So I rereaded Arrow-Odd, which was my favourite of the Norse sagas a long time ago. It's not as good as I remember it, a bit too meandering and obviously stitched together from various episodes. But I am once again in love with the main villain, Ogmund Tussock.
- when we first meet Ogmund, he is wearing a cloak made entirely of moustaches. One moustache shaved from each king he has brought under his dominion! Incredible fit.
- Ogmund Tussock is also half-troll, which means he can phase into the earth like Kitty Pryde. When Arrow-Odd has Ogmund cornered, he tries to escape into the ground, but Odd grabs him by the beard and rips his entire face off
- some time later, a new character shows up with the extremely "let me introduce you to my OC" name of Quillanus Blaze. Quillanus Blaze hates Arrow-Odd for a mysterious reason and has a silver mask covering his face. You will be shocked to learn that Quillanus Blaze is actually Ogmund Tussock! Whoa! (I'm sure that somewhere in 13th century Iceland there was a teenage boy in a mead hall absolutely losing his shit at that twist)
- Ogmund Tussock and Arrow-Odd are both immortal (Ogmund because he's a troll, Odd because he is destined to die in a particular place that he refuses to go back to). So they fight each other over and over for literally centuries. They kill all of each other's friends. They kill each other's sons and brothers. Finally, when they have killed absolutely everyone they love, they realise how futile it is and make peace.
And that's the story of Ogmund Tussock.