The Witcher 3 Easter eggs/Folklore

:A virtual Easter egg is an intentional hidden message or feature in an object such as a movie, book, CD, DVD, computer program, or video game. The term draws a parallel with the custom of the Easter egg hunt.
This article catalogues Easter eggs and pop culture references in . For easier viewing, this page has been broken up into sub-pages based on the topic.
== Czech ==
*The book Golem, or Man's Most Faithful Servant holds a tale of a dwarf who crafted a golem to defend the dwarves from prosecution, which is very similar to the tale of the golem of Prague, about Judah Loew ben Bezalel who made a golem to defend the Jewish community from pogroms.
**Similarly, an invoice for a golem states the payment is to be made to one Jehuda Löw.
== English ==
* Upon entering the Temerian Partisan Hideout, a soldier at the entrance says "A Witcher, just what our band of merry men needed," referencing Robin Hood and his Merry Men.
* You can find Excalibur inside the stone in the dungeon in Skellige when you want to find the mask from the druid with Yennefer. When Geralt tries to pull Excalibur out of the stone, Yennefer says that the sword is not actually in the stone, it's held in place by a vice.
** It can also be found in a stone in the in the Borsodi Brothers' Auction House's vault during the quest Open Sesame!.
*The quest There Can Be Only One in the is also an reference to the tale of King Arthur. The name itself is a reference to Highlander.
==German==
* The notice board posting, Ratcatcher Come to Town, is a reference to the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
* The Trail of Treats that can be followed in Ladies of the Wood is a reference to Hansel and Gretel.
* When Geralt reaches the Isle of Mists, he meets a company of 7 shipwrecked dwarfs and Ciri is laid out on the bed inside, under a deathlike sleep much like in the Grimm's tale Snow White.
* A Towerful of Mice's story shows certain similarities with the legend of the Mouse Tower of Bingen
== Polish ==
*A Towerful of Mice's story is based on the legend of Popiel.
*Bald Mountain in Slavic folklore are mountains or hills known to be an ancient pagan place of cult activity and, in legends, as a place where witches had sabbaths.
*During Contract: Dragon, Geralt needs a sheep to use as bait for the "dragon". When asked if he has a sheep Geralt can use, the village elder asks if Geralt is going to fill it with sulfur and he responds "Another ally of the brave little shoemaker". This is a reference to the legend of the Wawel Dragon, a tale from Polish folklore.
**This also references the book , where the shoemaker Kozojed used a fake sheep filled with poison to try and kill a dragon.
* In the , Olgierd's pact with Gaunter O'Dimm resembles a Polish folk tale about Twardowski, a noble who sold his soul to the devil for magical powers. The pact states that the devil is forced to fulfill three wishes and Twardowski is supposed to come to Rome but Twardowski has no intentions of going. Similarly, he's also tricked in going to a placed called "Rome".
== Mythology ==
*The various runestones used in the game are references to pre-Christian Slavic mythology. For example, Perun was a god of thunder, fire, and war, Dazbog was a smithing deity, and Triglav was a three-headed creator.
*The Wild Hunt's ship, the Naglfar, borrows its name directly from Norse mythology, in which the Naglfar, or "nail goer" is a boat made from the nails of the dead that will ferry hordes to do battle with the gods during Ragnarök.
*The ice giant Myrhyff is likely a reference to Hrym, a captain of the Naglfar mentioned in the Poetic Edda, a collection of Old Norse anonymous poems. The first four letters of "Myrhyff" when read backwards make "Hrym".
**Furthermore, in The Lord of Undvik, Geralt learns that Myrhyff is building a longship which he intends to sail out on to defeat the gods during Ragh nar Roog – effectively his own Naglfar.
== Unknown origins ==
*A Favor for a Friend is based on Cinderella. According to Geralt the story takes inspiration from a true event: Apparently, it involves a Zeugl swallowing a princess whole and leaving behind a single glass slipper.
*In the there are three drawings of the beast of Toussaint, one of which has striking similarities to the urban legend, Slenderman.
*The book A Few Remarks on Basilisks and Cockatrices contains a tale very similar to Little Red Riding Hood.
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