If you haven't played Assassin's Creed Valhalla yet, then you won't be familiar with Ravensthorpe, a central homestead in the new AC game. After leaving your home to start a new life and a new settlement in England, Eivor and their companions begin anew in a small town they call Ravensthorpe, located roughly in the centre of Britain - a fictional village which... wait hold on, Ravensthorpe is a real place.
Turns out, although Ravensthorpe is an entirely fictional setting thought up by the Ubisoft team, it just so happens Ravensthorpe exists, and it's almost exactly where the fictional version is on the map. What a coincidence.
First noticed by Eurogamer, Ravensthorpe and Ravensthorpe (you decide which is which) both exist in the area of Grantebridgescire, the starting area for the game. The way it came to be named in the game is through Eivor's clan and the meaning for the word Thorpe.
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Darby McDevitt, the Assassin's Creed Valhalla narrative director broke the news that the two places aren't related on Reddit, and had this to say about the origin of the name. "I'm going to tell you an amazing story, my friends. We chose the name Ravensthorpe because Eivor's clan was the Raven clan, and Thorpe means "farmland" and we set the settlement in the middle of Mercia so it was centrally located on the map.
"We had NO idea that there was a real Ravensthorpe in exactly this location in real life, until a few months ago. Granted there is no river running by the real Ravensthorpe, but a lot can happen in 1000 years. Rivers change courses. A sign from Odin, I think."
What a strangely wholesome coincidence, we wonder what the people of the real Ravensthorpe think of their new-found fame. Considering the game does have some real place names in it, Odin may have a soft spot in his heart for Ravensthorpe and made sure it was included.
Featured Image Credit: UbisoftTopics: News, Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed Valhalla