Stranger from Another Land
Page 18
The few words that the Svear utters concerning the wind is written in Afrikaans, not Svear. Please forgive me the small indulgence.
I have modelled the dwelling of Runar on the reconstructed Lojsta Hall in Gotland, which dates to the same era.
During the late iron age in Sweden (4th and 5th centuries AD) the preparation method of food changed. Ritual communal feasting by preparing food in a cooking pit, which represented an outdoor oven, all but came to an end. A new hierarchy emerged where the warrior class prepared meat over open fires using metal tools such as spits. The roasting spits have been associated with the aristocracy and rich boat graves aligned to the warrior culture. I came across a theory that the roasting spit is associated with Odin’s spear and the sensory element of open roasting cements the differentiation between the warrior and peasant classes.
Agnafit was a fishermen’s village on an island where Lake Mälaren meets the Baltic Sea. It is apparently the place where Stockholm was founded in 1252.
According to Adam of Bremen, the people of Uppsala, in addition to Thor, Freyr and Woden, …
"they also worship gods who were once men, whom they reckon to be immortal because of their heroic acts [...].
Some academics hold the view that during the fourth and fifth centuries Woden was first introduced to Scandinavia by the Heruls, initially as the son of Thor. Woden has many shamanistic elements, with the resulting religion of Asir and Vanir seeming to be a blend of Germanic and Hunnic religion. The Germanic Scandinavians were not monotheistic and would have accepted other gods side by side with their own gods.
Trokondas is one of the few original Isaurian names that was mentioned in the ancient records. The Isaurians were said to be descendants of the biblical Esau. They were powerful warriors who struck fear into the hearts of their enemies and were likened to Laestrygonians, the mythical giants who cannibalised the companions of Ulysses. At around 460 AD, Emperer Leo (Byzantium Emperor) formed the Excubitors (translated as those not in bed) to act as his personal guard. The three hundred men were mostly Isaurians. With this, Emperor Leo tried to limit the power of Aspar, the Alanic/Gothic magister militum (head general) of the Byzantium armies. The Excubitors were the forerunners of the better known Varangian Guard. Excubitors were crack troops who fought in the field and were sent on special missions, even diplomatic ones.
Damascus blades were manufactured in the Middle-East from ingots of steel originating in the Tamil area in India. The blades forged this way have distinct patterns and is said to be extremely durable while the edge takes long to blunt. The process has been lost, but tests of surviving samples have revealed that the blades contained carbon nanotubes and nanowires, which is thought to have been formed by the special forging technique. The Tamil steel was known as Seric iron in the lands of Rome.
Many different theories exist regarding the origins of the word ‘Viking’.
I quote from a paper written by Eldar Heide on the etymology of the word ‘Viking’:
“We know that the word “Viking” originates from the times before the sail was taken into use in Northern Europe. The oar-shifting etymology is based upon a positive linguistic connection between the root vik- (as in viking[r]) and a phenomenon central to pre-sail sea voyages, namely the shifting of rowers, reflected in the word vika. Thus, this etymology fits the age of the word(s) and the seafaring technology of that age. Originally the word “vika” was a measure of distance, also known as a sea-shift, being the distance of rowing within a two hour shift”.
Did the Vikings have tattoos? Ibn Fadlan describes meeting the Rus Vikings in 921 AD and there he mentions that their whole bodies, up to their necks, were covered in greenish blue tattoos. The greenish colour apparently comes from using wood ash as a dye.
The earliest find of an iron horseshoe with nails dates to the fifth century AD. The item was discovered in the tomb of the Frankish King Childeric I.
Author’s Note
I trust that you have enjoyed the first book in the erilaR series.
My aim is to be as historically accurate as possible, but I am sure that I inadvertently miss the target from time to time, in which case I apologise to the purists among my readers.
Kindly take the time to provide a rating and/or a review.
I will keep you updated via my blog with regards to the progress on the second book in the series.
Feel free to contact me any time via my website. I will respond.
www.HectorMillerBooks.com
Other books by the same author:
The Thrice Named Man Series
Book I – Scythian
Book II – Legionary
Book III – Sasanian
Book IV - Transsilvanian