B'hrian Bloodaxe
| B'hrian Bloodaxe | |
 | |
| Name | B'hrian Bloodaxe |
| Race | Dwarf |
| Age | |
| Occupation | former Low King |
| Physical appearance | short, bearded. |
| Residence | |
| Death | After the Battle of Koom Valley, hundreds of years before present time |
| Parents | |
| Relatives | |
| Children | |
| Marital Status | Romantically linked to Ironhammer |
| Appearances | |
| Books | |
| Cameos | mentioned in The Fifth Elephant, Thud! |
The first Low King of the dwarfs, from whom all subsequent Low Kings have gained their legitimacy, because he forged the Scone of Stone, which all dwarves had to sit on to become Low King. He is also the greatest dwarf folk hero of all time the subject of several dwarf operas and epics especially Bloodaxe and Ironhammer, reputed to be the greatest dwarf love story in history.
He was the leader of the dwarfs at the (first) Battle of Koom Valley, he had journeyed there to seek peace with the trolls. However, when the Valley's mists lifted suddenly, hotheads of each race accused the other side of ambushing them. B'hrian later managed to leave a message inside a Cube, detailing the whole sad mess.
B'hrian Bloodaxe died shortly after the Battle of Koom Valley. He is fondly remembered by dwarfs everywhere and examples of his battle bread are displayed in the Dwarf Bread Museum in Ankh-Morpork. Mr Hopkinson, the former curator of the Dwarf Bread Museum, believed that the loaf he displayed, which was on loan for a couple of weeks, was the actual Battle Bread that Bloodaxe had personally used to slay fifty-seven trolls at Koom Valley. This is unlikely, because in Thud! he was found in a cave, with his loaf of dwarf bread beside him. Given what was later revealed to be Bloodaxe's true part in the battle - he was working with the Diamond King of the Trolls to prevent conflict - it is very likely that this was a later elaboration of the myth. (Could even dwarf bread batter a stone-based troll to death - let alone 57?) However, that loaf of Battle Bread was known to be responsible for one death... perhaps it would be OK for return to its owners following a bit of sandblasting...
Character Annotations
He seems to have been named after Brian Bloodaxe, of the 1985 game of the same name, which was released on the ZX Spectrum and the Commodore 64.
His name may also reference Eric Bloodaxe the Norse warrior-king, and Brian Boru, the early medieval king popularly thought to have united Ireland by freeing it from Viking occupation.
Could B'hrian be from Llamedos? B'hrian seems to be a take on the Welsh accent and the pronunciation of the letter R in some words.