Chapter 12: Time Travel

It was late in the morning when Lars woke up. He felt a bit fuzzy and thirsty, and knew he needed to clean up before he would feel human again. He scrounged up his gear and headed towards the showers. It was almost lunchtime before he felt like he was ready to face humanity, and he headed to the cookhouse for something that might stay down.

Lars was sitting at a table eating a sandwich and drinking a Coke when Travis and Jennifer found him. “He’s alive!” laughed Travis.

“You looked bloody awful when you left the party last night, Lars. You were really pounding the Guinness before you left,” added Jennifer.

“Don’t remind me. That stuff sneaks up on you,” admitted Lars.

“Feeling better now?”

Lars made a noncommittal grunt and looked at Jennifer. “Tell me what you know about Viking weddings.”

Travis laughed so hard he nearly fell on the floor. Jennifer had a more sympathetic smile on her face. “Why do you ask? Did you ask Helga to marry you last night?”

“More like the other way around. My parents called to say hello, and afterwards she told me that my father had to meet her father, so they could negotiate the bride-price. I wasn’t being consulted at all!”

Jennifer smiled at that. “She’s awfully cute, Lars.”

“Jennifer!”

“Just saying. That girl qualifies as Miss Norway 880 AD.”

Travis asked, “Is bride-price the same as a dowry?”

“Close, but not exactly. The thing to remember about Norse marriages is that they were more business deal than love match. Until the last century or so, most marriages around the world were arranged by the parents of the brides and grooms. That’s probably why Helga isn’t married yet. She’s being kept as a bargaining chip.” She turned to Lars and said, “Women were second class citizens. They had very few legal rights and were relegated to the menial home tasks. Still, there were various legal requirements to getting married.”

“A dowry?”

“That wasn’t the term used. There were actually three different prices to be negotiated. There was the bride-price, which was paid by the groom’s family to the bride’s family, a purchase price, if you will. Then there was a dowry, paid by the bride’s family to the groom, though it was technically part of the bride’s inheritance, not his. And if that wasn’t complicated enough, you had the morning-gift, which the groom paid to the bride the morning after for her ... uh ... services. This stuff would all be negotiated by the two families ahead of time,” she explained.

“Holy Christ!” muttered Lars. Then he smiled at the thought of his parents negotiating the price of Helga’s services.

“Don’t be overwhelmed by the commercial aspect of it, Lars. For one thing, a typical Norse community was small, and everybody knew each other. The bride and groom probably knew each other and might have grown up together. Smart parents would likely have made sure the kids were interested in each other before they began negotiations.”

“There’s that word negotiations again.”

“Even that wasn’t as commercial as you might imagine. While it sounds complicated, the overall effect was that the two families contributed to the financial wherewithal of the couple. This was an agrarian society. While there were minimum payments, they were often expressed in terms of cattle or sheep or horses. It allowed a young couple a financial start.”

Travis grinned. “Just how many cows are you worth, Lars?”

“Funny.”

“That’s why she was asking about your father, Lars. The fathers were the ones who negotiated. If the father wasn’t around, for instance if he was dead, then the brothers would be responsible for making the deal,” added Jennifer.

“Oh, this just gets better and better!” crowed Travis. “Lars’ brothers are ten and eleven.”

“Screw you!”

Jennifer said, “It’s not all bad, though. Once you are betrothed nobody is going to complain if you and your intended decide to fool around. Timing is important though. If you wait too long to wed her after you bed her, either she’ll be pregnant at the wedding, or her family will think you’re stringing her along and her brothers will kill you. Be glad she doesn’t have any brothers.”

“You are not making me feel any better!” protested Lars. Travis just laughed.

Jennifer shrugged and smiled. “For what it’s worth, Viking weddings are supposed to be wonderfully elaborate and barbaric, with swords and hammers and maybe even an animal sacrifice or two. And mead! Lots and lots of mead!”

“Lars, she’s pretty cute! If you bail on the betrothal duty, I can stand in for you,” said Travis. Jennifer reached across the table and punched him.

