Know Your Rogue Lore: Greatfather Winter

With it being Winter Veil I thought we would take a bit of a break and look one of the major lore figures of the season. For the Alliance that is Greatfather Winter. (The Horde version is called Great-father Winter but he is really nothing more than a commercial copy and we will get into that in a bit.)

So who is this guy and where did he come from?

The ORIGINAL Greatfather Winter is Hodir. The guy who many a player curse his son's as they grind their reputation for their shoulder enchants. For the Dwarves or "Earthen" as they were originally created by the Titians the Father figure to the Frost Giants was one of the few ghostly memories they had of their past as they celebrated the coming winter each year. Hodir himself refers to the Veil of Winter when you encounter him in Ulduar stating "The veil of winter will protect you champions!"

When the "curse of flesh" hit the earthen and they migrated south from Northrend the idea of the Titians and their watchers slowly morphed into legend and fairy tail. Eventually Hodir became "Greatfather Winter" the mythical being who walked Azeroth, in his wake would fall a wintery cloak of snow. Dwarves being what they are, would welcome the seasonal changes with a day of feasts and parties.

Next enter the goblins. Those harbingers of all things commercial and money making. In the idea of Greatfather Winter the Goblin's of Smoky Pastures saw a money making opportunity and they took it. Even better it only required one season of hard work and the rest of the year to prepare and enjoy the fruits of their labors. As a result they took the IDEA of Greatfather Winter and EXPANDED it. Turning it into the season of commercialize gift giving that we know today. They were even able to introduce this concept to the HORDE replacing the DWARVEN Greatfather Winter with an Orc they called Great-father Winter who serves exactly the same function. As no one is adverse to gifts and fun the Horde embraced this new tradition with open arms.

To further "de-mystify" Greatfather Winter Smoky pastures has turned him into nothing more than a Cookie and milk eating, gift giving symbol. His origins and significance lost to all but a very few. Even those who take the time to ATTEMPT to look into the history of Winter Veil will often find it more shrouded in mystery and myth than fact.

Now lets say for the sake of holiday spirit you wanted to DRESS like Greatfather Winter this season. Could you do it? Why yes, yes you could. But it would take you a bit of effort and would most likely be something you would need to create a specific character to do as some of the items are BoP. (My suggestion would be a Male Dwarf or Orc for obvious reasons.)

Greatfather Winter's Costume seems to consist of the following items:
Flarecore Robe
Dusky Belt
Snowhide Bracers
Red Hands of the Thunderlord
Winter Boots
Furbolg Medicine Pouch

(Many thanks to Kirina who came up with this list)

I hope you all have enjoyed this seasonal "Know Your Rogue Lore". I plan to be back to a more regular blogging schedule once all my little minions are back in school. For now the plan is to post "pre written" posts for my series with an occasional bit I may SOMEHOW manage to write up around all the holiday bussel that happens in a home with four children.

Merry Christmas!!