Bjorn

About Bjorn

Bjorn is Askeladd's second-in-command, a hulking berserker who eats fly agaric mushrooms before battle to unleash a mindless rage. Outside the frenzy he is thoughtful and utterly loyal, the one man who truly understands Askeladd, and the one who most wishes Askeladd would treat him as a friend rather than a tool. His final request to his captain is one of Season 1's quiet tragedies.

Appearance

Bjorn is a massive, broad-shouldered man with dark hair and a heavy beard, built like the bear his name evokes. In battle, dosed on fly agaric mushrooms, his eyes go wild and his whole manner changes, drooling, roaring and swinging without any trace of the thoughtful man underneath. Out of the frenzy he dresses and moves plainly, usually found a step behind Askeladd, watching and listening more than he speaks.

Personality

Away from battle Bjorn is calm, perceptive and quietly melancholic. He sees through Askeladd's performances better than anyone and stays loyal anyway, which is his tragedy: he wants to be the captain's friend, not his most reliable tool, and knows Askeladd may be incapable of allowing it. In the berserk rage he is the opposite, a mindless engine of violence, and he seems to accept that split in himself with grim humour.

Background & Story

Bjorn has served as Askeladd's right hand for years, leading the band's fighting men while Askeladd handles the thinking. He is present from the ambush of Thors onward, and through the campaign in England he is the band's anchor, the man who holds the line, guards the prince and reads his captain's moods. Wounded while protecting Canute, he knows his injury will kill him slowly, and he chooses to spend his last strength in one final duel with the man he followed all his life.

Powers & Abilities

• Berserk Rage: By eating fly agaric mushrooms before battle, Bjorn enters a painless frenzy of greatly increased strength and ferocity, fighting on through wounds that should stop him.
• Brute Strength: Even without the mushrooms he is one of the strongest men in Askeladd's band, a front-line fighter who holds positions through force alone.

Key Relationships

• Askeladd: His captain and the centre of his life; Bjorn's last wish is simply to hear Askeladd call him a friend.
• Thorfinn: A fellow blade in the band, Bjorn treats the boy's obsession with the same weary understanding he gives everything Askeladd does.
• Canute: The prince he is assigned to protect, and whose protection costs him his life.

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