Lost Seasons of the Danes - A Viking AAR

[Bullfilter]

No, you're supposed to be tempering your drinking King Þorolfr, not finding more excuses to imbibe.

He’ll end up with a bad case of brewer’s droop!

 

[Chac1]

Thanks for singing the song with us this week @Bullfilter . Glad you seemed to enjoy it. At least a partial chapter is ahead of us, and perhaps our regular readers will enjoy that all the more. However, fair warning: my experiments with rhymes and alliterative verse may be ahead.

 

[jak7139]

Þorolfr and Gerðr need less gossip and songs written about their love life and more time spent together.

How long have they been married at this point?

Could this be even more slander attempts by Ofeig? Or, since that song is so popular, this is someone continuing the trend?

However, fair warning: my experiments with rhymes and alliterative verse may be ahead.

I'm all for more experimentation! Looking forward to it.

 

[Chac1]

Thanks for your support, @jak7139 . Certainly, appreciate your willingness to put up with my experimentation. Not sure others are so onboard. Fingers crossed though.

Þorolfr and Gerðr need less gossip and songs written about their love life and more time spent together.

How long have they been married at this point?

Indeed, they need more time together but the very arrangement of their marriage -- allowing the queen to rule her realm with limited visits --doesn't really accommodate what is necessary.

At this point they have been married for two years or so (as referenced in The Ytra Söguskrá, Part IV).

Interesting to see that readers currently are holding out for obvious solutions regarding the queen when she had been mostly reviled in the past. Could readers be warming up to her?

Could this be even more slander attempts by Ofeig? Or, since that song is so popular, this is someone continuing the trend?

I think there are many possible suspects for who could be behind this popular song. Certainly, Ofeig is one possibility. However, in the past others sought to sow dissent too. Once such critiques seep into the public perception, they are hard to counter. We have no definitive answers from the alt-history that reaches us now. Perhaps the plot will reveal more as we move ahead.

 

[Lord Durham]

I enjoyed the song, though I couldn't help but picture the Knights of the Round Table from Monty Python and the Holy Grail do a song and dance to it .

 

[Chac1]

Thanks for your support @Lord Durham . Just adding a few touches to see how the foibles of the royals can become alehouse entertainment. Yes, I think such satirical songs certainly conjure Monty Python. I am no tunesmith but I doubt the song could be sung to the melody and rhythm of the Python classic below. But who knows?

 

[Chac1]

Appendix B1
The Society of Freyja, Part I
(King Þorolfr’s Partial Reign 791)

Spoiler: Soundtrack: "Freyja: Norse Viking Music" by Marc Jungermann

The full "Lost Seasons of the Danes" Soundtrack can be heard here.

(Women who make up a worship group supported by the Society of Freyja pray at a special alcove dedicated to their special deity at the Temple of Hleiðra, as imagined by Playground AI and Stable Diffusion 1.5 image generator.)

“…and we are especially thankful to the goddesses who watch over us, Freyja and Gefjon. Both bring us prosperity and the fertility necessary for a thriving kingdom,” intoned Kristina, the leader of the Society of Freyja, as she finished the prayers she had led at the Temple of Hleiðra.

“Hail to the goddesses!”

“Hail to the goddesses!” came the reply from the dozen or so women who had gathered with Kristina and her step-daughter Margareta, the Seeress of Denmark, as they dedicated this remodeled alcove in the temple.

“Freyja, hear our prayers. Accept our offerings in this new special place we have built to adore you. Please grace us with your blessings in return,” Seeress Margareta prayed.

“Hail to Freyja!” the women shouted enthusiastically.

A little more than a year after the watershed events at the Great Blót of 790, the remodeling of the temple ordered by King Þorolfr was almost complete. Margareta, Kristina and the king had agreed that a special alcove to Freyja would be created just off the main entrance of the temple. As the main room of the temple already featured a wooden statue carved to honor Freyja, this area would have a large image of the goddess painted on the walls of the temple itself with a modest altar installed for both prayer services like this one and for small sacrifices.

In addition, because of the king’s veneration of Gefjon, the small chapel dedicated to her worship had been painted to include a large image of that goddess added to the walls of that part of the temple.

However, as the temple’s central deity remained Odin, to balance these additions, the king ordered a second side entrance to the main temple worship chamber be created. A small alcove at that entrance would be dedicated to Odin. The painting and reconstruction of that part of the temple was still underway with hopes the remodeling and construction would be finished by the end of the summer of 791 C.E.

Of course, all of these changes were made despite the strong protests lodged by Godi Styrbjörn. However, after he was disgraced after the blót, few took much stock in the godi’s long list of complaints with the king. Margareta and the king both made it clear that if the godi and his attendants did not keep these new areas maintained properly, punishments would follow. Begrudgingly, the godi fell in line.

Because of the familial link between Margareta and Kristina, the Society began taking on more of a role to promote marriage and fertility among the women in the king’s holding and also in the village of Hleiðra through prayer services. This included services hosted jointly by Margareta and her step-mother. Margareta encouraged pregnant women to come in groups to the temple to have themselves blessed. Once she had told the king of this innovation, he strongly endorsed the concept as a way of strengthening the community’s ties to marriage and the practice of the Germanic religion. Women had always come to the temple for such blessings but encouraging such blessings in a group was something different.

Although the king was quite zealous, he left these sessions to Margareta and Kristina to plan and perform. Usually, King Þorolfr’s busy schedule and his various habits, both good and bad, meant he didn’t get involved too much in the details of the matters he delegated to the various leaders in the kingdom. And so began the Society’s influence on Germanic rituals and how women were recruited to the faith. The group of a dozen women who had gathered with Margareta and Kristina for the dedication of Freyja’s alcove were becoming a key central band of women. They started to regularly hold such sessions at the temple, at least monthly and sometimes more frequently. During the summer months, they might gather in the forests around the king’s holding or near the village of Hleiðra. Kristina said this would connect them in stronger ways to the roots of the religion, before temples were used in Denmark, Saxony, and elsewhere.