“Lars, from everything I have seen, Helga’s pretty smart. She might just be thinking that you are a much better alternative to what her father has planned for her. She sees you and this society, where women are obviously respected and allowed to work outside the household and don’t have to have children one after the other. Then she compares it to being sold off as part of a business deal to somebody she doesn’t love, or even like. I’m not saying she doesn’t like you, but it’s more complicated than that. If your family makes the right deal for her, then when her father and his crew sail off to the Southern Islands, they will leave her here in this magical land with you,” finished Jennifer.

“Make the deal, Lars. I’ll move out of the tent and Helga can move in,” laughed Travis.

“You are a swine, Travis,” laughed Jennifer.

“Once you’re married and part of the family, Torvald won’t be as eager to use that new knife on you,” finished Travis. “Jennifer, did Vikings have divorce?”

“Sure. Every society has divorce,” said Jennifer. “The question is always who can divorce whom, and for what reasons.”

“And in medieval Norway?”

She smiled and shrugged. “The standard one is the man can divorce his wife if she can’t produce children, especially male children. That one is practically universal all over the planet.”

“Can women divorce their husbands?” asked Travis.

“Norse society was surprisingly egalitarian about that. If a man beat his woman too harshly, or too publicly, she could divorce him. She could also divorce him if he wasn’t able to satisfy her,” she replied, grinning.

Travis’ eyes lit up. “You mean...”

“You got it! Lars, you are going to have to live up to Helga’s expectations!”

Lars simply groaned as the others laughed. “What is on the schedule for today?” he asked, attempting to divert the conversation.

“No idea. The engineers have an idea on rescuing the Frijhof. Other than that, just the usual. Get more victims to the dentist. Do whatever the colonels tell you to do. Talk to your future father-in-law.”

Lars simply held up both hands and extended his middle fingers. They finished lunch and Lars escorted Jennifer to the bunkhouse. She wanted to catalog each family’s belongings and ask them a bunch of questions about their usage.

As this was going on, Torvald found Lars and pulled him aside. “ Helgspyrjumkr mik til mæltilr þú.” {"Helga asked me to talk to you."}

Lars swallowed hard and nodded. “Ja?”

“Hon villir til veit er þinn faðir megmræltilr mik.” {"She wants to know when your father can talk to me."}

Lars grabbed a pair of chairs and sat down in one of them. Torvald sat down in the other. Lars said, “ Torvald, minn kind er fjarri. Þat munu munu harðr fyrir þau til koma. Hvi?” {"Torvald, my family is far away. It will be hard for them to come. Why?"} Lars knew why but needed to ask.

Torvald sighed. “ Þat er Helga. Hon villir mik til mæltilr þinn faðir. Til ráða um mundrinn.” {"It is Helga. She wants me to talk to your father. To discuss the bride-price."}

Lars sighed. “ Torvald, hlítamik, ek eigu-t aldrigh tith munið með þinn dóttir.” {"Torvald, believe me, I have never been with your daughter."} Torvald shrugged and nodded. “Ek virðing Helga ... ok þú hræðmikr!” {"I respect Helga ... and you scare me!"}

Torvald laughed loudly at that. “ Lars, báð hyggja hvetja mik, en helghafar hanminðr setja.” {"Lars, both things assure me, but Helga has her mind set."}

Lars sighed and nodded but smiled. “Já, ek hafvitumkr þat svá.” {"Yes, I have found it so."}

“Lars, ek hafneir sonr, nei bróðira, nei fleiri kind. Ek gereigir jafn hafar snekkja nú. Minn kyn-kvísl er endjumk. Minn tími er yfir.” {"Lars, I have no sons, no brothers, no other family. I do not even have a longship now. My line is ended. My time is over."}

Lars was worried about the direction the conversation was taking. “ Torvald, stoðva! þú eru eigi gamall! Þú munu vitannarrr víf ok hafmangr sons.” {"Torvald, stop! You are not old! You will find another wife and have many sons!"} Lars knew that sons were the true wealth of a man, at least to a Norseman.

