Who is Thrud?

An origin story for Thrud was printed in the Thrud the Barbarian Graffik Novel. The story tells of a group of mercenaries who, lost and searching for a pub, stumble across an abandoned baby in a deserted village. The mercenaries decide to raise the baby as one of their own, teaching him how to fight and drink beer.

At the age of five, Thrud is sent to Crom the Destroyer Orthodox Pagan Infants School, where he towers above the teachers and his fellow students. When one of the children shoots him with a pea shooter, Thrud’s reaction is to kill and maim twenty-seven pupils and three teachers, leading to his expulsion from the school. Choosing to return to the wilderness rather than his adoptive parents, Thrud lives alone until, one day, he stumbles across a hidden burial chamber. Finding a small helmet and a large axe, Thrud arms himself. Finding gold and gems, he decides to return to civilisation with his newfound wealth, quickly establishing himself a reputation as a violent warrior.

Many years later, Thrud the Barbarian becomes Thrud the King, but finds the mundane duties of kingship tiresome without opportunities to fight. To put a halt to Thrud’s constant mutterings of “Kill! Death! Maim! Mutilate! Destroy!”, the wise men of his kingdom collect stories of heroism from around the land and read them to him long into the night.