by Griff Hosker
“There will be no need for that. Prepare to come about!”
I put the steering board over and we headed due north. I saw the cloud he meant. The wind from the west meant that the cloud should have moved east. There were clouds moving east but this one cloud, which looked different from the rest did not change. I realized that it was to the northwest of us. I kept heading north for had we turned west then we would have slowed and if this was our home I wanted to get there as soon as possible. It soon became clear that we would not reach it before dark but, as darkness fell, I saw the sign which told me that this was our home. There was a flash of light. The mountain was belching smoke.
“It is our home! We have crossed the sea!” I clutched the blue stone, “Thank you Allfather. Thank you, Gytha!”
Chapter 10
Knowing where the mountain lay helped me. We crabbed our way north and west. Now the wind brought us the smell of brimstone. It slowed our progress but the smells of the land guided me to our fjord. Rek suddenly shouted for he spied a fire and that meant our hall. I reefed the sail and Sven manned one oar and Rek and Fótr the other. I kept the glow from the hall and the mountain to my left, the larboard side, and headed for the dark patch of water. The light flickered as though people were walking in front of it. I was curious because it was the middle of the night. Why were people not abed? With just three of them on the two oars, our progress was slow for we were fighting the current. I did not wish to risk the rocks. When we finally entered the fjord, my caution had taken us the eastern side. I put the steering board over and we crawled our way to the drekar which I could now see as a dark shadow. I saw figures close to the halls. The light from the fire showed that there were many who were standing around the fire. They did not see us. We bumped next to the wooden quay. Sven was on the steerboard side and he had raised his oar when he saw the quay. He leapt ashore and stumbled. We had been at sea for a long time. I threw him the stern rope and he secured us to the bollard. Rek and Fótr were well practised now and they had the second rope tied even as I stood.
“We leave the snekke for now. I would know what is amiss.”
I strapped on my sword and led my crew along the quay towards the path which led to the halls. As we crested it, I saw that most of the clan were gathered around the fire. Mothers had their arms around their children and there was little conversation. What had happened?
It was Gytha who saw me and she shouted, “They are back! The wanderers return!”
All faces turned towards us. Arne saw me and he ran up to Fótr and myself. He threw his arms around us. “We thought you dead!”
We hugged him back. I saw Sven and Rek heading for their families. I would have to find Dreng’s. “What is amiss brother? Is there war?”
He shook his head and stepped away. Pointing to the mountain he said, “Two nights’ since the ground shook and shivered. Rocks fell from the mountain. There was a large bang and a river of fiery stone made its way down the mountain. Gytha said to stay outside. We wished to be close to the drekar but you are back! We celebrate!”
Gytha came towards us, “You found it.” It was not a question and I nodded. “I dreamed I saw you.” She ran her finger down the scar on my face. “I saw the stag!”
Ada came towards me. “My son?”
I shook my head, “We found the new world but he took ill on the voyage back. He went to the Otherworld with his hand on the hilt of my sword.” She did not need to know the rest of her son’s death. I saw her eyes widen. Her two children were close to her and she hugged them. I saw her fighting back the tears. Her husband had died before we left and now her son had been taken from her. Life was not fair.
She nodded, “Thank you for that, Erik the Navigator. It is a good land? It is a land worth my son’s death?”
There was no criticism in her voice. It was curiosity. Her son would, hopefully, be in Valhalla. He had not died a warrior’s death but he had died a warrior. I had to hope that Odin had allowed him in.
I took her hand, “Know that I will be as a father to your children. You will want for nothing. I swear it.”
She kissed my hand, “I know it for you are a good man, Erik. Dreng felt as though you were like a big brother. He would have followed you...” She realized what she was about to say and she began to weep. “Come, children, let us go to your father’s grave and tell him of your brother’s death.”
I would have followed her but Arne shouted, “We have lived in fear. Now we celebrate. Let us broach the barrel of beer we had saved!”
I pointed to the water, “We have a snekke to unload. We have salted deer and bear meat. Let us feast on it.!”
We celebrated our return, Dreng’s death and the end of the threat from the mountain with a feast which lasted until the middle of the morning. I discovered that the ground had not shaken for one whole day and Gytha determined that our return had appeased whatever god controlled the mountain. People could return to their halls. We showed off all that we had brought. I showed the plants. Two had died but enough remained of the others to give an indication of the potential. There was even a little fruit left and Arne, Gytha, Snorri, and Siggi tasted it. They were intrigued with the deer hide.
“These are bigger than our deer.”
Fótr laughed, “Tell my brother about that. He was hit by one and we thought him dead and if he takes off his tunic you will see the scars from the bear which raked him.”
Rek nodded, “And they are the ugliest deer you have ever seen!”
Arne shook his head, “You have risked so much for the clan. You have done more than any of us expected.”
I nodded towards Gytha, “Our volva knew. She came to me in a dream!”
She shook her head, “I dreamed the same dream. The spirits sent my face for that reassured you. It was wyrd.”
“And is the fiery mountain a sign that we should leave? Should we return to the new world?”