The godi and his various attendants knew better than to interfere with the increasing power of the Society especially as it was the king’s pet project. They gave the women a wide berth and let them do as they wished in the temple.

Ironically, Godi Styrbjörn had been one of the first to benefit from the creation of the Society. When the king first favored the godi, he asked that Kristina find a wife for him. Godis were far from celibate but many were so dedicated to their spiritual mission and upkeep of their temples that they did not marry. At one time, the king had thought Styrbjörn could raise a family and train his children in the holy ways, so they might all spread the godi’s knowledge and become stronger at converting those non-believers in the growing kingdom of Denmark. He had thought Styrbjörn and his family might have a generational impact on the religion. However, given the godi’s turn toward politics, those ideas were off the table now. But in those earlier days, Kristina had paired Styrbjörn with his new wife Gunnhildr with high hopes. Little did anyone realize that this would activate the godi’s interest in sadomasochistic bedchamber rituals that would inevitably prove his political undoing.

Gunnhildr had actually borne a son to the godi recently. The godi and Gunnhildr had named the boy Styrkar. But as the godi was in disfavor now, the king had no special interest in the progeny of Godi Styrbjörn.

After the ceremony, as Kristina and Margareta mounted their horses outside the temple for the ride back to the king’s holding, the young Seeress saw the godi watching them from around the corner of Hleiðra’s huge feasting hall, in the distance.

“He’s watching us again.”

“Let’s give our stalker a show!”

Kristina chuckled as she made this exclamation while digging her heels into the side of her mount. The horse bucked a bit in surprise and reared up briefly, lifting its forelegs before jumping into a gallop. Margareta spurred her horse onward to catch up. Both women laughed as they rode into the light spring wind, the new April greenery rushing past them until Hleiðra receded behind them and they could no longer detect the godi’s stare.

“His jealousy is so obvious.”

Kristina made this observation once they had slowed their horses to a trot on the muddied road leading towards the king’s holding.

“Why did the godi oppose the creation of the Society?”







Margareta posed the question to take the opportunity of their ride together home to find out more about the politics surrounding the society. As a new Seeress she still sought out Kristina’s knowledge and advice when she could although both her new position and what the society had imposed upon her still created awkward moments.

“At first, he was supportive. He was a beneficiary of our good matchmaking work. And now he has a son to show off as part of our good work.”

Kristina smiled with a bit of pride. She cocked her head to one side and admired the scenery, as spring was starting to bloom forth in the fields on either side of the road. She spied some daffodils by the roadside just starting to bloom. She could smell the scent of cherry blossoms on the light breeze. She was enjoying this ride and a chance to instruct Margareta. The warm horse under her and the rolling nature of the horse’s trot made the mid-day ride all the more enjoyable. With one of her hands she stroked the side of the horse gently as she talked.

“His opposition came as he began plotting against the king, and he would find ways to strike out at us too. But no longer, thankfully.”

“I had heard that the godi thought we should be named to honor Frigg, because House Skjöldung is descended from Odin and any important institution should be built around reverence to the All-Father. So the Society should take his wife’s name as part of that adoration of Odin.”

“Yes, well, there is some logic to that argument.”

Kristina had chuckled again, but this time her tone shifted to one of sarcasm, then into seriousness.

“But isn’t that a very typical way for a male godi to see the spiritual cosmos as centered around the all-knowing male god? Frigg is certainly beautiful and is the goddess of motherhood, but she is subservient, ultimately to Odin. Yet Freyja can arguably be seen to be Odin’s equal. Doesn’t she, like Odin, have a feasting hall for the afterlife? No others have such a place unless you include Hel in the discussion. What other god, besides Odin, rules over so much? Freyja affects love, fertility, battle, and the afterlife. Like Frigg, she can divine future events. But Freyja also is the originator of seiðr. Indeed, she taught this skill to Odin. We are named for her because I like to think that the work we do produces a certain magic, although not as powerful as seiðr. It certainly lays the groundwork for the future at the very foundation, in the breeding of our leaders for greater prosperity.”

(The goddess Freyja directs her forest cats, Bygul and Trjegul, to pull her chariot in this illustration by Alexander Murray published in 1865. The image is in the public domain.)

Margareta nodded her head, listening intently and trying to soak in some of the reasoning behind Kristina’s perspective.

“Does this mean that the Society believes in the way of the völva? That you will wield seiðr to gain the best results?”

Margareta asked this, hoping to learn more about the philosophy of what drove this new institution.

“I am no völva and there is no magic in how we make our matches.”

Kristina said this firmly.

“Have you ever seen me practicing such methods?”

Margareta shook her head.

“But I have wondered that perhaps I should learn those ways. It might make me a better and more powerful Seeress.”

“Well, I cannot be your mentor there, I’m sorry to say.”

Kristina smiled knowingly.

“Although some would argue that I too would be better at what I do if I had the power of seiðr assisting me. Our power comes from our faith that Freyja will provide.”

“Sometimes I wonder if Freyja will truly answer my prayers.”

Margareta confessed this and cast her eyes downward to the road rather than look at her step-mother for a reaction.

“It’s alright, Margareta. You are new to this work. It is normal to have doubts. You can trust me. Share and we will pray together for Freyja’s intervention.”

“Freyja can’t undo what you and my father have already done.”

“Oh, so this is about your marriage again. I had hoped you would be over that by now. Six months later, I would have hoped we’d be discussing when a grandchild is coming, especially because your father doesn’t have much time left.”

“I would prefer not to discuss my marriage in detail with you. That is between me and Hinrik, although you are the person who imposed him on me.”

Margareta said this with anger rising in her voice.

“Well, you are the one who brought this up.”

