The Long Hunt (The Strongbow Saga) (45 page)

The town of Birka, located on the island of Bjorko in Lake Malaren, within the kingdom of the Sveas, was an important trading center in the early centuries of the Viking era. It was flourishing by 800 A.D., but was abandoned around 970, possibly because subsiding water levels in Lake Malaren made access from the sea more difficult.

Archaeological examinations have provided much evidence about Viking Birka. The town faced a natural harbor which may have been surrounded by a man-made barricade of pilings, and was protected on its landward side by an earthen wall, probably topped by a wooden stockade. A fort, built atop a rocky hill, overlooked the town, and was apparently manned by a garrison of warriors provided by the Svear king. According to Adam of Bremen in the
History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen
, the channel leading from the sea to Lake Malaren and Birka had hidden obstacles of boulders which had been placed there to make access more difficult for the unwary. Building on that description for the purpose of the story in
The Long Hunt
, I created the fictional island and temple to Odin where pilots wait to guide ships up the channel.

The Frankish monk and missionary Anskar reached Birka in 839 A.D. after a perilous journey from Hedeby in Denmark. With the permission of Bjorn, one of the kings of the Sveas, he founded a Christian church in Birka, and converted many of its inhabitants, including Herigar—sometimes also spelled Hergeier in Frankish sources—who is described by Adam of Bremen as the king's prefect in Birka. After two years, Anskar returned to Frankia to become Bishop of Hamburg, but the church flourished under the care of the priests he left behind until 845, when an uprising occurred against the Christians in Birka, and one of the priests there, named Nithard, was slain. Another priest, Gautbert, escaped with the help of Herigar, who is repeatedly described in Frankish sources as a good man. The attack on the Christians in Birka is attributed by Adam of Bremen to instigation by Anund, the brother of King Bjorn who was subsequently expelled from Svealand.

Within the kingdoms of Viking-era Scandinavia, there was no general taxation of the populace by the kings. The primary means of raising revenue were raiding other lands and collecting tribute from peoples who had submitted to the superior might of a given king. The king was entitled to call upon his own people for service in times of need, and kings did sometimes collect specialized tolls or taxes, particularly in relation to towns. Although I have thus far found no explicit references to a tax on merchants who traded in Birka, in Norway a tax called the landaurar was assessed on merchants and travelers landing in the kingdom from abroad. Given that the Svear king maintained a fort and garrison at Birka to protect it, I think it likely that he, too, would have imposed some similar sort of tax to help defray that expense. I have based the amount of the landing tax which Herigar assesses against Hastein—four aurars of silver per ship—on the Norwegian landaurar, which equaled five aurar when established in the late ninth century.

Readers who would like to learn more about the Viking peoples, culture, and history, and the world in which
The Strongbow Saga
is set are urged to visit
www.strongbowsaga.com
, an educational website dedicated to the Vikings and their age. Those seeking news about
The Strongbow Saga
series or wishing to discuss the story with the author or other fans are encouraged to visit my website,
www.judsonroberts.com
.

Acknowledgements

It has been a long and winding journey to reach publication of
The Long Hunt
, the fourth installment of Halfdan's adventures in
The Strongbow Saga
. The first three books of the series,
Viking Warrior
,
Dragons from the Sea
, and
The Road to Vengeance
, were originally published by HarperCollins Publishers between 2006 and 2008. Many mistakes were made which I will not go into here, but their ultimate result was that after publishing book 3, HarperCollins cancelled the series.

Not being someone who is prone to give up without a fight, I regained the rights to the series from HarperCollins, and with the help of my wife, Jeanette, formed my own publishing company, Northman Books Inc. Together we republished new editions of books 1 through 3 over the course of 2010 and 2011. Once the series was alive and kicking again, I began work on book 4,
The Long Hunt
.

Work on the book was interrupted when, in early 2012, Jeanette and I realized a long-held dream and moved from Houston, Texas to a small farm on the eastern edge of the Cascade Mountains near Eugene, Oregon. The change from being a city-dweller to small-scale farming on our own homestead has been a wonderful, transformative experience, but on a farm the work is never done. Learning our new life caused me to fall far behind in my writing, although in the long run it has greatly enriched the story in
The Strongbow Saga
. Being surrounded by the beauty and majesty of nature, having daily encounters with wildlife, and living a life that is closely tied to the rhythms of the seasons has without question given me a deeper empathy and understanding of life in a simpler time. But when 2012 ended and there was still no new installment of Halfdan's story, I made a vow to myself and to the loyal fans of the series that the next book would come out in 2013.

It could not have happened without Jeanette. Many, many days while I worked at my desk, she single-handedly managed our farm: cutting and storing hay by hand, tending to our garden, caring for the animals, as well as taking care of the myriad chores that exist within every home. I am blessed to have her as my partner in every aspect of our lives.

Republishing a preexisting book is a very different undertaking from creating one from scratch. Whatever issues I had with HarperCollins, I was fortunate to have had wonderful editors there, whose input greatly enhanced books 1 through 3. After I completed writing
The Long Hunt
, four volunteer editors read my efforts and gave me their suggestions and feedback, and they, too, helped the finished book become a better product. My thanks go out to my wife Jeanette, who has a strong feel for the integrity, flow, and emotional impact of stories; to her daughter Laura Beyers, a professional technical writer and editor who helped identify several scenes where the emotional reactions and motivations of characters could be more clearly manifested; to Alexa Linden, a long-time fan of the series who has often corresponded with me about it, who sometimes seems to know the characters almost better than I do, and helped me keep them true to themselves; and to Luc Reid, a friend and author who helped me focus on the structure and plot arcs of the story.

Layla Milholen was the copy editor for
The Long Hunt
, and I am in awe of the thorough job she did polishing away its rough edges.

Luc Reid deserves special thanks. He has been a part of
The Strongbow Saga
since its very beginning in 2001, when he gave me editorial feedback on my first efforts at putting Halfdan's tale into words. He has played a major role in the republication of books 1 through 3, and not only acted as one of the editors for
The Long Hunt
, but also transformed my rough sketches into the maps and diagrams that are contained in the book, created its cover, and set up the format for the print edition of the book. He is a good friend, a man of numerous talents, and a true comrade. Thank you, Luc.

When writing, I draw inspiration from many sources. Two bits of phrasing in the story I borrowed from songwriters. In chapter one, Halfdan recalls Genevieve's final words when they parted in Paris. The phrase "shelter my love from wind and wave" is from the song "Nostalgia" by Emily Barker. And in chapter eleven, when Hastein tells Herigar that "when I die, it will be with my arms unbound," his words are taken from the song "This Is Why We Fight" by The Decemberists.

Last but far from least, I would like to thank all of the loyal fans of the series, including those who have recommended it to their friends and family, creating a word-of-mouth demand that has kept it alive, and who have so often told me how much they enjoy the story and long for more. My thanks to those who have taken the trouble to contact me and tell me that some aspect of Halfdan’s story touched or moved them, and to those who have written to thank me for bringing to light aspects of their ancestors and heritage. All of you have helped keep my own faith in this journey alive. You are why I write.

Judson Roberts

December 2013