Night Wolf: A Novel of Viking Age Ireland (The Norsemen Saga Book 5)

by James L. Nelson

  The rest, who made up the crews of two ships, had been given leave to return to Vík-ló, to put to sea and sail off to anywhere they wished. It was the agreement he had made with Ottar and he meant to honor it. Thorgrim also gave them leave to take Ottar’s body so they could send Ottar off with a proper funeral.

  For all the good it will do that miserable bastard, he thought.

  It was an impressive number of men and women making for Vík-ló, but there were just two dozen horses, and most of those were carrying camp equipment and supplies, and one was bearing Ottar’s stiffening corpse. Under normal circumstances Thorgrim would never have ridden when everyone else was forced to walk, but these were not normal circumstances. On foot he could not have made it half a mile.

  While Ottar was still bleeding out on the cloak, Harald and Starri and Godi had lifted Thorgrim and carried him off and laid him on the grass. They cut his leggings away and Harald had called for Failend, self-proclaimed Irish healer, to come and tend to his wounds. As Failend stood there, wide-eyed, muttering something, Cara pushed past with her basket and expertly dressed the deep slashes that Ottar’s blade had made in Thorgrim’s legs.

  With his wounds dressed and his shins cleaned of blood and his blood-soaked shoes removed, Thorgrim was lifted to his feet, wincing as he took his own weight. They brought a horse around and helped him up in the saddle and the whole strange parade headed off in the direction of Vík-ló.

  In the many times that Thorgrim had come or gone from the longphort it had nearly always been by sea. He realized, as the brown walls of the earthworks and the high palisade hove into view that he had only seen the place from the land side on a few occasions.

  Strange, he thought and he wondered what this meant. He had not been in Vík-ló so very long, he concluded, not long enough to have seen it from every angle. It was not his home. His farm in East Agder in Norway, that was his home. Vík-ló was a temporary thing, and soon, soon, the gods would let him return to his real home. Or so he prayed.

  As they approached, the gate swung open as if by magic, like arms spread in welcome. Thorgrim walked his horse down the trampled road that ran through the heavy oak doors and into the longphort. Now things began to fall into place, sights as familiar to him as Iron-tooth or the slightly bewildered look on Harald’s face. His hall, and the hall that belonged to Bersi, dead at Glendalough. The houses, the bakery, Mar’s smithy, the rise of ground that hid the river from view. Places where men had lived and men had died.

  There was a great scorched place just outside his hall where Ottar had burned Valgerd alive. Aghen had told him the story.

  Starri was next to him now, looking up at him. “You’re not home, Night Wolf. Don’t think that,” he said.

  “No,” Thorgrim agreed. Starri understood. This was not home. But where was home? Norway? East Agder? The sea? All of Midgard?

  Starri Deathless knew where his home was—Valhalla, Odin’s corpse hall. And like Thorgrim struggling and failing to return to his farm, so Starri struggled and prayed and fought to reach that place.

  And maybe he was right to do so; maybe the mad berserker alone among all of them understood what this struggle was about. Valhalla. It was the one place they knew they might reach, the one place where they knew they would be welcome, where they would be happy until the coming of Ragnarok.

  Maybe that was the home they sought. Maybe that was the only home to which they might ever hope to return.

  Would you like a heads-up about new titles in The Norsemen Saga, as well as preview sample chapters and other good stuff cheap (actually free)?

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  Other books in The Norsemen Saga:

  Fin Gall: Book I

  Dubh-linn: Book II

  Lord of Vík-ló: Book III

  Glendalough Fair: Book IV

  Glossary

  adze – a tool much like an ax but with the blade set at a right angle to the handle.

  Ægir – Norse god of the sea. In Norse mythology he was also the host of great feasts for the gods.

