The Archbishop’s face reddened as he cleared his throat. “Yes, well—”
Javune raked a hand through his hair, his eyes darting from one person to the next. Then his gaze settled on Cathryn. “You are my sister,” he rasped.
Bryk’s heart filled with joy for his wife when she rose from her seat and embraced her brother. They clung together for long minutes.
“Da!” Ekaterina declared again.
~~~
Cathryn’s emotions were all at sea. In the space of ten minutes she’d discovered a brother, an uncle, and the names and fates of her parents. She was no longer a nameless foundling.
But joy was tinged with sadness for the wrongs perpetuated.
However, what was the point of bitterness when she had so much to be happy about? She broke away from Javune and faced Franco. “I never thought to call an Archbishop oncle,” she said with a smile.
He opened his arms and she and Javune went willingly.
“I was frantic with worry when you both disappeared with the Vikings,” he said, his voice catching in his throat. “When you first entered into a Danish marriage with Bryk, Cathryn, I was furious, but I realized when I got to know him a little better he was a noble and trustworthy man.
“I wanted him to know he had married a woman of noble birth.”
Bryk bristled. “I don’t need you to tell me this,” he protested.
“I know,” Franco admitted. “But it is only right that you both receive the inheritance my brother left. It’s several hundred livres. I swear in my brother’s name neither of you will lack for anything.”
Cathryn suspected from the scowl on Bryk’s face this would be a blow to his pride. “My husband provides well for me, oncle. My brother can have my share.”
“Let me understand this,” Javune said. “I don’t have to go back to the monastery?”
Franco chuckled. “Only if you want to.”
Javune winked at Cathryn and she knew exactly what he had in mind. “I know a young woman here in Rouen who will be only too glad to meet a wealthy, educated and handsome nobleman with blue eyes.”
As Ekaterina opened her mouth to speak, a chorus of agreement sounded from everyone else in the chamber. “Da!” they exclaimed together.
The old nun laughed till tears ran down her wrinkled face, and her chortles of glee could still be heard after they’d all fled the room, unable to breathe.
BAPTISM
Rouen 912 AD
Bryk had expected his chieftain to be nervous, but he seemed at peace as he stood before Archbishop Franco in Rouen Cathedral. The cleric turned to Robert of Neustria. “Who is this man’s godfather?”
“I am,” Robert declared.
“And what name shall he receive as he is baptized into the new life of Christ?”
“Rollo,” Robert replied in a booming voice that echoed in the rafters of the cathedral.
Franco dipped his thumb into the water he had blessed earlier and made a sign on Hrolf’s forehead.
“It’s the sign of our Savior’s suffering,” Cathryn whispered.
Bryk nodded, noting a tear trickling down Poppa’s cheek as she stood beside her Viking, Vilhelm behind them. Rollo swore to honor God and cling to no other faith. Franco then blessed his marriage to Poppa.
The archbishop turned to address the hundreds of Vikings assembled to witness the historic event. “I understand there are some among you—”
Bryk clutched Cathryn’s hand and stepped forward from the front of the crowd, unable to wait any longer to embrace his wife’s faith. With Cathryn’s help he’d practiced over and over the right words to say. “I am Bryk Gardbruker and I ask the Lord God to cleanse me of my sins and accept me into baptism.”
~~~
Cathryn didn’t really hear most of the Latin ritual the Archbishop subsequently intoned for the hundreds who came forward to convert. Her heart was beating too loudly in her ears. Her gaze was for one man, her rover bold, the Viking who’d stolen her heart and brought her more pleasure and happiness than she’d ever believed possible. She fingered the copper amulet Bryk had given her after she’d told him she was with child. It was almost an exact replica of the one he wore, but the runic inscription was different. When two hearts yearn for each other, the hotter the flame of love waxes.
It had moved her to tears.
But his and Alfred’s recognition of Torstein as their nephew after he’d granted the boy his freedom had overwhelmed her, especially when many of his fellow Vikings deemed it an incomprehensible and foolhardy decision.
Once outside the cathedral, Bryk took her in his arms. “By Odin, I feel like a new man, as though the regrets of the past have been swept away.” He kissed her forehead. “And thanks be to Freyja for the little one growing in your belly. Now the Church has blessed his parents’ marriage, he won’t be a bastard.”
Cathryn rolled her eyes, tempted to laugh. Expecting Bryk to abandon his Norse gods would be like asking him to stop breathing.
But her husband was right that life held promise. Rollo had given assurances of security to all those who wished to dwell in his country. He had divided the land among his followers, granting Bryk and Cathryn a handsome and fertile tract near the Seine, as well as a guarantee of more to come as their campaign against the Bretons continued and other lands fell under the control of the Norsemen.
Alfred and Hannelore had been given a swath of land adjacent to Bryk’s.
Rollo had already begun the construction of many new buildings in Rouen and the rebuilding of ruined churches. Word had spread quickly that immigrants were welcome and more Norsemen had arrived, as well as Danes from Britain.
Rights and laws had been put into place and everyone understood people were expected to live peaceably together. Several thieves and murderers had already been hanged.
Repairs had begun on the town’s walls and fortifications, Rollo reminding everyone, whether they wanted to listen or not, of the lessons learned at Chartres.
Viking Fact and Fancy
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.