Disappointment crept into Kristina’s voice as she shook her head.

“I was hoping we could have a nice close chat like the old days on our ride home. Not just religion and politics. Freyja would want us to be close again and Freyja wanted you married too.”

“Somehow, I think that is all your doing, with a push from father. I am the Seeress of Denmark. I should have had more say in my own affairs.”

“Give Hinrik some time and patience. You will see the wisdom in the match.”

“I will listen to your wisdom on the things you truly know, but you will never know my heart. That is closed to you.”

With that Margareta spurred her horse and galloped forward on the road, her robes flapping in wind as she and her steed gained speed. Great clods of mud trailed in her wake as she sped off while Kristina reigned her own horse to a stop for a moment. She hung her head.

“Teenagers! So unpredictable! Just when you think you are making progress their emotions kick in from an unexpected direction. Well, she will just have to navigate a bit on her own and learn the hard way, I suppose.”

Kristina muttered this to herself and shook her head as she guided her horse to once again begin trotting westward toward the king’s holding as Margareta and her horse disappeared in the distance ahead of her.

Spoiler: Image Credits

(The images included in this chapter are all from accounts linked to @Chac1 where he holds the copyright. They are primarily from Playground AI, but some are from Bing, including the Lost Seasons of the Danes logo. The LunaPic image editor was used to alter some images.)

(Lost Seasons of the Danes will return.)

​

ᛚᛟᛋᛏ ᛋᛖᚨᛋᛟᚾᛋ ᛟᚠ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛞᚨᚾᛖᛋ​

 

[StrategyGameEnthusiast]

Will praying to Freyja help House Skjoldung solve their fertility problems? I'm not so sure.

Magni may end up being King, but that isn't the worst-case scenario (for future historians looking back on the potential succession crisis that is) - in the original CK2 A2Z during that long period between when I stopped posting about the goings on in Afghanistan and the 2024 post, there was nearly a succession crisis in the early 1700s because the Shah had 8 daughters and no sons, and was the only son of the previous Shah, so I had to marry off his two eldest daughters to their great-uncles to secure the succession (the elder of the two - daughters and great-uncles - was the patrilineal ancestor of the Shah in 2024).

 

[jak7139]

But Freyja also is the originator of seiðr. Indeed, she taught this skill to Odin.

Seiðr? What is that, some form of magic?

It's ironic that even the highest ranking members of the Society of Freyja have problems with love and marriage.

If Kristina wants a grandchild so much, she must know that Margareta's unhappy, arranged, marriage won't help. Do we know why Margareta's parents chose Hinrik for her? Margareta's the cousin of the King, surely she could've found any number of husbands.

I wonder who Margareta's ideal husband would be. Someone who doesn't share her affections? Someone above her station? Or is she, to quote CK2, "A bit queer?"

 

[Chac1]

Thanks to you both @StrategyGameEnthusiast and @jak7139 for your support, along with excellent comments and questions.

Will praying to Freyja help House Skjoldung solve their fertility problems? I'm not so sure.

Personally, I have my doubts too. But it truly was what people believed at the time.

Now, see what you've started! The young Seeress will likely be chanting this for an unnervingly long time, even if fertility is not the problem she wants solved.

Magni may end up being King, but that isn't the worst-case scenario (for future historians looking back on the potential succession crisis that is) - in the original CK2 A2Z during that long period between when I stopped posting about the goings on in Afghanistan and the 2024 post, there was nearly a succession crisis in the early 1700s because the Shah had 8 daughters and no sons, and was the only son of the previous Shah, so I had to marry off his two eldest daughters to their great-uncles to secure the succession (the elder of the two - daughters and great-uncles - was the patrilineal ancestor of the Shah in 2024).

Magni being king one way or another is certainly not what his brother wants.

But you are correct. There could be worse problems with succession. Too bad your AAR ended prematurely so you could not tell this tale. One might argue in this story though that if their were women in the line of succession that might be an improvement over the few male candidates the council of chiefs considers.

Seiðr? What is that, some form of magic?

It is magic. That's the Norse term and likely we will be discussing it from time to time leading forward for various reasons. Just inserting it in the narrative now so there aren't surprises later.

It's ironic that even the highest ranking members of the Society of Freyja have problems with love and marriage.

Glad you caught the undercurrent of irony in this installment. Sometimes there's more irony here than you might notice at the surface layer.

If Kristina wants a grandchild so much, she must know that Margareta's unhappy, arranged, marriage won't help. Do we know why Margareta's parents chose Hinrik for her? Margareta's the cousin of the King, surely she could've found any number of husbands.

Well, yes, she could have found many husbands, but her parents wanted her to have a matrilineal marriage which limited the prospects. (As the player, I also wanted Margareta's positive stats passed down to someone in her house.) Hinrik has many skills, along with being multilingual. But Margareta has various reasons for rejecting him, perhaps including her own maturity at this stage.

You say you do, but do you really, young Seeress?

I wonder who Margareta's ideal husband would be. Someone who doesn't share her affections? Someone above her station? Or is she, to quote CK2, "A bit queer?"

More on Margareta's interests will be explored in coming chapters. However, you are exactly right, Jak, about her real interests being "a bit queer." It has been a long time ago in real time, but when she was introduced during the Great Blöt of 790, you might recall the king remembered how he had found her in the stables kissing a serving girl.

(I see that was 13 months ago in real time. So sometimes difficult for readers to remember these details, especially with emerging characters. It is the trouble of a rambling AAR like this one and its irregular posting especially in recent months.)

If Margareta had her druthers she probably would have preferred no marriage, at all.

Thanks again to you both. Hoping life outside the forum let's me post next week so we can try to stay on a better schedule.

The king and I wish you all the best... as next time we hope to delve into more history, lore, and a bit of a flashback.

