One Piece's Elbaf arc could canonize this legendary Norse city of warriors

One Piece is filled with references from every culture, which could indicate that Oda's childhood was spent reading books of every kind. Not only has he referenced anthologies, but he has also paid homage to some famous books.

One of these books could be the famous children's novel The Wizard of Oz and many others. Some of the pirates from the worst generation and some emperors could be considered direct references to the novel series, but there exists a big mystery in One PIece that was mentioned once in the series but fans speculate that it could be related to a novel series other than the Wizard of Oz.

That mystery is the Emerald City mentioned by Bellamy while he was mocking the pirate's dream. In this article, the idea of this city being above Elbaf Island will be supported and it will be predicted who will be the first person to discover this island, relating it to the different fantasy novel series and the Norse methodology.

Disclaimer: This article contains potential spoilers from the One Piece manga series and has the author's opinion.

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One Piece: The connection between Elbaf and the Emerald City

Bellamy ridiculing the pirate's dream (Image via Shueisha)

In One Piece chapter 224, as Luffy and his crew were enjoying food, a pirate smashed Luffy's face out of nowhere on the table. This pirate was Bellamy, who did this to mock the pirate dream of Luffy as just a fantasy. He continued by linking this dream to other myths like the Eldorado (the city of gold) and the Emerald City.

Not many fans paid attention to Bellamy's mockery but this could have just sparked the minds of some fans who thought of the existence of these cities, especially the Emerald City. So, where is this Emerald City?

Fans speculate that it could be above Elbaf Island. But it is not visible every time as it appears as a mirage during certain times, just like the aurora, the sky city from the fantasy novel series His Dark Materials. It doesn't hold a stationary position and only appears in the sky above Elbaf Island.

Elbaf could be very closely related to the Norse methodology, which led to its connection to the Emerald City. The prince of Elbaf is Loki, who is named after the Nordic deity of the same name.

The inhabitants of this island take pride in battle and their attire represents the classic Viking clothes. The giant tree on Elbaf could also be considered a reference to Yggdrasil, the world tree in Norse methodology, which serves as a connection between the nine worlds of this methodology.

So, which of these nine worlds could the Emerald City be a reference to? Fans speculate that the Emerald City is related to the top of Yggdrasil, the world of Asgard, which could also be called the Norse city of warriors. This could make Elbaf the middle of the tree, which is the world of Midgard.

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Kidd, the first pirate to reach the Emerald City

Kidd getting defeated by Shanks (Image via Shueisha)

In One Piece chapter 1079, Captain Kidd faced the fury of Shanks as the former's crew tried to attack them on Elbaf Island. Shanks used Divine Departure to pulverize Kidd, and later, Dorry and Brogy destroyed the ship of the Kidd Pirates, Victoria Punk. Currently, Kidd's whereabouts are unknown but he drowned near Elbaf Island.

In the SBS section of volume 87, Eiichiro Oda answered a question related to Kidd and Killer about their hate for curry udon (a type of Japanese noodle). The author answered hurriedly, adding the childhood love of both of these pirates to the answer; their crush was Victoria Shiruton Doruyanaika.

Later in the SBS section of volume 104, Oda again mentioned Victoria in an answer related to Kidd and Killer but this time he explained briefly. Victoria was killed by a gang and Kidd's rage after this led to them forming the Kidd Pirates.

Now that Victoria has been destroyed, fans speculate that the Klabautermann of this ship could be the one that could save these pirates, or more specifically, Kidd and Killer.

As this ship was inspired by their childhood friend, she could help them ascend from the sea and go straight into the skies of Elbaf where the Emerald City is located. So, Kidd could still be alive and will be the first pirate to reach this mythical land of the Emerald City.

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