Bjorn was an orphan abandoned at the doorstep of a humble farmer couple, who took him in and raised him as their own child. He grew up on the farm, taking care of animals and helping with the heavy lifting. He grew into a big strong looking man and because of that, people often felt intimidated and tended to avoid him. He spent most of his free time alone, hammering away at whatever needed fixing around the farm.

Bjorn

Occasionally, shady individuals would try to recruit him into their band of thugs, but Bjorn didn’t like violence and refused to fight other people’s battles. Life was peaceful and mostly uneventful on the simple farm, and Bjorn liked it that way. But things would soon change.

While returning from an errand in a neighboring village a fierce dragon flew right over his head. They were rarely heard of in those parts, so when Bjorn saw it, he immediately realized his village had been attacked. He arrived home only to see his village burned, his farm destroyed and his family along with everyone he knew, gone. He grieved for days before he decided he would not rest until his family was avenged.

He searched through the remains of his collapsed house and found his trusty hammer. He knew it couldn’t do anything to fix what had happened, however it now served a different purpose: To crush the skull of the creature that took his family from him. He began the search, traveling wherever rumors of dragon sightings would take him. He found an endless trail of burnt villages, and most often there were no survivors. With each destroyed village he saw, he grew more and more angry. He was determined to find the beast and put an end to all the suffering it wreaked upon the land.

After months of travel, Bjorn found himself in a town not yet touched by the scorch of the flying demon.

It seemed strange to him, seeing people living normal peaceful lives after witnessing so much destruction. It reminded him of his past, living peacefully in the farm. For a brief moment he almost forgot about his anger. But it was a brief moment indeed, because as fate would have it, in that very instance the ground was shaken by the most horrifying growl he had ever heard in his life. The dragon was here.

Berserker Bjorn

Bjorn clenched his teeth and reached for his hammer. His eyes pierced the sky searching for the fiend.

In that very moment he felt an immense heat coming from behind.  In the corners of his eyes, he could see things changing their color to a bright orange. With only seconds to spare, he quickly ran towards the well in front of him and jumped into the water. He had just barely escaped the blaze, but he was not going to hide. No. He was going to see this to the end. He climbed out of the well only to find himself in the middle of an inferno. Everything was burning around him, people were screaming and the dragon was relentlessly sowing destruction.

The things Bjorn was seeing were unreal to him, and the thought that his family had perished in similar circumstances was gnawing at his soul. He could feel himself losing control as the rage grew stronger and stronger inside of him. His eyes red with fury, he grabbed his mighty hammer and charged towards the dragon. He didn’t care about the flames, he didn’t care about anything anymore.

The vile winged demon saw mighty Bjorn, and soon they were charging towards each other like two unstoppable forces, like two bloodthirsty beasts ready to devour each other no matter the cost. In a moment of sheer rage, Bjorn let loose a battle cry so fierce, that it made the dragon pause and swallow its own flames. All the pain and rage he felt for so long, concentrated in one single moment, in one single blow.

With all his strength Bjorn, now turned into a berserker, threw his hammer straight towards the dragon’s head. The impact was so strong it caved the demon’s skull in, killing in instantly, leaving its lifeless winged husk falling to the ground like a giant rag. Townsfolk witnessing the deed could not believe their eyes. Mighty Bjorn had slain the dragon with one decisive blow. A feat of legend that many would sing and tell stories about for generations to come. It was finished. With his family finally avenged, Bjorn left those parts, never to return. He found a piece of land where he built a new farm. There he lived in peace for the rest of his life, in humble anonymity, doing what he loved, raising animals and fixing things.

But on the day of his death, the gods, knowing his name, as well as his heroic deeds, asked him to finally take his rightful place among the heroes of the Asgard Watch, for they knew that if a threat should ever arise, Bjorn would stop at nothing to see justice done.

Asgard Run Game

Join Bjorn in his adventures in Asgard Run.

“The Humble Hero” – Part II of The Asgard Run Chronicles