by Griff Hosker
We had a trouble free first week as we sailed up the coast. The ships’ boys grew into their role and the animals became used to walking down the gangplank to graze. We had ships’ boys who disposed of the dung. While we sailed up the coast, we deposited it on the land but we would soon have to use the sea. The winds were good ones. They freshened up and we made good speed. I know that the other two drekar could have completed the same journey in a shorter time. My drekar was slower and overloaded.
It was on the fifth day that we left the mainland to head, for the first time, across open water. When we had sailed to this new land we had headed south and west. I had been the one with the wax tablet then and I knew it to be a relatively short voyage but for a few of those who had been babies, this would be the first time they left the sight of land. Danr and Petr had proved to be the best of my lookouts and I had them looking for the dark smudge which was the island.
It was Danr who shouted, “Land, Captain! Due north!”
The sun was in the sky and I knew that he was accurate and had seen land for with the sun there were darker, clearer shadows. “Ebbe, shout to Aed and tell him what we have spied and then take the steering board! I am the only one who has been to this island and I have to remember where we landed.”
Once relieved I went to the prow and I lay along the figurehead. It seemed so long since Erik, Dreng, Rek and I had landed on the first land we had seen since leaving the Land of Ice and Fire. It had been where Erik had almost died when he had been knocked out by a deer. How different would the lives of the clan have been had he died? Dreng, Rek and I would be dead and the clan would still be enduring a harsh life in the Land of Ice and Fire. I knew that the tribe who lived on this island were fierce. As we had left the mainland, I had told the men and boys to prepare their bows and their weapons for we might need to fight. I remembered that the natives had not attacked us when we had landed which suggested that they did not live near the coast. That was small comfort.
As the thin grey smudge became more solid and dark, I peered to look for a feature I recognised. The closer the land came the more my spirits fell for I did not recognise anything. I turned and shouted, “Ebbe, steer north by west and reef the sail a little. I want to approach the land slowly.” This was necessary but also extremely dangerous for the natives would have more time to reach the water and we could not land if there were natives there. The fact that I saw no smoke did not fill me with confidence. The animals who were tethered at the prow began to make noises as they smelled the land; it was distracting. I spied a waterfall cascading from a cliff. I vaguely remembered it but could not recall if that had been north or south of the place we were attacked. The cliffs meant we could not land and, as the afternoon wore on, I despaired of making landfall and then I saw a headland and birds swooping down to the water. “Ebbe, take us closer to shore but do it gently.” I saw that there was a small river which emptied into the sea. The sun was getting low in the sky and we needed to land. I stood and said, “Petr, take over. If you see any rocks or foaming water, then let me know!
“Aye, Captain!”
As I walked down the drekar I saw the expectant faces looking up at me. I smiled back with a reassurance I did not feel. Had we been lulled by a week of easy camps?
We nudged our way into the shore and I saw that the river was little more than a large stream but it would suit our purposes. There were rocks and there was also sand. I waved Aed to use the sand while Padraig and I edged next to what appeared to be a large flat rock. The ship’s boys leapt ashore with the ropes which would hold us to the land and Harald of Dyroy joined them. He had his weaponsmith’s hammer and two large metal spikes we had brought from Larswick. He hammered them into a crevasse in the rock. They would hold us. The warriors then lowered the gangplank and leapt ashore with bows and spears. We had seen no danger but here there were no cliffs to protect us. There was a path which zigzagged down to the water but that would not slow down Skraeling who were trying to get at us. We would need to look for signs of recent use; we did not know the tribe who lived here and they might not be like the Mi’kmaq.
When Æimundr Loud Voice came back with his helmet in his hand. It was as clear a sign as we could wish for that there was no danger. He stopped in the shallow water and shouted, “We have seen no sign of Skraeling. Bear Tooth and Mikel have headed a little further inland.”
I nodded, “Then let us get ashore and feed the animals. This is our last stop before we sail the Great Sea!”
