rlfj: Blog

Had a couple of typos in 7 and 8, so I reloaded them. Thanks for pointing them out. Fixed. Also learned a bit more about coins. For those curious, coins would have been common in Scandinavia, even if they were simply stolen from England and Scotland. They would almost certainly not have dates on them. They generally would have been stamped with the profile of a king and his name in Latin. You would probably need a specialist to date things that way. Enough said.

I got some good feedback from my British editors in this chapter. It seems that Yanks and Brits really do speak different languages. When I used the words sheetrock and lumber, I was informed that the British used plasterboard and timber. I had to change some wording in the story. There were a few other incidents like that in the story. Interesting!

Chapter 9 is halfway through the story, so I am turning on voting. Hope everybody likes it. Vanity, thy name is author.

I had an excellent suggestion from a reader - check the coins the Vikings had in their possession. Look for the dates on the coins. That's actually a pretty good idea. I did some research and learned that Ninth Century Vikings didn't use coins. It wasn't until a hundred years later before coins began to be produced in Norway. They used bullion before then, bulk gold or silver. (Grab a bunch of gold cups and plates from a church, that sort of thing.) However, it's still a good idea, because coins were available in England, so they would have been taken in any raids and the Vikings would understand them. I added a short paragraph about that. Thanks!

Chapter 8 looks at military medicine. Up until this point, what I knew about military medicine was based on MASH, a 1970s TV show about a 1950s war, where Hawkeye and BJ performed 'meatball surgery' in tents by the light of a kerosene lantern. Modern military field hospitals are vastly different. They are modular and palletized. When they are airlifted or driven to the site they are expanded and unfolded and then linked together in a variety of configurations by an engineer detachment. The engineers will probably take longer leveling the site than bolting the pieces together. If you need a dental office or an OB/GYN suite, just bring in the correct modules. And for those curious, yes, they have laparoscopic capabilities, which was the most astonishing thing I learned.

It seems that there is more than one word for table in the Nordic languages. You have table as in table and chairs, which is bord. Then you have table as in an Excel table, which is tabell. Interestingly, tabell seems to be derived from Old Saxon via Anglo-Saxon and Old English. It's a good thing Lars is an expert. I edited the paragraph in Chapter 5 to reflect my correction.

A couple of readers pointed out a dating technique for large pieces of wood. Dendrochronology examines tree rings and compares them to known samples. I had heard of it but forgot it. They'd need samples of a tree brought with them - like the keel or mast of a longship! Interesting idea! I added a small section in Chapter 7 to reflect it.

Another reader pointed out that iron from India did make its way to medieval Europe in the time frame being discussed. I changed that reference to South Africa. That was Chapter 6.

For those who have already bought a copy of the book, if I add to or edit a chapter, don't worry. At the end of the story, I will upload a final fixed version to bookapy, etc. and let everybody know via the blog. You'll be able to download an updated version at that time.

I've gotten some feedback on my Old Norse and other translations. Where did I come up with the words, grammar, and spelling? First, in the case of a modern language, I just used Google Translator. For instance, google 'english to swedish translation' and you will get a very handy box that you can type words or sentences in English and the Swedish version pops up in the next box. For instance, 'table' comes across as 'tabell'. For the Swedes in the audience who say it is 'bord', sorry. Same thing for other modern language errors. If you don't like it, call Google.

Another set of errors comes through in English to Old Norse translation. I did the best I could, using both an Old Norse translation site and another site with an Old Norse dictionary. Is the grammar perfect? Are the word choices optimal? Are the tenses and verbs properly used? To those three questions and many others, the answer is that I have no idea. I did the best I could. For your peace of mind, and mine, if you don't like the translations, ignore them and read the stuff in the brackets { } .

The part about the CIA having people on tap for information on just about anything is true. I once had a history professor who worked for the Central Intelligence Agency back in the '60s. He was one of the fellows who pored over photos of the Soviet generals and politicians standing on top of Lenin's Tomb in Red Square during military parades, trying to figure out who was who and what their position in the lineup meant. It was the CIA's version of reading the tea leaves.

A couple of readers pointed out some similarities to the Harry Harrison's 1967 The Technicolor Time Machine. Here's the Wikipedia synopsis: "The narrative revolves around the efforts of a mediocre film director to save his job, his livelihood and, incidentally, the studio he works for. To do this, he enlists a mad scientist, the crooked studio owner, a jazz tuba player, a cowboy, two fabulously stupid movie stars, and a real live ocean-crossing Viking. He ends up making history, but in a way he never dreamed of." To be honest, I had forgotten it, but once it was mentioned, I remembered it fondly. Absolutely hilarious! I highly recommend it to everyone! I just added it to my Amazon wish list.

I need to thank some people. I can't do this without great editors. Since so much of the story takes place in the British Isles, I needed British help. I also needed medical editing and American military assistance. This is a list of just some of my editors, and they deserve all our respect: BGoldFinger3, stickpuppy, Emmeran, liamberkey, DJ of the Hudson, SpikeCO, piccolodoc1962, n44w69, jjmcdonald7911, Old Rotorhead, N12614, MarissaHorne4, johnew19534, fotophile69, MrWulf, Trev. As always, the screwups are all mine.

Case in point - When I first wrote the story, I made the senior Ranger Battalion NCO a Master Sergeant. One of my editors pointed out that the proper rank would be a Sergeant Major. I edited the story but missed a few spots. I fixed Chapter 5, which I uploaded today, but the errors are in the version on bookapy. The plan is that I will wait until I finish with the SOL version (fixing all the typos found) and then upload a repaired version to bookapy. At that point I will let everybody know and they can download a corrected version. Thanks.