The Sword and Hammer: How King Arthur met Thor, the god of thunder

Prologue: Welcome, Traveler!

Britannia, in a more legendary and mythic version of our world, 478 AD

Ah, greetings traveler! Welcome to this humble tavern. It is very dark outside, and so very, very warm in here by the fire. Please, have a seat, and pull up a can see we are very comfortable in here, away from the storm that rages outside. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Taliesin, bard, poet, and storyteller to the Britons. So what do you think of this fair city of Lincoln? Oh, you never expected to find an in made of stone here in the city on Lincoln? This building used to be a centurion's barracks, but it has been divided by walls into shops and homes. There is even a second floor they added above us, and divided into rooms for travelers. We are a merry crowd here, drinking wine before this warm fire. Over in the corner there, you can see two chain-mail clad centurions from the kingdom of Sissons on the continent, playing a game of tessarae. In the other corner, you can see two turbaned merchants, one from Parthia and another from Bactria, debating about how they will sell their silks and fine glassware to the locals. We have travelers and adventurers from every corner of the world.

I'd say you yourself look like such a traveler. Judging from the mud that covers your tunic, cape, and trousers, I'd say you had a long and hard have visitors from all over our crumbling empire,who come to this Britannia as one of the last Roman controlled lands in the west. oh, you arrived at port Dubrae on the eastern coast, and traveled here along the old Roman highway? That was not a good idea, traveler. The strip of land along eastern coast is the wasteland, ruled by the barbaric Saxons, and overrun by various terrible monsters. Even great Londinium is in Ruins, overrun with swarms of Slaugh undead, and supposedly even infested by a gorgon. On this island you will find creatures from both Briton and Roman lore- such is the way of an island that has been conquered many times, all peoples who come here leave their mark.

But besides the far western coast, we are safe here on this island from the Barbarian tribes who have overrun the west. You see, Britannia south of Hadrian's wall is a collection of small kingdoms, untied under the rule of the high king by our Roman Culture and Christian faith. (though a few of the old faith still live among us in peace). A band of Warriors and Cataphracts- calling themselves the Pendragons (after their dragon-headed banner), protect our lands, under the leadership of the high king of Britannia, Riothamus Ambrosius Aurelianus- whom we native Britions call King Arthur. Once, our land was ruled by the tyrant, Vortigern,who seized the throne for himself after the death of High King Coel Hen. He hired a horde of heathen Germanics from the continent- Angles, Frisians, Saxons, and Jutes, led the vile brothers Hengest and Horsa- to be his mercenary army to keep our people under control. After the heathens murdered the consul Ambrosius the Elder (whom we Britions called Uther), his son Riothamus became the Dux Bellorum, the military commander of the resistance. Reforming the descendants of the Ninth Roman legion into the Pendrgagon warriors, 'Arthur' defeated Vortigern, Hengest and Horsa, and drove the Germanic mercenaries back to the far western coasts. We eventually Made Riothamus our high king. He now rules over our lands from his capital at Caerleon with justice and peace, under an idealized version of Roman law.

From what foreign land did you come? Oh, you too are from Germania... though not here as Mercenary or conqueror, I see. It is rare we get a merchant like yourself from those cold, northern lands of Europe, a place never touched by Roman civilization or law. Merchants, traders, and other traveler's from all lands have nothing to fear in Arthur's Britannia... though you many get a scowl from some of the Britons you come across while selling your wares. Your less civilized mercenary kinsmen live in the wasteland in savagery, refusing to bathe or learn to read, and living in wooden huts like animals-obviously criminals and castoffs from your noble society. So different from we Britons are they, are they, as Roman civilization remains strong among our people. We still dwell in Roman cities, cleanse ourselves in the public baths, and read scrolls and go to performances of plays at the Amphitheaters for pleasure. Under Arthur's rule, all men and women from all classes are treated as equals before the law, and even the farmers and craftsman can read and write. While the elite among the Germanics rule over their lower classes as serfs, keeping them illiterate, ignorant, and superstitious. Many fear that in a few generations,those heathens will overrun our island, pushing our descendants back into the mountains of the west, and sending this island into an age of Darkness as Angle-Land. But let us pray that never comes to pass.

But I have visited the northern lands myself, and your people are not like those criminal exiles that invaded our lands. We are a proud warrior culture, and as a bard I collected many heroic stories and songs from from the skops and skalds of the tribes of the northern lands. Oh, such fantastic tales- Siegfried and Brunhilde the Valkyrie, the tales of Wayland the Smith, and the adventures of those wonderful gods of your people. Oh yes, the Aesir are wonderful heroes to tell firelight stories about, especially that powerful god of thunder, Thor. Yes, Thor... lord of thunder and storms, wielder of the mighty hammer Mjolnir, and slayer of giants and monsters. A big and burly red-haired hero, who thundered across the skies in his chariot pulled by goats, and married to the beautiful Sif of the golden hair. Known by many names by your people- Donar, Thunor, Thuner- he protects your people from not only giants, trolls, and other monsters, but also from the machinations of his treacherous adopted uncle, Loki. The trickster Loki, blood brother to Odin, who was allowed to join the Aesir, and yet betrayed them again and again. A god who started off as a trickster, but after killing one of the other gods, was chained deep within the heart of the world with a snake dripping venom in his face. Why, when I got the chance to meet these two legendary personages, I-

Wait, have you not heard the tale of which I speak? Of how Thor and Arthur met, and how christian king and pagan god united to defeat one of Loki's treacherous plans, when he teamed up with Arthur's nephew, Medraut (Saxons call him Mordred)? Oh, well then gather round, all who are present. I also just happened to be the bard of King Riothamus's war band, and I witnessed this tale firsthand (although I was not an active participant). I shall now regale you all with the tale, of how the brave warriors Gwenhwyfar, Kai, Bedwyr, and Gwalchmei (or Guenevere, Kay, Bedivere, and Gawain to any Germanics present) met Freya, Thalfi, Hiemdall, and Tyr, and took on a greater threat than either god or knight had ever faced? Then I shall tell you how sword met hammer, and great deeds were done, by both knight and deity. This is the tale of how the mighty king Arthur met the fierce and powerful Thor.

Note: All of my versions of these characters and concepts presented in this story, is copyright to me.