I saw the looks of apprehension on the faces of the women who were closest to me. It was one thing to talk about this leap of faith but quite another to actually embark on the voyage.
Once the animals were ashore then I had the ropes loosened to allow for the tides. I would not risk my drekar on the rocks. I was the last to leave. I placed the compass, map and hourglass in the chest. They lay atop Erik’s old mail shirt. He would never need it now and I was loath to put it on until I had to.
“Petr, you stay aboard and shout if you feel there is any threat to the ship no matter how small and inconsequential. I would rather you call me a hundred times than fail to call me once!”
“Aye, Captain!”
As I waded ashore, I saw fires being lit for hot food. I did not wish fires to be lit as it would alert the Skraeling to our presence, but I understood the need. From now on we would be eating cold food; it would be salted or in vinegar, but it would still be cold and the Great Sea could be as icy as winter in Norway, or so I had been told.
Within the ships and the clan, there were smaller groups. The ones like mine were family-related. Others were because the warriors or their wives were friends. Padraig and Aed had their extended family around one fire and I saw that Ada, Helga and Gefn were busy organising our cauldron. Anya and the older girls were busy watching the infants and babes. Ebbe, Tostig along with my young son, Erik were the only males around the fire for the others were collecting shellfish. It was one reason that Helga had travelled on ‘Njörðr’. We wished to have a volva on each ship but now that we were ashore the volvas would stay together. When they had time, they would spin a spell to keep us safe and they would also try to speak with Gytha. Helga was the one who was most upset about the lack of communication with her dead mother. She felt she should be able to and I knew that she was keenly aware that she was not as powerful as her mother had been. That was the conversation I overheard as I approached.
“I curse the times I practised with the sword, Ada, for it weakened my power. If I had not done so then my mother would be able to give us her guidance.”
“That is not the reason, Helga, for Gytha said, many times, that she felt closer to Erik than to her own children. It was wyrd.”
“But if Erik is dead then why can she not communicate with us?”
We all remained silent for Helga’s words suggested the unthinkable, that we had abandoned Erik in the savage wilderness. He might be alive and that was a quagmire we would all avoid. My wife, Reginleif, carried over some slices of salted meat to add to the shellfish which Danr and the other boys were collecting. She put her hand to her back and Ada said, “You should sit. You have a child within you.”
“I have sat enough on the drekar and I need to walk.” She looked at me, “When we are on the Great Sea will we be able to walk along the deck?”
I shook my head, “It will be hard for the animals take up almost a third of the ship and the children…”
She nodded, “Then I shall make the most of this last time ashore.”
“Is Erik behaving himself?”
“He is. Each day he seems so much older. He is no longer a baby and I miss that.”
Ada laughed, “And soon you will have another and this one will be a girl.”
I looked at them, “How do you know?”
Ada beamed, “We are volvas and we know such things!”
Helga shook her head, “Stop teasing, Fótr, for he has much on his mind has he not?” She looked at me, “We listen to the baby
within Reginleif and we can hear the heartbeat. The heartbeat is that of a girl. Does that disappoint you?”
I shook my head, “So long as she has the required fingers, toes and the like I care not!”
I looked up as Anya shouted, “It is Bear Tooth, he returns!”
Gefn laughed, “And, of course, she was not watching for him was she?”
They all laughed and it confirmed what I had thought. Bear Tooth and Anya were a couple Technically Tostig was the head of their family but he had seemed distracted of late. I said to him, “If Bear Tooth and your sister, Anya, choose to be together then you would have to give your permission.”
Tostig was of an age with me but he always seemed younger. He shook his head, “It is nothing.”
Something in his voice made me ask, “But if they do wish this then what would you say?”
“I would say no, Fótr, for it was the Skraeling killed my brother and the Jarl. I cannot forgive those people.”
“But Bear Tooth is of our clan. He fought the Penobscot with us!”
“It matters not and that is all I have to say.”
Now I understood why no approach had been made. Anya was a sensitive woman and she would know the answer she would get. So long as they did not broach the question then the liaison could be ignored.