Did Hrolf Ganger lead a band of Vikings to the valley of the Seine in the 10th century and eventually become Rollo, First Duke of Normandy? YES.
Did the Vikings attempt to seize Chartres? YES
Did a Viking lieutenant almost topple King Charles the Senseless from his horse when offering a sign of homage? YES, according to historians writing hundreds of years later.
Did the Vikings escape from a hill where they’d been cornered by creeping into the Frankish camp and blowing horns in the middle of the night? YES.
Did they build a barricade of slaughtered animals? YES.
Speaking of horns, did Viking helmets have horns? NO. This is a misconception perpetuated after Richard Wagner’s costume designer, Carl Emil Doepler, created horned helmets for the first Bayreuth Festival performance of the opera Der Ring des Nibelungen.
Did Poppa of Bayeux exist? YES. She was the mother of Rollo’s son, William Longsword (Vilhelm) who succeeded his father as Duke of Normandy.
Were the Normans who invaded England in 1066 AD descendants of Rollo and his Vikings? YES. William the Conqueror was a direct descendant of Rollo.
Did the Bishop of Chartres lead the citizens’ march out of the town to attack the Vikings from the rear? YES. Wearing his mitre he held aloft a crucifix and a relic referred to as 'la chemise de la Vierge' (the Virgin’s Chemise). It became a popular relic, which unfortunately was destroyed in a fire in 1194 AD.
Was Franco Archbishop of Rouen? YES. From 911 AD to 919 AD.
Did Franco have a brother named Bernardus who drowned in the Seine? HIGHLY UNLIKELY.
Make Your Own Viking Bread
The recipe is courtesy of the Royal British Columbia Museum and is based on an analysis of Viking Age bread found in Birka, Sweden.
About 150 grams barley flour (approx. 2/3 cup)
About 50 grams whole meal flour (approx. 1/4 cup)
2 tsp crushed flax seeds
>
About 100 ml water
2 tsp lard or butter
Pinch of salt
Work the ingredients together into a dough and knead. If the dough is too wet or hard, add flour or water. Let the dough rest cold for at least one hour, preferably longer. Shape the dough into flat cakes about half a centimeter thick. Bake them in a dry cast iron pan on the stove over medium heat, a few minutes on each side or in the oven at 150˚ Celsius (300˚ F) for 10-13 minutes.
THE AMULET
Through the fabric of his shirt, Bryk fingered the square amulet hanging around his neck. Myldryd’s half of the talisman lay buried in a grave far away. He whispered the words etched in delicate runes on its copper surface. “Think of me, I think of you. Love me, I love you.”
This amulet was found in a Viking grave and was one of the artifacts on display at the Royal British Columbia Museum in 2014.
VALKYRIES
The Valkyries chose half of the fallen warriors for the goddess Freyja. As well as the deity of love and fertility, she was also a battle goddess and chief of the Valkyries.
She received the dead in her home, Fólkvangr, an Old Norse word which means the Warrior Plain or the People’s Field.
In Old Norse literature little is said of Freyja’s dwelling place and what awaited the dead warrior, although Fólkvangr has a beautiful hall called Sessrumne with many seats for fallen fighters.
Freyja is described as outspoken and, from a Christian point of view, immoral. Perhaps Christian chroniclers left out the stories of what happened in Fólkvangr and Sessrumne?
~courtesy of the Royal British Columbia Museum
1891 Postcard of Rouen showing the location of St. Catherine’s Hill
RUNES (Old Norse~Rún)
Runic alphabets were used for Germanic languages before the advent of the Latin alphabet. Can you spell your name?
Photo courtesy of The Royal British Columbia Museum
Bryk Cathryn
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Thank you for reading The Rover Bold. If you’d like to leave a review where you purchased the book, and/or on Goodreads, I would appreciate it.
I’d love you to visit my newly revamped website and my Facebook page, Anna Markland Novels.
Tweet me @annamarkland.
I was born and educated in England, but I’ve lived most of my life in Canada. I was an elementary school teacher for 25 years. It was a rewarding career, financially, spiritually and emotionally.
After that I worked with my husband in the management of his businesses. He’s a born entrepreneur who likes to boast he’s never had a job! (He’s also of Norwegian ancestry and LOVES this story.)
My final “career” was as Director of Administration of a global disaster relief organization.
Not content to fade away into retirement gracefully, I embarked upon writing a romance, essentially for my own satisfaction. I chose the medieval period mainly because that genre of historical romance is one I enjoy reading.
I have a keen interest in genealogy. This hobby has had a tremendous influence on my stories. My medieval romances are about family honor, ancestry, and roots. As an amateur genealogist, I cherished a dream (as do many) of tracing my own English roots back to the Norman Conquest—an impossibility since I am not descended from nobility! So I made up a family and my stories follow its members through successive generations.
One of the things I enjoy most about writing historical romance is the in-depth research necessary to provide readers with an authentic medieval experience. I based the plot of my first novel, Conquering Passion, on an incident that actually happened to a Norman noblewoman.
I hope you come to know and love my cast of characters as much as I do.
I’d like to acknowledge the invaluable assistance of my critique partners in polishing this manuscript. Thank you Sylvie Grayson, Reggi Allder and Jacquie Biggar.
ANNA’S BOOKS
If you’re not familiar with the Montbryce family, the best place to start, and SAVE MONEY, is with the Complete Set of the four books of The Montbryce Legacy.
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