 

[HistoryDude]

That song was hilarious. What would happen if the king only had illegitimate children? Would he legitimize one to rule Denmark?

I liked this update focusing on the society. Will the more female-centric aspects that they encourage the Norse faithful to practice cause a schism with Norse priests in realms outside of Denmark?

Is there anyone who claims to know seidr in Denmark's dominions?

 

[Chac1]

Good to see you back in these pages again @HistoryDude . Always appreciate your good questions and comments.

Whether you realize it or not, the entire Appendix B of this work has grown (well, it is just getting started, but more will follow...) from your questions posted more than a year ago after Chapter IX. At the time I hadn't planned to explain the inner workings of the Society of Freyja (yes, an entirely fictional concept), but here we are. So thanks for the inspiration.

That song was hilarious. What would happen if the king only had illegitimate children? Would he legitimize one to rule Denmark?

Glad you liked the song. I will no doubt want to experiment with more songs, but I'm learning too many songs and poems may be too much for the regular readers, so I will learn to put them out in a less concentrated fashion in the future.

If the king managed to have an illegitimate child no doubt he'd consider legitimizing that child. However, the king's primary problem is procreating and he is hemmed in by the fact he doesn't want to replicate his father's practice of sowing oats all over the kingdom. The king is lucky he doesn't have more half-brothers and half-sisters.

Oops, now I've raised the young king with all this talk of half-siblings. Best move on to other topics.

I liked this update focusing on the society. Will the more female-centric aspects that they encourage the Norse faithful to practice cause a schism with Norse priests in realms outside of Denmark?

Interesting concept. Maybe it will take me another 14 months to get around to answering that one.
All I can say now is I hadn't seen that coming, but who knows what other great plot wrinkles you will inspire?

Is there anyone who claims to know seidr in Denmark's dominions?

In the current storyline, no. However, we will be meeting some characters in the future who certainly have an interest in seiðr. Hopefully, it won't take a year or more to introduce them. I expect one to surface early in the new year if the writing plans hold.

Thanks for the inspiration and great questions.

 

[Chac1]

Chapter XXI
The Legend of Hrafn Ytra
(King Þorolfr’s Partial Reign 791)

Spoiler: "Ulfheðnar" by Danheim

The full "Lost Seasons of the Danes" Soundtrack can be heard here.

(A Norse tapestry shows the legendary warrior, Hrafn Ytra, in battle. This image was created with the DALL·E image generator provided via Bing, with some editing provided via Microsoft’s digital editor Designer and with additional manual edits.)

During the thaw of 791 C.E., after the surrender of Sygnafylki in Noregr (Norway) and its incorporation into the wider Kingdom of Denmark, King Þorolfr decided it was time to settle accounts with Hrafn Ytra. Hrafn was the Steward of Sygnafylki, but he was more widely known as a great warrior who had gone head to head against three generations of kings from House Skjöldung. Now that Hrafn was officially a part of the kingdom and had sworn an allegiance to Þorolfr, the king decided that it was time to bury whatever enmities existed between his house and House Ytra. The king felt the gods had been sending him a message. Not only was Hrafn a worthy opponent who had fought back against the larger forces of the Danes, giving as good as he got, but as a plucky underdog he had gained wide fame for his exploits. Þorolfr wanted Hrafn on the side of House Skjöldung going forward and not giving it further problems.

Given the king’s predilection toward revenge, this was an unexpected turn. But the king had other battles to fight, and other foes to vanquish. And usually Hrafn was not the one starting the various fights he had been involved in with House Skjöldung. The king felt the message from the gods was clear: make peace with Hrafn.

Or it could be, the king saw his loss to Hrafn at the now infamous flyting as the final insult. Best to surrender now and make an ally of Hrafn, or who knows what other problems the warrior might cause the next generation of Skjöldungs to ascend to the throne?

Whatever the king’s reasoning – reasoning that was often muddled by all the wine he consumed – soon after the thaw, Hrafn received a messenger from the capital. The messenger relayed that the king wanted Hrafn’s permission to have the Society of Freyja send him a new wife.

Hrafn was taken aback by this offer. He realized the king was indeed looking to heal an old wound and in a way repay a debt incurred by the king’s father, King Hrœrekr II; a debt that was more than 16 years old. This was a debt that went back to when the Danes had wrested Hordaland from his grasp.

Hrafn had ascended to the title of Chieftain of Hordaland when he was 20-years-old, upon the death of his father, Þorsteinn. At first, he thought he was safe from the Danes and their quest for new lands. Although Hordaland bordered two of the provinces the Danes had subjugated in Noregr (Norway), a huge mountain range formed the borders of the frontier of his land with the captured Danish provinces. The Danes would never be able to march an army over those mountains. This was also a time when the Danish fleet was much smaller. Hrafn felt his holding was fortified against raids and the Danish fleet was too small to bring an army large enough to siege and conquer his lands.

But when Þorolfr’s grandfather, King Harald “Wartooth,” subjugated Rygjafylki on Hordaland’s southern border in 770 C.E., Hrafn could see the Danes planned to roll northward up Noregr’s western shore, and his province was the next domino to fall. He began preparing his defenses anew, but he had no real concept for the powerful force the Danes could bring when focused.

Three years later, The Wartooth returned his gaze to Noregr, personally leading raids on Hrafn’s capital holding. The Danes ravished the settlement, burning many buildings, and although Hrafn and his people fought bravely, the Danes captured many women, including Hrafn’s wife, Alfhildr. Although Hordaland, like much of Noregr, was a poor land, Hrafn did still have some gold after the Danish raid. He gave a third of his treasure to the Danes to negotiate the release of his wife and many of the other women.

Hrafn was devoted to his wife and would do anything necessary to have her returned.

