Viking's Dawn , livre ebook

Viking's Dawn
by Henry Treece

First published in 1956
This edition published by Rare Treasures
Victoria, BC Canada with branch offices in the Czech Republic and Germany
Trava2909@gmail.com
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VIKING'S DAWN

by
Henry Treece
About This Book
This is the story of a voyage made by a shiploadof Northmen about the year A.D. 780, beforethe regular viking invasions on Britain began. Inthis book the word “viking” means “a sea traveler,”though it can also be taken to imply “adweller along the wicks,” or fjords. “To goa-viking” therefore is to go on a voyage.
Who were the Northmen? It is perhaps wrongof us to think of them as being definitely Norsemenor Danes or Swedes or Finns or Lapps. Atthis stage in their history they had not fully developedthose differences in nationality whichthey have today. Though, of course, there wassome dissimilarity, especially in their folk talesand myths. Horic’s wind-tying, and his trickwith the beetle, both belong to Lapp folklore;while Thorkell’s tale about the vikings who discussedthe afterlife while waiting to be beheadedcomes from a Norse saga.
What manner of men were these Northmen?They are often described as being bloodthirstypirates and nothing else. Yet it is worth notingthat when they had settled in this country theybecame some of its most law-abiding inhabitants.Moreover, their wonderful sagas show that theirliterature was a highly cultivated one; the splendidconstruction of their long ships demonstratestheir intelligence and ingenuity. No doubt they were fierce and reckless; yet it must be rememberedthat they had to face equally fierce andreckless enemies. Had the vikings not possessedsuch qualities, they would not have left theirenduring name on the pages of history as theyhave done.
But why did the Northmen suddenly decideto go a-viking, after centuries of quiet living?Historians have a number of answers to this question.Some say that the Scandinavian countrieswere becoming overpopulated and that the vikingssought new homes. Yet it is a strange thingthat, in the early stages at least, after makingtheir raids, they then returned to their ownhomes. Other scholars say that the vikings weresome of the most independent Northmen, whowished to get away from the new centralizedgovernments that were being set up at home. Stillothers put forward the theory that the Northmenwere carrying on a great battle against Christianity,which was at last threatening to engulfthem. Such experts see the viking invasions asbeing “the last great effort of Odin to limit thedominion of Christ.” Yet, once again, it is worthnoting that when they became Christians, thevikings were only too anxious to spread their newfaith, even to the extent of chopping off theheads of those who would not forsake Odin!
It is all a great enigma. Perhaps those historianswho say that the vikings sailed simply becausethe herring on which they fed had movedto other places are as near as anyone else in solvingthe problem. But what we do know withoutany doubt is that they did sail and, in sailing,created a great sea tradition which we Britishhave inherited from them; for the blood of Aunand Harald and Thorkell runs in our veins too.
This book sets out to tell the story of one ofthe earliest voyages, not one of the great journeys,for it happens before the sea rovers had avery clear idea of the broader world about them.Yet it was a pioneer voyage, and so full of unforeseendangers. It is the tale of one long ship,on one voyage.
In our world, when we are used to big aircraftmaking their daily trips across the Atlantic,month in and month out, we perhaps forgetthose early pioneers who flew ten miles—andthen no more. We admire those prairie schoonersthat passed over the wide spaces, from one sideof America to the other; but do we ever give athought to those wagons—small worlds of woodand canvas to their occupants, like our long ship—whosewheels and shafts lay, bleached likebones among the cactus in the cruel sunlight,after the Indians had fired them?
Nowadays, perhaps too many of us long forimmediate glory. We ignore, and even despise,those who do not quite “make the grade.” Yetthey are often the pioneers, because of whose hardefforts later adventurers find an easier success.Someone must set the ball rolling, whoever scoreswith it afterwards!
Have you ever seen the painting which showsan incident in the boyhood of Raleigh? In it anold sea dog is telling the boy about the adventuresto be met with on the high seas. YoungRaleigh sits, cross-legged and wide-eyed. The oldsailorman passes on his experience to one who willmake a more glorious use of it one day. But who was that old man?
Perhaps, when you have read this, you may seethe importance of Thorkell and the many otherswho went to Valhalla. And perhaps you willunderstand Harald better. I hope so.
H. T.

