Hardrada – 1030
Fate, not design or guidance from God, brought me to the lonely hovel in the clearing. The winter descended harsher than any I had yet experienced. I fled, my mother"s words like daggers in my heart. "You must live, Harald," she said, gripping me by the shoulders, eyes full of tears, her aged fingers imbued with a strength I never guessed she possessed. "When they come, they will kill you. They will kill us all."
She organised provisions, a single pack animal laden down with food and blankets, and when she stood outside the hall, she did not speak. And when I stopped at the rise and looked back to my home, her tiny frame appeared black and forlorn.
I never saw her again.
Accompanied by two trusted huscarles, we left Ringerike and made our way across the blinding wildern
