Across the Seas

by Griff Hosker

  Arne stopped, “He took the smith’s hammer.”

  “Then perhaps he means to do us harm. He knows not that it will be us who trail him. He may believe that it is Leif.”

  We moved more cautiously after my warning. Every rock which reared over us threatened ambush and attack. The day moved on and I wondered where the old slave had got his strength. If he was our mother’s father then that made him old. He had no hair and, like many Christians, he scraped his face. He could have seen more than fifty or sixty summers! The sun had passed its zenith when we saw him. His footsteps continued ahead but, as I glanced down the steep slope, I saw him. He was lying four hundred paces down the slope. He had fallen and rolled many hundreds of feet.

  “Arne, I see him!” I pointed. He was lying with his legs at an unnatural angle. If he was dead then we could return home.

  Arne was reading my thoughts. “Dead or alive we have to take him back, or Leif will believe that we are complicit in his escape.”

  He was right. Arne was no coward and he led us down the snow-covered slope. We were higher up and the snow was harder here. He slipped and slithered six paces down the ice when he misplaced his foot. “Arne, we should not walk directly down. Follow me.” I imagined that instead of walking down a steep, ice-covered slope, I was sailing my drekar with an unfavourable wind. I walked along the slope and then turned to walk back and down. When I passed Arne, I helped him up. We passed the place Edmund had tumbled. His fall had smoothed the snow to an icy sheen. Eventually, we began to near the thrall. He did not look to be moving.

  I reached him first but I was wary. If he was alive and had the hammer with him then he might just react and hurt us. His eyes were closed and I saw that his right hand lay beneath his body. I took a chance as Arne knelt on the other side of him. I put my hand on his chest. He was warm and breathed still. He opened his eyes and, seeing me, smiled. As he did so a tendril of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. “Erik, I am pleased that you have found me.”

  Arne said, before I could speak, “We have to take you back, Edmund.”

  “My back is broken. You will take a corpse with you. Let me lie here and expire.”

  I had to ask, “Are you our grandfather?”

  He nodded, “I am. Being your thrall was the only way I could stay close to your mother. My sons, wife, all my family died in the attack. My daughter, my eldest, was all that was left to me. At first, I thought to take her away one night and escape. Then she became pregnant. Once you were born, Arne, she would not leave. I watched you grow, all three of you, and I had a new life.” He suddenly winced. “I do not have long. Hear my confession as I heard my daughter’s. I have been a sinful man and I have lived a lie. I go to God on my knees and hope that he can forgive my transgression. I beg you bury me by my daughter. She was my life and…”

  He got no further. We would never know why he climbed the mountain. Arne was ever practical. “We cannot stay up here with him. We need to get as far down the mountain as we can and find somewhere to sleep.”

  I was still in a daze. I had only known that he was my grandfather for a day and yet I had known him all of my life. I had seen him almost every day and spoken to him and yet I had not known that which he did. We were of the same blood!

  “Come, brother. Like you I have thoughts buzzing in my head like honeybees but we have to move him. I will take his shoulders and you take his legs.”

  I nodded. As I straightened his legs, I saw that he had broken his left one and bones stuck out from his flesh. The cold and death had congealed his blood but, as I picked him up, the blood stained my hands. It was as we lifted him that I spied the hammer. It must have been in his belt at the back. Falling on it would have broken his back. I reached down to pick it up. We had few enough tools and we could not sacrifice this one.

  We managed to make it below the snow line before darkness fell. We folded his arms across his body as we had seen Christians do. We buried our dead hunched over their knees. It was in death as in birth that our dead went to the Otherworld. I was, despite the exertions, far from hungry. If I was hungry for anything it was for knowledge. He had been Edmund the thrall. I had not bothered with his story but I wished to know more. My mother had never spoken of her family. I had never asked. Now, as I looked at his body, I wanted to know all!

  “Do you think our father killed his family?”

  “Probably! Brother, you think too much. Put this from your head. We can do nothing about it now. If our mother had wished us to know his story then she would have told us.”

