Concept · ◇ Light

The Apocalypse (Eschaton)

The Eschaton · The End of Days

majorattestedNorse mythologyChristianityZoroastrianismHinduism

The end of the world, and — in nearly every telling that dares to look past the fire — the world that comes after it. Ragnarök’s wolf and flood give way to an earth that rises green a second time; the Zoroastrian Frashokereti renews all things; the turning ages of the yugas begin again. The apocalypse is rarely the last event. It is the hinge between two worlds.

Reach89

Depth80

Influence76

Mystery69

✦Signature powerThe IdeaA pattern of thought that recurs across every age.

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Voices & connections

Figures bound to The Apocalypse (Eschaton), family and rivals within the myth, and the thinkers and writers who shaped how we know them.

Ahura Mazdaassociated with The Saoshyantassociated with Fenrirassociated with Thorassociated with Odinassociated with Lokiassociated with

Relics & objects

Sacred and cursed things that belong to the world of The Apocalypse (Eschaton).

The AmritaSacred The Forbidden FruitCursed MjölnirSacred The Holy GrailSacred

Read the story

Illustrated chapters where The Apocalypse (Eschaton) appears. Start reading in a click.

Illustrated storyThe War of Light and DarkThe oldest telling of the oldest war: two spirits, one who chose truth and one who chose the Lie, and a universe made as the battlefield between them. Ahura Mazda lays a trap of light; Angra Mainyu charges into it; and the whole of history — three ages, a chosen prophet, a final saviour born from a lake — is the long campaign to a promised morning when death itself is undone. The root of every light-against-dark story that came after.Begin reading →Illustrated storyThe Churning of the OceanCursed into weakness, the gods cannot win immortality by force — so they invite their enemies to help churn it out of the Ocean of Milk, with a mountain for a churning-rod, the serpent king for a rope, and Vishnu as the tortoise underneath it all. What rises first is not nectar but Halahala, the poison of everything, and Shiva must drink it and hold it in his throat forever. The nectar comes last, and is won by a single enchanting glance.Begin reading →Illustrated storyRagnarök, the Twilight of the GodsThe gods know exactly how they will die — a seeress told Odin the whole ending, wolf by serpent by fire. They arm for it anyway. Loki breaks his bonds and steers the ship of dead men’s nails; Fenrir’s jaws scrape heaven and earth; Thor kills the world-serpent and walks nine steps. And then the earth rises green from the sea a second time, and the survivors find the old golden game-pieces in the grass.Begin reading →