Viking Sword: A Fall of Yellow Fire: The Stranded One (Viking Brothers Saga Book 1) (50 page)

BOOK: Viking Sword: A Fall of Yellow Fire: The Stranded One (Viking Brothers Saga Book 1)

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Dane/Northman—The Saxons called the Vikings ‘Danes’ [Old English ‘Dene’]—regardless of what part of Scandinavia they came from—and ‘Northmen’ [Old English ‘Nordmanna’], along with less polite appellations such as barbarians, pagans and ravagers.

Smorrebrod—Danish
smorrebrod
is an open-faced sandwich on rye bread. It may be topped with a variety of meats such as smoked herring, ham, bacon or beef (and their juices), slices of cheese and boiled eggs and vegetables, and is usually served with cold beer or sour milk. While the name of this delicious sandwich is modern, dating from 1840’s Denmark, the concept is ancient. Open-faced “sandwiches” of this type have been eaten since the invention of bread. Certainly, the early Anglo-Saxon meat, cheese and vegetable topped “trencher” was representative of this well-loved dish during the Viking era. I chose to use the modern term for the dish because it was such a perfect word to describe the love life of Nicolaus, I could not resist.

Thralls—I have mentioned that Lissa’s slave status should have been branded on her upper arm, but was not. While it is true that slavery was widespread in both the Anglo-Saxon and the Viking cultures, and both made use of the brand (and among the Vikings, the thrall collar), I was unable to verify the common location of the brand on the body, so I chose the upper arm as a likely spot. [In my book
Rose of Hope
, I make mention of the forehead as the place where unruly and difficult slaves were branded. This is pure speculation on my part.]

In regards to Brandr’s strongly conflicted attitude towards Lissa, perhaps it would help to explain the status of slaves in Viking society. Once he named her ‘thrall’, i.e., slave, and placed around her neck the makeshift collar of ownership, in the eyes of his people, she ceased to exist as a human being. She became property. ‘Unfree’.

Thralls were the lowest of the low, and viewed as little better than brute beasts. Their value was measured only by their usefulness: the extent of their skills, how much wealth could be obtained by selling them or, in the case of high-ranking nobles, how much ransom could be gained for them. They had almost no rights. If their usefulness to their owner ceased, they were killed. They could also be killed by any freeperson, and the only penalty was payment to their owners of ‘wergild’, i.e., their value in silver.

It is known that some were offered as sacrifices to the gods, although apparently, this was usually done only in cases of extreme need of the people. Some, when their owners died, were killed to accompany them in the afterlife.

For a freeperson to kill another freeperson to protect a thrall was a serious crime. A thrall could marry only another slave, and must have permission from their owners. While an individual thrall might have great value to—indeed, might even be loved by—his or her master, as far as society as a whole was concerned they were objects of scorn and contempt.

A freeperson could enjoy the sexual favors of a slave, and produce children, but they did not marry them (rare exceptions, spoken of in the sagas, were beautiful female thralls brought home from raids). The children of those unions were not free.

In the rare situation when a slave was freed, their status in society rose only slightly. Unless they could somehow gain a home, and enough riches to live independently (an unlikely prospect), they remained on the bottom rungs of life.

However, if a master freed a thrall and gave that slave riches, in essence, the master was declaring the thrall a member of his family. In this case, a thrall could become a fully functioning member of society.

OLD ENGLISH GLOSSARY OF PLACE NAMES FOUND IN VIKING SWORD

The following are the Old English names at the approximate time of this story.

Angelcynn—England; in its use at the time of this story, the land it encompassed would include the Kingdom of Wessex and Saxon Mercia.

Basingum—Basingstoke, Wiltshire

Colneceaster—Colchester, Essex

Dornwaraceaster—Dorchester, Dorset

Eaxanceaster—Exeter, Devon

Hamtunscir—Hampshire

Heorutforda—Hertford, Hertfordshire

Lundenwic—London

Mierce—kingdom of Mercia

Readingum—Reading, Berkshire

River Afen—River Avon

River Ligean—River Lea

Swanwich—Swanage, Dorset

Sceptesberie—Shaftesbury, Dorset

Searesbyrig—Salisbury, Wiltshire

Sea of Germania—North Sea

Temese—River Thames

Werham—Wareham, Dorset

Westseaxna ríce—Wessex (West Saxons), Kingdom of; at the time of this story, it covered the entire southern section of England from coast to coast, and included the Kingdom of Mercia (Mierce), piercing the heart of Britain (Angelcynn) to the north

Wiltunscir—Wilton, Wiltshire

Windles-ore—Windsor, Berkshire

Wintanceastre—Wincester, Dorset

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Màiri Norris lives in Hampton Roads, Virginia with her husband, a retired Coast Guard master chief, and three cats. She is a US Navy vet, loves travel, especially to Scotland, and enjoys dollhouse miniatures when not writing. She is a member of Celtic Hearts Romance Writers, a chapter of Romance Writers of America. A lover of history, she also loves to read (and write) historical romance.

She has three new novels in the works,
The Loft At 22nd Street
, an Edwardian Christmas Novella (scheduled for release Christmas, 2014),
For Love of the Rose
, the second book in her
Ballads of the Roses
series, and
Víking Shield,
the second book in her
Viking Brothers Saga
, both scheduled for release in 2015.

Visit Màiri and learn more about this book and upcoming novels by this author at:
http://www.romancingtheeras.com

Or, connect with Màiri on her Facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/mairi.norris

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