Viking Saga

[Sparhawk]

The first page of my viking story. Please feel free to comment and help me make it better ( I promise that should it be published ( hahahaa...as if ) I will credit Ironworks

The clouds were dense and dark as seldom seen, the thunder rolled from one end of the sky to the other, rumbling like a giant eating boulders. Lightning crackled and lit up the clouds for miles, if one had eyes that could see that far, one would have spotted a shadow riding on top of the clouds, in a small wagon pulled by two goats. The man was actually not a man, but the nordic god of thunder, Thor, wielding his mighty hammer Mjolnir he was heralding the birth of a man who would change middelgard, the world we humans commonly refer to as earth. Actually, the gods had been waiting such a long time for this particular birth that Thor was laughing with a booming voice as he swung his hammer over his head, setting of a new series of tremendous lightning, even his goats trembled at the raw power he was throwing out into the night. Among this insane thunderstorm, in a very small village on the little inlet island of Varald, a woman was hurrying through the village, carrying her little basket with herbes and poultices, she ran straight for the smithy and inside the house that was attached to the smithy, the home of the local blacksmith, Olgier Ironfist and his young wife, Elfrida Honeybraid. The woman was the towns healer and she was to help with the birthing of their first child, it would be a difficult birthing, she knew, Elfrida was a slim girl, barely nineteen years old and she had been ill during the pregnancy. The birth took nearly seven hours and in the early morning hours the little boychild was finally born, the room went completely silent when it was evident that the child was stillborn, the birthing had simply been too much for the little boy. High above the village, Thor was shaking his head in disbelief, this was definatly not supposed to be, the sound of a horse whining made him turn his head, a horse here on top of the clouds? His jaw almost fell when he saw the huge, black and eightlegged horse “Sleipnir” coming toward him, bearing the only God it would ever tolerate to ride him, Thor's father and the King of Valhalla, home of the nordic Gods. -”Something is amiss Thor, I can feel it in my old bones son!” he said softly as he rode up the edge of the cloud Thor was standing on. He looked down towards the house, as if his sight was not hindered in the slightest by the fact that they were seperated by a few miles, a roof and the smoke from the chimney of the smithy. -”I suspect that the jotuns for some reason has interfered with the childs birth, thus I have to set things right again, but if this is the case, the boy will need someone to look over him! Would you see to it that someone we can trust will do so?” he looked at Thor, who rumbled a bit and nodded. Odin pointed his hand towards the village and suddenly clenched his fist tightly. -”As all-father and creator, as ruler of life and death...breathe little man and become what you're meant to be – but as always when a life is given, another must be taken!” he whispered while Thor in awe watched as a bluish light engulfed Odin's hand and then like a lightning hurled down into the house they were watching. The cry of a baby made Thor smile and nod mutely to his father, it was always something to see Odin unleash his power, even Thor felt a bit overwhelmed when he did so. Olgier's grief stricken head popped up as the baby began to cry its heart out, a minute ago the healer had informed him that the baby had been stillborn and was now doing everything to save Elfrida. He stepped over to the bed with the little wrapped baby and took him into his arms, the baby stopped crying and looked at him with the bluest eyes he had ever seen, the baby smiled and reached out with his little hand and grabbed the thick beard that produly marked Olgiers face. The healer came into the room with a sad look on her face, that turned into an incredulous stare at the living baby in his fathers arms. She spoke a blessing to the gods and closed to check on the baby, Olgier looked at her face and her sad shake of her head told him that his young wife had died, he had feared this as she had been sick during the pregnancy and thus he steeled himself. The healer suddenly stopped looking over the child. -”Olgier, this mark...I swear upon the gods, it was not on the child when he was born!” curiously Olgier turned over the slightly protesting baby and looked at the mark on his back, a dark tatoo-like brand was evident on the baby's back, depicting the legendary ravens, Hugin and Munin sitting on top of two fierce wolfes know as Geri and Freki, this was clearly the sign of Odin, the all-father himself. Trembling Olgier held the baby in his arms as he stepped into the morning rain, the thunder was no more and the villagers were coming out to see the new baby, Olgier was standing there in front of his house and looking into the skies, thankfull for his little son when the clouds broke and he clearly saw the two gods high above them and he heard a voice in his head, a voice full of wisdom, power and genuine regret for his lost wife. -”Heed my words Olgier, this boy is blessed by Asgard and more importantly my personal blessing is upon him until his fifteenth birthday, I am sending you someone to help raise and train him, welcome the person I send you as an old relative or friend, make sure the person will be accepted in your town because the person will stay until the boy is old enough!...oh and don't bother pointing at us, you're the only one that can see us!” Olgier sank, he had been just about to cry out and point to the two gods. “My son has something he wishes to say!” Odin continued, the booming voice of Thor rang in Olgier's head like a rumble of a mountain hit by an earthquake. -”Mortal, your son is blessed by Odin's hand, I have my own blessing to give, but it will have to wait until his fifteenth birthday...so my father tells me, or else my blessing will undo the blessing he gave. When the boy turns fifteen, I will come to you...oh and name the lad properly will you!” Odin looked at Thor with an amused twinkle in his eyes and carried on. -”My blessing will keep your son from being detected by Jotuns, but only till his fifteenth birthday, the person we send to you will help keep him safe from earthly matters...live well Olgier Ironfist!” A cloud obscured them from Olgier's eyes and when it was gone so were they.