December 28th in the Julian calendar is the longest night, and it is also the biggest festival of the year for the Ross tribe, Hanukkah.
Light is always accompanied by darkness. The winter solstice is the longest night in the whole year in the northern hemisphere. After this day, the days slowly lengthen every day.
This normal phenomenon is particularly prominent in the geographical location of the Ross tribe.
Not only them, but all the peoples and tribes around the Baltic Sea have realized that certain days throughout the year are surprisingly dark. After this worst period of darkness, the days will become longer and spring will soon arrive.
Hanukkah is not a festival unique to the Ross tribe.
All the residents of the Siwea tribe alliance in the south, including the Jutland peninsula south of the sea, make major sacrifices during this period. After the sacrifices, the residents have a carnival for the new year. They will drink themselves up
If you brew or buy ale, you will have a very luxurious meal for several days.
The old priest Vilia did not understand how the Roman calendar was formulated. The only thing she was sure of was that the Romans had been using this calendar for 870 years!
The cosmology of her and other priests is different from that of the Roman black-robed men who preached to the north. Although everyone believed that one day human time would be destroyed, the Romans believed that on the day of destruction, all human souls would be tortured. This is
What Vilia can't understand is that she would rather believe that the warriors of the doomsday will fight side by side with Odin and face Ragnarok in Asgard.
So, when will the world end?
She didn't know, and the men in black didn't know either. They knew very little about each other's past. Those men in black in Rome believed very strongly that it only took a few thousand years for Noah's people to develop to the present after the flood.
It’s just time.
Vilia can be called the wise man of the tribe. Her knowledge of the history of her tribe is no more than a hundred years ago, and further back, it is just a few legends within the time span of three to four hundred years.
The calendar that has been used for 870 years must be accurate, Verlia is convinced! Looking up at the starry sky and looking at the position of the stars, there are less than three days before the festival, Verlia is deeply impressed by the exquisiteness of the Roman calendar
.
She sent herself as the messenger, especially Bona, who would take over as the high priest after her death, and asked her to lead the lower priests throughout Fort Ross, walking on the snow to spread the news of the upcoming festival.
A grand sacrifice is about to begin.
When Rurik returned to the longhouse of the priests after a long absence, his image had obviously changed from before.
He came back after a long journey. In addition to putting on a thicker leather coat and the latest velvet hat made of whole snow fox fur, he began to wear a beautifully decorated dagger on his waist.
Rurik is back, and the longhouse continues to be filled with the burning smell of fried fat. Compared with the strange smell of burning ore in the blacksmith shop, the burning smell of fat is more comfortable. At least it whets people's appetite.
When he entered the room, he opened his eyes and looked around. As expected, some of the priests were still boiling oil. There was also a lot of pure white seal fat piled on the ground, waiting for further processing.
Vilia is also here, her aging eyes are deeply sunken, nearly half of her teeth have been lost, and her face is full of deep wrinkles. Her whole body looks haggard, and she is holding her huge antlered helmet in her arms.
A linen cloth was used to carefully wipe all the crevices of the giant reindeer antlers.
It's not easy for a strong reindeer to carry huge boned horns on its head, let alone an old man?
This is Vilia's duty as the high priest. If she can't do it well, the antlered helmet should be handed over to Bona as soon as possible.
Obviously, only after his own life ends, the high priest's antlered helmet, which symbolizes the sacredness passed down through the generations, will be handed over to his successor according to tradition.
Hearing some restlessness, Villa noticed Rurik's return.
"Oh, child, you are finally back. Hurry! Come to me."
At this moment, seeing Rurik's small figure, she felt that the person entering the room was obviously her grandson.
Deep in Verya's heart, she longed for a grandson who would be willing to inherit her wishes, and it seemed that Rurik was such a rising star.
Rurik nodded and ran over quickly, sitting obediently next to Vilia.
"I'm back. There are some very critical things during this period, and I have successfully completed them."
"Yes... I have heard a lot about it. It's the sword in your waist. My child, you shocked me. You gave some of Odin's other commands to Thor's servants. That's fine." Wei.
Leah really needs to say more, because a legend has been circulating in Roseburg a few days ago, that is, the blacksmith Clavarson family is helping the leader's son to make a magical sword, and has succeeded.
