THE LONG WAY

Chapter 1 - The Origin

It happened two weeks after Litha – the Midsummer festival. It was the day of the thunder god and Thor appeared himself. He was riding through the heavens on his chariot pulled by the goats Tanngrisni ("gap-tooth") and Tanngnost ("tooth grinder"). He was right above our hamlet - accompanied by thunder and lightning. It was the worst thunderstorm I had seen in my life. Evil spirits chased howling around the nave while big drops pound on the roof scaring the inhabitants of the hamlet. From time to time a flurry hit the walls and made the columns sigh. Then the clan members, who had taken shelter in the nave of Baldegg, our chief, moved together even tighter.

Baldegg sat on his chair, his famous sword lying across his knees. As legend had it the sword was a wedding present from Odin himself to his great-great-grandfather when he married a valkyrie. This union founded the fame of our clan. Since then we were known for being a family of heroes and magi, of sorceresses and seeresses. His head was hidden beneath his hands; I could not tell whether he fell asleep. Baldegg had already seen a lot of years and many thought that it was time that one of his sons became patriarch. Some said that even in his younger days peoples followed him because he had that magic sword, not because he had leadership skills.

At his side there were his two oldest sons, Glen and Glum. Although twins they had different appearance and different characters. Glen was a hand smaller than his father, but he had broad shoulders with strong arms and hands like shovels. He liked to work hard on the fields and was a gifted farmer. His brother Glum was tall, even taller than his father. Though he was strong, too, he was also very lissome. He never bothered with a plough; he was an excellent hunter and had the spirit of a warrior. Glum was always faster than his brother, in thinking and acting. However, he missed the staying power of his brother.

The three men were surrounded by the other members of the house, Baldegg’s wife Beyla, his nine daughters, and me, Gunnar, his youngest son. Both side aisles were filled with the occupants of the other naves. In the back room there were Baldegg’s animals.

Outside evil spirits were crying, inside women were whining and praying. The men sat and stared into space. Finally Glum stood up and said: “Bragi, our poet. Tell us the chronicle of our nation!”

At once everyone was quiet. Even the howling from outside seemed to soften. Bragi stood up and started his narrative:

”Listen to the story of our nation, as it has been given from generation to generation:
After Odin and his two brothers Ve and Vili had created the universe and the nine worlds, they walked on the beach where they came upon two logs of wood which were washed ashore. They picked the logs up and give them a humanoid shape. Odin breathed into them the spirit of live, Vili gave them sharp wits and feeling hearts; and Ve bestowed upon them the senses, expressive features and speech. Furthermore, the brothers provided them with names and clothes. The male they named Ask ("ash") and the female the named Embla ("elm"). Ask and Embla became the progenitors of the human race and Midgard was given to them as their residence.

When Loki heard the news he tried to imitate the three gods. All his attempts to create human beings were in vain. He finally tried to build men out of animals. He created the wild sow men, the cow men and the wolf men. Although they looked like human beings they lacked the godsend wits, the feeling heart and the fine senses.

In the beginning the human nation lived in the eastern part of Midgard. One day Odin decided to give them a new homeland. So the One-eyed called his people and guided them to the new place. On the way the humans said: ‘Look, this is a good place to live. Let’s stay here and build our houses!’ But Alfadir kept on marching, using his spear as a walking stick and the human nation followed. When they finally reached the Land between the Oceans Alfadir climbed on the hill Cimbaro and rammed Gungnir, his spear into ground. The spear stroke roots and became an enormous oak. This was the sign for the human race to settle down. The oak is the center of our homeland Cimbriheim.”

Bragi stopped and looked around. Everybody was attentive. Baldegg called: “Go on, Bragi! Tell us about the golden age!”

Bragi nodded: “After the human nation had settled they started to build acres. They found the ground fertile. Freyr, ‘God of the World’, ordered sun and rain to cultivate the plants and gave the human nation bountiful harvests.The sea gave them plenty of fish. Each clan built a hamlet.

Odin taught his people how to use metal; bronze, silver and gold. Now the humans could make tools, weapons and artworks. The population grew and we became rich. We had trade across the ocean with the lands of the north and even with the Western Island, where they swapped horses and honey for tin.

There was still much ground and Odin decided to bring another tribe of the human beings to the Land between the Oceans. The Teutons arrived and settled at the northern shore. After a while another tribe came from the south, the Ambrones. Although they were no human beings – their great mother was a wild sow – the humans had pity with them. They gave them a place to build their naves, taught them how to plant corn and how to appease gods. The Ambrones settled south of the humans.”

Glum shouted: “What about the cow men? Tell us about the cow men!”

“Yes, of cause there were other people, too. They are called cow men because their great mother was a cow. They were not a tribe ours. They had no villages, not even solid houses. They moved from place to place with their droves. They had no friends, no shelter and no god took care about them. They sneaked around our hamlets trying to scrounge or steal something. But when they saw a human being they ran away.
Those were the happy days. The human nation ruled Cimbriheim from shore to shore. We were rich, we lived in harmony with our gods; there was no hunger or pain.”

“Were there any other men on earth?”

“Yes, we know that there were another people. Once there was a trader, who came from far away. After his ship had stranded he came to us and stayed the whole winter. Obviously he was no human being, because he was terrible deformed. He was small, at least one instep smaller than a human being. He also had small hands and small feet, hands and feet of a child. He had dark hair and dark eyes. And he had the face of a child too, without a beard. Many believed that he was not grown up but he declared that he was 34 years old and that in his homeland all men looked like he did. Although he was abhorrent and ugly the humans treated him kind. When he talked about his country his story was unbelievable. He said that his nation was in the south, between two oceans just like Cimbriheim. At the northern side the country is limited by big mountains. The people there were small and they descend from wolves. Although they are tiny he told us that they were very powerful. They occupied 50 hamlets and ruled over the complete southern world. They were rich; they ruled the sea, too. They sent their traders all across the world.

The humans did not believe him. But a magus said that he knew this nation. Usually they were called dwarfs, their king was Alberich. They lived in the mountains - under ground. Although they were small and ugly they were magical creatures. They were fiendishly clever, very strong and they could anvil better than any other race. He strongly recommended to treat the dwarf right. Dwarfs are under Thor’s protection!

The magus probably was right; when the dwarf showed his sword everybody could see that it was made from an unknown material. Although it was not as shiny as bronze it was much stronger. When summer returned the dwarf repaired his ship and sailed away. He was never seen again.”

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Hi!
This is my first shot. I will be thankful for any feedback; even telling me that I should end it immediately-