by Griff Hosker
Arne admonished me with his finger, “Three moons brother! Bring back Fótr and I care not if you find nothing! Just come back safely! Then we can rid your mind of this foolishness.”
I nodded. I was not sure if I could trust myself to speak. I felt a lump in my throat which I could not explain. As the wind took us to the mouth of the fjord, I realized I was more worried about them for I knew that I would be safe. I did not know how I knew but I knew. Fótr was the least experienced of the crew and I saw that he stayed close to me. He would find his own feet as we sailed.
I had already decided on my course. I would sail south and west. It meant leaving sight of the island within a day and risked disaster if the sun did not shine but I had to believe that the gods and the Norns intended for me to take this voyage. The winds were against us from the outset and it took a whole day to tack out of sight of land. Dreng, Rek and Sven would have to steer and I began as I meant to go on. They each took a shift at the steering board. I watched them for a long day until I was sure they could manage it. The test would come when they sailed at night. I would be both teaching and sailing.
The days began to follow a pattern. The first thing I did when the sun rose in the east was to make a tally mark on the stick I had brought. I had forty-two days to find land. It was too easy to lose track of time at sea. I made certain that the hourglass began its march. I did this whether the sun shone or not. It meant we could manage the watches more equitably. Then I made water, drank some water and ate a little food. I would stand, while one of the others took the steering board, and take a turn around the tiny snekke. ‘Jötnar’ spoke to me through the steering board and her sails but I needed to look at her each day. She was no longer young. Sighwarth was now the oldest man in the settlement and he had more ailments than younger men. He was more forgetful. My snekke was the same. Once I was happy with the snekke and the boys had been fed then if the sun was visible, we took a sight with the compass and marked our position on the white cloak we had cut up to make a map. The cloak had come from our dead enemies. It had been rent with sword cuts and, as a cloak, useless but as a blank canvas upon which to make marks, it was perfect. That done we headed south and west, always south and west.
After six days we noticed that the air was not quite as cold. That might have been the wind which turned from the northwest to the west. Our progress slowed. It was as we tacked once more that I worked out the wind pattern. The winds came largely from the west, sometimes a wind was from the south and sometimes from the north. That meant our journey east and home would be faster. Could I afford to sail west for fifty days? We had had no rain and were halfway through one barrel of water. We had caught fish regularly but the boys had not managed to bring down a sea bird. There were few of them and rarely came close. Sven had an idea about that.
“Captain, if we save the bones we do not eat until we have a sufficient quantity, we could use them as bait. We can wait until we see birds and then throw the bones over the stern. When the birds swoop, we might bring one down.”
It was a good idea and it kept them occupied. The birds did not come. I had an idea of my own. We were making painful progress west and the wind was from the northwest. I took a chance and used the wind to sail due south for a day. We moved faster, the snekke flew through the water, and the gods smiled on us for we found rain. We rigged the spare sail and collected as much rainwater as we could. The change brightened all of our spirits and when the wind swung around to come from the north, we turned to head due west while we could. The wind was colder. We had to don our sealskin capes but we travelled faster. Then we had two days of the sun. It warmed us but, more importantly, it helped us to mark our position. I began to use the stars to teach the boys about sailing. I say boys but only Fótr had yet to grow a proper beard. The others were youths growing into men. When the next sailing season came then they would no longer sail my snekke. They would begin their own families. Even Fótr was just a year or so from taking a woman. I was the one who they gossiped about. I had seen more than twenty summers and I had yet to lie with a woman.
Each evening as the sun set ahead of us, a good marker for our progress, I would hold the blue stone and close my eyes. I hoped that Gytha would speak with me. She never did but that might have been because she did not need to. Our progress, although slower than I wished, was still progress. We had full barrels of water and while we caught less fish we still had salted seal meat to eat. We were not suffering. The only one who was not enjoying the voyage was Fótr and that was because he had stomach cramps. It was our diet. The boys and I were used to it and our bodies had adjusted. Gytha had anticipated such problems for all of us and she had given me a bag of berries. They had come from our home in Larswick. She had dried them before we left and kept them in leather bags. They were precious. I gave Fótr a handful each day from the fifteenth day of our voyage until the twentieth. He emptied his bowels on the twentieth day and from then on he improved. That was also the day when the air felt warmer. It felt as warm as the air in Larswick. My map showed me that we had travelled a long way south.
On the twenty-eighth day, the storm came. We had a warning for the clouds gathered to the northeast of us and I reefed the sail. We put the compass and hourglass in the chest. The skies were so black that we would not need them and I would not risk losing the hourglass. We tied everything down that we could and we removed the spare sail. The wind was freshening so much that I did not want to risk losing the spare sail. As the waves grew Sven joined me at the steering board while the other three lay close to the mast. They would be human ballast to keep us steady. When it hit us, I was sure that the snekke would be torn apart. I kept the wind behind us. I cared not which direction we took for this was about survival and not discovery. We climbed cliff like waves and then dived into what appeared to be bottomless troughs. ‘Jötnar’ showed us just how tough she was. I had no opportunity to hold the blue stone for Sven and I had to hang on to the steering board. If we deviated from our course then we could broach the boat and that would be the end of us! The sky was so black that day and night were meaningless.