The novel feeling about soap in the tribe has not yet passed, and the good news that the blacksmith shop can make divine swords can't help but spread.
"My child, the blacksmith has made a good sword for you. Quick, pull it out and let me take a good look at this sword."
"OK."
Rurik did not hesitate, and his action of drawing the sword was smooth and smooth.
Multiple round chandeliers hung from the wooden beams of the chief priest's house, and the flames of a large number of oil lamps gave the room a fairly bright light.
Through these firelights, the dagger in Rurik's hand showed a completely different color from ordinary swords.
Looking at it with a pair of aging eyes, Vilia could also notice that the sword was different. Its blade was different from its body, as if the blade was made for a special purpose.
"It... can really cut through iron?" Vilia didn't believe it.
"How about we give it a try."
"Okay! My dear, I really want to see how elegant the sword made by the blacksmiths with Odin's wisdom is." With that said, Vilia directly waved to Bona who was making oil.
The experiment ended quickly under Bona's hands, and a deep mark was cut out of a copper basin made of bronze.
Even though Bona is a woman, she is not an ordinary woman.
In fact, according to everyone's living habits, women can also go to the battlefield under special circumstances.
Some tribes have other interpretations of their own myths, such as the Danes. Some Danes believe that if a female warrior dies in battle, her soul will enter Valhalla and she will have the opportunity to be promoted to a new Valkyrie.
Some tribes believe that the Valkyries are all daughters of Odin and are descendants of gods, which is something that mortals cannot hope for.
When it comes to the Ross tribe, there are new opinions. These opinions basically come from Vilia's own determination. That is to worship Odin for the rest of his life and treat the priest's longhouse as a sacred place. As long as he is pious enough, he does not need to fight after death.
It is possible to become a Valkyrie.
Bona has developed very strong arms through daily hard work. This kind of woman is naturally capable of handling some battles.
She personally held the sword and cut marks on the bronze basin used by the priests daily. Surprisingly, the shining sword was not damaged.
Wei Liya's eyes were shocked at first, but soon she completely accepted it all, and her ricket back quickly cheered up.
"That's great, my child. No! The good child blessed by Odin..." Vilia held Rurik's hands deeply, "You give the knowledge to the blacksmiths, and you want them to make more of them as soon as possible."
A good sword. We must become stronger. One day we will develop southward and regain our position in the alliance. You...you have seen those wooden boards, and you know why we left."
"I..." Rurik carefully recalled that there was a practical factor in the Ross tribe's northward migration, that is, Svealana was a place with more people and less land.
In fact, it's not that there are really many people but little land. The area is generally vast, with a large number of lakes and unusable deserted beaches. There are not many farmlands that can be cultivated, and good places have been occupied by other tribes.
An ethnic group that has migrated out of the core area of the tribal alliance, even if its population has reached 10,000, is truly marginalized. It is precisely because of marginalization that the Ross tribe can no longer intervene as frequently as it did a hundred years ago.
Various matters within the alliance. Although the tribe has never withdrawn from the alliance, their voice in the tribe is really getting lower and lower.
If there weren't a large number of merchants from allied tribes living in Rossburg in the far north, perhaps the alliance gathered in the Svealand Plain would have forgotten the existence of the Ross tribe.
Rurik thought for a moment and said deliberately: "I have made an agreement with the blacksmith, and they will try their best to make it. When I grow up and become the leader, I will do my best to lead everyone to continue to develop."
Vilia slowly got up, holding on to her crutches to stand upright with her somewhat stooped body.
"When you grow up, you will take your carefully trained children and your magical weapons to the south. If you want us to prosper, you will bring an army to make other tribes surrender. You will be the leader of this alliance.
"
Leader? Shouldn’t I be the king?
But the Russians clearly want to...
Seeing that Vilia was too old, he continued to wear a giant helmet to preside over a ceremony, so he had to crush her neck.
How long can Vilia survive? Looking at her declining appearance, maybe it will be difficult for her to survive until next summer.
"Okay, I will try my best to become the leader of the alliance, grandma." Rurik said deliberately.
"Okay, son. You stay here, and soon your servant will return with the deer. You are a kind master, and you treat your servant well. But you will eventually face some enemies. Face those enemies.
, kindness will only kill you."
"I understand. I will not be merciful to my enemies."
