The Weeping Woodsman
"The axe weighs heavy in the hand of one who has lost everything, but Váli grants his poisoned blessing to all who seek Vengeance." -Legends of Midgard, by Archivist Egil
Stories of the Weeping Woodsman have circulated throughout the clans of Midgard for centuries. The stories were often told as cautionary tales to the children so that they did not go out into the woods at night, but those who knew the truth told the stories out of fear for their children's lives. There have been very few recorded sightings of the Woodsman over the centuries, but those accounts alone are enough to breathe life into the legend.
Most accounts that exists speak of a gigantic armored figure bearing a hulking woodsman's axe that emits a ghostly blue light, and glowing blue tears seem to constantly flow down from the dark eye slits of its wicked helm. He wanders throughout the woodlands of the realm, but for what purpose, none can say for sure.
Most accounts that exists speak of a gigantic armored figure bearing a hulking woodsman's axe that emits a ghostly blue light, and glowing blue tears seem to constantly flow down from the dark eye slits of its wicked helm. He wanders throughout the woodlands of the realm, but for what purpose, none can say for sure.
Summary
The most common tale of the Weeping Woodsman goes as follows:
"Once upon a time, there was a woodsman who lived far and away from our lands with his family in a modest cabin he had built for them. Though they were alone out in the wilds, they were happy, living and working the land with their own hands.
One day however, a group of savage bandits came upon their happy little corner of the realm. The woodsman tried to fend them off with his trusty axe, but there were far too many. He was grievously wounded, and he was forced to watch as his family was ripped apart. Thinking him dead, the bandits took everything they could and fled into the twilight. As the woodsman lay bloody and dying, he desperately called out to the only god he knew would listen. Váli, the god of Vengeance heard his plea, and bestowed upon him the power to exact his Revenge.
Transformed by Váli's divine "blessing", the woodsman began searching the realm for his family's killers. With his axe in hand, he found one bandit after another, and with each death he took one more step toward complete Vengeance. As the years dragged on however, despite how desperately he searched, he could not find the last of the bandits, or their leader. Realizing that they must have met their fates by other means, he called out to Váli once again, having believed his goal complete. But Váli's response was clear and absolute, "If they did not fall at your hand, you Vengeance is not done." With those few words, the woodsman knew he was doomed to a cursed existence.
Váli's curse had granted him an eternity with which to seek his revenge, and as the decades went by, his broken mind could think of nothing else. Now the woodsman wanders the forests of the realm, searching for the vengeance he will never find, all the while weeping for his own cursed existence."
One day however, a group of savage bandits came upon their happy little corner of the realm. The woodsman tried to fend them off with his trusty axe, but there were far too many. He was grievously wounded, and he was forced to watch as his family was ripped apart. Thinking him dead, the bandits took everything they could and fled into the twilight. As the woodsman lay bloody and dying, he desperately called out to the only god he knew would listen. Váli, the god of Vengeance heard his plea, and bestowed upon him the power to exact his Revenge.
Transformed by Váli's divine "blessing", the woodsman began searching the realm for his family's killers. With his axe in hand, he found one bandit after another, and with each death he took one more step toward complete Vengeance. As the years dragged on however, despite how desperately he searched, he could not find the last of the bandits, or their leader. Realizing that they must have met their fates by other means, he called out to Váli once again, having believed his goal complete. But Váli's response was clear and absolute, "If they did not fall at your hand, you Vengeance is not done." With those few words, the woodsman knew he was doomed to a cursed existence.
Váli's curse had granted him an eternity with which to seek his revenge, and as the decades went by, his broken mind could think of nothing else. Now the woodsman wanders the forests of the realm, searching for the vengeance he will never find, all the while weeping for his own cursed existence."
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