Bjorn the Fell-Handed

“ You… You walked in the Age of the Emperor?”
Bjorn made the gear-grinding chuckle again. “Walked, ran, pissed and killed. I did it all. I met the Allfather, you know. Fought at his side more than once. I do believe he liked me.”
Kysnaros slowly, slowly went to his knees.
“Oh, for… Not you as well. “

—Bjorn the Fell-Handed, preparing to negotiate with Inquisitor Kysnaros during the Months of Shame

Bjorn the Fell-Handed, besides known as “ the Eldest, ” “ Trueclaw, ” “ Revered One, ” and “ last from the Company of Russ, ” is a venerable Mars Pattern Mark V Dreadnought and former Great Wolf of the Space Wolves Chapter. He is besides the oldest living Space Marine in the Imperium of Man, for in his deadly life he fought beside the Emperor and his Primarch Leman Russ during the Great Crusade and the piercingly wars of the Horus Heresy. More than ten thousand Terran years have passed since that old age of legends, so far Bjorn remains a animation radio link to the chapter ‘s distant past — it is small wonder that his advocate is sought by many within the Space Wolves when they gird for war. Despite his extreme age, Bjorn is a steadfast warrior and lumbers into struggle entombed within the sacred sarcophagus of his Dreadnought. A venerable hero of huge power, Bjorn has masterminded many of the Space Wolves ‘ greatest victories, and by his hand have some of the Imperium ‘s most flagitious adversaries been murder. Always eager to crush the foes of the Allfather, Bjorn continues to fight amongst his chapter ‘s ranks as he has done for millennium.

Legend claims that the spirit of Russ ever watches over Bjorn, and that no damage will come to him until the primarch returns to fight alongside his friend once more in the conflict to end all things — the Wolftime .

history

Prospero

“ Bjorn, of Tra”, the warrior introduced himself.
“One-Handed”, said Russ, nodding in recognition. “That is a poor name”, replied the Wolf King.
“It suits”, Bjorn replied coolly, flexing his half-ruined arm with something like pride. “It stands for all of us. “

— Bjorn Fell-Handed speaking to Primarch Leman Russ following the Burning of Prospero

Ten thousand Terran years ago, before his imprisonment within the armored sarcophagus of a Dreadnought, Bjorn fought aboard Primarch Leman Russ of the Space Wolves Legion during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy and saw the Emperor Himself before He was interred within the mechanism of the Golden Throne. Bjorn was a extremity of the Vlyka Fenryka ( Wolves of Fenris ) ‘s Tra ( 3rd ) Great Company where he served under the instruction of Jarl Ogvai Ogvai Helmschrot. The austere, taciturn warrior saw fight in many theatres of the Crusade, including the Olamic Quietude Campaign and the Battle of Prospero, during which he served as the ( rather unwilling ) defender of the Remembrancer Kasper Hawser to atone for his mistake of wrongfully shooting the man ‘s shuttlecock out of the flip during the Remembrancer ‘s initial arrival on Fenris. Bjorn ‘s saga of greatness would begin in earnest during the Battle of Prospero. The demand account of what happened on Prospero has been lost to clock, but it is known that some thing, whether foul warlock of the Thousand Sons or Neverborn abomination had taken a special interest in Kasper Hawser, apparently attempting to use the deadly as a spy against the Vlyka Fenryka, but in truth to ensure that the confrontation between the Space Wolves and Thousand Sons resulted in their reciprocal annihilation. The being revealed itself to its unwilling person pawn on Prospero, and when Hawser rebelliously planted his ax into the afoul creature ‘s lead, the giant started to choke the life out of him due to its chronic malice. Bjorn intervened, hacking the foul being ‘s arm off at the elbow and saving Hawser ‘s life. Pressing his advantage, Bjorn dealt the creature several blasting blows, but the Daemon refused to fall, and used fell magicks to pluck the Space Wolves ‘ dependable names from Hawser ‘s mind and to use it against them as separate of its dirty sorcery. however, the sorcery failed against Bjorn, for Hawser, having always subconsciously translated his name to “ Bear, ” in Imperial Gothic, did not know Bjorn ‘s true diagnose. Refusing to be daunted by the messy end of his fellows, Bjorn kept hammering at his adversary, driving it back until the foul being managed to grab his weapon and send a massive rush of Warp energy through it. Bjorn ‘s pass immediately started to smoulder and decay, and the corruption started to crawl up his branch, even Bjorn grimly fought on. fortunately, relief arrived in the phase of a Rune Priest accompanied by a police squad of Sisters of Silence, two Space Wolves Dreadnoughts, and ( according to some accounts ) Constantin Valdor of the Legio Custodes. The silent Sisters ‘ Pariah Gene interrupted the being ‘s fell magicks, and it was ground to glue by the two revengeful Dreadnoughts. At the same time, either Hawser or Valdor intervened and saved Bjorn ‘s liveliness by hacking his sleeve murder at the elbow, preventing the corruption from spreading far. Bjorn was late lionised by the others, specially Hawser, for resisting and driving spinal column such a grotesque opponent .