Siggi said, “You would return straight away?”
I laughed, “I have just done the voyage in a snekke. ‘Njörðr’ will be far more comfortable. My little brother has stood a watch. How much easier when I have the men of the clan to do so. We would go back on the morrow.”
Arne looked at Siggi and Snorri. There had been a debate about this already. Snorri spoke. “We all decided that we would wait until your return before we took a decision. This is not just for us to decide. We need to hold a Thing. We have fewer men now to row the drekar. If we do not have enough then how can we row the drekar?”
“The same way I took the snekke, slowly. There is rain for drinking and fish in the sea. We take enough food for fifty days and I know we will make landfall by then.”
“And these warriors, these skrælings, what of them?”
“They use stone. They do not use metal weapons. Their boats do not have sails. At least six perished when they fought us and that was with three boys!”
Fótr nodded, “I killed one!”
I was becoming angry with the men of the clan. Had Dreng died for nothing? “Do not take my word for it. Ask my crew. Fótr would you go back?”
He nodded, “I would not even have to think about it.”
Gytha put her hand on my arm. She knew I was becoming angry and she said, “The men are right, Erik, navigator, bear killer, stag wrestler, we need a Thing. We should speak with the men before we hold the Thing and persuade them. Some are fearful.”
“But I have returned!”
“And Dreng did not. This home we have made is safer to some.”
Arne was trying to be reasonable. I was in no mood for reason. I stood, “Safer? When you have not enough barley to make beer? When you have to sleep outside for fear of your homes being buried in rocks or fire? And what of the Danes? Have you forgotten Hakon Long Memory? He will return!”
They all looked at me as though I was a petulant child. The exception was Gytha. “I promise you that your efforts will not be in vain. We will hold a Thing but the drekar has not been maintained. She will
need work. You would not wish to sail west in a ship which might sink.”
I smiled, Gytha was wise. “You are right. The snekke will need repairs too.”
“But not today. You have done well but I can see that you are weary. Arne, take your brother to bathe in the pool we found.”
“Pool?”
“Aye, we found a pool close to the shore. It lies to the west of us. It is not almost boiling like the pool we found, it is comfortable enough to sit in. Come, I will take my two brothers and they can tell me all.”
We took our cloaks to dry ourselves with. As we walked, he asked, “Dreng’s death was not a good one?”
I shook my head and told him. “When we sail to the new land, we need to think about the food we take. If we had had a volva then Dreng might have lived. It was my fault for I did not notice how quickly he deteriorated.”
Fótr shook his head, “You did more than anyone. You know, Arne, that he went without sleep many nights. He was the one made the voyage possible.”
We reached the steaming pool and to change the subject I said, “Has this land become so attractive that people do not wish to travel?”
He shook his head, “The opposite.” He sank into the water and Fótr and I joined him. It was pleasantly warm. There was the smell of brimstone but I could live with that for it was in the air around our halls all the time. “Many are disappointed in this land and wish to return to Larswick. They see the King of Norway as a small price to pay for beer and bread. There are only a few of them but when you did not return at the time you said you would then their numbers grew. It will be interesting to see the effect of your words. The problem is that we have now lost the knarr to Leif Yellow Hair’s people. The drekar is the only ship.”
Fótr sank beneath the water and then rose up. I saw lice fall from his hair. The water and the brimstone were killing them. I had no doubt that my body and hair were being cleansed too. Fótr shook his head and said, “But the drekar is ours. Our father built it.”
“He took on the responsibility of the clan and I inherited it. The drekar belongs to the clan.” He looked at me, “Could the drekar hold all of the clan?”
“With the snekke, I believe it could.” I frowned as my mind worked out the problems. “However, we would have to travel when I did. That would be in Harpa or Skerpla.”
Arne smiled. He had already worked that out. “Then that gives us half a year to prepare the minds of the people and the two ships. If you saw no cows nor sheep and pigs then they become even more vital. The cow is with calf.”
I was disheartened but he was right. “They have animals. We saw many but none were domesticated.” I brightened, “Our ancestors must have domesticated wild animals. We could do that with these strange deer. They give milk as do our cattle. Perhaps we could domesticate them.”
We spent a pleasant time working out what life would be like in this new land. I knew then that we would return. It was a matter of when. And I had a task. I had a snekke to repair and, in light of my experience, a drekar to prepare.
I slept the sleep of the dead that night. I had eaten well and drunk for the first time in many moons. I slept in a hall and there were others to watch over me. When I woke, I went outside and found the settlement a hive of activity. Gytha was waiting for me. She linked my arm, “Come and tell me all.”
We began to walk, “I thought you had seen it all for I felt your presence.”
“That was the stone. The spirits told me you were alive. I saw Dreng as he passed over to the Otherworld. You say there is honey there?”
“I saw honeybees and I saw hives.”
“Then we do not need barley to grow cereal for beer, we can brew mead.”
“But what of bread?”
“You saw grass growing?”
I had to think and then I remembered that I had. When we had sailed down the coast, I had seen clear fields and what looked like grass was growing there. I nodded.
