Winning the Warrior (Taekook ff)

Context and Vocabulary

Author's note:

Before I post the context of this fanfiction, I'd like to mention a few things. And even before that, if you're reading my other book, don't worry! I intend to finish it! There's only 4-5 chapters left of that book. I seem to have hit a writer's block with it. I have the plot for the last chapters, but I just can't seem to find the right words. Rather than letting me finish that book, my brain ahs decided to throw 'new idea parties' in my head. So, I decided it would be better to get those new ideas out of my head before they vanish and to make space for other ideas so I can complete my first book. You can expect me to publish the last few chapters by the end of this week. Thank you for waiting and all your support! I just wanted to get these stories out of my head and writing them out was a good plan. The validation feels amazing. Thankyou.

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Context:

-This book is purely a work of imagination.

-This book has been tagged as historical fiction. I have marked this with the genre of Fanfiction but added the tag for historical fiction.

-Since historical facts cannot be absolutely verified, there are always doubts about how history panned out. I spent quite a few hours digging up information and going through any and all historical information I could find. Here is what I need all readers to understand:

1. The historical facts differed at many points including timelines.

2. Quite a lot of information has been deemed incorrect recently, so please do not send messages correcting anything. (you will know once I start uploading the chapters)

3. This is a work of fiction, and fanfiction at that. There will be factual inaccuracies.

4. I will try my best to retain the essence of the time period and people I have taken inspiration from.

5. If you're native to the region I will be writing about, and I somehow, unintentionally, hurt your sentiments or write something incorrect about the culture, please dm.

- I have slightly changed the spellings of names of the members to fit into the story. You are welcome to pronounce them as we do irl. Please be co-operative and don't attack me for changing the names.

-This book is about two males in a relationship i.e. gay romance.

-There will be smut. (and detailed as per the requests of my friends).

-There will be instances of animal hunting in the story. If you're sensitive to such, please be careful.

-The artwork used is definitely not mine. I have requested the permission of the artists and will use their artwork if they allow. There is a lot of artwork floating around social media, and it is difficult to trace it back to their artists. If you recognise some, please do tell me.

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Vocabulary:

I will add terms and their meaning as they're mentioned in every chapter but still thought it would be a good idea to have a vocabulary list too. Here we go:

1. Vikings
Belonging to the whereabouts of modern-day Scandinavia, Vikings were settlers and traders. The Viking period has been marked from 750-1100 CE. Portrayed and initially believed to be blood-thirsty raiders, they were marked as barbaric people. Recently, Historians have discovered that these tales and accounts of Vikings are exaggerated. They were raiders but they weren't as barbaric as portrayed by 11-13th century literature.
Their main concerns were trade and finding land for settlements because they came from lands surrounded by ice columns and mountains. According to modern day, their native land would be Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Greenland and surrounding islands.

2. Class system
A 3 class system followed by Vikings has been identified by Historians.

- Jarls – The Aristocracy

- Karls – Free Peasants

- Thralls – Slaves

3. Gods and Deities
The Vikings are known to be followers of Norse mythology. There will be only a few Gods, deities and terms mentioned in this story.

- Odin- God of knowledge, power, battle, death

- Freya- Goddess who rides into battle

- Njora- God who calms sea, grants land and wealth

- Frey- God of agriculture and land

- God Rig/Heimdallr- Father of mankind

- Volva- priestesses who posses the power to see the future / seers

- Hof- temple

- Valhalla- The hall where fallen warriors will join Odin in afterlife

- Hel- the place where people who die of old age and disease will go in afterlife

- Elves- described as shiny and heavenly creatures

- Dwarfs- described as Earthen creatures

4. Baugryger- An adult and independent woman i.e. 20 years old. Also, women could inherit property and become a leader if there were no males in the family to inherit.

5. Frilla- A woman who co-habited or lived with a man outside of marriage. Many times, these men were already married and had kids. It was a consensual and common practice among the Vikings. Mostly this was due to a higher ratio of women to men, and because men were responsible for producing the next line of warriors.

6. Bruohlaup- literally meaning bride run. This word is contested to allude to two practices. Stealing the bride from her house. (Marriages were mostly arranged amongst the Vikings. Their women were allowed freedom in all matters, even to move out of their family houses if they were single by the age of 20 but had no say when it came to marriage.) Or to carry the bride from her familial house to her husband's house i.e. providing her safe passage and guarding her.

7. Bjorr- Fruit wine

8. Skyr- Dairy product much like sour cream cheese and yogurt mixed

9. Fjords- Valleys in U-shape surrounded by mountains on 3 sides and a water body on 1 side.

10. Cesspit- Historic washrooms created away from houses. These were large holes dug and covered to be used for excretion. Sometimes large wooden crates or barrels were placed inside and they would be removed once they were full.

Vikings are known to have imported:

· spices

· Glass

· Silk

· Wine

The export items included:

· Amber

· Cloth/wool

· Exotic birds

· Down

· Stones to make pots and pans

The foods that have been identified to be a part of their diet include:

· Barley

· Wheat

· Oat

· Carrots

· Cabbages

· Different types of berries

· Fish

· Oysters

· Shrimps

· Mussels

· Wine

· Beer

· Mead

· Bjorr

· Milk

· Buttermilk