Runestone plains

Runestones and signs

Where no rain falls And no crops will grow Still the ground can give up treasures.

This place was too hot for Ulf, a man used to brushing snow from his beard. He carved this stone and moved on.

Still your mind, traveller. Oden speaks to those who listen. Here in this barren land, one of the Forsaken Ones dwells. He is an ancient sorcerer twisted by bitterness, dragging what remains of his broken body across the sands. Surely Oden will smile upon the warrior who can vanquish this abhorrence.

In a land far from here I once saw a star come unfastened from the great curtain of night and fall into the sand. It glowed red when I approached but by morning was cool. Blessed sword-flesh, furnace-food, a gift of strong metal from the Gods!

Good friend, lay your hand on this stone and remember Harald, who carved it. In Midgard I lost my life on the battlefield but in Valheim it was restored to me. Yet still my battles continued. In the green meadows I fought Eikthyr the Great Stag and lost an eye to his horns. In the deep woods I gave my shield hand to the Old Man of the Forest, and took a draugr arrow below my ribs that my fingers can still feel. On the mountainside I fought the Mother Drake and she bit off my leg at the knee so that I must walk always with a staff. Now my last battle must be at hand. When I sleep this time, where will I wake?

In my dream, Oden came to me as an old man leaning on a stick, a wide-brimmed traveller’s hat on his head. He told me to trust the ravens who carry his words under their tongues and to carve this stone that others might know his will. We must kill the Forsaken to find our places in his hall at Valhalla.