by Tony Bradman
They spent the rest of the day preparing Kjartan and the ship for their last voyage. Astrid and Ylva had already cleaned the old Viking’s body and combed his grey hair. Now they dressed him in his chain mail and a fine bearskin cloak that they had found in his clothes chest. Then Ottar and some of the men laid him on a wooden bier in the ship’s central gangway, his head aligned with the dragon prow. And finally Finn bent the dead man’s fingers around the hilt of Ingvar’s sword.
All the villagers gathered on the quayside as the sun sank into the dark sea. Ottar had ordered that the captive sea-wolves should be brought to the quayside as well. Finn wondered what he intended to do to them. Egil was convinced that he was going to cut their throats as sacrifices to make Kjartan’s journey easier. Judging by the looks on their faces as they arrived, the prisoners themselves thought they were doomed.
But Ottar ordered that they be freed. ‘Enough blood has been shed,’ he told them. ‘Just leave before I change my mind.’ The sea-wolves did as they were told, and hurried off back through the village.
Then it was time to bid farewell to Kjartan. Finn stood on the quayside with his father and Astrid and Gunnhild, with Egil and Njal nearby, all of them watching as the men in two small boats tied lines to the longship and slowly pulled it out to sea. Eventually the wind caught its sail, and the men threw torches into the piles of kindling that surrounded Kjartan on his bier, then cut the lines so they could row away. Soon flames were leaping high into the dark sky, and a red glow spread across the water like blood.
Such was the tale of Finn, son of Ottar, son of Ingvar.
And now his tale is done.
Historical Note
‘Alba’, where Finn’s story is set, is the Gaelic name for Scotland. In the Viking Age – from the 8th to the 11th centuries – people from Norway founded settlements on the west coast of Scotland and in the islands of the Orkneys and the Hebrides. They called the Hebrides ‘The Southern Isles’, which was logical for them, as they came from the North.
There were chiefs and other important men among the people who founded such settlements, but unlike Ottar they didn’t always get their own way. The great Icelandic ‘Sagas’ describe the way of life in these settlements, and they often mention meetings at which disputes were settled. There are also plenty of strong females in the sagas – the kind of women and girls, like Astrid and Gunnhild, who were always prepared to fight for their families.
Fire was an essential part of Viking funerals. It was said the god Odin had decreed that a Viking should be burned when he died, and his ashes cast into the sea.
Glossary
Alba the Gaelic name for Scotland.
Byrnie a shirt made of chain mail to protect a warrior in battle.
Freya the most important Norse goddess.
Great Ocean the Atlantic.
Knarr a trading ship.
Longship a ship used by warriors.
Odin the main Norse god, leader of all the other gods.
Shield-brother a fellow warrior who fights at your side.
Shield-maiden another word for a Valkyrie (see below).
Shield-wall a tactic used by the Vikings in battle. Warriors linked their shields together to form a defensive wall.
Stockade a wall made of logs with sharpened points, built to surround and protect a village.
Thor a very important Norse god whose weapon was a great hammer called Mjolnir.
Valhalla a hall in Asgard, home of the Norse gods, where brave warriors went after they died in battle.
Valkyries women warriors from Norse legends, sent by Odin to collect warriors who died in battle and bring them to Valhalla.
Vikings Norse warriors, raiders and explorers.
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For more great historical fiction from Bloomsbury, visit www.bloomsbury.com
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First published in 2017 by Bloomsbury Education
This electronic edition published in 2017 by Bloomsbury Education
Copyright © Tony Bradman, 2017
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ISBN
PB: 978-1-4729-2940-2
ePub: 978-1-4729-2941-9
ePDF: 978-1-4729-2942-6
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