The men all gathered as Bear Tooth and Mikel Finnbjǫrnsson returned from their scouting expedition. Mikel was the husband of Ada’s daughter Egilleif and was one of the best trackers we had. He and Bear Tooth made a good team.
“Well?”
Bear Tooth was the better tracker and he shook his head, “We saw no enemies and the signs they had made were more than a month old but…”
“But?”
“But that does not mean they will not return for some tribes like to wander month by month. They pick the berries and harvest the sea and land before moving on.”
I heeded the warning in his voice, “Then we should keep a watch this night?” He nodded.
Harald of Dyroy said, “Let us do as we did on Bear Island. Let us set traps and have men on guard. There are twenty-four of us. Eight men will watch at a time.”
I knew exactly how many men we had, “There are twenty-eight warriors, Harald.”
He shook his head, “The captains do not watch and Ǫlmóðr Ragnarsson has still not fully recovered from his wound.”
It made sense but I would sleep with one eye open. Harald organised the watches and, after we had eaten, I curled up with Erik and Reginleif and slept. It was Erik, my son, who alerted us. He cried and woke me. I asked him later when we were at sea what woke him, and he said it was an old woman with white hair and he was scared. In my heart, I believe that was Gytha.
As I was awake, I went to make water and, knowing that I would not be able to sleep again once woken, I strapped on my sword. I could hear the noises from the animals who had been penned by a wall of shields and brushwood. They must have been making the noises all night, but we were used to that and it had not disturbed our slumber. I headed away from the camp for all were sleeping and I stood close to Bear Tooth. After I had made water, I went over to him. “Quiet?”
He whispered, “Aye, but as you came across here, I turned my head to see who it was and when I looked back, I saw a movement.”
“Where?” He nodded to some scrubby fruit bushes and straggly trees whose shadows lay just two hundred or so paces from us. There was no breeze and any movement either had to be an animal or a man. I was suspicious. “Alert the other guards and I will wake the men. This may be a tribe who do attack at night!”
I headed for Harald of Dyroy and shook him awake. His eyes opened and I hissed, “There may be trouble!”
He said nothing but rose and the two of us went to wake the other men one by one. Inevitably some of the women, thankfully the older ones, were also disturbed and I said, “Remain quiet but be ready to move!”
I felt painfully naked as I headed back to the line of warriors for I wore neither mail nor helmet. Both were still on the drekar with Petr. Some warriors took the time to don mail and so I was not the last to reach the line. I stood next to Bear Tooth who said, quietly, “I was right; there are enemies out there and I can smell them.”
Harald joined me and I said, “Bear Tooth has confirmed there are Skraeling out there.”
Ebbe must have heard the noise and he ghosted next to me, “Should I get the ships’ boys to get their weapons, Fótr?”
“No, Ebbe, have them prepare the ships for sea. Try to get some of the smaller animals aboard but do it quietly and if we are attacked then get your mother to organize the women. If we must leave, then it will have to be done quickly.”
He hurried off and I stared into the dark. We now had all our warriors around the camp and that meant the women and children would be protected but for how long? We stood for a long time and I was aware of the noises of animals behind me. Ebbe and the boys were moving the hens, sheep and goats onto the drekar. Perhaps the Skraeling whom Ebbe had smelled was just a scout and he was watching us.
Æimundr Loud Voice appeared at my side and his mouth was close to my ear as he spoke, “Bear Tooth is right I have smelled them too and seen movement. I think they wait for dawn so that the beach will be lit by the sun and they will attack from the dark. We should begin to load the ships.”
I chewed my lip, “But will that not alert them?”
“It might but then they will have lost their advantage of attacking into the light. We cannot risk the women, Fótr Larsson.”
I nodded and turned where I saw Danr close by and I waved him over, “Find Ada and ask her to begin to board the women and the children on to the drekar. When that is done load the cows.”
“What of you and the men, Captain?”