When he was chieftain, Hrafn’s father, Þorsteinn, had arranged Alfhildr and Hrafn’s marriage although he was unsure how it would work out at the beginning. Later, he was glad the two had fallen in love with each other, and had the makings of a loving family. Few knew that Alfhildr was part of an arrangement to acquire the sacred warhammer Mjölnir.

When Hrafn was still a teenager, Chief Þorsteinn had hiked into the mountains to find a band of smiths who were renowned for their craftsmanship. All of these smiths had the dwarfism trait, and many believed the weapons they manufactured were enchanted. Chief Þorsteinn wanted to see if these smiths could make him an enchanted sword. What better way to fight off his enemies?

“We’ve got something better than making you an enchanted sword,” boasted Idar, Alfhildr’s father. “We have Thor’s hammer, the mighty Mjölnir.”

(The mighty Mjölnir warhammer as imagined by Playground and the Stable Diffusion XL image generator, with further manual edits.)

The hammer was swaddled in a cloth on a workbench and the dwarf unwrapped it with care, displaying it for the chieftain. The hammer had two thick heads with a crest in the middle where the heads met, and a thick metal stem wrapped in leather to improve the grip. Various runic symbols were embossed on the sides of the hammer’s heads. The hammer weighed 12 modern pounds, quite a heavy armament, and only possible for the very best warriors to wield. To use it properly, would take two hands on the long handle, and the warrior would need to fight without a shield.

“You mean you have made a replica of Thor’s hammer,” Chieftain Þorsteinn scoffed. “I wasn’t born yesterday. You may have learned the enchanted dwarvish ways, but I can’t believe the Thunder God has just left his hammer here for you to keep. Or worse, for you to sell.”

“Well, it’s all in what you want to believe then isn’t it.”
Idar winked at the chieftain.

“Believe what you will. Or not. More importantly though, what will the people of Hordaland believe? What will your enemies believe? Belief is powerful. It is the hidden power of the gods. Perhaps it is a facsimile. Perhaps not. Perhaps my family eons ago crafted this hammer for Thor. Perhaps not. But you purchase the potential of belief when you buy this hammer. That certainly is magical, is it not?”

“May I touch it?”

“Pick it up. Wield it as if you are in battle. Try it.”

Þorsteinn touched the warhammer tentatively. He felt nothing magical, just cold metal at the head and soft leather on the handle’s grip. Then he hefted it off the worktable and swung it a few times with his hands tightly gripped on the handle.

“So heavy. I’m not sure I’m in the right shape for this weapon. It is built for a younger man with more muscle.”

“It is built for a god.”
Idar chuckled.

The chieftain joined him in chuckling.

“It seems almost impractical. I’m sure it could kill a man with one blow given the right placement. But how many times could you swing that behemoth in battle. How much does it weigh?”

“One pound or 24 marks.”

“Even the mightiest sword weighs just 16 marks. Perhaps this is beyond me.”

“It was made for a god, so only the mightiest and worthiest may wield it.”

“How much do you want for it?”

“A pound and a half in gold.”
Idar's tone was firm.

“So worth more than its weight in gold?”
Þorsteinn asked this skeptically.

“As I have said, made for a god, so this is a bargain.”

“I don’t know.”
Þorsteinn shook his head.

“I am a believer but I am not sure I can believe you have the true sacred hammer here. Maybe we should go back to discussing a heavy sword?”

“If you wish.”
Idar bowed a bit.

“However, I am in a position to offer you a special deal.”

“Why did I suspect you’d say that?”
Þorsteinn asked this cynically, narrowing his eyes at Idar.

“Suspect all you want, but you will never find a more finely crafted war hammer, nor will you find one that comes with the enchantments, real or imagined, attached to it like this one. What will your people say when you come back from the mountains with Mjölnir? You can tell them any tale you like. You can even say Thor gave it to you personally for your honorable deeds.”

“That’s not a deal.”
The chieftain growled.

“That’s just more rambling sales pitch.”

“The bargain is this....”
Idar's tone grew quite serious.

“Wed your son to my daughter and I will cut the price in half. It will cost just 18 marks of gold.”

Idar had always dreamed of having his low-born family with dwarfism married into a royal family that did not exhibit the trait. Chief Þorsteinn recognized a good deal when he saw it, although marrying his son into this mysterious clan of smiths did raise doubts. Nevertheless, he saw the potential of the warhammer, real or not, and the deal was struck.

So Hrafn was married to Alfhildr when he was 18-years-old and she had reached only 15 years of age, of course looking much younger due to her height. But they soon grew into a loving couple, and Þorsteinn’s concerns abated.

As for the warhammer, Þorsteinn was vague about its origins when asked and the naturally superstitious people of his settlement did the rest, with rumors that the chieftain had gone into the mountains and found the weapon at a sacred but secret spring favored by the gods. However, the chieftain discovered the weapon was nearly impossible for him to use. But for Hrafn, who was young, and heavily muscled, the hammer was perfect. He had the stamina and build for it being a warrior of over six feet with broad shoulders. He sent more than a few Danes to the afterlife during that first raid by the Wartooth; they were smashed by the mighty warhammer, their skulls crushed by Hrafn’s forceful blows.

Hrafn was the superior warrior with his majestic warhammer. No Dane could beat him in one-on-one combat. But he couldn’t protect his holding against the sheer weight of The Wartooth’s forces. And he hadn’t been able to protect his wife either. The Danes dragged her off while Hrafn was fighting off three attackers simultaneously.

After the raid, Hrafn and his people did their best to repair what they could. They raised the gold necessary to ransom Alfhildr and others. But the devastation the Danes had wrought was too much. When The Wartooth and his armies returned after the thaw of 774 C.E., it was only a matter of time before the holding would fall, despite having a new and sturdier wooden wall.

