Guthorm the Wise

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Guthorm the Wise was the maternal uncle of Harald Fairhair, the first king of a unified Norway.

Biography

To help his nephew solidfy his control over the region and end the wars between the neighboring petty kingdoms, Guthorm became Harald's messenger and was sent to the south of Norway to negotiate with the various clans and kingdoms. This included the Raven Clan and the Wolf Clan, who had been engaged in a bitter rivalry from at least the 850s. In addition to sending a letter to jarl Kjotve of the Wolf Clan, Guthorm also travelled to Fornburg, meeting jarl Styrbjorn of the Raven Clan in 872.

Styrbjorn initiated the proposal of joining King Harald's kingdom and in return, Guthorm would assist the Raven Clan in ending the rivalry against the Raven Clan. Guthorm agreed and assured Styrbjorn that he will relay the message to Harald, leaving moments after Styrbjorn's adopted daughter Eivor Varinsdottir returned from a failed raid against Kjotve.

After the Raven Clan led by Eivor and Sigurd Styrbjornsson raided the Wolf Clan-controlled village of Nottfall, Guthorm arrived with King Harald, who proposed an alliance against Kjotve. Eivor and Sigurd accepted the alliance and met with Guthorm at the staging ground of Florli. Guthorm led Harald's army and assisted in the assault on Kjotve's stronghold.

Circa 889, Guthorm was still serving under Harald, by now the king of a unified Norway, and was helping him plan an expedition to Iceland to lend aid to their ally Ingólfr Arnarson, when they were visited by Eivor and Sigurd. Eivor declined Harald's offer to lead the expedition alongside Sigurd, revealing that she had only come to bid farewell to the king prior to her permanent departure to a land further west. When Eivor suggested spending the night telling stories from long ago, Harald, understanding what she was referring to and thinking his company would find the resulting discussion to be madness, dismissed Guthorm and the rest of his advisors, leaving him alone with Eivor and Sigurd to freely share their stories.

Gallery

• 
  Guthorm meeting Styrbjorn
• 
  Guthorm meeting Eivor and Sigurd
• 
  Guthorm, Eivor, and Sigurd preparing to assault Kjotve's fortress

Behind the scenes

Guthorm, introduced in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla as a minor character, was a legendary Viking attested to in various sagas. The game seems to draw from the 14th century work Flateyjarbók, as it has Guthorm assisting Harald Fairhair in his conquest of Norway. In Snorri Sturluson's 13th century king's saga Heimskringla, Guthorm is Ragnar Lothbrok's great-great-grandson, though at least one saga says he is a grandson instead. This element is not mentioned in-game.

In a letter from Guthorm to Kjotve the Cruel, Guthorm used the byname "the Hunter". Harald's paternal grandfather Gudrød the Hunter also used that byname, which does not seem to have been used in sagas for Guthorm, who instead was occasionally described as "the Wise".

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (first appearance)
  • The Last Chapter