Michael Crichton - Eaters of the Dead

How many days further we traveled I am not certain. I know that five times we changed horses for fresh mounts, paying for these in the villages with gold and with the little green shells that the Northmen value more highly than any other objects in the world. And at length we came to a village of the name Lenneborg, situated by the sea. The sea was gray, and likewise the sky, and the air was cold and bitter. Here we took another vessel.

This ship was in appearance similar to the one previous, but larger. It was called by the Northmen Hosbokun , which means “sea goat,” for the reason that the ship bucks the waves as a goat bucks. And also for the reason that the vessel was swift, for among these people the goat is the animal that means swiftness to them.

I was afraid to go upon this sea, for the water was rough and very cold; a man’s hand plunged into that sea would lack all feeling in an instant, it was so dire cold. And yet the Northmen were cheerful, and joked and drank for an evening in this sea village of Lenneborg, and disported themselves with many of the women and slave girls. This, I was told, is the Northmen’s custom before a sea voyage, for no man knows if he shall survive the journey, and thus he departs with excessive revelry.

In every place we were greeted with great hospitality, for that is considered a virtue by these people. The poorest farmer would set all he had before us, and this without fear that we would kill or rob him, but only out of goodness and grace. The Northmen, I learned, do not countenance robbers or killers of their own race, and treat such men harshly. These beliefs they hold despite the truth of the matter, which is that they are always drunk and brawling like unreasoning animals, and killing each other in hot duels. Yet they do not see this as murder, and any man who murders will be himself killed.

In the same way, they treat their slaves with much kindness, which was a wonder to me. [12]If a slave turns ill, or dies in some mishap, it is not counted any great loss; and women who are slaves must be ready at any time for the ministrations of any man, in public or in private, day or night. There is no affection for the slaves, and yet there is no brutality for them, either, and they are always fed and clothed by their masters.

Further I learned this: that any man may enjoy a slave, but that the wife of the lowest farmer is respected by the chiefs and earls of the Northmen, as they respect the wives of each other. To force attention on a freeborn woman who is not a slave is a crime, and I was told that a man would be hanged for it, although I never saw this.

Chastity among women is said to be a great virtue, but seldom did I see it practiced, for adultery is not accounted as any great matter, and if the wife of any man, low or high, is lusty, the outcome is not thought remarkable. These people are very free in such matters, and the men of the North say that women are devious and cannot be trusted; to this they appear resigned, and speak of it with their usual cheerful demeanor.

I inquired of Herger if he was married, and he said that he had a wife. I inquired with all discretion if she were chaste, and he laughed in my face and said to me: “I sail upon the seas, and I may never return, or I may be absent many years. My wife is not dead.” From this, I took the meaning that she was unfaithful to him, and he did not care.

The Northmen do not consider any offspring a bastard if the mother be a wife. The children of slaves are slaves sometimes, and free sometimes; how this is decided I do not know.

In some regions, slaves are marked by a crop of the ear. In other regions, slaves wear a neckband of iron to signify their place. In other regions, slaves have no markings, for that is the local custom.

Pederasty is not known among the Northmen, although they say that other peoples practice it; they themselves claim no interest in the matter, and since it does not occur among them, they have no punishment for it.

All this and more I learned from my talking with Herger, and from witnessing the travels of our party. Further I saw that in each place where we rested, the people inquired of Buliwyf what quest he had undertaken, and when they were informed of its nature-that which I did not yet comprehend-he and his warriors, and I among them, were accorded the highest respect, receiving their prayers and sacrifices and tokens of good wishes.

At sea, as I have said, the Northmen become happy and jubilant, although the ocean was rough and forbidding to my way of thinking, and also to my stomach, which felt most delicate and unsettled. Indeed I purged myself, and then asked Herger why his companions were so happy.

Herger said, “It is because we shall soon be at the home of Buliwyf, the place known as Yatlam, where live his father and his mother and all his relatives, and he has not seen them for many long years.”

To this I said, “Are we not going to Wulfgar’s land?”

Herger replied, “Yes, but it is fitting that Buliwyf must pay homage to his father and also to his mother.”

I saw by their faces that all the other earls, nobles, and warriors were happy as Buliwyf himself. I asked Herger why this was so.

“Buliwyf is our chief, and we are happy for him, and for the power that he will soon have.” I inquired what was this power of which he spoke. “The power of Runding,” Herger answered me. “What power is that?” I inquired, to which he made this reply: “The power of the ancients, the power of the giants.”

The Northmen believe that in ages past the world was populated by a race of giant men, who have since vanished. The Northmen do not count themselves the descendants of these giants, but they have received some of the powers of these ancient giants, in such ways as I do not understand well. These heathens also believe in many gods, who are also themselves giants, and who also have power. But the giants of which Herger spoke were giant men, and not gods, or so it seemed to me.

That night we breached upon a rocky shore, made of stones the size of a man’s fist, and there Buliwyf encamped with his men, and long into the night they drank and sang around the fire. Herger joined in the celebration and had no patience to explain to me the meanings of the songs, and so I do not know what they sang, but they were happy. On the morrow they would come to the home of Buliwyf, the land called Yatlam.

We left before the first fight of dawn, and it was so cold my bones ached, and my body was sore from the rocky beach, and we set out upon the raging sea and the blasting wind. For all the morning we sailed, and during this period the excitement of the men increased further until they became like children or women. It was a wonder to me to see these huge strong warriors giggle and laugh like the Caliph’s harem, and yet they saw nothing unmanly in this.

There was a point of land, a high rocky outcrop of gray stone above the gray sea, and beyond this point, Herger told me, would be the town of Yatlam. I strained to see this fabled home of Buliwyf as the Northmen’s vessel came around the cliff. The warriors laughed and cheered more loudly, and I gathered there were many rude jokes and plans for sport with women when they landed.

And then there was the smell of smoke on the sea, and we saw smoke, and all the men fell silent. As we came around the point, I saw with my own eyes that the town there was in smoldering flames and billowing black smoke. There was no sign of life.

Buliwyf and his warriors landed and walked the town of Yatlam. There were dead bodies of men and women and children, some consumed by flames, some hacked by swords-a multitude of corpses. Buliwyf and the warriors did not speak and yet even here there was no grief, no crying and sadness. Never have I seen a race that accepts death as the Northmen do. I myself was sick many times at the sights, and they were never so.