The Power of Songs
Posted on September 20 2010 by Jacob Green
An article was recently posted on Zelda Informer discussing the nature, power and origin of the songs used by Link in the Zelda series. The author points out that the songs themselves aren’t what holds the power, but more likely the power is borrowed from the gods whom Link calls upon when he plays one of the many songs from the Zelda series. He notes that some of the songs might have been taught to the people of Hyrule by the goddesses, but some are created by fellows such as Sharp and Flat from Ocarina of Time. He also notes that some instruments have more power than others. The most notable example of this is the Fairy Ocarina and the Ocarina of Time.
The author noticed this interesting anomaly in the series:
The Ocarina [of Time] is needed to open the Door of Time blocking the Master Sword. If this wasn’t the case, then why would Princess Zelda throw it to Link when she was being chased by Ganondorf? He already had the Fairy Ocarina. This is because the Fairy Ocarina did not have the power to pray to the Goddess of Time.
[…]Sometimes an instrument is not needed. Twilight Princess shows a different perspective. Link can use reeds and grasses to call his horse, Epona, and hawks respectively. And when Wolf Link talks to a hawk, it explains that it is compelled to do anything the player of the song orders, such as being launched at Wolf Link as a projectile. Wolf Link’s howls, on the other hand, can produce magical effects as shown by the summoning of the Hero’s Spirit who trains Link.
I think it’s quite a good point. After a lot of evidence comes up about how important some instruments are, Twilight Princess comes along and gives a howl the same power as the Ocarina of Time! How can this be? In nearly all of the other Zelda games the musical instruments at Link’s command seem to follow a different formula.
So what do you all think? Why does Wolf Link’s howl have the power to transport him to another place? Can you think of any other musical anomalies in the Zelda series? Let us know in the comments.
