Free Viking Voices by Vincent Atherton Page B

hungry for much of the coming winter.
    By noon the work has already started. Our axes which were once used in battle or in raiding are now being used to cut down trees. We also have just a few of the Dyflinn tradesmen still in our party and they are the most useful of all people to Ragnald now. Some of them even have saws which are suddenly much more valuable than swords or any other iron implement. The trees are felled steadily and carried over to the site where our new homes have already started to emerge, first using the dry timber that was carried with us from Môn.
    The work progresses well over a week, then two weeks, and already the first outline of an enlarged village has started to appear. There will be twelve new longhouses, for our community, with some additional buildings further away for iron working. These are placed at a safe distance away since they are well known for their tendency to catch fire.
    Many of the trees have been cut into planks, a long arduous task with so few saws and we are all learning new trades, especially carpentry, as the work progresses. A few are given the task of feeding us while the construction is done, and we are thriving, mostly on a diet of fish and especially shellfish which are very plentiful here. Although there are three surviving cattle brought with us from our last island home no one can imagine butchering them for meat. They are our first, and at present only farm stock, useful for pulling carts and our only means of moving the heavy timbers. It will be necessary to acquire some more, probably by raiding the lands around us later on. For now the first wattle fences will be built to retain the valuable beasts on their new pasture land.
    The hard work is purposeful and good for us and therefore morale is high, as we feel very reassured by the apparent permanence of our constructions. All of the community feel Ragnald must be very certain that this is the right place for us, though I feel that there will inevitably be a challenge coming to him soon.
    Unsurprisingly it is not long before other parties start to take an interest in us, the new comers. The island of Vannin already has a Danir king who has taken a little while to notice our presence but is now not best pleased by the arrival of several thousand new people who might provide him with a rival. After all, Ragnald is already well known, as is his aggression, fighting ability and ambition, and so the representatives of King Ottar soon come to see Ragnald and to hold talks. We hope and believe that this must be a good sign as they come in peace and want to talk, but we remain quite suspicious of them. We had, however, also hoped that there were prospects for a negotiated peace when the King of Gwynedd sent his ambassadors to meet Ragnald. That had not gone at all well for us in the end. So now I am once more at Ragnald’s shoulder, listening to the negotiations.
    The talks take many hours and then break up for a time, while we discuss the issues facing us. Ragnald has to consider onerous demands that have been made on him by Ottar the Dane, and is not at all pleased with his choices. King Ottar is prepared to let us stay but only if Ragnald pays him a huge silver tribute. This is not a happy idea for Ragnald, as he is such a proud, fierce man and hates the idea of accepting any one as his overlord. What is more the price will be very high, and Ragnald and this community seem to have so little wealth at present.
    It seems that Ottar knows of Ragnald’s flight from Dyflinn and has heard stories that he took large quantities of silver with him and is carrying it around in his wanderings. This is the curse of carrying that chest around with us. Many will talk about it and word of treasure spreads faster than any other gossip. Ottar believes that Ragnald is able to pay him off by dipping into the precious silver hoard. Clearly our king hates this idea with a vengeance, and I was standing close enough to hear him