What is Hyrule?

[Clananik]

So I was watching an old mailbag and a some-one asked if hyrule was a land or a planet? Axle said it was a land which would make sense if you refereed to what some-one (can't remember who) says in the opening cut scene of twilight princess. He says that there are many other lands and kingdoms beyond hyrule. However in OoT when the great deku tree talks to you before he dies you see the cut scene where the 3 goddesses make hyrule. So what does this mean? The three goddess made a 1 land on an empty planet and then other lands formed around it?

 

[Castle]

I've often wondered this myself. Hyrule, in its many incarnations, has had radically differing geography from one map to the next, particularly the early games bear little resemblance to the common map of Hyrule today (that started with ALttP). References have been made to other lands. Even within games, some regions have been considered to be beyond the borders of Hyrule, such as the desert, with no reference being made to any world at large. That is, whatever it may be referred to as, and not many denizens of the various lands mention other lands beyond their borders so knowledge of other lands may be largely nonexistent. Some regions of Hyrule have very nondescript borders, such as whatever may lie beyond the forest or desert in Ocarina of Time. Not counting the first two games, Hyrule has no coastline, and there are only a few places that may act as passages beyond the known map of Hyrule.

Not only that, but the method of passing across borders varies. Link left Hyrule by boat in Links Awakening. By Triforce "teleport" in the Oracle games, and through a "tree tunnel warp" (for lack of anything else better to describe it) in Majora's Mask. Where such places might exist in relation to Hyrule is anyone's guess.

I've always admired the Ocarina of Time map best. I think it illustrates a possible answer to this question best. The edges of the map, beyond the explorable known areas of Hyrule, are indicated by clouds. The quintessential "fog of war". Who knows what Hyrule might be "on". There is no mention of curvature of the landmass, that I know of, so it may or may not be a planet.

In any case, this is a notion I've often wondered myself. As with many unknowns about the Zelda universe, I have no solid answer for it.

 

[Locke]

Hyrule is a country primarily. Rusl explains this, as you mentioned. The term is never used in SS before Hyrule is founded. Sometimes when telling a legend about the whole world from the perspective of one country, that country is the only thing that matters. "The goddesses created Hyrule [and the rest of the world which isn't pertinent to this story]..."

 

[Woyogoyo]

Hyrule is a country. There is proof of this in several games such as MM, TP, and the oracle games. Also even though it is no canon, in the oracle of seasons manga, one of the members of the actor troupe says Hyrule is far away

 

[Seth]

In the original LoZ it was a land, maybe a continent or planet, as in the instruction manual it says "little kingdom in the land of Hyrule". I am not sure if that was just a mistranslation though. Either way the concept was short lived, Hyrule is now just one kingdom among many. As far as why they say the Golden Goddesses created Hyrule...Well I just assumed that Hyrule was the center of creation. Apply that to Christian mythology; it would be like saying Hyrule is the equivalent of the location of the Garden of Eden.

Too me this makes the most sense. You mentioned the creation myth in OoT, in the same game Zelda warns Link that Ganon won't stop at just Hyrule, but until he rules the world. So, to put it simply, Hyrule is a country.

 

[Dragoncat]

Somebody should make a map...I think I'll take a crack at it...

Edit - Check my blog. The first draft of the map is there ^_^

 

[PatheticBarrel]

Somebody should make a map...I think I'll take a crack at it...

Edit - Check my blog. The first draft of the map is there ^_^

I've started worng on a map. In my geography of hyrule thread

Anyway, Hyrule is definetly aKingdom, while there is possibly a larger Land around it that is referred to as Hyrule . Kinda like a border region.

In ALttP and OoX, these outer lands are known, and by LoZ/AoL Hyrule has grown.

In all the other games these other lands aren't really known, hence the clouds around OoT and lack of mentioning other lands ever on others.

 

[SNOlink]

I think that Hyrule is a kingdom. The Deku Tree may have just been refering to this individual kingdom because te Hylians may not hav known themselves there is other land around them given that there are series of mountain ranges surrounding their land therefore isolating the population.

 

[SavageWizzrobe]

There's a fair amount of evidence in the series that suggests that Hyrule is merely a kingdom, such as in OoT when child Zelda talks about Ganondorf ruling the entire world. Also, in TP, Rusl implies that the Ordon Province is not part of the kingdom of Hyrule. And also, as Locke has mentioned, the three goddess creation story likely also applies to the larger world as a whole rather than just Hyrule itself.

 

[Sir Quaffler]

Hyrule is definitely just a kingdom, not a planet or anything.

That would actually be a really interesting thing to explore. Now that there's quite a bit of development into Hyrule, from its origins, development, and decline, I want to see just how it relates to the planet it resides on (or if it's on a planet at all instead of some "plane of existence"). I want to be able to explore beyond the borders, to see what exactly lies beyond the borders. Are there other countries that are simply isolated from Hyrule? Is there a vast expanse of no-man's lands surrounding Hyrule which would explain the lack of talk abut other regions? Is Hyrule (and the few other regions mentioned) the only regions left on the world? So many questions...

 

[Twilight Gale]

Hyrule is a land. If it were a planet, Link wouldn't be able to just trott on over to Termina with Epona. He would have to use a high-tech spaceship and fly over there.