Viking Voices Read Online Free

last hopes of seeing our men folk ever again are finally extinguished. They must have perished in the battle, and so we will never see them again. My mother and Aud’s mother are inconsolable; their grief and the grief of so many other women are all around us, and it is heart breaking to see and even worse to hear.
    Now in the midst of this anguish we are called by King Ivarr to assemble for the Althing, an assembly which all free men can attend but obviously not the slaves or women. We are a little surprised to see King Ivarr here in all his majesty and great clothes, brilliantly coloured as befits his rank but perhaps not the situation. Given our terrible circumstances this seems to be out of place, and all of us immediately become fully aware that he has been absent during the battle. Because of that no one is happy with him, and there is a black mood developing among the defeated warriors. They are clearly starting to look for someone to blame. Ivarr’s judgement and timing in calling the Althing this evening could hardly be worse for his own safety; he is the natural target of all that blame.
    He takes the space at the centre and speaks loudly to us, calling on all of us to respect his kingship over us and asking for credit for having planned our withdrawal in the face of an overwhelming force, pointing out that Dalkey Island was prepared for us. We have food for the whole community for several weeks thanks to his efforts and foresight, and have kept many of the riches and resources of the city. We are now safe away from the threat of our enemies and being on Dalkey will gain us time and will therefore allow us to decide on where we go next and to go there in good order. Most of our boats have also been saved, and will allow us to continue to move and fight in the Viking manner. He calls on us to know the value of unity, and therefore to stay together and remain strong as one community under his leadership. He says that he alone offers the opportunity to stay united under one king, as one group. We should resist the temptation to disperse, or going away with any other leader, as by staying as one people we can best hope to use our strength to restore our fortunes by re-organising to regain our lost city and its lands.
    We all expect that it will be Ragnald who will stride forward to respond and express what we are all thinking, and right on cue he does so. Ragnald is always easy to predict, he has little guile and no subtlety, but he certainly knows how to convey anger and indignation very well. It reflects the mood of the gathered warriors perfectly.
    I admire Ragnald, and think him the strongest of the Jarls. Like all of them he is a tall, young, athletic and muscular man, well-skilled in fighting and the arts of war. More than most he is decisive and aggressive, if a little inclined to be impulsive and maybe even hot-headed at times. Despite his youth he is very proud and confident, he holds himself superior to the others and with good reason. He has royal blood linking him to the great King Ivarr, and is always decisive and often wise. Although he also has that hot streak which can cloud his judgement he knows this weakness and tries to restrain his impulses and to listen to his counsellors.
    He wears a full beard and has a full head of black hair. His most prominent features though are his lively piercing blue eyes, always darting here and there. He seems to observe everything, but maybe this is an outside sign of the internal strife that he is suffering. Certainly it is a sign of the continuous energy that sings through his veins. I never met anyone with greater vigour. When he is relaxed it asserts itself in great good humour, and he is wonderful company and it is a pleasure to drink with him and his comrades in the evening. There is always a lot of banter and laughter around him.
    When the black mood settles on him though, he is the most difficult and argumentative individual. In that mood he is very