  Asgard - the dwelling place of the Norse gods and goddesses, essentially the Norse heaven.

  athwartships – at a right angle to the centerline of a vessel.

  beitass- a wooden pole, or spar, secured to the side of a ship on the after end and leading forward to which the corner, or clew, of a sail could be secured.

  berserker - a Viking warrior able to work himself up into a frenzy of blood-lust before a battle. The berserkers, near psychopathic killers in battle, were the fiercest of the Viking soldiers. The word berserker comes from the Norse for “bear shirt” and is the origin of the modern English “berserk.”

  boss - the round, iron centerpiece of a wooden shield. The boss formed an iron cup protruding from the front of the shield, providing a hollow in the back across which ran the hand grip.

  bothach – Gaelic term for poor tenant farmers, serfs

  brace - line used for hauling a yard side to side on a horizontal plane. Used to adjust the angle of the sail to the wind.

  brat – a rectangular cloth worn in various configurations as an outer garment over a leine.

  bride-price - money paid by the family of the groom to the family of the bride.

  byrdingr - A smaller ocean-going cargo vessel used by the Norsemen for trade and transportation. Generally about 40 feet in length, the byrdingr was a smaller version of the more well-known knarr.

  clench nail – a type of nail that, after being driven through a board, has a type of washer called a rove placed over the end and is then bent over to secure it in place.

  curach - a boat, unique to Ireland, made of a wood frame covered in hide. They ranged in size, the largest propelled by sail and capable of carrying several tons. The most common sea-going craft of mediaeval Ireland. Curach was the Gaelic word for boat, which later became the word curragh.

  derbfine – In Irish law, a family of four generations, including a man, his sons, grandsons and great grandsons.

  dragon ship - the largest of the Viking warships, upwards of 160 feet long and able to carry as many as 300 men. Dragon ships were the flagships of the fleet, the ships of kings.

  dubh gall - Gaelic term for Vikings of Danish descent. It means Black Strangers, a reference to the mail armor they wore, made dark by the oil used to preserve it. See fin gall.

  ell – a unit of length, a little more than a yard.

  eyrir – Scandinavian unit of measurement, approximately an ounce.

  félag – a fellowship of men who owed each other a mutual obligation, such as multiple owners of a ship, or a band or warriors who had sworn allegiance to one another.

  fin gall - Gaelic term for Vikings of Norwegian descent. It means White Strangers. See dubh gall.

  Freya - Norse goddess of beauty and love, she was also associated with warriors, as many of the Norse deity were. Freya often led the Valkyrie to the battlefield.

  halyard - a line by which a sail or a yard is raised.

  gallows – tall, T-shaped posts on the ship’s centerline, forward of the mast, on which the oars and yard were stored when not in use.

  gunnel – the upper edge of a ship’s side.

  Hel - in Norse mythology, the daughter of Loki and the ruler of the underworld where those who are not raised up to Valhalla are sent to suffer. The same name, Hel, is given to the realm over which she rules, the Norse hell.

  hird - an elite corps of Viking warriors hired and maintained by a king or a powerful jarl. Unlike most Viking warrior groups, which would assemble and disperse at will, the hird was retained as a semi-permanent force which formed the core of a Viking army.

  hirdsman - a warrior who is a member of the hird.

  hólmganga – a formal, organized duel fought in a marked-off area between two men.

  jarl - title given to a man of high rank. A jarl might be an independent ruler or subordinate to a king. Jarl is the or
igin of the English word earl.

  Jörmungandr – in Norse mythology, a vast sea serpent that surrounds the earth, grasping its own tail.

  knarr - a Norse merchant vessel. Smaller, wider and sturdier than the longship, knarrs were the workhorse of Norse trade, carrying cargo and settlers wherever the Norsemen traveled.

  league – a distance of three miles.

  leech – either one of the two vertical edges of a square sail.

  leine – a long, loose-fitting smock worn by men and women under other clothing. Similar to the shift of a later period.

  levies - conscripted soldiers of ninth century warfare.

  Loki - Norse god of fire and free spirits. Loki was mischievous and his tricks caused great trouble for the gods, for which he was punished.

  longphort - literally, a ship fortress. A small, fortified port to protect shipping and serve as a center of commerce and a launching off point for raiding.

  luchrupán – middle Irish word that became the modern-day leprechaun.

  luff – the shivering of a sail when its edge is pointed into the wind and the wind strikes it on both sides.

  Midgard – one of nine worlds in Norse mythology, it is the earth, the world known and visible to humans.

  Niflheim – the World of Fog. One of the nine worlds in Norse mythology, somewhat analogous to Hell, the afterlife for people who do not die honorable deaths.

  Njord – Norse god of the sea and seafaring.

  Odin - foremost of the Norse gods. Odin was the god of wisdom and war, protector of both chieftains and poets.

  oénach –a major fair, often held on a feast day in an area bordered by two territories.

  perch - a unit of measure equal to 16½ feet. The same as a rod.