  Arne was a practical man and he was moving on. He was jarl yet something kept nagging at me, “Arne, the Norns have spun. We knew our threads and our mother’s were entwined but now they are entwined with Edmund’s and his actions.”

  He gave me a sharp look as he clutched his hammer of Thor, “You mean Leif Yellow Hair?”

  I nodded, “Leif and his family came with us late at Larswick. We know them the least. You did not stand in a shield wall with him. When I stood watch on the drekar sailing through the night I remember Leif and his son. They spoke with others. What if he truly means to take the clan from you?”

  Arne laughed but it was a nervous laugh, “Snorri, Butar, the others, they stand with me.”

  “Aye, they do but what of the incomers? What of those who were not there as long?”

  He lay back with his hands beneath his head, “Speculation is idle. We will discover if this is a sinister plot when we reach our home.” He was silent for a while, “We should name it. It is bad luck not to do so.”

  “Maevesfjörður. We honour our mother by naming it after her and she is the first to be buried there.”

  In the dark Arne said, “I like that name. If I am still jarl this time tomorrow then we shall so name it.”

  We reached Maevesfjörður by noon the next day. Edmund’s body had stiffened and it was slightly easier to carry. When we reached the hall, we saw that the clan were gathered and they were interring someone in the ground close to our mother. They did not turn as we approached. Who had died?

  It was Fótr who spied us. The clan was stood in silence. Fótr’s voice rent the air like a crack of thunder. “Arne!”

  We laid Edmund’s body down and Arne said, “What is amiss? Whom do you bury?”

  Snorri, nursing a bruised face, spoke, “It is Pridbjørn.” He pointed to the bay. The knarr was gone. “Come, the two of you, I need to speak with you.” He turned to the clan, “We have honoured our dead. We have a hall which needs to be built. I will speak with my nephews.”

  Gytha said, “Fótr, come with me. You can speak with your brothers later.”

  Snorri’s tale made me shiver for I could hear the Norns and they were spinning. After we had departed Leif had gathered some of the other men who had recently come to us. After they had conspired they challenged Snorri about the leadership of the clan. My uncle had tried to be a peacemaker but it had come to blows. No weapons were drawn but the camp and the clan were divided. Only three families had supported Leif and he and those four had withdrawn to the beach. My uncle was a broken man for he had not anticipated what would happen next. In the night Leif and three other men had overpowered and then killed Pridbjørn as he slept on the knarr. Having taken some animals, the four families hoisted the sail and left the bay. Things could have been worse had not my ship’s boys awoken and raised the alarm. Who knows what mischief the killers could have done?

  Snorri shook his head, “I knew I was not meant to be jarl and now I wonder if I am fit to be a foster father.”

  Arne looked at me as he said, “My brother had it right. This is the Norns. We will find Leif and these murderers. We will have vengeance for Pridbjørn and his family but first, we make Maevesfjörður our home.”

  Snorri frowned, “Maevesfjörður?”

  “Aye, my brother named it and as he found us this haven then let us honour him, and my mother, by its name.”

  We buried Edmund; there were now three graves in ou
r cemetery and we had only just landed. I took it as a sign but I kept my thoughts to myself. We worked on the hall. This time we had my ship’s boys as lookouts. They had all proved their worth. I had spoken with them and discovered, as I had expected, that the knarr had headed out to sea. Leif was seeking his own fjord.

  It took more than a month for us to build our hall. In that time some of the women gave birth, Helga, Freja, and Gefn all had children. Lars Arneson, Elsa Siggisdotter and Snorri Padraigson were the first to be born on the island. That was significant and Gytha insisted on Arne making a blót so that they would have good lives. The three deaths we had suffered and the three births showed a symmetry. The Norns had been spinning. We had lost two men and a woman and gained two boys and a girl.

