The Way Of The Vikings

AEsa was only 12 years old but she was already getting married. That was the way of the Vikings - the way of her world.

The man she was marrying - Gizurr was his name, seemed to her to be a worthy-enough man. Still she couldn't quite believe she was about to marry. It seemed only yesterday she was the young girl helping her mother with the household chores, and now she was a woman about to go off into the world on her own without her mother's skirts to hide behind.

Of course, she didn't have any say in the matter even if she didn't want to get married. The marriage had been agreed and thoroughly discussed between her family and Gizurr's and the following morning she had been sent off with linen, wool, a loom, a spinning wheel, and a bed for her dowry.

"Well," thought AEsa to herself as she waited at the end of the road for her husband to come and introduce her to his family, "If Gizurr is an unsuitable husband, I can always divorce him." This comforted her for it was true. If Gizurr was not suitable to AEsa she could divorce him as long as she had a witness at hand.

Then she saw her husband come up the road, his head held high, his weapons proudly strapped to his side. Many people said she was lucky to be getting married to a man such as Gizurr, and as she looked on at him she felt she would have to agree.

Gizurr believed himself a hero. He looked down at everybody, and thought himself the best at everything. In truth he was quite vain, but no one told him so. He was the best hunter around, or at least in his belief, and not only that, he was also one of the prize navigators. The Vikings were born travelers and had some of the fastest ships in Europe. Like many Europeans in that time period, they strongly believed the world was flat, but, more uncommonly, they were open to any new discoveries their world provided.

Gizurr at the very moment was preparing himself for a Holmgang (a duel.) A Holmgang was a common way to settle an argument. The only rule was this-the first person to draw blood was the loser of the duel.

Gizurr had gotten into an argument with one of the fellow Vikings over a piece of farming land. Well, that was how the argument started anyway. The subject had broadened after that until Gizurr had made a crude remark on what was closest to any Vikings heart - their skill with the bow.

The duel had been set for that night.

Now, Gizurr was faced with a problem that had not occurred to him before. Tonight was his wedding night.

He knew now that he had no choice but to cancel the duel, but he felt extremely neglecting to do so. After all, a duel was a duel.

Maybe he could convince his future wife to delay the wedding for an hour or so - just enough time to squeeze in the duel and then get married shortly after.

He smiled to himself, envisioning it. What a victory that would be - a man marrying half an hour after striking an enemy down. That sounded just like him.

Herdis, mother of AEsa was preparing the food for the wedding feast. This was quite the project since both families would be present. The woman Vikings had to prepare the food for their entire family since entire families lived together in one house. Luckily, Herdis had her brother's wives to help her, as well as some of the family slaves. Herdis' daughter would normally be helping also, but she was waiting for her husband-to-be.

Herdis herself was quite proud of AEsa. She would have a good future ahead of her, that was for sure. Herdis felt she had raised her daughter well, and not only that, had contributed to find a suitable husband, which, to Herdis at least, Gizurr was by far.

Herdis had married her own husband Einer when she was 19, an age when hardly any other man would take her to be his wife. That was one of the reasons she was marrying her own daughter off so young- she would have a large variety of men to choose from. Anyway, it didn't really matter how old or young her daughter was - she was ready.

Einer, Herdis' husband and father of AEsa, was in the longhouse playing his prize musical instrument, the cow's horn. Einer was a Viking musician. He both crafted and played instruments. The cow's horn instrument was, obviously, a musical instrument crafted from a cow's horn that had been hollowed out so you could blow from it. Einer had spent many years crafting different instruments such as the recorder, the Lur, the Falser Pipe, The Lyre, the Goat's horn/Cow's horn, and the Pan flute. Most of the family's wealth came from the trade Einer provided with his instruments.

Einer was a typical Viking man from everything to his woolen shirt, long cloth trousers, and leather shoes to his grizzly beard and his get-to-business air about him.

He was the father of a daughter and two sons, his daughter being AEsa, and his two sons, Fridgerr and Eyvind. Fridgerr was a strong man, a born fighter. He was in control of the entire farm estate his family owned that he shared with his wife, his brother his father, his mother, and his grandparents. When a man married, his wife didn't become part of his family but stayed part of her own, the only difference being she no longer lived with her family. All in all, Viking woman had more rights than most other places in Europe. They had the freedom to divorce as well as the freedom to claim the children in a divorce, unless, of course, the children were older-the future of the child was then decided between the two families based mainly on wealth and position. Besides this, the woman also were in charge of the farm in their husband's absence, and were in complete control over such things as animals, food, clothing, and other such important tasks.

Einer's other son Eyvind was a mischievous young man that always seemed to get in trouble. The family didn't speak much of him because a while back he had killed another man's slave, and besides the fact that he had to pay a large sum of money to compensate, had shamed the family. This wasn't the first time Eyvind had broken the law. Unfortunately for him, Eyvind had a sharp temper that often flared and resulted in him striking back violently. He had been accused of killing a free man once, and because the jury (which consisted of 12 or more Vikings) had a disagreement on the case they made him walk 12 paces on red-hot irons. The custom was that in after three days the wounds were without infection, he was innocent, and if not, he was guilty. Fortunately for Eyvind he was pronounced innocent, but this did nothing to the shame he had thrown on the family.

Einer's thoughts turned towards his daughter AEsa. She was growing up fast, too fast it seemed to him. He sure hoped Gizurr would be a good match for his daughter, who he loved deeply. Einer sighed when he thought of Gizurr. Unlike his wife, he still had his doubts. Sometimes men were not what they seemed...

AEsa and Gizurr married that night. AEsa was wearing her best woolen dress, and had a crown of flowers atop her head. Gizurr was standing next to her awkwardly, not very familiar with this kind of gathering. But he was used to people. He soaked up the crowd, bowing and grinning with the same sideways smile. Next to him stood AEsa's father, his face grim in a sad sort of way. Gizurr's father stood on the other side, in a position that was so much like Gizurr's, you could mistake them. Then there was Herdis, smiling broadly, and the rest of AEsa's family. They were all there, all of them. That was how it was supposed to be. The wedding, the people, the joy, the dancing. It was all part of being a Viking, all part of living. It was the way of the Vikings, the way of the world.

by Lia, 7th grade