First of the Lone Wolves

During the Horus Heresy, Bjorn was a young warrior of great potential. He had excelled during the campaign known as the Battle of Prospero and Bjorn ‘s saga was already being crafted by the skalds. He had been there when he was confronted by the Horus – daemon and heard the words of mystery spoken by the fell creature. His lineage had risen, and he was being spoken of as if some deep wyrd had attached itself to him. indeed, Bjorn ‘s tamp down ( team ) was often singled out to lead assaults where foe resistance was expected to be at its heaviest. It was whilst undertaking one such attack on the acerb, volcanic populace of Gryth that events were to take a tragic turn. Bjorn ‘s throng had humbled tyrants, butchered aliens beyond consider, and even hewn down their buddy Space Marines who had fallen from the Emperor ‘s grace ; yet against the Daemon king, Arvax the Arch-slaughterer, they knew lone death. That Bjorn actually survived the slaughter of his kinsmen was a testament to his exceeding skills as a warrior, for all others who faced the mighty Daemon of Khorne that fatal day joined Bjorn ‘s packmates in death. Though the arrival of the mighty Primarch Leman Russ saw the Space Wolves ultimately emerge victorious against the daemonic warhost, it was Bjorn ‘s persistent rape who last drove the apparently unstoppable Daemon general from the field. Despite his victory of sorts, Bjorn never forgave himself for the loss of his kinsmen, nor the fact that he alone however lived, having been denied a brilliant death. In the hours that followed the battle, Bjorn became increasingly melancholic, refusing to accept the hearty approval of those who had witnessed his heroic battle against the Daemon king. As he witnessed his packmates burn atop the victory pyres, he gave voice to a long, doleful howl. Kneeling before the bodies of his burning kinsmen, he swore a grave oath of vengeance against their killer .
To Bjorn ‘s continued frustration, it was to be five long standard years before bible of Arvax ‘s location surfaced once more. Russ immediately led his space Wolves to destroy the disgusting creature, determined to personally slay the Daemon king himself and avenge those who had died during their last meet. Yet in this finish, the primarch was to be denied, for Bjorn excessively sought out his nemesis and, as destiny would have it, was the first to face Arvax in battle. As the Wolf-King torus through the Khornate drove towards his prey, he witnessed Bjorn ‘s duel first-hand. Russ could lone look on in pride as Bjorn deftly rolled below a blow attempting to cut him in half, then clambered up the Daemon ‘s towering frame to tear out the Arch-slaughterer ‘s throat with his trusty Wolf Claw. In the aftermath of the struggle, Russ came to Bjorn in person and exonerated him in movement of the entire Legion, holding his oath fulfilled. Setting a common law that however exists to this day, the Wolf-King promoted Bjorn to his personal Wolf Guard, naming him the “ Fell-Handed ” in honor of his mighty act. The Skjalds of the chapter hold that it was the sense of loss and tragedy that Bjorn had already experienced and learned to master that determine Russ ‘ decisiveness to leave him behind when he set away on his last, black journey into the Eye of Terror. Of all of the primarch ‘s Wolf Guard, he alone had shown such forte of purpose and decision in his darkest hour ; he alone would understand the alone burden of dominate in the primarch ‘s absence .

