Across the Seas

by Griff Hosker

  I stood with Arne watching our little brother take his bride to their sleeping fur. As they disappeared, we went outside. Darkness was creeping from the east but we had hours of daylight. “We have had a good half year or more here brother and Fótr is married.” He put a huge hand on my shoulder, “And you are to be a father. The Allfather has been kind. We have paid a price but that is the Allfather’s weregeld. I am jarl and I need to think of the future. Since we came to this land there have been five babies born, four of them boys. Yours is one of six who will be born when the days lengthen. We do not need the land yet but this island will not hold us all. We need another island and, one day, we will have to sail to the mainland.”

  For all we knew the distant land we saw on clear days could be an island but if it was then it was an island as big as Hibernia. It was a mainland to us!

  “And you wish me to explore the islands?”

  “I intend to plough the new field in Þorri. It does not smell like snow. Then we will clear another field and build small halls for those who wish them. You would rather sail, would you not?”

  “Of course, but there is danger.”

  “Not to you! I have never known such a good navigator as you.”

  “I do not fear the sea but there are warriors out there. There are skrælings. I can evade them but what if my voyage brings them to us?”

  “I have thought of this. That day will come. If we hide on this island it will come. They came to attack us on the island of Butar’s Deer. If it comes sooner than we expect then we can defend this island. As you showed on the island of Butar’s Deer we can use the drekar. If we bloody the noses of these skrælings then it will make it easier for us to live on the mainland. If you meet them then I would have a slave.”

  “That might guarantee that they will come!”

  “As we learned at Larswick if we can speak their words then we might be able to tell them what we wish. You have brought us to good land. Let us hold on to it.”

  As we returned indoors, I felt the breeze at my back. It was the Norns. I would do as my brother said. He was jarl but I did not think that it would end well.

  The months of Mörsugur, Þorri and Gói were a revelation. Some of the days were warmer than a summer’s day in the land of ice and fire. The trees did not grow but the ground remained reasonably warm. Gytha was a clever woman. She said that it was because we were closer to the sea. Certainly, when we had a clear day, we could see snow on the hilltops to the west. The weather was so clement that Fótr and I introduced Ebbe to the snekke. It had not been used since we arrived and so we used Þorri to clean the hull and replace the sheets and stays. I rebuilt the steering board withy. We took her out on a quiet day. Fótr could teach Ebbe how to be a sailor. I decided I would manage with just two crew. There were others who would have happily come but I wanted just two that I could rely on.

  I sailed us around the island. It gave me the chance to see the two tiny islands to the northwest of us. They were too small for us to use. There would be little game and I saw no watercourses. The same was true of the island to the east of us. What all three islands provided was a safe anchorage should we have winds which stopped us landing at Bear Bay. We had named it Bear Bay in honour of the bear I had slain there. It took all day to circumnavigate the island for we were patient with Ebbe who was all fingers and thumbs. The snekke was not like the fishing boat. It responded instantly to the slightest movement. When we had had five crew and all that we needed to sail across the ocean then the snekke had been heavier. With just three and no cargo, she barely touched the water. As we lowered the sail to scull into the bay I said, “Well Ebbe, do you still want to come to sea with your foster father?”

  “Aye but I fear I have let you down this day. Was my brother as poor as I was?”

  “He started much younger. The six boys I had as my first crew learned together. They covered for each other. Ask Fótr what he was like.”

  My brother nodded, “I did not know a sheet from a stay. I moved too suddenly and almost upset the boat.” He shook his head, “I am just glad that the others were all patient with me. You will learn. I hope to learn how to use my brother’s compass and hourglass. I would be a navigator too.”

  As we pulled the snekke up onto the beach I said, “You would explore?”

  He pointed south, “The land keeps going. Do you not wish to see what is there?”

