Josef the Giantslayer

Josef the Giantslayer is an epic whose origins are steeped in that of an ancient folklore. A romanticized tale, the epic focuses on an Reach born warrior named Josef whose family is slaughtered by a roaming band of Ollmhor during the period of Arathor's arrival in Gilneas. Led by bloodlust to avenge his kin, Josef sets out from his homeland to slaughter the Ollmhor and drive them into extinction; as the epic claims the Ollmhor are just about dead.

In his travels, Josef falls ill early on and meets a woman by the name of Elin, a native of Gilneas and a pagan healer. Nursing the man back to health, Elin reveals she is the last of her kin and sympathizes with Josef. Willing to see his quest to the end, Elin joins Josef's party as they adventure through the lands of Gilneas hunting the surprisingly elusive Ollmhor. Faced with perils such as a demonic snake creature that swallows Josef whole in one arc, which he then battles his way out of, and strife such as the over arching theme of the Arathor conquest of Gilneas, Josef and his companion find themselves in a myriad of situations. Along the way they meet the archer of unknown descent known as Yanni and the exiled warrior of Arathor, Gavin. The four, bound by a mutual desire of wanderlust and purpose, eventually use Yanni's tracking skills to find the Ollmhor.

Tracking them to the south eastern portions of the Ashen Coast, Josef and his group ascend into the mountain ranges of the region to stalk their prey. Along the way, Yanni is slain against the Ollmhor as they track them, furthering Josef's bloodlust. The epic eventually ends with Josef and his band tracking and slaying the Ollmhor one by one until the last left is an Ollmhor by the name of Jotin. Revealed as the Ollmhor who slaughtered Josef's family, the trio battles the gargantuan until Josef is dealt a mortal wound. In an attempt to save him, Elin is killed when Jotin tears her in two. Left as the only man standing, Gavin flees, leaving Josef to his fate. Enraged by the loss of Elin and the betrayal of Gavin, Josef does battle with Jotin in his death throes. Wracked with guilt, Gavin returns as Josef is losing against Jotin and distracts the beast to give Josef an opportunity. Gavin, revealing he was exiled for desertion, makes peace with his final decision as Jotin ultimately crushes him and leaves him bleeding out in the snow; though not without reward. Josef, able to gather his strength in the time given, is able to slay Jotin and avenge the loss of his friends and family. The epic ends as Josef wanders off into the snow with his wound; with no purpose left to him.

The epic has been both praised and criticized, with some claiming it holds historical inaccuracies and overly romanticized depictions of Josef's strength. It has been praised as it is one of the few works that has survived that has been refined to also depict the Ollmhor, the semi-mythological giant race that serves as the primary goal of the piece.