Chapter 17: The Contract

Lars sat down with Torvald and a few of his chief men after lunch. Helga was with him, which struck him as a touch odd; sure, she was his daughter, but she was also a woman, so she was normally not involved in important decisions. On the other hand, Helga was a direct link to all the women in the group, all of whom were either wives of the men or widows of those who had died on the voyage. Torvald might be using her as a backchannel to find out more about what the Norsewomen were thinking.

Torvald asked, “Hvat hafþúr fregna æftir, Lars.” {"What have you learned, Lars?"}

“Ek haf fregna æftir meiri um skipförinn til Englanð.” {"I have learned more about the trip to England."} Lars pulled the maps towards him. Most of the Vikings had been studying them, even though they couldn’t read the words. He placed a large-scale map on top and took a pencil and marked where they were, a tiny dot northeast of the Shetlands. “ Þessi er hvere vér erum.” {"This is where we are."} Then he marked a second dot on the map on the northeast coast of England. “ Þessi er hvere vér för. Þessi er borginn ór Newcastle-on-Tyne. Vér munu líðmeðr skip.” {"This is where we journey. This is the city of Newcastle-on-Tyne. We will go by ship."}

“Ek hugsumk vér vóro fara til Jorvik?” {"I thought we were going to York?"}

Lars nodded. “Fran Newcastle-on-Tyne vér fara til Jorvik.” {"From Newcastle-on-Tyne we travel to York."} He put a third dot on the large map. Then he repeated the process on the map of England.

“Hvernig?” {"How"}

With that, Lars described the trip. The latest information was that a small ferry had been chartered for the sea voyage. There was an overnight ferry from the Shetlands to Aberdeen; they were simply going to have the ferry go from Cudlow B to Newcastle-on-Tyne. It roughly doubled the time for travel. In addition to the passengers, all their possessions and gear would be loaded into a container and be transported with them. The land trip would be in a bus, with the container being transported behind them.

“Ok Frijhofrinn?” {"And the Frijhof?”}

Lars shrugged and gave a mystified look. Torvald wanted to know what would happen to his ship, but Lars had little information to share. “ Ek gereigir veit, Torvalð. Ek hafmuniðr talða þat munu munu færð, en ek gereigir veit hvernig. Ek hugsþatr munu munu leggjár skipr ok færð hí en ek gereigir veit hvernig “ {"I do not know, Torvald. I have been told it will be brought, but I do not know how. I think it will be put on a ship and brought there but I do not know how."}

That completely amazed the Norsemen. The idea that a longship could be placed on board another ship, that a ship could be so large as to carry a different ship, that was completely unreal. Lars was sure that when they saw the ferry, they would be astonished; though small by modern freighter standards, an inter-island ferry was far larger than any ship from the Norse period. Another novel concept was that they would be placed in a vagn, a ‘wagon’, that was larger than the trucks and Humvees they had seen on the island for the trip from the port to York.

Torvald asked, “Er munu þessi munu?” {"When will this be?"}

“Tveir eðþrírr daga. Þeir eru biða fyrir góð veðr.” {"Two or three days. They are waiting for good weather."}

Helga reached out and took his hand. “Ok þú munu líðmeðr oss?” {"And you will go with us?"}

“Ja.”

She gave him a blinding smile and tightened her grip. More than a few of the watchers smiled and rolled their eyes.

That evening, after dinner, Torvald grabbed Lars and pulled him to a table with his senior men, Haldir Lothfrom, Floki Tuvaman, and Thorbjorn Solberg. Lars noticed that it was just him and the four Norsemen; none of the women were present. Torvald said, “ Þessi dagmál þú segðumk eittsvat um skapða sveit. Hvat gerði þú ætlask fyrir?” {"This morning you said something about forming a group. What did you mean?"}

Floki said, “Vér erum already sveit, sveitrinn ór Torvalð Gunnarso n.” {"We are already a company, the company of Torvald Gunnarson."}

Lars grimaced. “Þat gerir eigi þýða vel.” {"It does not translate well."} He thought for a moment, and said, “ Ek gereigir ætlask fyrir einn afbrigði, en þú vóro sveitrinn ór Frijhof, inn með Torvalð sem þinn hofðingi. Nú Frijhofrinn er nei meiri. Er Torvalð þinn hofðingienn?” {"I do not intend an insult, but you were the company of the Frijhof, with Torvald as your captain. Now the Frijhof is no more. Is Torvald still your captain?”}

There was an angry murmur as he said this, but Torvald put his hands out in a calming motion. “Hvat gerþúr segða, Lars?” {"What do you say, Lars?"}

It took Lars quite some time to explain what he and Travis were worried about. Once the Vikings were in York, there was nothing to keep people from just walking away. They would no longer be on an island. What if that happened? What if the person or persons did not know the language? England was so very different than Olaf’s Fjord. What would happen if somebody decided not to listen to Torvald? Travis suggested that everybody become a company, a foruneyti, a mœta, a sýsla. None of the words meant precisely what Lars was trying to explain. It was more than a business deal or company; it was a group promise. He tried combining the words for group and promise, heitsveit.

Haldir asked, “Einn vinfengi?” {"A contract alliance?"}

Lars’ eyes lit up. “ Já, en eigi með fleiri fólk, með hvergi fleiri! Allr ór þú munu gerheitrinnr!” {"Yes, but not with others, with each other! All of you would make the promise!"} Lars waved a hand towards the rest of the bunkhouse, indicating all of the Vikings.

The four Norsemen all looked at each other. Torvald asked, “ Hverr maðr?” {"Every man?"}

Lars gave an evil grin at that. “Hverr maðr ok hverr víf.” {"Every man and every woman."}

As expected, that was the Viking equivalent of throwing a fox into the henhouse. The idea of giving women a choice was close to heresy for the Norsemen. After a few minutes of loud discussion, Thorbjorn asked, “ Hví vafarinn?” {"Why the women?"}

“Menn ok vaferur samrrinn.” {"Men and women are the same."} That just got the four Vikings laughing at Lars.

“Torvald, þú to talða lð mik þinn vif dejumk varði Helgfranr vargrr. Floki, ef þinn vif segja þú eittsvat, gerþúr hlýða til hana. Haldir, er þinn vif vitr eð hálfviti - muna, ek hafmrælumk til hana. Þeir eru allr sem vitr ok verðr sem þú eru.” {"Torvald, you told me your wife died protecting Helga from a wolf. Floki, if your wife tells you something, do you listen to her? Haldir, is your wife smart or stupid - remember, I have talked to her! They are all as smart and worthy as you are."}

The discussion almost ended at that point. The concept of male and female equality was just too foreign to the Vikings to be considered. Only when Lars asked who would agree for the two widows in the group did things change. Jennifer had explained to Lars and Travis that widows and divorced women often had significant legal rights in Norse society, though not as many as men. The four men argued some more, but agreed that their wives would join the agreement, but only if her husband agreed first.