“We will load but we need the three ships ready to leave.” He nodded and disappeared. I wondered if the tide would be right and I cursed myself for not returning to the drekar and checking the ropes which tied us to the land. Would we be able to remove the spikes which held us to the land, or would we have to sever ropes and abandon the precious metal? Inevitably, there was more noise when the children began to move. They were excited or irritated or just children and were not silent.
The Skraeling were not Vikings. If they had been then they would have begun their attack silently and sent their arrows into the dark to catch us unawares. The Skraeling began their attack by screaming loudly and running at us. Only Bear Tooth and I did not have shields. We both wore hide vests and it was that and the fact that the arrows which came from the dark were both ill aimed and stone or bone tipped which prevented hurts. A Viking attack would have yielded casualties but neither Bear Tooth nor I were hurt. I felt two arrows hit my chest. I would be bruised but that would be all. As well as my sword I also had my seax and I had fought before. Like Erik, I was not the warrior Arne had been, but I had fought Skraeling and knew their weaknesses; they had poor weapons and no armour.
I heard cries and screams from my right as the first of the wild warriors were slain by true Viking warriors. To my left was Danr Gandálfrson and he had a shield and a metal-studded byrnie not to mention a helmet. He was little older than me, but he had survived the disaster of the falls and fought in the battle of Horse Deer Island. It gave me comfort. His father, Gandálfr, one of the oldest of our warriors, held the right end of our thin line.
And then I had no time to think for warriors raced at the three of us. They would outnumber us, and I saw that they held bone tipped spears. If they struck flesh, then they could do terrible harm to us. I swung my sword in a long sweep. The sharp edge hacked through the wood of two spears rendering them ineffective and then I slashed with the seax across their naked middles. It tore through the stomach of one and ripped into the side of the second. I brought my sword down to smash into his skull as he tumbled. Bear Tooth had a short sword and a small hatchet. He had an advantage over me for he had often fought other Skraeling and knew what they would do. Danr Gandálfrson was also doing well for h
is shield blocked every attempt to spear him and his helmet afforded him protection too.
A tall Skraeling with a shaven head and painted face ran at me with a bone knife and stone club. I guessed he saw me as the weakest of the three and was attempting to break our wall for already there was a line of bodies before us. I had been told that when my brothers and Siggi had fallen some of the Skraeling had been like berserkers and fought as though they cared not if they lived or died. I faced such a warrior who screamed as he hurled his huge body at me. I slashed across his middle with my sword and saw the red line widen as my blade bit home, but it did not halt him. He brought his stone club down at me and I barely fended it off with my seax. He had a free strike with his bone knife which was sharp, and it ripped a long line up my right forearm. Its tip stuck in my hide vest and his weight knocked me to the ground. The Norns were spinning for, as I tried to use my left arm to slow my fall my seax tore up under the warrior’s chin. I hit the ground hard and the breath was knocked from me but the seax had killed him. Forcing his body from me I rose.
At that moment I heard the horn sound from my drekar. It signalled a retreat. Æimundr Loud Voice was the most experienced warrior and he shouted, “Clan of the Fox, fall back! Sword foot. Shield foot. Sword foot. Shield foot.”
I was aware of blood dripping down my right arm, but I ignored it as I did as I was ordered. We all moved as one and we were all in step for our circle of warriors would begin to shrink and if we were not in step, we might trip over each other.
To help us Æimundr Loud Voice began a chant and we all joined in.
“Clan of the Fox
March to war
Clan of the Fox
Hear us roar
Clan of the Fox
We fight this day
Clan of the Fox
The Viking way!”
It worked and, as we walked backwards, the Skraeling who had to negotiate their own dead and wounded were forced to attack us as individuals and our superior weapons and protection meant that we won. I noticed that there was more light in the sky to the east and that meant the sun was rising. Ebbe must have organised the ships’ boys for arrows began to drop amongst the Skraeling. We, too, were now using bone and stone arrowheads but the Skraeling wore no mail and each arrow which struck found flesh.