  I smiled, “I wish to find a waterfall first.” They both stared at me as though I had taken leave of my senses. “Let us say that first I want to walk this land and find a waterfall which came into my head when I dreamed. Gytha saw it too. Skuld planted it there and it does not do to upset a Norn.” I turned to Ebbe, “That is why I have not married your mother. She deserves to be married but when I explore the land to the west I may not return.”

  They both looked shocked, “You cannot mean that brother. We will be with you.”

  “Unless I find a river which heads inland then I will be on foot. A snekke, no matter how lively, cannot sail up a waterfall.” I saw from their faces that they were confused and did not understand my words. I tied the snekke to the mooring post we had driven into the sand. “Anyway, we have first to explore the islands. Now that we have sailed around this island then I can tell my brother that we are ready.”

  Arne was delighted with my news. He and the other men had cleared two more areas for crops. We had saved seed from the first crops and Benni thought that we could plant by Gói. Such an event was unheard of. Benni had advised just using each field for three years and then giving them a year to lie fallow. Arne and the others would clear two fields a year. I knew then that within three years we would need another island. We would have to leave woods for the animals. I saw now why there was an urgency about his decision to send me to the islands.

  It took some days to prepare all that we needed for our voyage. Ebbe needed weapons. Rek had had a good cape and I gave that to him. Arne had a spare short sword and that became Ebbe’s first weapon. We salted our own fish and deer meat in small barrels. We now had the luxury of beer and so we took one of those. We had found a dead fawn in the woods. It had died of some natural cause. We did not eat the meat for fear it was poisoned but I took the skin for although the hide was of little use to protect its wearer, I could use it for map making. The cloak we had used the last time was finished. The charts I had made lay in my chest. I cut the skin into manageable sections and I took that and charcoal with me.

  It was Einmánuður when we left our island home. Ada was now visibly pregnant. She helped me to organize the three of us. She wove her own spells into her woven wool. She bound our hair and her own into it. I knew it was not as powerful as Gytha’s magic but it was comforting and the three of us kept it close to our hearts. The night before we left, Ada and I cuddled, “My son has told me of your dream of a waterfall. I am a Viking woman. I can endure the hardships of the land. You need not fear that I would hinder you in your quest.”

  I kissed her on the forehead, “And that is the trouble, Ada, I know not what my quest is. I dreamed the waterfall and I fell. That is all. I could have dreamed my own death. That death may be necessary for the survival of the clan. When the day comes for me to explore the land then I will choose to go alone.”

  “That shows great honour as well as a love of the clan.”

  “My father began this clan. Arne is making it great. Whatever I can do I will do for the clan and for my blood.”

  “I am content and I know that you will return.”

  “You are a volva?”

  “All the women of this clan have powers, Erik. I knew when Dreng died. That was why I was not as upset as you might have expected me to be. I know that you and my son will return from the islands.”

  Gytha, Snorri, Arne, and Siggi came to see us off. They said little but their presence did me great honour. I climbed aboard and said. “We may be away for seven days. I have spied six large islands. I intend to explore the ones which are as big as Bear Island
or bigger. Watch for my smoke on the islands. If you see no smoke then it means I have found people.”

  Gytha raised her arm, “May the Allfather protect you!”

  We set sail and headed for the islands we had used to escape from the skrælings.

  Chapter 20

  As we neared the island, I had time to examine it more carefully. The last time we had been fleeing for our lives and I had just been concerned with escaping from the warriors who pursued us. Now I saw a pair of islands. They had fjords and hills which were higher than on the Island of the Bear. Sailing around was not as easy as I had expected. There were many bays but often they had rocks just below the surface. It was getting on to dark when we reached the western side and I headed for an inlet which looked as though it had a beach. It proved to be a mudbank. This was not an auspicious start. Luckily the tide was on its way in and we were able to reach the shoreline where there was a sliver of sand. We pulled the boat up out of the water.

  “Do we light a fire, foster father?”

