Golden Legend

CHAPTER 1   ––––––––   THE TRUNKS OF THE PRECARIOUS raft creaked and slid each other to the rhythm of the waves that became ever more intense, with ever higher peaks and valleys increasingly deeper. Bjorn looked sideways to the strings of the raft end that worked as bow, and noted with concern that they were deteriorated by the corrosive effect of salty water and the mechanical wear action produced by movements between the timbers. They would not last more than a few hours, and then the raft would disperse in the immensity of the ocean. The adventure had begun two years before in Iceland, where half a dozen drakkars had set sail in the spring. It was the year 1024, although the existence of calendars in the cultural universe of Bjorn was not included. They had sailed first heading to Greenland. This was already a usual journey for Vikings, but for Bjorn it was his first experience in ocean travel. Accustomed to the narrow valleys and cliffs of the Norwegian and Icelandic fjords, the vastness of the icy plains of the huge island had amazed him. This was the first new experiences that would expand the world of the young man to levels that he could not even suspect. After a stay of one month in Greenland, the Scandinavian crew had again hit the sea heading west, towards the misty waters of the great ocean, following the blurred trail of Leif Ericsson and his men that had arrived to their knowledge through uncertain sagas. After a stormy voyage, they had arrived in a beach covered by flat rocks, which they identified with the Helluland discovered years ago by Leif, a bare wilderness where they remained only long enough to repair the damage caused by the storms in the drakkars. Helluland possibly corresponds to what we today know as Baffin Bay, in the far northwest of Canada. They then sailed for the purpose of arriving at Vinland, the site established by the Norwegians in the modern Newfoundland coast, perhaps in L´Anse aux Meadows, and in which those settlers had remained for several seasons. Continuous storms in a particularly unstable year from the climatic point of view led them rapidly to the South, while they prevented them from approaching the coasts for entire weeks, during which they suffered hunger and thirst. Out of the twelve ships, two were presumably sunk. Another loss was the guidance provided by the narratives of former Viking travels, which had served them of reference up to there. The symptoms of scurvy, the dreaded evil of sailors that travelled without access to fresh vegetables, began to wreak havoc among the crew. After countless days sailing shaken by thunderstorms that alternated with periods of calm in the midst of a thick haze that made it impossible for them to orient themselves, the mist finally rose  and they managed to head westward, until at the end of a day and a half they sighted the coast. This was made up of cliffs, without natural bays that could accommodate ships and allowed the travelers to reach them. The Vikings toured the winding coast outline until they finally saw a narrow strip of beach, towards which they set bow. Upon arrival they found relieved that a coniferous forest extended to short distance from the beach, which ensured them a supply of wood to replace poles, timbers, oars and even a keel, all of them broken or lost in the previous agitated days. Another favorable feature of the site consisted of a rill that emptied into the sea, which gave them access to the necessary fresh water, whose scarcity had become critical. They remained two weeks in the place, time during which the sailors explored the surrounding area, noting that the beach was limited in its size and resources, so they decided to continue their navigation further south. After another week of travel, they saw what from the sea seemed to be a vast plain. The drakkars were directed towards it and after docking in a cozy estuary, protected from waves and currents flowing next to the shore, they established a camp with the aim to settle in the place for a longer time. For this purpose the Norwegians built huts using the materials available on the site, basically some wood, straw, stones and soil. They remained in the camp for about three months, during which they once again toured the hinterland, hunting, exploring and looking for traces of human population. Narratives made by Leif Erikson and other previous travelers referred to sporadic contacts, sometimes friendly and other bloody, with the skraelings, as the precursors had called the aborigines who they had found. Given their dual character of warriors and merchants the Vikings were ready to carry out peaceful or hostile contacts, but in any case the desirability of seeking contact with native people or circumvent it was an important consideration that the leader of the expedition was to carry out. In their trips and excursions the adventurers found no Indians, but they did find traces and evidence of humans of small feet lurking in the vicinity. This confirmed their belief that they were being observed and perhaps monitored. For this reason the sailors decided to establish permanent guards at relevant points of the plain, to prevent being taken by surprise by potential attackers. The guards were carried out discreetly, seeking that they would not be apparent to outside observers. This precaution proved providential, as time would show. Two drakkars which had undertaken the journey to Greenland replenish supplies, weapons and clothes lost in storms returned ahead of schedule. They explained that they had found the Norse settlement of Markland, located in what is now known as the Labrador Peninsula, ahead of which the expedition had unwittingly passed in their previous trip, in the middle of the continuous storms. In Markland they had obtained weapons and the required elements. The crew members of both ships brought the news that Christian missionaries had arrived in the colony from Iceland, and friction between them and the Vikings pagans