When I closed my eyes, I prayed to survive. Gytha’s voice came into my head, ‘Be strong! Your father’s spirit watches over you!’
Neither Sven nor I had the opportunity to drink. The only moisture we had was from the rain driving into us. It helped to wash the salt from us. Our seal skin capes proved to be our most valuable possessions. Our hair was soaked but our upper bodies were dry and that was a help.
When the motion of the snekke became easier and the waves lessened I croaked, “You three, drink some water. Eat some food.”
Their faces showed concern as they looked at me. Fótr said, “Are we in the Otherworld, brother, for I am sure we must have died?”
I laughed, “Not yet but this may just be the eye of the storm.”
In the event, it was not. The storm had passed us. I was able to allow Sven to fetch us some water and food. When he returned, he pointed behind us, “Captain, the sun appears.”
I glanced behind and saw the faintest of glows from the east.”
We knew our course. I drew the blue stone and touched it, “Thank you Gytha. Thank you, father. Your stone protected us.”
When a grey dawn finally came, I saw the sorry state that was my snekke. The forestay had sheared in the storm. Before we could rig the sail, we would have to replace it. We had spare ropes and Sven and Dreng replaced the broken one. Fótr and Rek re-rigged the spare sail to collect water again. The storm had passed but I could still feel moisture in the air. None of us were able to work quickly and rain had come by the time I risked the sail. It was as though ‘Jötnar’ was eager to be away from the place she had nearly perished. We knew which was east and west now. She ran west and south once more.
As I marked the tally stick Sven said, “Was that one day or two, Captain?”
“In truth, I know not. Let us say that we have, perhaps, ten or twelve more days and then we must decide if we turn
or not.”
He stood and peered ahead, “I see nothing on the horizon!”
“And I would not expect to. We have seen no sign of land. For the days before the storm, we saw few birds. When we see birds then I will look for land. We are alive. Our snekke is sound and we have not fallen from the edge of the world.”
I sounded more confident than I actually was. I found myself fingering the blue stone more and more. Five days later we were rewarded. A flock of geese in their familiar arrow formation flew from the direction of the setting sun. There was land ahead. These were not seabirds. I wondered if they were heading for our island. The others did not seem to notice the birds. They were too high to hit with a stone. Our store of bones had been washed overboard in the storm and we could not entice birds down.
“Geese!” I pointed up to the sky. “There is land somewhere out there. Run out the fishing lines. We have hope once more.”
The hope also brought ideas into my head. I knew not what we would find but the land would have to be better than the land of ice and fire. If we brought the drekar then when we found adverse winds we could row. We would have a faster crossing. I had hope before the storm and the geese, now I had belief.
We passed the day when we should have turned to return home. I saw my crew watching me as I marked the tally stick for the forty-first time. I smiled, “We will push on for another couple of days. We have enough water and there is one small barrel of seal meat.”
None looked enthusiastic but I was the captain. It was the geese which kept me going. They were land birds and they had come from the west. Unless the gods were teasing me, they had to have left the land. It was out there.
Each dawn now saw me peering westwards seeking land. We had been travelling for, according to my tally stick, forty-four days when I saw gulls in the distance. I touched my blue stone and prayed that it was land in the distance and not a dead whale. As we neared the birds, I saw that it was, indeed, land. We had found it! Some of the birds rose and I saw a smudge of darkness on the horizon. I spied trees and it looked green. There was no mountain wreathed in smoke and belching fire. My four crew turned and stared at me as though I was a galdramenn. I knew not how I had known but I had.
“We look for a beach. ‘Jötnar’ has done well and I would not risk her hull on rocks. When we find one then keep a watch for people. If we find any we know not if they might be hostile. First, we land! We need a beach on which we can land. We dare not risk rocks.”
As we closed with the land the birds dispersed. I saw fish in the water below us. They were feeding. Even as we edged towards the coast, our trailing hooks caught three fish and they were big ones. Sven had to use his knife to kill them. What we did not see was a beach, there were places I might have risked a landing if we were not so far from home but here, I was cautious. We sailed south and west along the coast. I would not head north. The sun was setting ahead of us when Sven spied a tiny sliver of sand and we headed in. We ground on the shingle and the four boys dragged us up above the high-water mark. I stepped ashore and thought that my legs would collapse beneath me. I dropped to my knees and kissed the blue stone, “Thank you Allfather, Gytha, and my father. I know that without you we would not have found this land.”
I saw Fótr looking north and east. He shook his head, “Our home is so far away that I will be another summer older when next I see Arne.”
I did not say that there was no certainty we would ever see our home again. “Sven, bring my bow and your sling. The rest of you gather firewood but do not light it yet. We will scout.”
When my bow was strung and an arrow nocked, we headed up the small grassy slope. We kept low. The air felt warm. In Maevesfjörður the air always felt cool even in summer. I sniffed the air and I could smell animals. As I glanced down, I saw that we were on an animal trail and I saw the prints of hoofed animals. The trees were familiar too. I saw Ash, Rowan, and Beech. I observed that the trail twisted between trees and shrubs. There were buds on the bushes but no fruit. We walked for what seemed like a thousand paces. The sun was getting lower in the sky. I sniffed the air again. I could not smell smoke. I had seen no footprints on the ground. If there were men in this land then they were not close. Sometimes a warrior had to take a chance and I took one.