1

The Hall by the Tarn
Two figures stood in the darkness, a man anda boy. Behind them the pine woods sighed, asthough overcome by a great and unnamable sadness,the melancholy sound made by all ancientforests. As the round moon came from behind abank of cloud, throwing its silver light over therough and rocky land below, the two figurespeered down into the valley beneath them, theirheavy cloaks sweeping away from them in thenight wind that blew toward them from thewoods. A great white sea bird circled above theirheads, crying harshly and pitifully in the moonlight.They shuddered at the sound, looking upin dread. The man’s bearded lips moved silently,as though he spoke a charm against the witchesof the night. The moon slowly withdrew behindthe straggling cloud bank, and for a momentthere was utter darkness once more.
Then suddenly, from the valley, came a surgeof flame, a great red and orange spurting-up oflight. A thick cloud of oily smoke rose above it,into the night air. A flock of birds flew, twitteringup from the valley, to the woods. The twowatchers drew in their breath as the many wingsbeat above them in the darkness.
Now the fire-glow spread and its angry lightflared out over a black tarn nearby, so that theman and boy saw reflected in the somber waterevery shape and hue of the flames.
The man licked his lips and said, “His hallburns well, son. When we laid the logs for him,I did not think we should see such a sending-offfire.”
The boy said, “Such a king as he does not deservea funeral fire like that. A king who has noship to take him to Odin is not worth following.Better a man should go a-viking for himself.”
The man looked angry for a space. Then hesmiled and said, “It would go hard with us oldones if you young cocks ruled the world! Gudrödcould not help being a poor man. There are toomany kings in the land, lad; and not all of themcan be rich men. My choice fell out badly, topledge myself to a poor man, that is all. Yet, nodoubt, Odin will receive Gudröd in Valhalla noless courteously because he sails there in a burninghouse than if he came in a long ship!”
The boy frowned and said, “You served himtoo faithfully, Father. We should have left himbefore the famine came. When his corn failed,we should have gone to the coastwise Norse andlived off fish. The herring never fail.”
Now the fire had reached its height and beganto slacken. The air about the two was filled withthe smell of acrid smoke. Small burnt particlesand ashes fell about them. The man wiped hishand across his forehead. His gold arm ringflashed in the glow. He said, “Who is to know?One day the herring might go away. Then whatwill the fishers do? They will have neither cornnor fish, Harald. How shall a Norseman livethen, think you?”
“He will live on his wits, as Odin meant himto, Father,” said the boy. “There are other landsand other folk who have plenty. The Danes haveplenty, so have the English. Or a man couldvoyage overland and take his bread from theRomans. There is no need to starve, Father.”
Now the blaze below them was sinking to adull glow and the birds were flying back fromthe wood toward the tarn’s dark waters.
The man said, “Life is never sure, Harald.Whichever way a man turns, he thinks he mighthave done better to take the other path.”
The boy frowned and shut his eyes tight, asthough squeezing the sudden tears from them.“If we had left Gudröd sooner, my mother andbrothers might still be alive with us. They wouldnot have died in the famine.”
The man made an impatient movement underhis cloak, almost as though his hand would strikethe boy, but he answered calmly, “Only Odinknows whether that is true, son. We might havelost them in a village-burning if we had gone tothe coast. They might have been chosen as sacrificeswhen the fishing went badly. We do notknow. At least, old Gudröd did not call for sacrifices.That much can be said for him.”
The boy’s voice was bitter. “No, he knewwhich side his bread was buttered. He had so fewfollowers left that he could not afford to lay anyof them on the stones. He might have had to doa hand’s turn himself, if he had done so.”
The man turned away from him, impatiently.“Come, Harald,” he said. “We will make thebest of a bad job and find another lord to follow.”
They made their way toward the dark woods,and only once did they turn back to glance atthe dying embers of Gudröd’s great hall. As thepine trees enfolded them the man said, “Thisway lies the fjord, if the beasts of the forest willlet us pass.”
The boy said, “Better to become the bear’ssupper than to remain the cow’s slave.”
The man smiled grimly, “Who shall say thatbut one who has found himself on the bear’sdish?”
They spoke no more as they pushed past theoverhanging boughs and went into the deepdarkness of the forest.
2

Thorkell Fairhair
The fjord was full of the noise o