who followed the traditional cult of Odin and Thor had occurred. It had rained copiously during the night before, amid thundering and fall of lightning in the vicinity. The men had not slept enough and were tired by the forced vigil, close control and unloading the recently arrived ships, so that surveillance was temporarily relaxed. Dawn began to emerge amid the mists that were coming off slowly, giving way to an uncertain glow. An agonizing cry broke the silence of night, from one of the men who were on duty in the North. Overcoming fatigue and sleep, defense measures that were part of the discipline of a Viking camp immediately were put into practice. The warriors woke up each other, and as everyone slept near their swords and in just a few moments were on war footing. Once determined the source of the alarm the leaders lined up their men and tended defense lines, forming a typical Viking square surrounded by shields. After a few moments of tension, with the slow emergence of clarity, the fog in front of them stood up and suddenly they saw a horde of naked and armed men, approaching from the inner fields into several undulating lines. At an order of the head of the expedition Thorvald, the Viking archers prepared their bows, and to a new cry a cloud of arrows fell on the skraelings, producing numerous voids in the first row of attackers. Survivors accelerated their race towards the Norwegians, encouraged by the small number of these. Some darts injured a few defenders, whose combat positions were eagerly covered by the men who were in the second row. Just at the moment that the Indians came close to the shields line, above these emerged a swarm of long Spears, decimating the first attackers. A new cloud of arrows fell on the aborigines that were left behind, producing new gaps in their ranks. The wave of attackers hesitated momentarily to the unforeseen events, and at that moment shields line took the field, a terrifying roar broke in unison of the gorges of the defenders and the spears rushed to the attacking horde; behind them in the emerging sun shone formidable swords of the Vikings, severing, beheading, and finally putting natives in flight who, baffled by a fighting technique unknown to them, could not halt the momentum of the counterattack. Swords and Spears competed in wreaking havoc among the aborigines now in withdrawal. The Norwegian slid on the ground soaked in blood of their rivals, who were pursued towards the foot of the rolling hills of which had arisen. When the foothills were reached, the chief Thorvald ordered his assistant to sound the horn, and the counterattack ceased suddenly. The Vikings retreated orderly, taking care to finish off wounded enemies, in a way not to leave dangers behind. Upon returning to camp, a formidable Hurrah came from sixty gorges, closing the bloody episode. After another prolonged stay, without additional setbacks, the sailors embarked and put bow to the South to continue their exploration of areas that the Scandinavian never had reached previously. Again they had to withstand strong storms that lasted four days and that took them far from their course. At the end of the storms, the drakkar in which Bjorn was traveling found itself isolated, without contact with the rest of the fleet. The boat, crewed by eleven men finally ended up in a muddy coast in which they descended to replenish water and food. Bjorn moved away from the place of landing armed with a bow and his sword, in search of game. After a long and fruitless trip, he decided to return along with his comrades to rest and to assist in the erection of the camp. When he approached he heard noises that worried him, including human cries. He quickly ranged the distance to the camp until he reached a high mound; there his breathing was interrupted when he noted the situation: a fierce combat was developing on the beach between the members of the crew and a group of savages. Many fallen bodies scattered on the ground. Bjorn did not doubt an instant and embarked on what was his baptism in single combat. He descended running with his sword in the air and fell upon the rear of the indigenous sowing destruction in his wake, the first two skraelings who were lodged in its path fell with tremendous cuts in their torsos. The next confronted him with his spear but his head flew away from a single blow. The battle gained in intensity and number of attackers gradually overwhelmed the resistance of sailors. Bjorn was approaching a particular core among the natives, where he could distinguish a man who by his outfit identified as a chieftain. He thought of killing him for attempting to halt the attackers deprived of command. He threw his weight among those who surrounded the chieftain, tearing apart with his sword several custodians, and receiving several spear hits in his body, and as already was approaching his goal a blow on his head made him lose consciousness. The Sun on the face made him wake up. He verified that the minimal movement made him feel an intense pain, so it took him a long time to have forces to stand up. He sat on the ground and there he could verify the state of his body. Lance wounds had torn it in many places, and he was practically covered with his blood and that of his enemies. On the ground laid the wrecked corpses of three of his companions, including that of Thorstein, who had arrived from Norway along with him. There were no bodies of the fallen skraelings, which surely his companions had taken away with them by retiring. The remains of the camp were still burning and there were no traces of the vessel. In Bjorn´s mind took place a mental reconstruction of what happened on the basis of visible evidence: probably the Nordic survivors have managed to push the boat to the sea, leaving the beach, persecuted by the natives, and were not able to remove the bodies of their fallen comrades. Apparently, both they and the Indians had presumed Bjorn dead, and paradoxically thanks to that he could survive.