destiny. Also called the Holy Lance, this spear is the name given to the lance that supposedly pierced Jesus's side as he hung on the cross in John's account of his death. Legend has it that whoever possesses the lance will rule the world.

 

Richard Wagner: In his opera Parsival, Richard Wagner identifies the Holy Spear with two items that appear in Wolfram von Eschenbach's medieval poem Parsival, a bleeding spear in the Castle of the Grail and the spear that has wounded the Fisher King. The opera's plot concerns the consequences of the spear's loss by the Knights of the Grail and its recovery by Parsifal. Having decided that the blood on the Spear was that of the wounded Savior - Christ is never named in the opera - Wagner has the blood manifest itself in the Grail rather than on the spearhead. 

In the Wagner opera Parsival, Klingsor was a despicable adversary of the Knights of the Holy Grail. The fiend sought to capture the Spear of Destiny from them and use it in his practice of black magic. In history, no figure was more feared than the black magician Landulph II of Capua. He, too, was obsessed with the power of the Spear of Destiny.

Hitler identified the similarities between Wagner's character and the magician. He saw their struggles as parallel to his own quest for the holy icon. To Hitler, the blood purity of the Grail Knights and the maniacal quest of Klingsor and Landulph for the spear was the blueprint for world conquest by Nazi power. Hitler believed he would one day fulfill a historic destiny. How he would do this was not clear until he was 21. 

While in the Hapsburg Treasure House in Vienna, Austria, Hitler heard the words which he said were to change his whole life. A museum tour guide stopped in front of a display of an ancient spear and told of a legend that whoever possessed it would hold the destiny of the world. The guide said the spear was supposedly the one which a Roman Centurion thrust into the side of Jesus Christ at the Crucifixion. After the group departed, Hitler stepped forward for a closer look. 

"I knew with immediacy that this was an important moment in my life, and yet I could not divine why an outwardly Christian symbol should make such an impression on me," he said later. After his initial experience with the Spear of Destiny, Hitler studied the history of the ancient relic. He was intrigued and amazed at its incredible story.

For more than 1,000 years, the spear had been a symbol of power to the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. Century after century, the legend of the Spear had been fulfilled for good or evil. Constantine the Great claimed the spear guided him through providence. The Frankish General Karl Martel used the spear in battle. Emperor Charlemagne lived and slept within reach of the spear, and attributed 47 battle victories to its powers. In all, 45 emperors over 1,000 years claimed the Spear of Destiny as a possession. Hitler decided he had to possess it. 

Over the next three years, he made countless trips to the museum to gaze in awe at the spear. He recalled that one day as he stood in front of the display, he went into a trance. "I slowly became aware of a mighty presence around it -- the same awesome presence which I had experienced inwardly on those rare occasions in my life when I had sensed that a great destiny awaited me."

In 1933, when Hitler rose to power, his 25-year obsession to possess the spear could be realized. In April, 1938, he marched his army into Vienna and took possession of the spear and took it to Nuremberg. One year later, he invaded Poland. On April 30, 1945, the same day Hitler supposedly killed himself, the American army invaded Nuremberg and took possession of the spear. 

In the months that followed, America unleashed the most destructive force ever known to man: the atomic bomb. While in possession of the Spear of Destiny, America became the undisputed ruler of the world. The spear now once again resides in the Hapsburg Treasure House Museum in Vienna.

 

 

I could see the “Spear of Destiny” being implemented due to its historical references between Hitler and his occultist obsession with these medevil relics. I also see how you could say that it would possibly be the missing piece for the hilt, but I’m afraid at this time I don’t have the right research to back that theory completely. Keep digging though

[anonymous]

Amazing story and quality thread, as always @certainpersonio.  Now like you said yourself, there is actually very little evidence for this, but the way you have written it down it actually sounds quite convincing. Especially since  Barbarossa and the Nazi's are both believed to have had the Spear. And I like the fact that it explains the power in Barbarossa's sword. What I do not understand though is that we have already found parts of the sword, right? In Mittelburg und Heligoland. So how could these be parts of the Sword (which one day might have been the Spear) if the Spear is in Nuremberg?

[Guest]

26 minutes ago, anonymous said:

Amazing story and quality thread, as always @certainpersonio.  Now like you said yourself, there is actually very little evidence for this, but the way you have written it down it actually sounds quite convincing. Especially since  Barbarossa and the Nazi's are both believed to have had the Spear. And I like the fact that it explains the power in Barbarossa's sword. What I do not understand though is that we have already found parts of the sword, right? In Mittelburg und Heligoland. So how could these be parts of the Sword (which one day might have been the Spear) if the Spear is in Nuremberg?

 Hitler ended up losing posession of the spear. Ironically he died shortly after. The spear used in the Cruxifiction of Jesus was said to have magical powers.

[anonymous]

16 hours ago, RequixEclipse said:

 Hitler ended up losing posession of the spear. Ironically he died shortly after. The spear used in the Cruxifiction of Jesus was said to have magical powers.