  It was Tvímánuður and the days and nights were almost equal in length. Snorri had begun to come out of the dark place in which he had hidden. That was the work of Gytha. She had used their youngest son, Tostig, to force her husband to rejoin the clan. Gradually he became the man he had always been.

  Our new settlement afforded us views over the sea as the sun set and the men had taken to sitting outside the hall to watch the sun set. We had cleared trees and prepared some soil. We were ready to plant our first crops. Some of the animals were carrying young and we would need to build a third hall for them. The trees we would hew would give us more ground for planting but that would have to wait until the next year. I was not looking forward to this type of work.

  Arne and the others had been talking and I had been, largely, silent. As the sun became a sliver of red on the horizon Arne said, “You are quiet, brother. Speak. I would know that which is in your heart.”

  “Nothing, save the renegades have left us. We both know that this fjord will not support us for long. Already we are growing. When Maren gives birth, we will increase our numbers again. Already other women are carrying new warriors. I should do as Gytha suggested. I should sail around the island see where there may be better places. We both know that others will come to this island. Finehair’s tyranny ensures that. I should leave sooner rather than later. We know not what winter brings here so far north.”

  “Brother, the seas will be more dangerous now for we know that Leif is out there and he bears a grudge.”

  “And he sails a knarr. If I cannot outsail him with my snekke then I should take up farming.” I looked at Fótr. He looked a forlorn figure. “Our little brother has said he would sail with me. I am happy for him to do so but, for this voyage, I think he should stay here with you.”

  “You are right and I can begin his training as a warrior. We have been remiss and that was our mother’s fault. I will begin when you sail. It will take his mind from the disappointment of not sailing with Erik the Navigator.”

  Gytha waved me over as I left my brother, “This voyage is meant to be, Erik. Your journey does not end here in this land of ice and fire. I have dreamed. Look to the west. You, alone out of the clan, do not fear the ocean and Ran knows that. You are meant to find new lands. I have dreamed of the clan in a place which is green and filled with animals. I have dreamed of a land where food leaps from the earth. I have seen a land with things growing that I do not recognize and I have seen people who are not as we are.”

  “But I am young.”

  “And you have been touched by the sea. Ran favours you. I do not believe that even your father or Ulf North Star could have found this island as quickly as did you. I will await your return.” She handed me a piece of material no larger than my hand. She had woven it. “In this are hairs from your mother. They contain part of her father too. They were both Christian but they are in the spirit world. I have added some of my hairs. The spell was a good one and it will protect you. Keep it close to your heart.”

  I slipped it beneath my kyrtle. Perhaps it was my imagination or I wished it so but my body felt warmer when the piece of cloth touched me. Wyrd.

  Eidel Eidelsson had been growing as had the other elder ship’s boy, Stig Folkmarsson. Both were happy to sail with me but their fathers now had land to farm and needed them. They were training to be warriors. I chose to take just four boys with me on the snekke. I would have gone with just two but they insisted upon accompanying me. The night before I left, I spoke with Fótr. I knew he was still grieving over our mother and finding it hard to deal with the news that Edmund had been his grandfather.

  My brother was of an age with Dreng and Rek and yet they seemed so much older. My mother had kept him too close and for too long, “Fótr, the next time I sail the snekke then you shall be one of my ship’s boys. Our mother kept you close for you were her youngest and she was loath to lose you. Arne will help to make you a warrior. You need those skills. I will teach you how to sail then you can choose the path to follow.”

  “But when you have sailed around the island what then? Will you not stay at home or just fish?”

  “Perhaps but that is not the dream of Gytha. She has seen me somewhere which is verdant and green. Our new home is neither of those things. The Norns are still weaving our threads.”

  He nodded, “But what if you fall off the edge of the world?”

  I knew that many of the clan felt as he did. They believed that we were on the edge of the world. Any further west would see us fall. “You know when the men sit at night and watch the sun go down?” He nodded. “We have yet to sail as far as we can see. I am happy to do so. My snekke is fast. When I see the edge of the sea I will turn around and come and tell the clan what I have found but that will not be this voyage. This voyage will see me return cold and weary but with the knowledge of where we are and our place in this land.”

