You're wandering through Jotunheim, everything is massive, and suddenly you’re tasked with finding a house that technically isn't there. It's frustrating. Mistress of the Iron Wood is one of those Assassin’s Creed Valhalla quests that makes you question your own eyesight. One minute you’re looking at a clearing, and the next, a massive longhouse appears out of thin air because you walked past a specific tree.
Honestly, the Jotunheim arc is a polarizing piece of the Eivor/Havi saga. It’s heavy on Norse mythology and even heavier on "optical illusions." If you've been banging your head against the wall trying to find Angrboda or figure out where the hell the roots are, you aren't alone. This quest is a mandatory pitstop in the Havi (Odin) storyline, and it’s where the game stops holding your hand and starts playing mind games with you.
Finding Angrboda’s House (The Illusion Problem)
The quest starts simply enough. You need to find the witch Angrboda to get some answers about the Mead. But when you arrive at the quest marker in the Iron Wood, there’s nothing but a few trees and some rocks. No house. No giantess. Just silence.
This is where Valhalla introduces its "Jotun magic" mechanic in full force. To find the house, you have to look for two wooden posts with animal skulls on them. Walk through them. Seriously. It’s that simple, yet so many people (including me) spent twenty minutes running in circles because the game doesn't explicitly tell you that the world changes based on your perspective. Once you pass through that specific "gateway," the house manifests.
🔗 Read more: Jigsaw Would Like Play Game: Why We’re Still Obsessed With Digital Puzzles
Angrboda herself is a fascinating character. In real Norse mythology, she’s the mother of Fenrir, Hel, and Jormungandr. In the game, she’s portrayed as a powerful, somewhat cynical Jotun who isn’t exactly thrilled to see Havi. Their dynamic is prickly. You aren't friends here; you’re a desperate god-king making deals with someone who knows exactly how dangerous you are.
The Scavenger Hunt for Roots
After the chat, Angrboda sends you off to find three specific roots. It sounds like a basic fetch quest. It’s not. It’s a vertical nightmare. You have to climb the massive, gnarled trees of the Iron Wood, and the platforming in Valhalla has always been a bit... finicky.
- One root is hidden behind a waterfall. You’ll see it glinting, but getting to it requires a bit of a leap of faith onto a slippery ledge.
- Another is high up in the canopy. Look for the blue-ish glow.
- The third requires you to solve another "perspective puzzle." You’ll see a clearing that looks empty until you look at it through a stone archway.
The verticality here is the real enemy. Eivor's climbing mechanics are great for flat walls, but trying to navigate the weirdly shaped branches of the Iron Wood can result in some pretty spectacular—and lethal—falls. Make sure you’re scanning frequently with Odin’s Sight. The roots pulse with a white light, but they’re small compared to the scale of the environment.
💡 You might also like: Siegfried Persona 3 Reload: Why This Strength Persona Still Trivializes the Game
Why the Iron Wood Matters for the Lore
Basically, this quest is the bridge between the "grounded" Viking world of England and the high-concept sci-fi of the Isu. For those who aren't deep into the lore, the Jotnar are actually representations of a specific faction of the Isu (the First Civilization). The "Iron Wood" isn't just a magical forest; it's a metaphorical memory of a highly advanced laboratory or region during the Great Catastrophe.
When Havi is talking to Angrboda, he’s trying to cheat fate. He’s looking for the Mead of Suttungr, which is a metaphor for the technology needed to upload his consciousness (and the consciousness of the other Aesir) into the Yggdrasil supercomputer. It’s a heavy lift for a game that starts with you raiding a monastery for some silver.
The Problem with Jotunheim’s Scale
Everything in Jotunheim is scaled up. The chairs are the size of houses. The mead horns are the size of swimming pools. This makes the Mistress of the Iron Wood quest feel much longer than it actually is. Traversing the distance between the house and the root locations takes time, even with a mount.
📖 Related: The Hunt: Mega Edition - Why This Roblox Event Changed Everything
A lot of players complain about the "floaty" feeling of this map. Because the environment is so large, Eivor feels small and slow. It’s a deliberate design choice by Ubisoft to make you feel like a "guest" in a land of giants, but from a gameplay perspective, it can feel like padding.
Beating the Puzzle Glitches
Occasionally, the illusions in the Iron Wood won't trigger. It’s rare, but it happens. If you walk through the skull-posts and the house doesn't appear, you might need to fast-travel out of Jotunheim and back in. It’s a "reset" for the world state.
Also, keep an eye on your quest log. Sometimes the objective won't update even after you’ve picked up the roots. This usually happens if you pick them up in an "unintended" order. If that happens, just head back to Angrboda’s house (which, again, might be invisible until you walk through the posts) and see if the interaction prompt appears.
Actionable Steps for Completing the Quest Fast
If you're currently stuck or just want to breeze through this to get back to England, follow this flow:
- Don't trust your eyes: If an area looks empty but the marker is right there, look for two pillars, a stone arch, or two trees that form a "frame." Walk through them while looking at the empty space.
- Use your bird: Sýnin can see the "glimmers" of the roots from the air, which is much easier than trying to spot them while standing on the ground under a massive canopy.
- Ignore the mobs: There are plenty of Jotun guards wandering around. Unless you’re desperate for the XP, just stealth or run past them. They’re "damage sponges" and will just slow you down.
- Save your game: Before you start the platforming for the roots, quicksave. A single bad jump can send you back to the bottom of the forest, forcing you to redo five minutes of tedious climbing.
- Check the waterfall first: The root behind the waterfall is the easiest to miss because the "magic" effect of the water can obscure the white pulse of Odin's Sight.
Mistress of the Iron Wood is a hurdle, sure, but it’s the key to unlocking the rest of the Jotunheim saga, which features some of the best boss fights in the game. Get the roots, deal with the witch, and move on to the Mead.