Lord Surtur
H Lord Surtur 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 19 |
| Attacks |
Weapon 2d10, weapon 2d10, claw quest-artifact-stealing 2d6 |
| Base level | 15 |
| Base experience | 486 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 2 |
| Base MR | 50 |
| Alignment | 12 (lawful) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | Unique |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 2250 |
| Nutritional value | 850 |
| Size | Huge |
| Resistances | Fire, stoning |
| Resistances conveyed |
Fire (50%) |
|
Lord Surtur:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line3312 |
Lord Surtur, H, is the Valkyrie quest nemesis. He is a fire giant that guards the Bell of Opening and the Valkyrie quest artifact, The Orb of Fate.
Like any other fire giant, eating Lord Surtur's corpse may grant fire resistance with a 50% chance (compare to 30% from any other fire giant), and also has a chance to raise the player's strength.
Generation
Lord Surtr awaits you in the center of his fortress on the goal level, meditating with the quest artifact and Bell of Opening beneath him.
Strategy
Lord Surtur can be defeated easily by a prepared Valkyrie, who can easily use their innate stealth to clear the area of fire ants and his fellow fire giants before engaging him. Even so, he is likely one of the first covetous enemies a Valkyrie will meet, and novice players in particular must still handle him carefully. As a monster that is fire resistant but not cold resistant, he will take extra damage from cold attacks, such as a wand of cold.
Like all other quest nemeses, you can also awaken him remotely and bring him to you. Lord Surtur respects Elbereth and the scroll of scare monster, and can be killed instantly with a wand of death. A wand of polymorph or wand of sleep may also work to incapacitate him, but may take a few attempts due to his relatively high MR.
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.
Lord Surtur, like all uniques, no longer respects either Elbereth or scrolls of scare monster.History
Lord Surter first appears with most other quest nemeses in NetHack 3.1.0.
Origin
Lord Surtur's depiction draws directly from his appearance in Norse folklore; the mythological name is spelled "Surtr" in Old Norse, and "Surtur" in modern-day Icelandic.
Surtr is a jötunn attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In both sources, Surtr is foretold as a major figure during the events of Ragnarök: carrying his bright sword, he will go to battle against the Æsir, fight and defeat the god Freyr, and afterward the flames that he brings forth will engulf the Earth. In a book from the Prose Edda, additional information is given about Surtr: he is stationed guarding the frontier of the fiery realm Múspell, and will lead "Múspell's sons" to Ragnarök.
Encyclopedia entry
Yet first was the world in the southern region, which was named Muspell; it is light and hot; that region is glowing and burning, and impassable to such as are outlanders and have not their holdings there. He who sits there at the land's-end, to defend the land, is called Surtr; he brandishes a flaming sword, and at the end of the world he shall go forth and harry, and overcome all the gods, and burn all the world with fire.