end of the Company of Russ

No one knows what happened to Leman Russ. Some say he disappeared in the Eye of Terror whilst searching for his old friend and equal, the Dark Angels Primarch Lion El’Jonson. Others say that, to this sidereal day, he walks disguised among Mankind, watching over the people of his emperor and guarding them from the powers of Chaos. All that is known for certain is that Leman Russ vanished in 211.M31, about two standard centuries after the Emperor was entombed upon the Golden throne. At that fourth dimension, all of the Space Wolves warriors and their wolf Lords, including the great Wolf himself, were gathered for a feed on Fenris. The holiday, known by the devotees of the cults of Emperor-worship as the “ Feast of the Emperor ‘s Ascension, ” commemorated the day the Emperor defeated Horus and “ ascended ” back into the Immaterium after being entombed upon the Golden Throne. On this occasion, Leman Russ quieted the great hall of his warriors to speak, but then froze in place as his eyes glazed over as if seeing a imagination. The assemble Space Wolves looked on in horror as their primarch fell to his knees and called for his Wolf Guard and closest retainers to attend him, all save the youngest, Bjorn the Fell-Handed. Giving his closest companions his instructions, Russ turned and left the Great Hall with his honor guard in tow, leaving alone Bjorn behind.

The narrative of Russ ‘ disappearance is fictionalize every thousand standard years by Bjorn the Fell-Handed, now the oldest Astartes Dreadnought still in military service in the entire imperium. It is believed by some Astartes amongst the Space Wolves that Russ left Fenris and journeyed into the Eye of Terror to find the fabled Tree of Life, a font of uncorrupted Warp energy hidden somewhere within the Immaterium that bears fruits said to be able to heal the Emperor and restore Him to broad life. It was no bare coincidence that Russ chose young Bjorn to lead the chapter in his stead. During the consequence of the Horus Heresy called the Great Scouring, Bjorn proved both his doggedness and mettle a hundred times over. This, combined with the fact that he had already lived through and come out of the ordeal of losing his packmates stronger than he was before, led Russ to see in Bjorn the future drawing card of the Space Wolves in the reform Imperium as forged by Roboute Guilliman. He was the lone penis of Leman Russ ‘ personal Wolf Guard who could and would endure being left behind when Russ departed for the Eye of Terror ; and therefore he was. This act left Bjorn harbouring acute feelings of rejection and bitter to this identical day, for the taciturn primarch did not explain his decision to the young warrior, and what was meant to be high praise and honor left Bjorn alternatively feeling that he had been punished by his primarch for some defect of which he was unaware. Bjorn has never explained why he was left behind in this manner ; it is not certain if he even knows himself, but the primarch was never one to act idly. Every standard year after his disappearance, Russ ‘ position was laid at the lapp banquet. Every year his drink horn was filled should he return. For seven retentive, atrocious Terran years the Space Wolves waited patiently for their lost Wolf-King to return to them. After seven years, the surviving Wolf Lords gathered and elected Bjorn their leader, becoming the chapter ‘s first warden in the primarch ‘s list. So it was that, when it became clear up that Russ was not to return, Bjorn reluctantly took his primarch ‘s place as overlord of the chapter, becoming the first Great Wolf. Bjorn gathered all his warriors in concert in the Great Hall of The Fang, and announced the foremost Great Hunt. Russ ‘ people would seek out their master if it took the pillow of time to do it. therefore did the twelve Great Companies take to their voidships and sail forth in separate directions across the Sea of Stars. From the day of Russ ‘ disappearance, Bjorn has given his all to prove himself worthy in his missing primarch ‘s stead, inaugural as Great Wolf, then as a Dreadnought, and finally to this day as the spiritual and moral scope for the entire chapter. alone the ancient Wolf Priest Ulrik knows Bjorn well enough to suspect that he still craves the blessing of Russ, and that Bjorn will know no peace until he fights alongside his primarch once more. Bjorn ‘s expansive career as the foremost Great Wolf of the Space