While Valheim is not a story-driven game, there is still a lot of history and lore in the world for players who wish to look for it. In each of the biomes are several Rune Stones, each carved with lore pertaining to the Valheim Biome in which they are found. And the Swamp biome has some of the saddest of the lore.

Rune Stones are tall, thin, tear-shaped stones that stand straight out of the ground. They are covered in red carvings, and players can translate them by using the interact button, E, while close by. The red runes will appear on the screen, then slowly fade to the story in the game's selected language so the player can read them. Each is filled with the story of Valheim's world map, its previous denizens, its monsters, and its gods.

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Ulf is a recurring character in the Rune Stones of Valheim; players saw his markings in the Rune Stones of the Meadows, and will see more of him in the other lore stones scattered in all the other finished biomes. Ulf warns players against building their homes in the damp and unpleasant biome that is the Swamp:

Heed the words of poor Ulf and do not build your house beside the murky waters. Bad dreams and a soggy bed are all you will find. I leave this stone as a warning and go now to make my dwelling on higher ground.

This stone warns the player of Bonemass, the Swamp's boss that is a "bitter mass of bone and sin."

Linger not, traveller. The air is pestilent and the water poison. The Draugr walk here and the thing I will not name stirs below the surface, a bitter mass of bone and sin. Tread carefully and quickly until you feel the sun on your face once more.

This stone is designed to let the player know that scrap iron ore can be found in the Swamp Biome in Valheim.

In this gloomy region you may yet find something which shines. War-flesh, warrior's gold, bread of the forge... Bright iron is here for those who will take it!

While Surtlings are a great source of Surtling Cores, these fiery enemies can be deadly if not handled properly.

Beware the surtlings, embers of a great fire long ago stamped to ashes. They are drawn to the swamp in numbers but their lights can be seen from afar. Keep to the high ground.

Most of this stone is devoted to the history of where Surtlings came from, it also gives a hint of how to easily kill them: Surtlings can be killed by being "doused with water."

Let you who read me know of the Surtlings, that you might not fall prey to their wickedness. Long ago the great demon Surtr was brought down and destroyed by the First Men, giant warriors of whom you are but a dwindling echo. They smote long upon the body of this Surtr with swords and hammers so that his fiery substance was shattered into many small pieces. He who was made of the fire was fire in every part of him. You could not say ‘Here is the brain of Surtr’ or ‘Here is Surtr’s liver’ because every part was Surtr. So all the fragments of him were Surtr still, only much weaker in power and in thought and in memory, with no way to become whole once again. Now we call these fragments Surtlings and when they are found they should be stamped out like the last embers of a fire or doused with water to choke off their flames at the root. They will throw fire from afar and joy in causing terror and destruction. Even in his scattered dotage, the demon seeks revenge on the children of the First Men.

Although a name is not mentioned, players can assume that this Viking who wrote this stone to issue this warning was much like the player's character: a Viking brought from their warrior's death in Valhalla to Valheim to fight Odin's enemies.

You who pass, remember me. I am a man whose home was once in the mountains of Midgard, carried here when I thought to earn my rest, to find a life after life in Valheim. There were seven of us before the Greydwarfs came. Now Odin will not hear me and the seas refuse me. Soon this stone will be all that remains.

This stone begins to tell the tale of the undead Draugr in Valheim's history.

In centuries past, the Draugr walked these lands just as you do now. Pity them, caught between the living and the dead in a shadow of the world they once knew. To destroy them is a mercy.

But there is a second stone that delves even further into the Draugr, bringing to light the undoing of a great civilization in Valheim, brought low by too much pride.

Long ages ago, the world of Valheim was home to a race of proud and noble people. They built great towers that touched the clouds and delved deep into the earth for precious metals. But their pride was their undoing. They challenged the very gods and went to war against the Aesir and the Vanir, destroying themselves completely. Great Odin levelled their cities and Loki consumed their mines in fire. Mighty Thor broke down their towers and Freya sowed their fields with salt tears. Now they are sunk many hundreds of years deep. No songs sing of their stories, and the earth has claimed their cities. But pride cannot be killed entirely and the warriors who fought in that final battle will not surrender until their bodies are dust and the dust long gone. They return as Draugr, unholy walkers in ancient armour, creatures of rust and despair. Break them, bury them, let them know they are dead.

Skeletons are one of the many mobs that players will come across in the Swamp biomes of Valheim.

Below the mist and murk Bone speaks to bone Remembering flesh.

Wraiths are dangerous creatures that only come out after dark. These night-dwelling Swamp ghosts are a great source of chains, needed to upgrade the Forge, craft armor, and even can be use to make hanging lights in a Viking's home base.

Rest, wanderer, and consider the wraiths. We know that when a warrior dies, their soul cracks open and seeps into the earth around them, thereby to nourish new life and strengthen those who follow after. Yet if a warrior should die with no great deeds to their name, their soul will be too thin and airy. It will flow upwards instead, like smoke from a hearth. These wisps of souls sometimes catch in the branches of trees long enough to form wraiths, wretched shadows with nothing but bitterness and jealousy to drive them. Blown about the land in despair, they remain only to prey on those who are still living. Should you see one, kill it and count it a mercy.

Valheim is currently in early access for PC.

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Source: Wiki, Steam Community