One evening at dusk, Hrafn had been pacing on the walkway at the top of the wall, and surveying the Danish siege works being assembled around his settlement. He was carrying the warhammer as he often did, practicing holding its weight so he was ever better in battle. That was the evening The Wartooth had come to the walls, out of range of Hrafn’s archers, to lay further plans for the siege. And that was the evening The Wartooth collapsed and died at the age of 84.

From that unexpected death arose the poem that Hrafn’s enchanted warhammer had slain the Danish Viking king and a sense that Hrafn was favored by the gods, even if he was not always victorious. Looking for heroes as they fought to maintain their independence, many Norwegians turned to the poems and stories about Hrafn for encouragement. Of course, the detail that Hrafn wielded a mighty enchanted warhammer once owned by Thor helped make the tales more entertaining. The Norwegians saw The Wartooth’s death as justice for his bloody raids and for his kidnapping of Alfhildr.

Many Norwegians chose to ignore the inconvenient fact that King Hrœrekr II began his reign with the conquering of Hordaland, a victory over Hrafn. Hrœrekr captured Alfhildr, sending her once again back to a Danish jail, and this time she was joined by her year-old son Þorsteinn, who had been named in honor of his now-deceased grandfather. Hrafn eluded the Danes as his holding fell. He fled north to the frontier and the next independent Norwegian province of Sygnafylki.

At a blót in 775 C.E., just nine months after she was captured, Alfhildr would be sacrificed. Hrœrekr had approved her execution as part of the blood rituals of that event. The young Þorsteinn Ytra would be moved out of house arrest, now that his mother was gone, and he would grow up as a ward of House Skjöldung, raised as a Dane in Sjælland.

The Danes had taken almost everything from Hrafn: his wife; his child; and his land. All he had left were his supposedly enchanted warhammer, his honor, and his reputation.

This was the debt King Þorolfr was attempting to pay, by offering Hrafn a new wife, more than 16 years after House Skjöldung made Hrafn a widower.

Welcomed as a hero in Sygnafylki, despite his defeat, Hrafn became a renowned berserker warrior on raids for Sygnafylki and in defense of that province. The Norwegians in Sygnafylki were glad to have one of the most renowned warriors of the era fighting to defend their province. Raising the mighty Mjölnir above his head before battle, his face painted with blood-red runes, Hrafn struck fear into the hearts of those who opposed him. He became an accepted and welcome member of the Ulfheðnar, the warrior wolf clan of berserkers. Not only was he deadly with his warhammer, but he became an expert duelist with either an axe or a sword. Once he was appointed as the Steward of Sygnafylki, he also would travel to find gatherings of Ulfheðnar so he might recruit those who would fight for an independent Noregr.

On a few rare occasions, Hrafn actually dared to travel to Sjælland, slipping into the Danish capital to drink and dine with the Ulfheðnar. At one such occasion he had been lucky enough to reunite with his son, who, of course, had no recollection of his father. The two were brought together through the generosity of Chief Tryggve “the Moaner” Flod of Burgundaholmr. As luck would have it, the young Þorsteinn served as Tryggve’s squire. Tryggve’s motives for sponsoring this reunification were not completely altruistic though. The court skald wanted to study and plumb the famous warrior’s personality, as Tryggve sought inspiration for a series of poems about the Norwegian hero.

Although he was not lulled into complacency as some might be, Hrafn hoped this uneasy peace between his corner of Noregr and the Danes might go on for a while so he might return to the capital and start to build a stronger acquaintance with his son, who reminded the former warrior chieftain of his long departed wife, Alfhildr.

But it was not to be.

A dozen years after Hordaland fell, Danish raiding ships were spotted off the coast of Sygnafylki. Hrafn was among the leaders of the holding who organized the defenses. But again the Danes overwhelmed the defenses with their numbers. Again Hrafn fought valiantly, killing many of the raiders. But just as he dispatched one, three more would appear. And this time one of the raiders who charged at Hrafn was someone equally legendary: the menacing Jarl Sigurd “Ring” af Munsö of Finland, the leader of the Danish raid.

The two fought an epic duel, with Sigurd ducking and dodging the arcing swings of Mjölnir. Hrafn swung the hammer fiercely and tirelessly, keeping Sigurd at bay. Hrafn did manage to crumple and dent the blade of Sigurd’s battleaxe as the two fought. Finally, in a deft move, Sigurd looked like he was going to discard the axe in exchange for a long hunting knife on his belt. While the jarl looked to be exchanging weapons, Hrafn committed to a mighty swing of the warhammer, but Sigurd spun, exposing his back momentarily and instead of dropping his axe, twirled it. He was now holding the axe near its head and he used the handle to club Hrafn in the skull. He hadn’t killed the Norwegian hero, but he had knocked him out. Instead of killing Hrafn, Sigurd stole the warhammer and brought it to King Hrœrekr. For the Danes, this was seen as justice after The Wartooth’s death. Some still believed Hrafn had engineered that death magically with his enchanted warhammer.

After the raid, Hrafn was not bitter, only chastened. Now, the Danes had truly taken all of his material possessions from him during a succession of raids and invasions. Yet his fame for opposing them grew, just as he dug in to advise the council in Sygnafylki on how they should rebuild and rearm to fend off the seemingly inevitable return of the Danes for further conquest.

Three years would pass, and the Danes did return as expected, this time with King Þorolfr at the helm of the vanguard ship in the raiding fleet. They came not to conquer but to plunder. (Court skald Tryggve even wrote a memorable poem about the raid.) To add insult to injury, there was Þorolfr barking orders and pointing his raiders to where to assault Sygnafylki’s main holding, and, of course, he was wielding Mjölnir. Hrafn tried mightily to fight his way toward the king but he could never get close. Again, wave after wave of the Danish raiders cascaded into the holding, overwhelming the defenses. Hrafn had to fight for his life and to defend the settlement. Those were his immediate priorities. Recapturing the warhammer never became a real possibility, although seeing it in the king’s hands certainly evoked an emotional response from Hrafn, as it was so tantalizingly close. He fought with brutal rage that day and still it was not enough.