“Then if grass can grow so can cereal. Here we have short turf but it is not grazing. Once we clear the forests then the Mother will come and seed the land. There will be cereal. We will be able to grow it and from that make bread. And the people you saw?”
“I only saw warriors but they looked primitive folk. They did not look to have metal.”
“But they live from the land and wear the skins of animals and make boats from logs?” I nodded. “Then they worship the same gods as we do. We can civilize them. You have done well. Do not let your brother’s words dishearten you. He wishes everyone to be as enthusiastic as he is. That never happens. Our natures make us all different. You have proved what can be done.” She looked to the west. “We now have to brace ourselves for the storm before we leave.”
“The storm?”
“I know your thoughts, Erik. You fear Hakon and his Danes.”
I nodded, “I can’t believe that they followed us all the way here just for vengeance.”
“That may be a coincidence. There were others who fled to this island because they had been driven from their homes. Hakon might be just such a one.” We had reached my drekar. “Take me around the drekar and tell me what we shall need to do when we sail across to this new land.”
I was in more comfortable territory now. As we walked the deck and I pointed out features I gave her my thoughts. I told her of the storms we had endured. I thought that the more seal skin capes we had the better. I spoke of the diet we had endured. She was pleased that rain would give us our water. “We also need to give families space. We were lucky. There were just five of us. This will take forty days or more and there will be fights and arguments. Having their own areas will help. Apart from the times, we need to row, we can do that. Then there will be the animals. It is a long journey. We will have to work out some way to store their dung for we can use it in the new world We need to keep them tethered and calm. We saw no metal. We should use metal for our ballast. There are stones aplenty on Bear Island.”
She laughed, “You are the only one who would have thought of such a thing!”
“The snekke will be useful. We carried just five but she could carry chickens and sheep as well as a couple of families.”
“You are thinking of Padraig and Aed.”
“They know the ship and are good sailors. They can read a map and I can give them directions. I thought to ask Rek to sail with them or Sven. Had he been alive then Dreng would have been perfect.”
“You did nothing wrong, Erik, and you are the only one who has thought this through.” She brought herself close to me. She smelled of rosemary. “I will be with you through all of this. If there is opposition then Snorri and I will quell it. Whatever you need from me then ask.”
I nodded, “You will need salve and medicine. We discovered that garlic kept away the biting insects but had I been more alert I might have found some way to stop Dreng’s death. You and the volvas of the village can save lives.”
“Then we shall brew and conjure from now until we sail!”
She left me to walk the deck. I thought of improvements we could make. I had helped to build this ship and I knew her well. We had taken weapons after the battles we had fought. They were now stored in the halls. If we were to use them as ballast then they would need to be oiled and placed in sand-filled sacks. That was an easy task but time-consuming. If we were going to fish as we sailed then we needed nets rather than lines. They could be made. We would need pots and barrels and rope! We had to make rope as often as we could. It was as I began to check off the list that I realized we could not sail in less than four moons and that would take us to the end of Haustmánuður. That was too close to winter for us to risk. I looked astern. I had forgotten ‘Jötnar’. She would need rebuilding. My repair would have to be undone and proper strakes made to replace the ones which had sprung. By noon I knew what was needed and I headed to Arne and Siggi to speak with them.
Sven and Rek approached me as I neared the halls. Sven said, “We should have thanked you, Captain.”
“We would all have perished but for you. You took on a bear to save our lives and we are in your debt.”
I nodded, “When I sail to the new world, I would have one of you on the drekar and the other on the snekke but I will not command. If you wish to say no then I will understand.”
They shook their heads. Rek said, “For myself, I would be more comfortable on ‘Jötnar’.”
“Then we will make it so. You have your own lives to lead. Sven, you need a sword and, I have no doubt, a helmet but it would help the clan if the two of you would help me and Fótr to repair the ships. You know them better than any.”
Sven gave a slight bow. “We will be honoured.”
Arne and Siggi were by the fields looking at the crops we had sown months earlier. “You have missed this joy, brother. Each day we come and see how little the crops have grown.” His voice was heavy with sarcasm.
“The seeds will help us in the new world. Even if we cannot eat them, we can plant them.”
Siggi laughed, “The sailor is telling the farmers what to do!”
“And in this, I will take his advice. We saw you leave with Gytha.”
“I now know what we need,” I told them.
Arne nodded, “Much of the metal is poor quality and scrap but even scrap is better than nothing. You have come up with a good idea and the clan needs something to do in winter. Making ropes and nets will keep them occupied. We can make barrels and fish traps too. There are ash trees up the fjord, we will use them and the feathers from the seabirds to make arrows. We can make heads in the new world. You are right. This will take months.” He looked west, “And, like you, I fear our neighbours.”
“Who is it does not wish to leave here?”
“Æimundr Loud Voice and Mikel the Follower but since your return, Uddi Long Face has joined them. When Butar, Finn, and Asbjorn were killed we lost the sage voices of the clan. Sighwarth sometimes supports the idea of a new world and then, at another time is the most vehement opponent.”