Selwyn

"The Order condemns all men to pain, for all men are but a shadow of the perfection we should know."

―Selwyn to Eivor Varinsdottir, 877.

Selwyn (died 877), also known as The Gallows, was an Anglo-Saxon member of the Wardens of Faith sect of the Order of the Ancients. Holding the rank of Palatinus, he worked as a reeve in the city of Wincestre.

Biography

Early life

"That hedge-pig has brought down laws like a hammer on Wincestre. Executing sinners on spurious charges in the square."

―Goodwin describing Selwyn to Eivor, 877.

Selwyn came from fortunate beginnings, something that made him accustomed to being superior over the various servants, serfs and ceorls around him. However, his father's habits of cheating, drinking and wasting money on such vices not only brought his family into disrepute, but also made a young Selwyn disgusted with them.

Selwyn rose above his family’s shameful reputation and his father’s demons, which he believed stemmed from giving the weak too much leeway. Thus, with the Order's backing, he abused his power, enforcing barbaric punishments for petty crimes in a misguided attempt to destroy human effluence.

Reeve of Wincestre and death

Selwyn: "Perverter of justice! Who dares execute the King's noose?"

Eivor: "It is not in Aelfred's name that you carry out your work. You are The Order's executioner."

Selwyn: "Ah. You peer through the veil, but you do not see clearly. Aelfred's laws are a slave's fever-dream. He offers shit-soaked beggars a seat at his table. Where the meek devour the strong. Who best to judge the fate of the wretched many, if not the strong and worthy few?"

—Selwyn to Eivor in the Memory Corridor, 877.

Selwyn presiding over the trial of a couple

By the 870s, Selwyn came to serve as one of Wincestre's reeves alongside Goodwin, upholding the city's law and order and answering directly to King Aelfred. Circa 877, Selwyn and two fellow Order members in Wincestre, Hilda and Ealhferth, known in Order communications as the Quill and the Seax respectively, were assigned by the Maegester Fulke to kill Aelfred due to his collaboration with the “Poor Fellow-Soldier of Christ", an informant who sought to undermine and eradicate the Order in England.

While the others went about their own operations, Selwyn’s first priority was to take down his fellow reeve Goodwin, a close confidant of King Aelfred who had come close to learning about Selwyn's double life. He sent his men to Goodwin's home, where they arrested the reeve before bringing him to the Wincestre Garrison. He also ordered them to ransack the residence and destroy any evidence of Goodwin's investigations.

Certain that he had gotten rid of Goodwin's meddlings, Selwyn turned to his second priority, undermining the king's recent law reforms, which involved unjustly executing numerous citizens of Wincestre, often peasants, over petty, questionable or otherwise spurious charges in the city square. During one such trial, he was due to execute the commoner Leona and her husband Hubert, for their comments towards a fellow Order member, the “dead” Bishop Ealhferth.

Selwyn in the Memory Corridor after being assassinated by Eivor

After the husband’s execution and the audience’s taunting, Selwyn began to deliver a speech on the stage in the square, denouncing those he considered "criminals". While he was distracted, the Viking Eivor Varinsdottir, who had been enlisted by King Aelfred to save Goodwin and aid in his investigation of the Order, assassinated Selwyn, in full view of the public. She then fought his guards and made her escape.

Trivia

• Like other Order members, Selwyn's cutscene in the Memory Corridor differs. At the end of his confession, the darkened tree with hanged people starts to lower its rope and then it hangs Selwyn, whose spirit immediately vanishes after succumbing to its pull. Selwyn's medallion is dropped from his hands as he is being hanged, allowing Eivor to claim it.
• Selwyn shares several similarities with the character Majd Addin from the 2007 video game Assassin's Creed. Both serve as a representative of the king—Aelfred and Saladin, respectively—in their cities and are overzealous executioners, though unlike Addin, Selwyn did not seem to sadistically enjoy the executions, nor did he have the crowd's wild support.
• Selwyn’s death also shares similarities with the assassination of fellow Order member Avgos Spearhand, as both are killed during a speech, in full view of the public, while on-stage and surrounded by guards.

Gallery

• 
  Selwyn assassinated by Eivor
• 
  Selwyn about to be hanged in the Memory Corridor

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (first appearance)
• The World of Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Journey to the North – Logs and Files of a Hidden One (mentioned only)