A Valheim player performs a real-life Bestiary

Talented Valheim the fan is currently in the process of hand-crafting an actual leather-bound bestiary of the game's creatures, complete with ink illustrations and some features that demonstrate amazing attention to detail. The ambitious project adds to the ever-growing list of arts and crafts Valheim inspired over the years.

The bestiary is created by Reddit user Itchy_Mycologist_848, who – despite his username – decided to create something that focuses on Valheimby an extensive fauna rather than a relatively limited selection of mushrooms and other fungi. They first posted about the project in late November 2025 and have since offered several updates on their progress.

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The Real-Life Valheim Bestiary comes together amazingly well

A month later, the bestiary comes together wonderfully and Itchy_Mycologist_848's updates continue to attract constant attention Valheim commonwealth. One thing that has made a lasting impression on fans is the fact that the book is not just a collection of art prints, but consists of detailed pen and ink illustrations. The captions are just as complex, Itchy_Mycologist_848 reveals that they based their script on Valheim's Runestones while typing in Ukrainian.

This bestiary from Valheim was matured in a bath of black tea that cannot be drunk

In addition to its elaborate illustrations and inscriptions, the bestiary exhibits a remarkable level of detail in its physical presentation. According to Itchy_Mycologist_848, the pages were stained with a concentrated black tea bath using approximately 100 grams of tea and 2.5 liters of water. For context, this ratio of tea to water is about five times stronger than standard brewing methods, resulting in a liquid with little flavor that is extremely bitter to drink but dark enough to create an aged appearance. The result is a shabby book that wouldn't look out of place resting on a table Valheim longhouse.

The updates shared so far indicate that the author has started filling out the bestiary as per typical Valheim progression by playing, starting with creatures from the Meadows and the Black Forest. In most cases, items are grouped by biome, although there are exceptions. For example, the Snake page does not appear next to other ocean biome creatures, but is placed between the Black Forest and Swamp sections. This order reflects the likely sequence of player encounters, with Serpent taking priority due to how likely they are to encounter it after building a ship while searching the Swamp biome, which is a fairly common scenario. So far, the author has illustrated several of the game's animals – a boar, a deer and a crow – along with various mythological mobs, including Necks, Surtlings, Draugr and Wraiths. Meadows' boss, a tall stag named Eikthyr, is also featured in one of the shared images, with several pages and illustrations dedicated to him.

The Valheim bestiary creator has no plans to sell it, but he Does have a Patreon

After questions from others Valheim fans, Itchy_Mycologist_848 has started a Patreon page Trolaf_sketch where they promise to share more updates on their progress (though they don't stop at Reddit posts). The first of these articles, published in early December 2025, details some pages dedicated to the Meadows biome. It also includes an update on the status of the project, with the author stating that they had finished drawing the Swamp biome and were in the process of sketching illustrations for the mountain fauna at the time. Their Patreon page has half a dozen paying subscribers as of December 21st. In a separate update, the creator recently expressed appreciation for the community's support, but stated that he currently has no plans to sell the book, which began as a personal project that is still nowhere near completion.

Itchy_Mycologist_848's bestiary in Valheim cannot be completed until 2026 at the earliest

Although Itchy_Mycologist_848 has already been documented Valheim'with the vast fauna by hand, their bestiary would remain incomplete. Developers Iron Gate Studios have yet to finish the game, with one more biome – the Deep North – still in development. The upcoming content drop will introduce several new beasts that need documentation, including animals like seals and hostile mobs like the rather hostile-looking bipedal horned creatures called Elakings. According to the latest comments from the studio, the Deep North biome is planned to be added Valheim1.0 update, expected sometime in 2026. Next year, the hit Viking survival game is also planned for PlayStation 5 with porting support from German developer Fishlabs, who previously handled the Xbox version.