  Ragnarok - the mythical final battle when most humans and gods would be killed by the forces of evil and the earth destroyed, only to rise again, purified.

  rod – a unit of measure equal to 16½ feet. The same as a perch

  ringfort - common Irish homestead, consisting of houses protected by circular earthwork and palisade walls.

  rí túaithe – Gaelic term for a minor king, who would owe allegiance to a high king.

  rí ruirech – Gaelic term for a supreme or provincial king, to whom the rí túaithe owe allegiance.

  seax – any of a variety of edged weapons longer than a knife but shorter and lighter than a typical sword.

  sheer strake – the uppermost plank, or strake, of a boat or ship’s hull. On a Viking ship the sheer strake would form the upper edge of the ship’s hull.

  shieldwall - a defensive wall formed by soldiers standing in line with shields overlapping.

  shroud – a heavy rope stretching from the top of the mast to the ship’s side that prevents the mast from falling sideways.

  skald - a Viking-era poet, generally one attached to a royal court. The skalds wrote a very stylized type of verse particular to the medieval Scandinavians. Poetry was an important part of Viking culture and the ability to write it a highly-regarded skill.

  sling - the center portion of the yard.

  spar – generic term used for any of the masts or yards that are part of a ship’s rig.

  strake – one of the wooden planks that make up the hull of a ship. The construction technique, used by the Norsemen, in which one strake overlaps the one below it is called lapstrake construction.

  swine array - a Viking battle formation consisting of a wedge-shaped arrangement of men used to attack a shield wall or other defensive position.

  tánaise ríg – Gaelic term for heir apparent, the man assumed to be next in line for a kingship.

  thing - a communal assembly

  Thor - Norse god of storms and wind, but also the protector of humans and the other gods. Thor’s chosen weapon was a hammer. Hammer amulets were popular with Norsemen in the same way that crosses are popular with Christians.

  thrall - Norse term for a slave. Origin of the English word “enthrall.”

  thwart - a rower’s seat in a boat. From the Old Norse term meaning “across.”

  Ulfberht – a particular make of sword crafted in the Germanic countries and inscribed with the name Ulfberht or some variant. Though it is not clear who Ulfberht was, the swords that bore his name were of the highest quality and much prized.

  unstep – to take a mast down. To put a mast in place is to step the mast.

  Valhalla - a great hall in Asgard where slain warriors would go to feast, drink and fight until the coming of Ragnarok.

  Valkyrie - female spirits of Norse mythology who gathered the spirits of the dead from the battlefield and escorted them to Valhalla. They were the Choosers of the Slain, and though later romantically portrayed as Odin’s warrior handmaidens, they were originally viewed more demonically, as spirits who devoured the corpses of the dead.

  vantnale – a wooden lever attached to the lower end of a shroud and used to make the shroud fast and to tension it.

  varonn – spring time. Literally “spring work” in Old Norse.

  Vik - An area of Norway south of modern-day Oslo. The name is possibly the origin of the term Viking.

  wattle and daub - common medieval technique for building walls. Small sticks were woven through larger uprights to form the wattle, and the structure was plastered with mud or plaster, the daub.

  weather – closest to the direction from which the wind is blowing, when used to indicate the position of something relative to the wind.

  wergild - the fine imposed for taking a man’s life. The amount of the wergild was dependant on the victim’s social standing.

  yard - a long, tapered timber from which a sail was suspended. When a Viking ship was not under sail, the yard was turned lengthwise and lowered to near the deck with the sail lashed to it.

  Acknowledgements

  Thanks, as usual, are due to a great number of people. Thanks once again to Steve Cromwell, to whom this book is dedicated, for his on-going help in making the series so eye-catching, and to Alistair Corbett for his magnificent photography. Thanks to Dmitry Burakov, of BDSart Jewelry for the use of the pendant, his original creation, on the cover. My sister, Stephanie, provided aid and comfort in so many and varied ways. So, too, do my children, Elizabeth, Nathaniel, Jonathan and Abigail. Thanks to George Jepson, Helen Hollick and Cindy Vallar for all their good work in promoting not just my books but those of so many worthy authors. Thanks to David Mullaly for all his help and for planting the idea for the ending to this book and to fellow mariner Carol Newman Cronin for her help as well. Thanks to Alicia Street at iProofread and More for her fine work bringing her keen editing eye to this book.

  And, as ever, thanks to Lisa Nelson - partner, shipmate, wife of twenty-three years and counting…