(An illustration many years later of King Þorolfr wielding the heavy warhammer called Mjölnir with one hand during his raid on Sygnafylki, as imagined by ithe DALL·E image generator provided via Bing.)

During that raid, the Danes kidnapped many women from the holding, which was ruled by the young Chief Bo af Raumsdalr, who was all of 16 years old. Those taken included: Chief Bo’s pregnant wife Dorata, who was also just 16; his brothers, Þrándr and Hjalmar; his sister Grima; and his mother Katarina. For Katarina and Grima, this was the second time they had been captured by the Danes. They were kidnapped by Jarl Sigurd during his raid in 785 C.E.

In the end, Hrafn fought shoulder to shoulder with Chief Bo, defending the young chieftain both from death and capture. But they could not save the chief’s family from being taken. Eventually, the men had to retreat out of the holding as the Danes ransacked and burned what the Norwegians had built up over the previous three years. Chief Bo would empty what was left in his small treasury to get back his family, but in the end he ran out of gold before he could negotiate the return of his mother. King Þorolfr sacrificed her to the gods on the first day of the Great Blót of 790.

The news of Katarina’s death sent Chief Bo into a deep depression. He was not sure how much more he and his holding could endure of these cycles of cataclysmic Danish raids. But Hrafn was forged from sturdier metal. He had endured most of his adult life, fending off Danish raiders and armies. He had become a symbol for Norwegian independence, and he embraced that image of himself. In his heart, Hrafn believed his life’s mission was to oppose the Danes and fight for Noregr. He urged the young chieftain not to dismay but to rebuild and prepare for another onslaught.

So when King Þorolfr confronted Hrafn as a “visiting foreigner” at the meeting of the Ulfheðnar, in September of 790, Hrafn was ready with a verbal response. This was a response honed by decades of Danish assaults, the raids of three kings from House Skjöldung, and great personal loss. Who knew this verbal confrontation – the flyting – would become so famous, a moment captured in Norse poetry and song? On that evening, Hrafn’s tongue was better than a blade, better than Mjölnir, better than any enchanted weapon. Who knew the flyting between the king and the legendary warrior would wound the king so gravely? Who knew the legendary warrior, the eternal underdog, the symbol of Norwegian independence would win a battle with mere words?

But what followed was more surprising.

Hrafn made peace with the king. He did not need to boast of his own victory and laud it over the monarch in public. No, he invited Þorolfr to drink, dine, and talk. Despite the king’s embarrassment, Hrafn showed his own nobility in how he treated the king after his victory. Smartly, Hrafn realized he had won a victory in his enemy’s capital, but once he was out of the alehouse, who knew how far Hrafn’s immunity as a member of the Ulfheðnar would last? Both Hrafn’s sense of fair play and self-preservation gave him the strategy to smooth over the king’s loss after the flyting.

Þorolfr was moved by the man’s humanity and sense of fairness. He did not know all the details of the woe his family had brought on Hrafn but he made a point to search out young General Þorsteinn Ytra, Hrafn’s son, to learn more about the legendary warrior. And after months of ruminating about what he could do to set some of the balance right, the king decided sending Hrafn a new wife might start to make up for what the man had endured.

Of course, by the time the king had come to his decision, the situation had changed somewhat. Chief Bo took the opportunity to surrender to the Danes when he was approached by Chief Emund av Alfheim, the Chancellor of Denmark, about the possibility of becoming a vassal state to the Danes. Even though Hrafn advised against surrender, he understood Chief Bo’s reasoning that he did not want to be the sole Norwegian province left standing opposing the Danes. And so, as an important new subject of the king, and a “house in crisis,” wasn’t House Ytra due support from the king and the Society of Freyja? No one mentioned, when around the king, about how the rulers of House Skjöldung had systematically put House Ytra in crisis through their lust for more land and gold, but people who knew the stories certainly discussed it, especially in Noregr. At least now, King Þorolfr was pursuing the just path and offering Hrafn a new wife.

Surprised by the king’s offer, Hrafn decided the best course was to agree. And so, six weeks after the thaw in 791 C.E., the Steward of Sygnafylki, the legendary warrior Hrafn Ytra met and was wed to a Danish commoner, the 18-year-old Edla. No one said anything about the 30 year age gap between Hrafn and Edla, or whether Edla might be a more appropriate match for Hrafn’s teenage son, Þorsteinn. Their marriage was more than an attempt at a debt repaid, but the symbolic joining of a Norwegian royal house to a Dane. This bit of politics did not escape either the king or Hrafn, but the Norwegian freedom fighter was fine with the outcome. Now, as a Danish subject, he was rebuilding his house. Within a year, he’d have a new daughter, Rikissa, with hopes of more children to come. And as time passed, Hrafn’s struggles of the past receded and he embraced his new family and his more comfortable life as part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Spoiler: Image Credits

(The images included in this chapter are all from accounts linked to @Chac1 where he holds the copyright. They are primarily from Playground AI, but some are from Bing, including the Lost Seasons of the Danes logo. The LunaPic image editor was used to alter some images.)

(Lost Seasons of the Danes will return in a week or so.)

ᛚᛟᛋᛏ ᛋᛖᚨᛋᛟᚾᛋ ᛟᚠ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛞᚨᚾᛖᛋ​

 

[StrategyGameEnthusiast]

Hrafn lost everything to the Danes, yet he was willing to forgive them. Will future Norwegian freedom fighters see him as a traitor?

 

[Chac1]

Hrafn lost everything to the Danes, yet he was willing to forgive them. Will future Norwegian freedom fighters see him as a traitor?

Excellent question, @StrategyGameEnthusiast . (And by the way, thanks for reading and for the question.)

