The Vikings by Niel Oliver

Author:Niel Oliver
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781480448070
Publisher: Pegasus Books

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE GREAT HEATHEN ARMY

‘Go West, young man, and grow up with the country.’

John B. L. Soule

It was already dark when the boat slipped out of the fjord, heading due west. Although the wind was light and the sky clear, still there was a swell to cope with — the aftermath of a gale that had finally blown itself out only the day before. Clear sky or not, there was no moon and only the eye of faith could judge where sea ended and sky began. It was a journey into an empty void. The destination was Shetland, only a day away in ideal conditions, and the young skipper had made the crossing before. He was Norwegian, but Shetland hardly felt foreign to him — or to the other men aboard. There were already connections between the two lands, stretched thin across the sea like strands of spider’s web but strong. In the Norse tongue the name of the place had its origins in ‘Hjalt-land’ — hilt land, the land shaped like a sword hiltand it was a fight he was after sure enough, with whatever tools might come to hand. While he knew the journey was possible, still it posed innumerable threats to life and limb. The anxiety was made all the keener by the knowledge that, as skipper, he was responsible not just for his own neck but also for those of all the men aboard. Also demanding consideration were the hopes and expectations of families left behind. It was therefore necessity and urgent need that made the always perilous crossing of the North Sea as unavoidable as it was irresistible. Powerful and dangerous warriors were abroad in his homeland now. They had arrived in numbers that defied counting and their weapons were greater than anything he himself possessed. They had laid claim to the land of his fathers as though by right and any and all that opposed the new regime had no option but to look beyond the horizon — to believe that a better future lay out there beyond the restless sea. They would stay away no longer than necessary. Then they would return much stronger than before, with all the men and weaponry required to drive out the oppressors and take charge of their homeland — and their own destinies once more.

Mariners have been finding ways across the North Sea between the British Isles and the mainland of Europe — not to mention reasons for the trip — for thousands of years. Crossings have been driven by everything from curiosity to greed, and from hunger for conquest to the simple desire for a better life. The Vikings were neither the first nor the last to be lured by all of the above and more besides.

The voyage described at the opening of this chapter was made not by some nameless Viking of the ninth century, however, but by a young Norwegian man named Kaare Iversen and three of his friends, towards the end of 1941.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.