Norn

The Norn are a race of shape-shifting half-giants who dwell in the Far Shiverpeaks. They are encountered in Guild Wars Eye of the North, and will be a playable race in Guild Wars 2.

Concept art depicts the Norn as stocky, muscular humanoids with thick red or blonde hair and tattoos or body paint resembling Celtic knot designs.

According to the May 2007 issue of PC Gamer the Norn will get a race-specific skill which allows them to transform into a half-bear form, increasing melee damage and Health. It is not clear if this skill will be available to Norn NPCs in Eye of the North, playable Norn in Guild Wars 2 or both. The half-bear form is also mentioned in IGN's Eye of the North Dungeon Crawl article as an example of a possible PvE-only skill for Eye of the North.

In the Eye of the North expansion pack, Norn appear as NPCs through much of the Far Shiverpeaks, where they guard resurrection shrines and portals. Typically, the Norn will challenge the player's party to a fight, and the Norn will only talk to them after he or she is defeated, earning the party a number of Norn reputation points. A typical Norn NPC will be defeated automatically when their health has decreased to a certain precentage. Norn guarding resurrection shrines will typically give the Norn hunting party blessing.

Prominent Norn

 * Jora, the Norn hero who appears on the Eye of the North box art
 * Magni the Bison
 * Sif Shadowhunter
 * Olaf Olafson
 * Gunnar Poundfist

Trivia

 * Norn is also now-extinct Germanic language once spoken on the Orkney and Shetland islands off the shores of mainland Scotland.
 * Many Norn names are based of Nordic names and words: Olafsson = son of Olaf, Olafsdottir = daughter of Olaf
 * The Norn race may be inspired by the mysterious "Beorn" from J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit". He is a man of prodigious size and strength, with the ability to turn himself into a giant bear. The name Norn may also to be a reference to Beorn.