Originally posted by hazelrah:

the whole idea of the merchant doesn't really make sense rn. who are his customers? greydwarves? fulings? other warriors? was he another hero sent to valheim, or a survivor of whatever ragnorok destroyed the world? does he have a purpose for all that gold? imho it would make sense to have small npc villages struggling for survival against hordes of undead, the twisted creatures of the forest, the very gods which have turned against them whom you have been sent to kill. and the merchant has found a way to profit from their misery.

Who says Valheim is the only world he goes too? Maybe he gathers gold and riches from visitors like us and goes to use it in one of the other realms.