My new religion taught me humanity is made up of sinners in need of salvation. Christianity credits those who believe with Christ’s own righteousness – and that satisfied me. Although I adopted this creed for political reasons, I soon found myself convinced by its strong moral arguments.
This proved to be of fundamental importance even before the Christ’s Mass. A messenger arrived from Throndhjem fjord, where King Olaf had taken his ships, bearing a summons to join the monarch there to celebrate that sacred event. I discussed this with Estrid, who pleaded with me to swallow my pride and obey. I was loathe to leave the warmth of my hall to brave the bleak season, but the pointlessness of offending Olaf set me on my way north.
Yuletide was in the offing but my expectations of carousing int
