All spoilers for Fate/Apocrypha are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
The age of the gods from Norse Mythology have long since ended. There are no valkyries flying in the skies, nor are there dwarves forging legendary weapons. The dragon-slaying heroes are now nothing more than legends, and the Nine Realms have been reduced down to only Midgard. The only ones still living in this world are the humans. But one fragment of that era persisted, sleeping under a great harp of silver until the 9th century, where she would meet the future king of the bold vikings...
It is now the 21st century in Scandinavia, and a new Doubles Sub-Grail War is about to start. In this Grail War, one Master will summon two Servants to fight for the Holy Grail. Lemina Eltfromm, a magus from the now-fallen Yggdmillenia Clan, summons Archer-class Aslaug, the daughter of Sigurd and Brynhild, and Berserker-class Ragnar Lodbrok, the viking king. However, the two of them do not recognize one another. What is the story of the two, them not remembering one another in this summoning, and the current state of Scandinavia?
Fate:Lost Einherjar - Aslaug of the Aurora is a Light Novel in the Fate Series written by Hikaru Sakurai and illustrated by Shirou Miwa, with Yuuichirou Higashide helping with the manuscript. It is set in the future of Fate/Apocrypha. The story is told in two arcs; The Sub-Grail War Arc, which tells the story of a present-day Holy Grail War, and Lifetime Arc, which tells the story of Aslaug's and Ragnar's life in the 9th century. The series was first revealed in Type-Moon Ace Vol. 14, which included a prologue to it. The first volume was released on December 31, 2022note .
Tropes associated with Fate:Lost Einherjar are:
- Battle Couple: Ragnar and Aslaug are advertised as such. While characters such as Sigurd and Brynhild, and Siegfried and Kriemhild are great heroes individually, they don't have good compatibility with each other. Ragnar and Aslaug meanwhile have no stories of them breaking up, meaning that they should work together flawlessly.
- Canine Companion: Aslaug has been together with a wolf ever since she was awoken in the 9th century, which accompanies her even as a Servant as her personal skill "Guardian Wolf" which is at rank C. She calls it a "dog."
- Continuity Nod:
- Lemina is on good terms with Caules and Goredolf, two other members of Yggdmillennia from Fate/Apocrypha and Fate/Grand Order respectively.
- Caules' online profile picture is the flower that Frankenstein gave him in Apocrypha.
- Didn't See That Coming: When Ragnar placed his three requests for Aslaug, he knew they were unreasonable and admits that he didn't expect her to actually go through with it.
- Distant Sequel: Fate:Lost Einherjar takes place ten years after the events of Fate/Apocrypha.
- Dual Wielding: Concept art for Ragnar shows that he usually carries around two axes he uses together. To fight the Istorre team, he appears instead with an axe and a dagger.
- Ghost Amnesia: For some reason, Aslaug does not remember Ragnar, even though they were a couple in life. Ragnar also doesn't remember being a king.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Ragnar is 2 meters hulk of a man, and one illustration of the main characters
shows that Aslaug is few heads shorter than him, being even shorter than Lemina. - In Medias Res: The story alternates between telling the current-day events in the Sub-Grail War Arc and the past in the Lifetime Arc, like how Fragments of Sky Silver tells the flashbacks.
- MacGyvering: Shirou Miwa describes Ragnar as being a "DIY gorilla" who crafts his own weapons with whatever he finds on the battlefield.
- Monster Compendium: The first book ends with a section called "Mythical Creature Encyclopedia" featuring descriptions and artwork for Phantasmal Species that appeared in the story.
- Morph Weapon: Aslaug's main Noble Phantasm is a mythril harp that can morph into a spear or a bow, which is the reason why she qualifies for the Archer class.
- Naked First Impression: Deliberately invoked by Ragnar back when they first met in the 9th century. He challenged Aslaug to meet him "dressed but undressed, neither fasting nor eating, and neither alone nor in company", to which Aslaug arrived wearing a fishing net, chewing on an onion, and with only her wolf. Of course, she was humiliated by this and tried to kill him right away.
- Oddly Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo: This is the only Fate spinoff to eschew the forward slash between the franchise title and installment subtitle set as the standard by Fate/stay night, instead using a colon to demarcate title and subtitle.
- Pervert Revenge Mode: A more calculated example than most. In the flashback, when Aslaug heard Ragnar's request to come "neither clothed nor naked", she assumes he wants to see her naked and begins plotting how to murder him. He actually wanted to test her intelligence.
- Product Placement: There are a few to help illustrate the time period when this Grail War takes place in 2014 despite the Year X treatment.
- The iPod nano being used by Ragnar is said to be the latest. The iPod nano series of electronics was made between September 7, 2005 - July 27, 2017.
- The said "last year's animated blockbuster" below was released in November 2013.
- Lemina wears Jimmy Choo boots.
- The songs Ragnar listens to on his iPod nano are:
- Prologue: "Walking in Starlight" by the Swedish heavy metal band 220 Volt (2014).
- Chapter 1: "Tragedy" by the Finnish rock band Hanoi Rocks (1981).
- Chapter 3: "This fffire" by the Scottish indie rock band Franz Ferdinand (2004).
- Real-Place Background: The restaurant that Lemina, Aslaug, and Ragnar eat at in volume 1 is modeled after Oslo's real Engebret Café. By comparing the art of them eating with an image of the café's interior, you can even pinpoint their exact seat.
- Senseless Violins: Ragnar carries around his axe inside a guitar case.
- Shout-Out:
- When talking about the Akershus Fortress, narration mentions how it served as the model for a setpiece in last year's animated blockbuster.
- Lemina has a Moomintroll plush.
- Shirow Miwa stated that his inspiration for the troll artwork were Trollhunters and Troll (2022).
- Stripperiffic: Aslaug in the promotional illustration takes the idea of her first meeting Ragnar wearing only a fishnet in more fashionable manner, making her wear a checkered outfit that leaves a lot of her skin exposed. Her normal outfit is more modest.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Aslaug has the same multi-colored hair like her mother Brynhild does, while also having her father Sigurd's eyes. Her horns meanwhile are like a mix of Brynhild's Mercury's Wings and Sigurd's dragon blood.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Promotional art shows Ragnar not wearing a shirt. In addition, in the prologue of the novel when he's dressed in modern clothes, he only wears an open leather jacket with no shirt underneath, despite being winter in Oslo. However, when fighting Team Istorre, he gets a mythril shirt from Aslaug.