Rurik was happy to chat with Vilia, which was a way for him to kill the boredom in winter.
After a while, Rumia, who was grazing, came back. She drove all the deer back to the deer pen, and then met the warm longhouse of the priest.
As usual, she took off her thick coat to keep out the cold. Rurik turned his little face and saw the beautiful silver jewelry hanging on her sweater on her chest and the girl's smiling face.
The girl was still smiling now. When she walked towards her little master obediently and sat sideways beside him, Vilia's words quickly stopped her laughter.
"The sacrifice will be held soon, Rurik. According to the agreement between your father and I, five deer will be used for the sacrifice."
"Yes, I know that, but for the remaining deer, I hope my servants will continue to raise them. I intend to restore the deer herd as much as possible, so that the huge deer herd can continue to bring us wealth."
Vilia nodded: "This is your decision, and I support it. Rurik, now you need to appease your servants. Those deer..."
Rurik turned his face slightly, only to see Rumia, who had been happy just now, with a sad look in her eyes.
"Alas..." Rurik didn't say anything, everything was unspoken.
The grand sacrifice of Hanukkah is under intense preparations.
At first, because the production of soap must consume a lot of fat, Pona was worried about this year's big festival. Unexpectedly, as the news that the magic soap requires seal oil as the main raw material was revealed, those experts who are good at cutting ice in winter to catch seals
They are obviously more diligent than in previous years.
The priests made quite a fortune, and the seal hunters took the opportunity to increase the price of their prey. Even so, they were still unable to compete with the huge profits from soap.
Compared to the priests, the amount of silver coins that flowed into Rurik's wallet during this period has exceeded three hundred! Although he paid a large sum to order a sword, he still has a considerable and growing wealth.
He really deceived the priests with a wooden contract, and also deceived all the tribesmen with the price. Rurik felt that he had shown a bad style of a profiteer, but he had to believe that the producers and consumers of the tribe
, they all feel that they have benefited.
A large number of seals were hunted, and a large amount of oil was refined to meet the key needs of the sacrifice.
On December 27 of the Julian calendar, when the short day suddenly ended, the grand sacrifice of Hanukkah was held tonight.
The severe cold has almost frozen the entire Baltic Sea. Although the relatively warm waters near the Jutland Peninsula have not completely frozen, there are still a large number of ice patches on the sea surface.
Even the bravest Danes have to stay in their respective homes to celebrate the festival during this time.
In particular, there was a chief named Sigurd who lived in the southern part of Jutland. His tribe was quite influential throughout Denmark.
However, in the current peninsula, Hafgen, the chief of the Robard tribe, controls the transportation routes between the inland sea and the outer sea. He can earn a lot of wealth just by charging various traveling fees.
However, Chief Sigurd often faced the Franks in the south and some Wends, the Slavic tribesmen in the far west.
He was very willing to go south to plunder during the warm season. In the past years, he had led his fleets to sweep south along the coastline many times. Because of these successful operations, the tribe also accumulated a lot of wealth.
These actions really stimulated his son Ragnar. He was envious of his father's glorious achievements and he was eager to establish greater achievements.
Ragnar in the winter of 828 AD, Ragnar was only an eighteen-year-old young man! This year he married his wife, but he had not yet received the nickname "Woollegs", let alone "Son of Odin"
He got many legends about wealth from his father, and was eager to inherit his father's leadership position. He was even considering going to the north to challenge the "lion" Hafgen, and cutting off his head on behalf of his tribe, so that he could
Serve as the new alliance leader. After that, he leads his allies to form a huge fleet and rush directly to Paris, the legendary richest place in Frankland.
All the gold piled up in a mountain in Paris must be moved home! Of course, all the Franks who were captured will be treated as their own slaves.
A young man's ambition must be equated with his own strength, and Ragnar has no chance now.
He even didn't know that further north in Scandinavia, to the north of the sea, was close to the legendary "Oarsman" Ross tribe, where there was a real "Son of Odin".
They both have lofty ideals, but do not have equal strength.
Life is still going on step by step.
Various tribes in Denmark celebrate their own Hanukkah, as do a group of tribes in Scandinavia, and even fishermen on the island of Gotland do the same thing.
After a few days of festivals, the first day of the first month of the Roman calendar has arrived, and time will irreversibly enter AD 829.