We turned and headed back. I heard animals racing from our path as we moved through the shrubs and bushes but I did not see any. We would eat hot food for the first time in over forty days and my mouth watered at the thought of it. The members of my crew had begun to offload the snekke. I had not ordered them to do so but it made sense. They had laid out our furs and the fire looked ready to light. As I unstrung my bow I said, “Sven, use the flint and light the fire. The rest of you, gut the fish.”
I went to the snekke and took out my maps. I took a fresh piece of the cloak and used my charcoal to draw the coast. It was crude but drawing it gave me pleasure. I had done what I said I would. I walked around the snekke. The light was fading but the strakes looked to be sound. I had pine tar and I would give the hull a coating while we could. I was confident that we would find pine trees and we could make our own tar. We had a small axe with us. It would take time but we could bring down a pine tree.
I walked back to the fire. It was drawing well. The boys had found dry kindling. That, too, was an advantage. At Maevesfjörður we had had to dry wood out. Sven had put a small branch through each of the fishes and Dreng and Rek had put forked branches in the ground to support the cooking fish. Fótr was walking along the small beach scavenging more wood.
When he reached us and dropped the wood Fótr asked, “Do we sail home straight away, brother? This land looks better than the land of ice and fire. I did not think we would reach it but now that we have, I am keen to bring our people here.”
I shook my head, “We will do a proper job of scouting. I do not intend to sail home for a month or so.” The surprise was on all of their faces. I smiled, “We will get home faster for I believe that the winds are stronger in that direction. When we sailed here, I felt a current beneath our hull. It was warm and it slowed us. We will have that current to take us home. Besides, as pleasant as this land appears, we need to see what creatures and people live here. We are no longer a large clan. We cannot fight overwhelming numbers. We find a land where you can grow and become strong warriors such as those we buried at Maevesfjörður.” I saw Dreng and Rek look at each other. They had both lost a father.
My words gave them thoughts to go with their fish. The white-fleshed fish was delicious. We sucked the meat from the bones and then returned the bones to Ran. There were creatures in the ocean who would devour them.
We should have kept watch but all of us were so weary and the furs so warm that we did not. The Allfather watched for us and we awoke refreshed. We ate some of the salted seal meat and drank water. As we ate, I gave instructions. “We will camp here for a few days. Fótr and Rek you will build shelters and forage for timber. I would have you make a salt pan so that we can make salt.” I saw their faces fall. “Tomorrow I will take you two with me. We will all be walking maps when we get home. If anything happens to me then you four will take the message of this land to our people.” With that sobering thought, I strapped on my sword and strung my bow. Sven and Dreng brought short spears and slings. We were prepared to hunt and, if needs be, to fight. I hoped that it would not come to a fight. We followed the trail I had taken the previous night. It was a better light for us and I saw that the trail went along a valley and there was a stream below us. I headed down the slope and found the water. Cupping my hand, I tasted it. The water was sweet and cold. “I am guessing it comes out near to our beach. Come let us resume our walk. We will find a piece of higher ground to see further.”
We rejoined the path. I saw that we were heading along a ridge. The valley had not been deep and the ridge was not high. It was not a man-made trail. Men would have gone closer to the top. Animals sought shelter. The trail began to descend and I spied fresh animal droppings. They were no
t as big as those from a cow but bigger than from a deer. I picked one up and it was still warm. Looking around I saw tracks. I nocked an arrow and the other two nodded and held their spears in two hands. We began to descend. The wind was coming towards us. That was lucky. Through the trees, I spied water. There was a pond ahead. The animals we followed would likely gather there to graze. As we descended, I caught a glimpse of light brown fur. It was the animal and from its hoof prints, it was a type of deer. I did not recognize the colour and I could not see the head. I gestured for the other two to flank me.
The closer we came to the pond the more nervous I became. Deer used smell to detect danger but they would see us once we cleared the trees. I had a hunting arrow nocked. Barbed, it would tear a wound in the animal. I did not expect an instant kill but I would try to make it bleed to death and we would follow. I saw that it was a small herd of eight animals. They were curious looking deer. The ones I knew had a delicate mouth. These had a jaw which was square and they were much bigger. They looked to be as big as a cow in height yet not as broad. There was what looked like a male for I recognized the antlers although they were not like the antlers of the deer I had seen at Larswick. Sven’s foot sent a stone skittering down the trail when we were twenty paces from them. They bolted and I snapped off an arrow. All thoughts of aiming scattered with the deer. I nocked another as we ran. The deer ran to the west, towards our camp although we were on the other side of the ridge.
The animals had disappeared by the time we reached the side of the pond. They had broken branches and their trail could be clearly seen. More importantly, I saw the blood on the leaves and the ground. The amount showed me that I had hurt the animal. “Come, let us run. Stay behind me. When we close with the wounded one I will send an arrow at it and then you two can finish it off with your spears.”