Wolves was tragically cut short during the Proxima Rebellion in 934.M31. Bjorn led a successful foray into to free those of his battle-brothers trapped within the ill-famed Dreadsun Fortress, but his body sustained such severe injuries that, to preserve his life, what was left of his shatter torso was interred in a Dreadnought. sharply aware that, as a Dreadnought, he could no longer fulfil his duties as overcome of the Chapter, Bjorn abdicated his put as Great Wolf. even being confined within a cold robotic blast did nothing to dampen Bjorn ‘s burn conviction. Over the be five hundred standard years, he remained at the forefront of every struggle, leading by exemplar, and counselling his successors as the chapter ‘s Great Wolf. finally, the long years took their toll on the ancient warrior, and he began spending longer and longer periods dormant in stasis sleep. immediately he is alone awakened when the chapter has the greatest want of his potent skills and ancient wisdom, as during the Battle of The Fang in the 32nd millennium, where Bjorn faced off against and badly wounded the Space Wolves ‘ arch-nemesis, the Daemon Primarch Magnus the Red ; or the alleged “ Months of Shame “ in the aftermath of the First War for Armageddon in 451.M41 where he negotiated a armistice between the Space Wolves, the Grey Knights and the Inquisition. Bjorn is besides awakened by his chapter at the dawn of each newfangled standard millennium to hold court at the Great Feast. The Great Feast commemorates the fade of Leman Russ ; it is a boisterous celebration that all Space Wolves attend, where Fenrisian Ale flows freely, the ancient saga are told to the younglings, and new oaths taken and honest-to-god oaths reaffirmed. constantly, at some point during the Great Feast, a delegating of Iron Priests will arrive, escorting a massive trope. In seconds, the Great Hall of The Fang will fall absolutely dumb as the Great Wolf rises and cedes his locate to the modern arrival. When the ancient Venerable Dreadnought speaks, the boisterous hilarity of his battle-brothers is replaced by the hush silence of last esteem. Entire generations of Space Wolves can fight and die without ever witnessing Bjorn in person, so to be in the majestic presence of this idolize hero is a rare prerogative. In the utter hush of heavy respect, Bjorn will speak of the fourth dimension of the Great Crusade, where he recounts elements from his own saga and anecdotes about their long-gone primarch to his battle-brothers. To the youngest blood Claws, Bjorn ‘s stories sound more like a skjald ‘s bizarre legend than a remembrance of facts, yet Bjorn ‘s memory is net and he speaks with the authority and certitude of one who has seen it all and lived to remember it. The alone moment where his spokesperson falters is when he recounts Leman Russ ‘ decision to leave for the Eye of Terror and his own appointee as the first gear warden of the Space Wolves Chapter until Russ returns. even after ten millennium, Bjorn hush feels the annoyance of rejection by his primarch angstrom keenly as he did on that fatal day. Those who are the eldest amongst the Space Wolves believe that the only thing that could grant “ The Revered One ” his peace of judgment again is the return of Leman Russ, and the juncture to fight alongside his primarch one last time in defense of Humanity. To the Space Wolves, Bjorn represents the chapter ‘s greatest connection to the past. He is revered as a hero about a great as Leman Russ, and his words are to his living brethren akin to law, for he is the only one amongst them who can still judge a situation by their primarch ‘s own standards. In this, Bjorn besides functions as the Space Wolves ‘ moral compass, and even the stubbornness incarnate that is Logan Grimnar, the stream Great Wolf, listens and defers to Bjorn ‘s ancient wisdom of solomon when “ The Eldest ” speaks against him. On those desperate occasions where the Ancient is roused to take the plain, the Space Wolves will fight with a doggedness and stubbornness noteworthy even for the Space Wolves, for they believe that faltering in the eyes of Bjorn is akin to faltering in the eyes of Leman Russ himself. Woe to the being nice so far doomed enough to dare to damage the mighty Venerable Dreadnought, for it merely spurs the Space Wolves into a fanatic, homicidal fad, and the whole of them will charge forward insanely in order to prevent “ The Eldest ” from being defiled by the enemy .