Torvald shrugged and smiled. “ Ek undrask, Lars. Þessi er kyn-ligr jörð. Munu vér sjá okkarr jörð endr?” {"I wonder, Lars. This is a strange land. Will we see our land again?"} Lars didn’t answer immediately, and Torvald said, “ Ek eig gæta fyrir Helga.” {"I must care for Helga."}

“Ja, Torvald, Ek gæta fyrir Helga, ok.” {"Yes, Torvald, I care for Helga, also."}

Torvald asked, “Munu vér sjá okkarr jörð endr?” {"Will we see our land again?"}

Lars looked at Torvald before answering. The question was bound to come up at some point, and Lars was surprised it hadn’t come up already. Maybe Torvald hadn’t wanted to push it. He wished that Travis or Bellingham or Fowler was around to dump it on, but he was the one who was going to have to answer.

Lars took a deep breath and answered, “ Nei, Torvald, þú munu eigi sjá þinn jörð, en þat er eigi vándrr.” {"No, Torvald, you will not see your land, but it is not bad."}

“Hví eigi?” {"Why not?"} Torvald seemed much calmer than Lars expected, than Lars himself would be if he heard that.

“Torvald, vér gereigir veit hvernig þú fömk hí. Hvernig megvérr senð þú aptr?” {"Torvald, we don’t know how you got here. How can we send you back?"} Lars held up his hands in confusion.

“Fjölkyngirinn hringr?” {"The magic circle?"}

“Vér gerði eigi gerþatr. Vér gereigir veit hvernig þú komumk hí.” {"We did not make it. We do not know how you came here."} Lars thought for a second and added, “ Travis trr til fregna æftir, en vér gereigir veit.” {"Travis tries to learn, but we do not know."}

Torvald looked shocked at what Lars was saying. After a few minutes, he shook his head in disbelief and asked, “Hvat megþúr segja mik?” {"What can you tell me?"}

Lars had to think about that one. How could he explain time travel to a man from a culture without the very concept? Or did he have a concept? Only one way to find out. He asked Torvald to wait and went to find a pen and a pad of paper. Along the way he found Travis and Jennifer, and he grabbed them and dragged them along.

Lars sat back down and tore a sheet off the page of paper. He drew a line across it and then drew a large dot in the center of the line. “ Torvald, þessi er tími, í dag, í gær, á morginn.” {"Torvald, this is time, today, yesterday, tomorrow."} He tapped the line on the large dot, then drew another dot before it, and then one after it. After a few moments, Torvald nodded, and Lars drew another dot before the first and said, “Inn fyrri dagr í gær.” {"The day before yesterday."} Next came another dot after tomorrow, “Dagrrinn eptir á morginn.” {"The day after tomorrow."}

Torvald shrugged and repeated the words, tapping the line at the appropriate spots. Next Lars tapped the central dot and named it Torvald, and then drew new dots in the earlier segment of the line, which he named Torvald’s father and grandfather. He tapped each point and added, “ Þinn dagórr burðr.” {"Your birthdays."} Finally, he added a dot in the future and said, “Helga.”

Torvald nodded and named each of the dots. “ Flosi Henrikson, Gunnar Flosison, Torvald Gunnarson, ok Helga Ingesdottir. Ja.” He didn’t know what Lars was trying to tell him, but he understood what he was drawing.

“Ja.” Next, Lars placed dots at the far left and far right of the line, at the edges of the paper. He gestured to the span and said, “ Einn hundrað ár.” {"One hundred years."} That took Torvald a bit longer to understand, but after a bit he nodded and explained it back to Lars. Then Lars tore off a second page and drew a line on it as well. He placed it on the future side of the first page and drew more dots. “ Þinn sonarsonr, ok þeir sonarsonr, ok þeir sonarsonr.” {Your grandsons, and their grandsons, and their grandsons."}