As their longboats approached the settlement of Rouen the next morning, it was obvious that many people were trying to escape the settlement. With so many longboats filling the river on the approach to Rouen, the fear in the city was palpable. “Look at them flee,” snorted Halfdan in disgust. “Just remember, before we pillage the city, we first kill the men and then loot the buildings. Remember as well, that the women and children will be our greatest treasure…
It took five days for Thórólfr to gather the boats and men. Finally, with a flotilla of thirty-six longboats, they made their way across the sea to Rotta. From there, Rollo headed south. With these numbers of men and boats, he had visions of launching a surprise attack on Paris though it was late in the season. Typically, such attacks were made at the beginning of the viking season, in late spring and early summer. Though the men would have…
Leading his flotilla of eleven longboats along the coast of Frisia, Rollo made sure to stop periodically. His men needed the chance to let loose, to engage in viking adventures. The months spent on land building the new settlement hadn’t been easy. There wasn’t much treasure to be won on their way back to the Western Isles, as most of the settlements they passed had been sacked too often. The coast had suffered too many Danish and Norse invasions over…
Surprisingly, by the end of August, a sturdy hall had been built with an attached living quarters for the headman’s family, an improvement from the more hastily built community hall that would be at the centre of the village. The quarters for the headman’s family were left unoccupied. Though the assumption was that Rollo and Derelie would eventually take up residence in these lodgings, Derelie and her children were to remain in Long, to live a less conspicuous life with…
The next morning, Rollo didn’t have to worry about finding Aethelred and returning the challenge. Aethelred stormed into the main room while Rollo was breaking his fast with Derelie seated next to him. Gurim still hadn’t recovered from his excesses of the night before. He was still snoring on the bench. Brest was also at the table with his wife and two of her sisters. “Rollo,” Aethelred spoke with fierce determination. “I demand satisfaction for your unprovoked physical assault against…
Three years later, Rollo sat beside his older brother Gurim, pulling on the same oar, while their father Kettil manned the rudder. Both brothers had crossed over to their father’s longboat for the last day of travel to the Western Isles. The long ship had entered the mouth of the river at the end of a long narrow bay. A small fishing village along the north shore of the river was ignored as they moved further west to reach a…
The next year, Rollo, along with his brother Gurim and their father, Kettil, like other years, had embarked on another season of viking. Once again, they stopped at the village of Long. The village had prospered under the Danes working with the Ambiani. And, to Rollo’s surprise, his teen-aged wife, Derelie had given birth to a girl child named Apadeva. Their stop in Long had been brief. Kettil had brought thirty-five longboats down river after having met little resistance at…
Kettil led a contingent of six longboats past a place called Abbéville. The river further upstream continued to be slow moving allowing the longboats easier passage down the River Samara. Kettil knew that this river, despite its calm waters had a turbulent history, a place where cultures clashed and many died in ferocious combat. The old tales told of the Ambiani as warriors just as fierce as the Picti across the sea he had just traversed. The river valley was rich…
In the two hundred years since Alba and Gyr journeyed to the sacred stone, fewer and fewer young couples made the journey from scattered villages. The Church wisely folded local folklore into their attempts to convert the pagans who held fast to the old ways. In Inverugie, the village where Alba and Gyr returned and raised a family, had become prosperous enough that it allowed the Church to accumulate a small fortune in treasures. The priest had been joined by a…
Alba walked beside Gyr as they crossed the field headed towards the sacred stone. Her grandmother talked about a goddess and a god who appeared at the stone thirty springs ago. Alba wondered if she would get to see a god and goddess like her grandmother. She wanted to have blessings for fertility and have many children with Gyr. They had walked for two days from their tiny village to the east along the River Ugie, not far from the…