Historical Setting: 793 C.E. Mooring at Bergenshalvoyen
Gunnar, one of the sailors on the boat that stopped for Sjókona, is telling me what has become of her.
We are both assuming Sjókona’s demand for a “god” could be met by any man. I was hoping her idea of a Christian god was not a horrible misunderstanding of both Christianity and God and also a misunderstanding of my own mortal oddity of life and life again. Those thoughts are heaped onto my guilt in abandoning her. Then Gunnar, and apparently the others who were with him, believed that Sjókona herself is an immortal mother of sea creatures which allows her to make her request of a god even though she is well-past her prime.
He goes on, “Of course we offered, but she would have no part of that. And there is no honor in taking a woman by force unless you own her.”
There are so many things I don’t want to hear said in this future world I’ve awakened into. Honor is just one mystery. Here, there are no books and gods are ancient and only sometimes immortal and not always heroic. And the Christian notions of love for neighbor have nothing at all to do with honor, unless your neighbor happens to be a king, which seems to me, an indiscriminate assignment of power.
I ask Gunnar.
“So then, was Sjókona returned to her homeland?”
“When the tide went out and the winds were calm, as we waited there, she probably decided her longing for a mother and daughter reunion was fulfilled so she came along with us anyway when we rowed back to her homeland.”
I try to explain. As a wayfarer I know so little of this place. I came over to this side with her because I thought Sjókona would bridge my curiosity into a useful reality, but all I learned from her was that I don’t even know where to start asking.”
He smirks. “What is there to know?”
“She was showing me runes. Is the reading of the runes something that common people do here?”
“Everyone knows what is said in the rune stones. The stories of our people are affirmed by the tellers of the stories. The runes make the grim stories victorious.”
“All around us now ships and men are gathering to cross the sea but why? Is there an enemy to conquer, a trade to make, a ritual that is often done at this time, or maybe an exploration of a land unknown? .. so much I don’t know…”
(Continues tomorrow)
Lazarus Ink 