Book 4: Ivar 'the Boneless'

4.0 PRINCE IVAR AND PRINCESS HELGA

CHAPTER FOUR

PRINCE IVAR AND PRINCESS HELGA (Circa 914 AD)

"6421 (913). Igor (Ivar) succeeded Oleg and began his reign. At the same

time began ·the reign of Constantine, son of Leo and son-in-law of

Romanus. The Derevlians offered resistance to Igor' after Oleg's death.

6422 (914) Igor' attacked the Derevlians, and after conquering them,

he imposed upon them a tribute larger than Oleg's."

The Hraes' Primary Chronicle

(914 AD)  "I still love your father," Queen Eyfura told her son, Ivar. "He rules in Gardariki and we rule here in Kiev, as queen and royal regent. Your father is a prince, but you are the grandson of a king. You, too, will be king. It is in your blood."

"But will father ever join us here?" Prince Ivar asked.

"He will come to Kiev when he is ready," Eyfura answered. "He thinks Kiev is haunted by the memories of your grandmother, Queen Alfhild. She died here." Queen Eyfura did not tell her regent son how her mother had died. No one ever talked of that.

"Father will never join us here," Ivar exclaimed. "And Oddi will never join us again," he complained. "And Hervor will never..." He set his jaw and shook his head. They were Hraes', Varangians....Way Wanderers, masters of the Nor'Way and of the Southern Way....the Dan'Way.

"You'll lead the troops for the first time tomorrow," his mother started, "and gather tribute from the Poljane, Drevjane and Radimichi. You have the lists for the required slaves, furs, honey and grain. If they are short on tribute, they must be harshly dealt with. Your lieutenants will help you with that. The slaves may be short. Prince Oddi was negligent in collecting the slave tribute. Other goods may be substituted until the practice is fully reinstated."

Prince Ivar led his troops to the city of Chernigov, a day's ride north of Kiev, to collect tribute from the Drevjane Slavs who had founded the town. As he was leading his horsemen down the main street, he saw a local Hraes' princess walking along the sidewalk. She was tall and lithe with long flowing blonde hair and she reminded the prince of Hervor. He learned from one of his men that her name was Helga and her father was a merchant prince from Sweden, so he had her invited to the Hraes' palace in the town. She fell in love with the prince that night and the inseparable couple were soon married. Late fall in Kiev brought the arrival of a daughter to the royal couple, Princess Alfhild, named after Ivar's great grandmother. Prince Ivar invited his father to her pagan sprinkling, for Princess Helga was a follower of Freyja and she wanted her daughter raised in the Aesir faith. Prince Erik suggested that perhaps young Princess Alfhild should be sprinkled with water in Tmutorokan.

"You shall have to overcome your fear of Alfhild's ghost in Kiev," Prince Ivar admonished his father, "especially now that your grand-daughter is named after her."

So little Princess Alfhild was sprinkled with water in the Temple of Freyja at the Grove of the Aesir in Kiev. The ceremony was small and very private in a small wooden temple amongst the oaks of the Aesir and other larger temples dedicated to Odin and Thor and Tyr and many other lesser gods of the Norse pantheon, for Freyja was a goddess of the Vanir who had joined the Aesir, leaving the southern pantheon.

Once Prince Erik had left for Gardariki, a Swedish king named Halfdan arrived in Kiev seeking the aid of Prince Ivar and Princess Helga. He was the son of the late King Erik of Sweden, son of King Bjorn of the Barrows, the skaldic king who had spared the life of Prince Ivar's father many years ago. He had come seeking support in his struggle against twelve Norwegian berserk brothers who were continually attacking his Swedish realm. His father, King Erik, had been a brother of Princess Helga's father, making them cousins of a sort, so Prince Ivar, eager to experience his first engagement, agreed to lead a force against the Norwegians even though his father was originally from the Nor'Way. He was also, very briefly, a former King of Sweden, Ivar rationalized.