  I shook my head. “There is a high piece of ground yonder. Tomorrow morning, we will climb it and see what we can see. If I spy no sign of skræling we will light a signal fire. They would not expect to see one yet.”

  I quickly sketched what I had seen that day and it was fresh in my memory. It was Fótr who saw the creatures after which we named the island. He spied foxes not long after the sun had set. They were not red, they were silver grey. We called it the Silver-Grey Fox Island. We took it as a good sign for we were the Clan of the Fox.

  I slept fitfully. With just three of us, it would be hard to keep a watch and I did not wish Ebbe to have the responsibility. The result was that I woke early. I took my bow and my arrow bag and headed for the top of the island. There was enough light to see and I made my way up the animal trail. The east and the rising sun lay on the other side of the jumble of stones and rocks which topped the hill. It was as I was climbing that I noticed what looked like the hand of man. I spied what I would have called, on Orkneyjar, a grave. It was a grassy knoll which looked like an upturned boat. The grave did not look recent but it made me wary.

  I reached the top as the sun rose and bathed me in sunlight. I touched my blue stone, “Thank you for this dawn, Allfather.” I saw that the other island lay not far to the north of me. The channel looked shallow. I turned a full circle. I saw no tendril of smoke. I spied animals moving. I even saw a number of whales close to Bear Island but I saw neither smoke nor signs of man. The only evidence was a grave. I knew the others would worry when they found me absent. I descended and as I did so I saw other mounds. It looked like a burial ground. It faced west. Our graves faced east. Was this a place that some ancient people had used as a cemetery? Was it a holy place and would our presence anger those peoples?

  The other two were peering anxiously up at me as I arrived. “We will eat and then light a fire on the top of this island. I do not think there are men here now but I believe that once, there were.”

  Later, as we built the fire, Ebbe asked, “Why do you think that men lived here once?”

  I pointed to the mounds which could be clearly seen, “They look like graves but I cannot see any clearings lower down and the trails we climbed only had my boot prints. However, if we invite an attack by skrælings when I light the fire then I may have to eat my own words!”

  We lit the fire and watched the smoke from the dampish wood rise as a signal to our clan. I saw no movement. I saw no angry warriors rushing to slay us. I had brought my skin and charcoal. I took the opportunity to make the map I had begun even more accurate. It was noon by the time we returned to the drekar and set sail. This time we could see the mainland and I saw fires burning. We were too far away to make them out clearly but I am certain I saw the bark boats close to the land.

  We headed north for the long narrow island which lay closest to the mainland. I headed towards the western side of it. This time it was dark when we reached it. I had misjudged the length of the day and the fact that the land to the west hid the sun sooner. We had to edge into a beach. Fótr was much better now at spotting where it was safe to land. We grated on to sand and then pulled the snekke up. It was another cold meal. The boats I had seen had been a warning and I would heed it.

  We all rose at the same time the next morning and, as the sun rose, we walked towards the centre of the island. As luck would have it, we were at the narrowest part of the island. South of us, it looked to be a narrow, rocky sprawl of scrub, spindly trees, and long grasses. We headed north. It soon became obvious that not only were there no people on this island there were few animals. We saw little evidence of trails or dung. What we did see was the smoke from settlements along the coast of the mainland. We were not fleeing this time and we had the opportunity to study the land. We used the scrubby low berry bushes to keep us hidden from view. It looked like the skræling lived by the beaches. I saw fish racks with drying fish. I saw animal skins. This time Fótr and I saw women and children. We had not seen so many of them before. They also wore animal skins. They were too far away to see clearly but each group appeared to be no more than ten or twenty people. I kept us hidden below the skyline. When we saw the northern channel, we knew we had explored the whole island. This was not worth colonizing. Perhaps one farmer and his family might make a living but it was too close to the skrælings. Added to that we had seen no water. The bark boats could easily cross the narrow stretch of sea. We were hours away from our snekke. Although it was risky, I had promised a fire each day and I would keep my word. We lit one on the beach. The smoke rose. I hoped it would be seen.

