| “ | All power to Tengil, our liberator. | „ |
| ~ Tengil's chant. |
Tengil is the main antagonist of the 1973 novel The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren and its 1977 movie adaption. He is the tyrannical ruler of the Thorn Valley and lord of the land Karmanjaka in the ancient mountains.
He was portrayed by the late Georg Årlin in the 1977 movie.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
- He ruled over his own kingdom, Karmanyaka, cruel as a serpent.
- He invaded Thorn Rose Valley and reduced it to a wretched dictatorship, since he begrudged them their peaceful lives and needed more slaves for his construction projects back in Karmanyaka.
- He taxed the people of the Valley into poverty and famine, taking "nine out of every ten beans" in their fields, leading to mass starvation.
- Anyone who spoke out against him would be executed, often by being fed to Katla, a monstrous dragon he tamed using a mighty battlehorn. They would be put in Katla Cavern, where they would pine away until they died. The cavern was shown to be full of the corpses of her previous victims.
- He regularly sent Katla out to terrorize the people and keep them in line.
- He plotted to wipe out the resistance movement that was being formed in Cherry Valley, the next Valley he planned to invade.
- He hired the traitorous Jossi to rat out Orvar, the leader of the rebel group within Thorn Rose Valley, promising that after Cherry Valley had been invaded, Jossi would become the Chieftain of it. However, Tengil simply planned to feed him to Katla after the fact.
- In a sadistic move disguised as mercy, Tengil gave Orvar a lantern by his cage shortly before his planned execution, so he would be able to see Katla in spite of the darkness of her cavern before she devoured him.
- When Tengil learned that Jonatan Lionheart had infiltrated the Thorn Rose Valley to save Orvar, he decided to travel to the Valley and punish its people by pointing at random men who would be sent to Karmanyaka. None of these men would ever come back alive, as they would be worked to death hauling stones up to his fortress, after which they would all be fed to Katla.
- The families of these men all sobbed as their fathers and husbands were being taken away, but Tengil ignored them.
- One man was driven mad by the sound of his wailing children and condemned Tengil, reminding him that he was mortal like the rest of them. In retaliation, Tengil had him killed right in front of his children.
- These punishments only became more frequent and brutal with time.
- When Thorn Rose Valley, spurred by the rescue of their figurehead, finally rose up to reclaim their home, Tengil sent his entire army to strike them down, leading to a bloody battle with many casualties.
- Ultimately, Tengil chose to set Katla upon the Valley. His face dark with evil, he pointed at its rebelling citizens, with Katla incinerating them all. The people gave up, knowing that there was nothing they could do, and the end of the Valley was at hand. Tengil would've burned them all to the ground if it hadn't been for Jonatan, who stole the battlehorn Tengil used to command Katla, causing the dragon to turn on her former master and kill him.
Trivia[]
- Tengil is quite the aberration in Astrid Lindgren's body of work, being its only Pure Evil. Lindgren, who was mostly famous for largely villain-less works like Pippi Longstocking and Emil of Lönneberga, even faced criticism for employing such a black and white morality in The Brothers Lionheart.
External Links[]
- Tengil on the Villains Wiki