Book 3: 'Arrow Odd'

4.0 THE VARANGERS OF SEVILLE

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0  THE VARANGERSOF SEVILLE  (Circa 855 AD)

"In the Earl's ear the words            of Ermengarde will echo,

  enjoining us to journey                  by water to Jordan.

  But when the sea-riders                 race back from the river,

  as we navigate northward             we'll call at Narbonne."

Røgnvaldr kali Kolsson; Orkneyinga Saga

(855 AD)  When Oddi turned fifteen, King Roller planned to do some raiding in Frisia. Oddi reasoned that this would be a good opportunity for him to thank Prince Erik and his family for the ship, so he gathered up Asmund and a group of two dozen local fifteen year old youths into Fair Faxi and they followed the Norwegian fleet out to sea. But the fleet wasn't really going to raid Frisia at all. King Roller planned on sailing west around Frankia and south past Spain in order to enter the Mediterranean Sea through the Pillars of Hercules. King Roller's father, Ragnar 'Lothbrok', had acquired some vellum maps of Europe during his sacking of Paris years earlier and his son was now going to follow those maps as part of a planned reconnaissance of the Mediterranean for a sea route to Constantinople. Count Ragnar of Frankia was also going to lend his son some ships for the raid. The Norse fleet was halfway to Frankia before they discovered they were being followed. When King Roller found out that young Captain Oddi had trailed his ships all the way from Norway, he was furious and wanted to send him back to Stavanger. But it would be too dangerous to send a ship full of boys back alone, so they were allowed to join the fleet, at least until they met up with Ragnar's fleet on the Seine.

When he met up with his father, Roller brought up the problem that had arisen from Oddi's following his fleet. "Could you take care of this ship full of boys for me while I'm in the Mediterranean? I can't be taking them off to raid with me."

"I'll have to meet them first," Ragnar stated. "I don't have any wet nurses in my fleet, so they can't be in their swaddling clothes."

Ragnar met with Captain Oddi and his crew and he was immediately taken by the mettle of the boys. The youthful captain reminded him of his two sons, both of them, almost as if they had been forged together into one young man. He inspected their weapons and Oddi's ship and told his son he would take them. "I don't think it's a fair trade, half of my fleet going to Spain with you while I get all these fine young men, but I'll find some way to make up the difference to you." He stood at the forestem of Fair Faxi with Oddi as they watched the combined Norwegian/Viking fleet continue westward along the coast of Frankia. "I was plying the Nor'Way trade when Erik won this ship from King Gotar with a portent drapa. I don't think he was that much older than you are now," he said. "Your king thinks I'm too old to go to the Mediterranean with him."

"And he thinks I'm too young," Oddi complained.

"If I loaned you a few of my years," Ragnar started, "we'd both be just about right."

"Quite a few of your years," Oddi quipped.

"Let's get your crew some decent weapons," the old man laughed, giving the boy a quick cuff. "And I'll get us a nice chest of gold. We may need supplies on the way to Spain." Ragnar gave each of the boys fine weapons, swords and bucklers, spears and bows. And they loaded baskets full of arrows onto the ship and some strange linen sacks Ragnar's craftsmen brought out from a shed and then barrel after barrel of fine Frankish wine. Oddi wondered just how much the old man was planning to drink on the way to Spain.