  We headed back to our snekke and this time, when we reached it, I lit a fire. This was not a signal fire. It was a fire for food. We would have a hot meal. We gathered shellfish and added salted deer meat to the stew. As we ate Fótr pointed east. The largest island we had seen lay there. Once we had explored that one it left just the islands to the north and east of us. “This island looks close to the land. I fear there may be people there.”

  I shook my head. “It is close to Bear Island. I am certain that we would have seen smoke if there were villages.”

  “It lies to the north of our home, brother. There is high ground between us. It looks to have plenty of trees.”

  He was right of course and it would be a mistake to make assumptions. “Tomorrow we sail east. We will not have to fight winds. We leave before dawn and we use the winds. Let us reach there before noon. That way we can not only see any smoke we will smell fires if there are people there. We do not have to explore every blade of grass on every island. Our brother just wishes to know if can settle the islands easily or will we have to fight.”

  Our decision to leave early was justified. Not only was the tide in our favour and carried us east quicker, as the sun came up ahead of us, we looked back and saw skrælings on the beach where we had camped. They must have seen our smoke and, as we were so close to them, investigated. It was a warning. The large island loomed up ahead of us and we managed to reach it before noon. We saw no smoke and that was a relief. We also found a sandy beach immediately. We landed and with weapons at the ready headed inland.

  We quickly discovered that this island teemed with game. We found their dung. As we progressed through the forest along their trails, we smelled them. When we heard them, we crept. The wind was in our faces and brought their musky smell to us. The thinning bushes allowed us to get close to them. We spied them and they were a shock. We found that the deer we discovered were different from the Butar deer. These were bigger and had the most solid looking antlers I had ever seen. A boy could have carved one to make a shield! They had a head like a horse. Perhaps they were a type of horse but when I looked, I saw them grazing the trees and bushes as well as shrubs. We named then horse deer.

  I was tempted to hunt them but they looked too big for the three of us and I would not risk Ada’s son. We kept climbing and I was glad that we did for we found the blackened remains of fires. The fires had been lit in the las
t months. We found the remains of butchered animals. There were bones which had been split and the marrow removed. The breaks were clean. A weapon or tool had been used. That put me on my guard. We crossed to the eastern side and found another fire on the beach. The discarded shells were clear evidence that the skrælings used this island. We would light no fire. They might not occupy it all of the time but they visited Horse Deer Island and that was enough. We headed back to our snekke and had a fireless meal.

  Ebbe shook his head. “Those deer were bigger than Odin!”

  He was right. They had been higher in the shoulder and one of the stags we had seen looked to be close to his weight. “One of them would feed the clan for seven days!”

  “Aye Fótr but the fires tell us that skrælings come to this island. The mainland is just a short way to the north. They might not live here but they use it for hunting. We have been lucky thus far and I am glad that we have but one island left. We have valuable information to give to our brother.”

  The next morning, we sailed south towards our island and then took the prevailing wind west to the island which looked to be marginally smaller than our own. It soon became clear that it was considerably smaller than our own. What I had taken for one large island was, in fact, a series of smaller islands around a larger one. Even the larger one was deceptive. There were many small inlets and bays which cut into it. We landed on one of the few beaches we found. We managed to walk across the island in less time than it took to walk from our hall to the cave of the black bear. There was little sign of game trails. If there were animals, they were not the horse deer. We confidently lit a fire. This time our people would know that we were returning. I spied islands to the north of us but there were closer to the ocean and looked to be small. We now knew our world and its boundaries.

  We left at dawn and had to tack against the winds to round the southern tip of Bear Island. I saw boys on the southeastern tip fishing and they waved. They would return to the halls and tell the clan that we were returning. The last mile or so was quicker for we had the wind behind us and the snekke flew. Arne. Snorri and Siggi awaited me on the beach. I could see that they were eager for news.