Bjorn

A thickset fighter, Bjorn wears his dark hair loose and unkempt, long enough to reach the back of his neck. The full beard he once had was later gathered with a cord so that it tapered into a narrow goatee. His gear runs practical: a nasal helmet for the head and a padded coat cinched by a row of buckles down the chest.

Loyalty defines him. Bjorn treats Askeladd as the one genuine friend he has ever known and repays that bond without conditions, standing by his captain even at the moment the whole band rounds on the man during their flight from Thorkell. Long before that split he had already earned real standing among the crew, a veteran the others looked up to. Of all who rode under Askeladd he served the greatest stretch of years, yet he learned almost nothing of the man he trusted, aware only that his leader hailed from Denmark. That climb carried him to the role of right hand. His nerve holds to the very end: mortally hurt and certain of the outcome, he still calls Askeladd out for one final bout.

Bjorn fights with sword and shield and knows the trade well, but his true ceiling shows only after he swallows a berserker mushroom. The drug floods him with savage force, raw power, and near-total indifference to pain, turning him into a threat that keeps swinging through wound after wound. The catch is steep: in that fevered state he can no longer tell ally from enemy, so his own comrades stand in as much danger as the foe. Even so, the fury has limits. Thors once beat him bare-handed without taking a single blow in return. Years on, guarding Canute, he cut down ten of his former crewmates by himself despite bleeding from several cuts and beginning the fight with no weapon. Canute's voice pulled him back to his senses, and in that unguarded instant Atli drove a blade deep into his belly. He clung to life a short while afterward, long enough to accept his end, challenge Askeladd to the duel he wanted, and be laid to rest once he fell.