Kjotve the Cruel

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Kjotve the Cruel (died 872), also known as The Axe, was a Norwegian Viking who lived during the 9th century. He was the father of Gorm Kjotvesson and a Palatinus member of the Order of the Ancients' Warden of War.

Biography

In 856, Kjotve led a raid on the settlement of Fornburg in Rygjafylke that resulted in the deaths of Varin and Rosta, the parents of Eivor. It was also around this time that Kjotve caught the attention of a traveling member of the Order of the Ancients, who was impressed with both his skill and his ferocity in battle. He was recruited into the organization shortly thereafter, becoming the first Scandinavian member.

For the following 17 years, Kjotve and his clan were harassed by Eivor and the Raven Clan, despite King Styrbjorn's reluctance to engage in open battle. Eventually, Eivor, Sigurd Styrbjornson, Basim Ibn Ishaq, Hytham, and several warriors of the Raven Clan, aided by soldiers fighting for King Harald Fairhair, raided Kjotve's Fortress. There, Eivor challenged Kjotve to single combat, which Kjotve readily accepted, brandishing his two axes. At some point during the duel, Hytham attempted to assassinate Kjotve but was intercepted and thrown aside, severely injuring the Hidden One. Despite the interruption, Eivor continued their fight, and eventually managed to kill Kjotve.

After his death, Eivor took a silver medallion bearing the insignia of an Ash tree from his body. Basim later explained that this signified Kjotve as a member of the secret organization known as the Order of the Ancients, an organization that he and his fellow Hidden Ones had been fighting for centuries.

Behind the scenes

Kjotve the Cruel is based on the real-world Viking Kjotve the Rich, ruler of the Norwegian petty kingdom of Agder. He fought King Harald Fairhair at the Battle of Hafrsfjord, but fled the battlefield upon losing, after which historical record of him fades out. Unlike his historical counterpart, his son is named Gorm Kjotvesson, not Thor Haklang.

Kjotve first appeared in the first issue of Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Song of Glory, were he is depicted with a beard as he impales Varin through the chest with a sword. This conflicts with the same events in the memory sequence "Prologue" from Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, which instead has a clean-shaven Kjotve swing Varin's own axe into his skull.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Song of Glory
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – The Ravens' Wound

Gallery

• 
  Concept art of Kjotve
• 
  Kjotve stabs Varin in Song of Glory.