God of War Ragnarok players will first visit Alfheim during the game's fourth chapter, Groa's Secret. Upon their arrival, they'll find themselves in The Strond area; a fairly linear section that leads to The Tower of Light from the previous God of War game. Rather than rushing through to the temple, however, players should take a moment to explore some of the many secrets that are hidden throughout The Strond.
As well as several Artefacts, a few interesting pieces of Lore, and one of Odin's Ravens, players will also be able to find two Nornir Chests. As most will already know by now, these puzzle chests contain special items that can be used to increase Kratos' health and Spartan Rage meters and so are well worth seeking out for those who are not in too much of a hurry.
The Strond Nornir Chest #1
Shortly after arriving in Alfheim, players will reach a point where Tyr stops in front of two large stone steps leading upward. When they do so, they should avoid climbing the steps and instead drop down the ledge to their left to find a Nornir Chest. It's one of several chests in the game which can only be opened by igniting three torches, so players should have Kratos' Blades of Chaos at the ready.
The first torch that players will need to ignite is on the edge of a cliff directly opposite the Nornir Chest. In order to light it, players should hold L2 and then target the torch so that the up and down arrows on the crosshairs in the center of the screen turn red. Once they do, tapping the R2 button will cause Kratos to whip the torch using the Blades of Chaos, which will ignite the embers and remove the rune.
To find the next torch, players should turn around and walk straight toward the flimsy-looking wooden structure that's up against the far wall. If they peer down while facing south here, they'll see a torch with a rune that looks like the letter n sitting on the edge of a cliff and should ignite it in the same way that they did the last one.
To get to the final torch, players should double back to where Tyr is waiting and climb up the two large stone steps. Rather than following Tyr toward the temple though, they'll instead want to look for a ledge to their left. Dropping down here will reveal a torch with an R rune on it and lighting this torch will unlock the chest. Players can then drop down and open it to get themselves an Idunn Apple or a Horn of Blood Mead.
The Strond Nornir Chest #2
God of War Ragnarok Players will find The Strond's second Nornir Chest a little further along the main quest path not too long after the Light Elves begin showing up. Unfortunately, however, they won't be able to open it without the Draupnir Spear, meaning that they'll need to return here a little later on in the game in order to open the chest.
Assuming they have the spear already though, they'll be able to find the first rune statue along with a new Mystic Gateway by destroying the gold crack in the wall to the left of the chest. Rather than destroying the statue right away, however, they should instead throw the spear at the statue and then head back outside into the open area with the chest without detonating.
Now, while facing the chest, players should turn to their right and throw the spear at the statue with the N-like rune on it to the left of the path leading down. There's one final rune statue beneath a tree up on a ledge opposite the chest, so players should throw the spear at this one too, then detonate all three projectiles at the same time to destroy the rune statues simultaneously and unlock the Nornir Chest chest.
God of War Ragnarok is available now for PS4 and PS5.