Wargear

When he was still counted amongst the exist, Bjorn was outfitted as befitted a penis of Leman Russ ‘ cortege of Wolf Guard : appareled in a mighty lawsuit of Artificer Armour, in one hand a master-crafted Lightning Claw which he always wielded with enormous skill, and in his other he bore a bolter modified with a pistol grip, allowing him to fire the weapon one-handed. concisely after his impoundment in a Dreadnought chassis, the chapter ‘s Iron Priests fashioned a Lightning Claw sized to match his massive chassis in honor of his privilege weapon in his former life. Bjorn wields this mighty weapon, known as Trueclaw, angstrom dexterously as ever, ensuring that he continues to live up to his mention. It is much more annihilative than the weapon he bore as a living Astartes, and is additionally equipped with a built-in Heavy Flamer that allows Bjorn to carbonize anything escaping his claw ‘s attentions.

On his early weapon Bjorn besides bears a mighty ranged weapon : most frequently an Assault Cannon, which is to a Dreadnought like the standard bolter is to an Astartes. however, if the site requires it, the Iron Priests will equip Bjorn with a Plasma Cannon, Helfrost Cannon, or Twin-linked Lascannons. however, Bjorn ‘s most potent weapon is neither his Lightning Claw nor his tactical acumen, but his legend. To be in Bjorn ‘s presence is to the Space Wolves akin to being in Leman Russ ‘ bearing by proxy, spurning them on to commit acts of courage so foolhardy that tied their “ common ” acts of near-suicidal fearlessness seems only like child ‘s meet in comparison. Although he rarely complains, Bjorn finds the decorations and embellishments with which his brothers have decorated his sarcophagus an annoyance and a lie, for he is convinced that Leman Russ left him behind for some failing on his region, and that he is as such despicable of the reverence in which he is held. Yet, he is cagey enough to understand his value as a role mannequin to his younger brother, and frankincense only voices his opinion in individual to the other Dreadnoughts beneath The Fang .

Sources

• Codex: Space Wolves (2nd Edition), pp. 15-16, 31, 68-69
• Codex: Space Wolves (5th Edition), pg. 49
• Codex: Space Wolves (7th Edition), pp. 12, 43-44, 61, 63, 128-129
• Champions of Fenris – A Codex: Space Wolves Supplement (7th Edition), pp. 12, 52-53, 71, 86, 107, 124-125, 134
• Companies of Fenris – Space Wolves Painting Guide (6th Edition), pp. 53, 59
• Horus Heresy: Collected Visions (Artbook), pg. 240
• Index Astartes I, “Warriors of Old – Space Marine Dreadnoughts”, pg. 55
• White Dwarf 227 (US), “Chapter Approved – Space Marines: Space Wolves”, pp. 73-80
• Prospero Burns (Novel) by Dan Abnett
• Scars (Novel) by Chris Wraight
• Battle of the Fang (Novel) by Chris Wraight
• The Emperor’s Gift (Novel) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
• Bjorn: Lone Wolf (Short Story) by Chris Wraight
• Bjorn: The Fell-Handed (Short Story) by Chris Wraight

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