Let's say that Barbarossa's Sword actually ís the Spear, as certainpersonio said, forged into a sword: Barbarossa's Sword. How could we have found only parts of this Spear (in Mittelburg and Heligoland)?  Maybe Hitler actually hasnt found the Spear yet, and Ahnenerbe is working on finding the parts and putting them together. Or perhaps only the blade part of the sword, so not the pommel and the hilt, is the Spear. And that part could be hidden in Nuremberg

[certainpersonio]

@anonymous You're absolutely right. I don't really have a good explanation for it, but your suggestion is what I also came up with: that the "blade" of the sword is the actually the Spear. Another benefit of this theory, is that it throws our projected "DLC" story arch out the window. Currently most people are thinking we going to gather parts for 4 maps and then in the final DLC well defeat Straub. But with this theory, we wrap up gathering the sword 1 map early, leaving them the flexibility to go else where for a map.

 

I also have another pet theory that the Holy Grail is also incorporated into the story. It has even more circumstantial evidence than the Spear theory, but here's the outline:

1. The Holy Lance is Barbarossa's sword. The Lance is also associated with the Holy Grail as a an item that is stored in the Grail castle, most notably in the German version of the tale, "Parzival".
2. There are a few different "mythical swords" associated with the Grail. (1) In our case, I'm most interested in the story of the broken sword, which says that there is broken sword that can only be put back together by the "True Grail Knight". Maybe we are on a quest to put this sword back together and thus prove us worthy of wielding it? Certainly Straub isn't able to "truly" wield the sword parts in the same way we are; instead he just siphons off energy from them.
3. The Grail is guarded in a castle by the "Fisher King". I think we could argue that we have a "Fischer" who knows way more about what's going on and is leading the way for us...
4. In the castle that Himmler built for the Ahnenrbe as a headquarters, there was room called the "Grail room" which held a pedestal that was supposed to hold the true Grail. In the mean time it held a cool looking light display. Otto Rahn, Nazi archeologist extraordinaire, was even said to believe the Holy Grail was an ancient Aryan device of light that would grant immorality to those who gazed upon it. (I can grab a quote for this later, I just don't have the book in front of me). Thus the Holy Grail was something that some Nazi's were searching for.

The main reason I like it though is because it gives a further justification for Geistcraft energy. Rahn and other Nazi's believed the Grail was ancient artifact that could grant immortality. It makes sense to me that siphoning energy off a device of immortality could create zombies (a type of immortal being, or at least one that defies death). 

[Guest]

14 hours ago, certainpersonio said:

@anonymous You're absolutely right. I don't really have a good explanation for it, but your suggestion is what I also came up with: that the "blade" of the sword is the actually the Spear. Another benefit of this theory, is that it throws our projected "DLC" story arch out the window. Currently most people are thinking we going to gather parts for 4 maps and then in the final DLC well defeat Straub. But with this theory, we wrap up gathering the sword 1 map early, leaving them the flexibility to go else where for a map.

 

I also have another pet theory that the Holy Grail is also incorporated into the story. It has even more circumstantial evidence than the Spear theory, but here's the outline:

1. The Holy Lance is Barbarossa's sword. The Lance is also associated with the Holy Grail as a an item that is stored in the Grail castle, most notably in the German version of the tale, "Parzival".
2. There are a few different "mythical swords" associated with the Grail. (1) In our case, I'm most interested in the story of the broken sword, which says that there is broken sword that can only be put back together by the "True Grail Knight". Maybe we are on a quest to put this sword back together and thus prove us worthy of wielding it? Certainly Straub isn't able to "truly" wield the sword parts in the same way we are; instead he just siphons off energy from them.
3. The Grail is guarded in a castle by the "Fisher King". I think we could argue that we have a "Fischer" who knows way more about what's going on and is leading the way for us...
4. In the castle that Himmler built for the Ahnenrbe as a headquarters, there was room called the "Grail room" which held a pedestal that was supposed to hold the true Grail. In the mean time it held a cool looking light display. Otto Rahn, Nazi archeologist extraordinaire, was even said to believe the Holy Grail was an ancient Aryan device of light that would grant immorality to those who gazed upon it. (I can grab a quote for this later, I just don't have the book in front of me). Thus the Holy Grail was something that some Nazi's were searching for.

The main reason I like it though is because it gives a further justification for Geistcraft energy. Rahn and other Nazi's believed the Grail was ancient artifact that could grant immortality. It makes sense to me that siphoning energy off a device of immortality could create zombies (a type of immortal being, or at least one that defies death). 

Well I rule that idea out as Hitler is at the end of his rope in the war. We know this because “Operation Sealion” is mentioned in The Final Reich Audio files telling us the was is about to end.

[anonymous]

On 16-3-2018 at 3:31 PM, certainpersonio said:

The main reason I like it though is because it gives a further justification for Geistcraft energy. Rahn and other Nazi's believed the Grail was ancient artifact that could grant immortality. It makes sense to me that siphoning energy off a device of immortality could create zombies (a type of immortal being, or at least one that defies death). 

Yes, yes, this indeed fits perfectly with Geistkraft. The Holy Grail has something to do with Jezus and God, and the Spear of Destiny as well, so I can certainly see the connection there. And after all, Barbarossa was emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. A Germanic/Christian theme has always been present in this story. 

 

Makes me wonder, is Geistkraft merely something sciencific (I can remember Straub talking about a magnetic force) or also in a way magic/paranormal, in the way of speaking about Christian tales, God, etc?