It may be a bit too subtle, but at this stage Norway has been completely consumed by the Danes. There are no more independent provinces in Noregr (Norway). So I would say Hrafn was just being practical. He was still holding out to fight when everyone else surrendered.

I suppose he could strike out for Lapland and see what fortunes await him. But at this point he is middle aged. Maybe it is time to settle down. Being at peace with the Danes might also allow him to see his son without fear of reprisals.

 

[Lord Durham]

Thus is the tale of 'Hard Luck Hrafn'. At least he finds peace, or is there more to the story...

 

[jak7139]

I'm glad Hrafn was able to find some peace with his new family. I loved how this part referenced earlier chapters like with Katarina at the blot and Þorsteinn Ytra (who was barely even mentioned back then). It ties everything together nicely.

It's also nice to see that Þorolfr's increased drinking didn't harm his diplomatic attempts this time. But he shouldn't take that as a sign to continue imbibing.

The art pieces this time were cool too. Did Idar join Hrafn's household too?

 

[Chac1]

Thanks @Lord Durham & @jak7139 for your continued support and good questions.

I'm glad Hrafn was able to find some peace with his new family. I loved how this part referenced earlier chapters like with Katarina at the blot and Þorsteinn Ytra (who was barely even mentioned back then). It ties everything together nicely.

Well, Jak, you are one of the folks who asked for these threads to be connected. So here we are.

It's also nice to see that Þorolfr's increased drinking didn't harm his diplomatic attempts this time. But he shouldn't take that as a sign to continue imbibing.

The king's consumption will continue to be an issue.

He's called the King of Mead for a reason.

The art pieces this time were cool too. Did Idar join Hrafn's household too?

Thanks for the compliment. Always working on the art.

As for Idar, in my mind, he stayed in the village of dwarves in the Norwegian mountains.

Thus is the tale of 'Hard Luck Hrafn'. At least he finds peace, or is there more to the story...

That's a good nickname, LD, for someone who doesn't have one.

One might argue Hrafn is worthy of an AAR for himself. Part of the reason I went down this path is various readers seemed more interested in the perspective of the Danes as the evil aggressors. So I thought that was worth exploring. Another reason is that so many of the details in this chapter were sitting there in the game. They just needed a story to link them all. A third reason was to tell the tale of Mjölnir, which I had cut out of earlier chapters. Readers seemed interested in that too. A character that interacts with three generations of kings is quite unusual. I wanted to explore that.

To answer the question, I have a few more rhyming experiments about "Hard Luck Hrafn" that I want to share (although maybe folks are tired of those). They don't advance his story much but they do help pass the legend down to our times. Also, they might answer the question posed by @StrategyGameEnthusiast about Hrafn's legacy.

I have actually played the game about 120 years into the future of this timeline and House Ytra becomes quite interesting. So perhaps I am just establishing the necessary lore for that. As usual, I have far too many character ideas and not enough time to realize them.

Chief Þorsteinn Ytra gets the last word, until we rejoin the Ytra story next week....

 

[Chac1]

Poetic Interlude:
The Ytra Söguskrá, Part V

Spoiler: Soundtrack: "Frigg: The Wedding Dance" by Daniel Peter (Squdis or Squids)

The full "Lost Seasons of the Danes" Soundtrack can be heard here.

(Legendary Norse warrior Hrafn Ytra as imagined by the DALL·E 3 image generator. This image was created with the assistance of Bing’s new Copilot AI, with some edits completed using Microsoft’s Designer digital editor, and others completed manually.)
(Editorial Context: Previously, we have shared about the academic controversy concerning the Ytra Söguskrá promoted by the research of Prof. Ragi Rickonson of Copenhagen Private College. However, the discovery of this fifth part of the poetic Saga in an Icelandic archive shook the very small world of experts into ancient Norse literature to its core. Those who had aligned their research with what few historic markers existed from the 8th Century noted that it was highly unlikely this series of poems drew upon the work of Norse skald Chief Tryggve Flod of Burgundaholmr because their evidence pointed to the fact that Chief Tryggve had died prior to the rapprochement between Hrafn Ytra and King Þorolfr of Denmark. However, other experts say the historic record is too murky to pinpoint exactly when Tryggve died. Prof. Rickonson was notably silent on the matter. This seemed to give further fuel to the arguments of many academics that the poetic series was an elaborate hoax. However, others took a more nuanced approach, noting that many Norse literary pieces were actually assembled over many centuries by various authors, and often those authors remained anonymous. They called this an ancient form of crowd sourcing literary works, and they added this is an accepted form of artistic creation in music and other fields. Some even boldly noted it didn't matter if the poem originated in the 8th Century or the 18 Century if it was telling an important part of history in a creative way.

Now, we share the fifth poem in the series that joins this poetic series to the current timeline of our tale and the reign of King Þorolfr of Denmark. This poem is not credited to any specific author currently.)

Spoiler: Image Credits

(The images included in this chapter are all from accounts linked to @Chac1 where he holds the copyright. They are primarily from Bing, including the Lost Seasons of the Danes logo.)

(Lost Seasons of the Danes will return.)

ᛚᛟᛋᛏ ᛋᛖᚨᛋᛟᚾᛋ ᛟᚠ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛞᚨᚾᛖᛋ
​

 

[jak7139]

I'm glad that Hrafn has found happiness again. And I'm sure King Þorolfr is happy that such a legendary, generational foe doesn't hold a grudge.

As for the academic debate, I too wonder about the author of this latest poem. Þorolfr will have to replace his skald at some point, but he has other priorities at the moment. Though a friendly literary voice could be just what the King needs to counter the rumors and such going around. But who would the new skald even attack in that case? There's no concrete face to those other works, whereas Þorolfr and Queen Gerðr are public figures easy to mock.

I know you feel the poetry is getting old. But I enjoy it nonetheless. These smaller glimpses help flesh out the world, even if they don't move the plot along.