Actor, and literal walking pile of stone, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson is probably better known to you all as the ferociously fearsome – and popper of many eyes – The Mountain from much beloved dragons and swords series Game of Thrones.
But outside of brutally murdering lairising idiots who should’ve put the damned fight away while he had the chance, Björnsson is an actual strongman with a genuine claim to being the world’s strongest person. And not only that, there’s a fair chance he might actually be the strongest person who’s ever walked the face of the planet not just in years, not just in a decade, not even in a century – but he could well be the strongest human we’ve seen in a millennium.
Whilst competing in the World’s Strongest Viking competition – Yes, that’s a real thing. Yes, you should Google it immediately. – Björnsson wasn’t merely content to just beat the brains out of the rest of the competing field. After winning it in a canter, he set his sights on a 1,000 year old feat of strength myth from Iceland. Because that’s definitely the kind of thing a non-mutant giant can do.
The myth surrounds a Icelander from the middle ages named Ormur Stórólfsson. Legend has it that he found a log that was 10 metres wide and weighed somewhere in the vicinity of 630kgs. It took 50 “mere mortals” to place the log on his back, and he managed to walk three steps with it before the enormous weight of the log broke his back, and he was never the same after that.
Not only did Björnsson manage to match that feat – seriously, they found a 600+ kilogram log for him and he put the damned thing on his back – he managed to take five steps with it before the weight became too much. And his back? It didn’t break. Not even a little bit.
Still not convinced/wholly terrified? THERE’S VIDEO.
Björnsson’s now setting his sights on the World’s Strongest Man competition. We’re inclined to suggest they should just hand him the trophy now and very calmly and slowly back away, lest his boiling rage actually split a hole in the Earth’s crust.
via Uproxx.
