And so,
for many hours did they feast and were they joined by more and more of
them. Fríða [1], she a skald of some reknown about this
time, played on her antler-bone kantele and sang the words of Oðin [2] well:
 |
| A bird of Unmindfulness flutters over ale-feasts. |
To pass
the day and night imbibing of strong drink disgraces none of these, the pagans
of the Jarl-home regions then. This custom, to be brazen all the day and night,
is passed upon the Vikings of the Norselands even now, as you have heard and
seen. And were, in times like this, when all the greatest war-chiefs of the
land, and all their bodyguards, did gather up together in one meeting place as
here they this night did, no quarrel fought was made to pretty eft with mere
abuse. Nay, did the several men (and some the women too!) turn quarrel up to
bruise and bloody up each fellow; ere the reason why the axe and shield be hung
upon the entryway.
The
liquor would they drink was brewed from barley, malted, forted with the
strength of wine. This they callèd veig. Vikings sometimes brought
with them as booty from their travels wines and beers and other drinks from
other realms, but here within the Jarldom Coast, every person drank the
barleywine. T’were stronger than the drinks are favored down in pretty Normandy!
Those
with weaker constitution, such as crones and babes, would drinketh up
from beor. This a drink of cider made from pears or apples. Were it
thick, but nary would it have intoxicating punch. And none of this, the softly
low ambrosia did they drow.
Servants
brought to them, perhaps a score and hundred men, a feast of moderate
complexity. The mark of it were all the great and hearty vastness of the meats;
delectable, the meal was surely not. There was dried wild fruits, fresh game of
many kinds, and curdled milk in place of cheese. That were it all: a very
simple feast. But on and on it went, and no man wished of he himself to be the
first to settle up, so on they ate for hours, did it seem.
And at
appointed hours’ time, Thorir Hund himself addressed the council, he
himself, the grievèd party, for he’d lost his nephew to the Christian lords:
“If we
wish to live without Viking spear betwixt our rib, we shall need a greater king
to bring the Jarls together under one, a greater flag.”
Jarl
Geirr of Romsdall scoffed, “Yea, would ye give up sovereignty to Danes? This is
our land, my goodly brothers! The Danes neh beggars and theh take it, sure as
any Viking Norse.”
But Thorir then
were adamant, and his good passion carried them that day, before the Jarls of
all the petty realms. Held he up for all to see the broken spear that killed
his Liefr ere a month ago. “What the Danish want of theh? This land, the softne
Southerners, would bay it kill 'em, Cousin. Neh, the Danes need spear to fend
the Norse from eft the Southern coast. We shall be their spear! And so win back
our’s freedom and make safe our land. Our land be gift of Od!” And shook then
the broken spear he did up at the gods and all the men attends. “And keep the
Christians also from our kin!”
[2] Hávamál (Sayings of the High
One) – a song said to be originated by Odin himself, counseling against
drunkenness; in this instance, sung blasphemously.
Another fast paced installment, it think its great!
ReplyDeleteTHe narrator style is back, I'll get used to it, though I think your work is even better without it. Does that make me an a$$h0le?
I like the quote from Havamal, lends even more depth to your own good writing.
I guess I could offer a couple more suggestions, like maybe swap "ambrosia" with "othrerir" to get rid of the classical term. Also, I remember from Baldrs draumar that a shield was placed over the drinks (for whatever reason I admit I don't know) and carried into the hall to then be distributed. But please note that these suggestions are friendly and I don't see anything wrong with the writing... So keep it coming!
You won’t harm my ego. I like to be corrected. The reason I use gods from both Norse mythology and classical antiquity is poetic license. I gave myself permission to do it, because I imagine that it is a story told to a Norman audience, so they would be familiar with both.
DeleteYes I would love to know more about the drinking ritual and the name of the sheriff.
On July 1 I will be starting back in on the sequel to Western Terminus. But due to some inside baseball stuff in the publishing industry I won’t be publishing it here.
Ah I see about classical references, then let me suggest that a Norman audience would refer to the sun god as Helios rather than Apollo.
DeleteGood luck with your endeavor, i hope that that doesn't mean we'll have too long a hiatus before the next installment of Thorir Hund.
I'll look up what I can. By the way, the language you used to describe the feast isn't inspired by Tacitus is it? I thought i recognized it after the unappetizing description of "curdled milk."
Best wishes.
Tacitus? I not directly, but maybe it carried through to some source I found it’s not something I would have known about otherwise.
Delete