  “Then I will try to learn how to be a warrior but I pray to the Allfather that you return here safe.”

  It was the winds decided which way we went. The wind was from the west and south. We headed north. I had prepared as best I could. We had barrels for oil, in case we found seals. We had fishing lines and nets. We had furs and seal skins. The snekke could hold a great deal. I took no mail. I did not take my sword. I had my bow, my spear and Raedwulf’s dagger. We had travelled less than a mile when I saw another bay and a further mile saw us pass two fjords. The gods had sent us where we would find shelter. We had been meant to come here. The further north we sailed the less hospitable was the land. I saw ridges and mountains topped with snow. This was still late summer. These were not places in which we could settle. As the sun began to set, I sought a place to land. I had kept an accurate record of our travels using the hourglass and the compass. By my estimate, we had travelled a hundred miles in one day. That sort of speed could not last but I was happy for we had seen no smoke. There had been neither drekar nor houses. We had no neighbours. Leif had not come north.

  We found a tiny south-facing beach. The arm of its bay created this strange feature. We could not have landed the drekar but the snekke just fitted. After dragging the boat above the high-water mark, I sent Dreng and Rek to find kindling while the other two were set the task of collecting shellfish. We had caught four fish on the voyage north and we would enjoy a fish stew. I collected some heathers and added it to a tiny part of the kindling we had brought. I lit a fire. Even though high summer was less than a month behind us, already there was a chill in the air. We would need fire. Dreng and Rek found some driftwood and some branches broken from the woods in a storm. The fire made us feel better. When we had the stew going then the smells made us much happier.

  As we ate Halsten asked, “Captain, how big is this island?”

  “That is what we will discover. I hope that we can circumnavigate it. In Norway, so I have heard, in the winter the seas freeze over. It is too early for that but I am hoping that soon the coast will turn westwards.”

  The next day saw the same winds and the same progress. When we camped for the night, I saw that the coast had turned west but, in the distance, I could see more land. This was a bay. The land had been relatively fertile. There were trees but it was north facing and there were mountains behind.
So far I had seen nothing that was as verdant as Gytha’s dreams.

  “Tomorrow I intend to leave the coast and sail due west. I believe that the headland yonder will continue to head west. I think we have found the northern part of the island.”

  “Yet we have seen no one.”

  “That is not a surprise. Few settlers have reached this island.”

  Halsten was perceptive, “You wish to find a better land, do you not, Captain?”

  “You are shipmates and I can speak the truth. Aye, for Gytha has planted a seed. I see a verdant land and not a rocky wilderness of ice and fire. I seek land with animals to hunt and fertile soil. I do not think that this is our home.”

  Halsten nodded, “But we are safe from the King of the Norse.”

  “We are.”

  The boys were nervous when we set off. Unlike Padraig and Aed they had not sailed the snekke beyond land. It had been different on the drekar. ‘Njörðr’ was big and she was solid. Their families were aboard. I was confident. The wind had changed slightly and we had to tack for half of the distance. As we closed with the coast, I saw that I was right. The coast headed west. We had reached the island’s northern shore. I almost cheered. The wind slowed us down so that when the coast turned south, I looked for somewhere to land and we found a river. Had this coast not been north facing then it would have been a good place for a home but I could see that crops would struggle to grow.

  The sun had been hidden for the last day. It was only when it set that we had an accurate idea of our position. We found a beach as the sun set, its glow marking the west. There was driftwood to be had and we lit a fire and cooked the day’s catch. So far I had seen nothing that suggested we could find or make a better home. The landing we had made must have been directed by the gods.

  Dreng asked the question which was also in my head, “Where are those who came here first, Captain? We have seen no footprints on any of the beaches except our own.”

  “I know not. Perhaps this island is bigger than we first thought. I had thought it to be like Mann. I know now that cannot be true for we would have already reached our home. We will sail on and will look for their homes and their smoke.”