Klaufi and the Skogsruss Part 3: The Saga of Ragnfridr Hallbjornsdottir

Klaufi and the Skogsruss Part 3: The Saga of Ragnfridr Hallbjornsdottir1

Far to the south, Roman Legionnaires and Roman-provincial captives were being sold as slaves from one Nordic tribe to another over trading routes that stretched throughout Germanic and the Scandinavian tribes. They could only look forward to a life of oppression and drudgery. Some wound up among the Ingwine, at the market where Baltic furs and amber were traded for the newly available Roman goods. One provincial was purchased as a concubine.2

* * *3

The wedding celebrations lasted a week, as guest came in from the farms and villages all over Gotland and Fårö. By tradition sacrifices were made at Vibaer to the pantheon of Nordic gods. Though Fridr did not enjoy it she held her peace for her husband’s sake; but silently prayed to the Most High God, whom she credited with her survival and great good fortune.4

Feasting and joy were the passage of the days. Her family was triply joyful. Their daughter had been restored to them. They received a substantial gift from Stigandr. And their new in-laws brought them a rise in social status. It was a better outcome than Fidr’s father could have arranged. 5

After the wedding, Hraven stayed behind to learn metalsmithing from Stigandr’s smith, and to get away from his brother’s wife. She and his mother were too much alike, and made life miserable for the menfolk on the isolated farmstead. Hrafn much prefered the active village life, and the large baer’s of the district. Who knew, he might find a more compatable wife than his brother had been saddled with.6

* * *7

Before the sailing season ended Stigandr had the boat repaired and made ready for a final trading voyage. Among the cargo were the farm’s best produce, barrels of dried fish, many furs and hides, and the small chest of amber that had been collected over the last year. He asked Fridr to accompany him to the islands of the Ingwine, where he would trade for silver and gold utensils and ornaments, and whatever these new Roman traders had to offer. Hrafn was invited, so that he could learn about any new smithing techniques used by the Romans. Klaufi invited herself as a matter of course.8

Stigandr, his regular crew, his new wife, and Hrafn left on a fair morning and rowed towards the mainland coast. They paralleled the coast southwestward until they entered a territory of large and small islands, and then turned northwestward. Stigandr and his crew had been this way numerous times, under both Stigandr and his father’s direction. But to Fridr and her older brother, this was an exciting and eye-opening cultural shock. Along the mainland coast there were dozens of villages, of various sizes, and towns, populous and well built. And more boats than either of them had ever seen. 9

Stigandr passed them all by, as he knew that among the islands of the Ingwine and the Jutes there was more to be traded. Traders from south, north and west would come to these islands. He also knew that from time to time there were those who came to steal, rather than trade, pirates who preyed upon the traders. It was not a peaceful age. Stigandr was no weakling, nor the crew men of gentle pursuits. For that reason, they came well armed, and expacting trouble.10

Before the voyage, Stigandr had gifted Fridr with a double-edged knife for her personal protection. It had a wonderfully sharp blade in a silver handle. The sheath was of leather, and strapped around the forearm. The sleave of her linen dress hid the knife. While she had never had to physically defend herself, she was more than familiar with the slaughtering, skinning and gutting of animals. Not in her society nor in her own values was the violence of the age questioned. Self defense was self preservation.11

Early one morning, as they were working their way through a channel, a larger boat pulled out from a headland where it had been hidden in the semi-darkness. Propelled by six oarsmen to their four, it quickly made way towards them. Stigandr wasn’t foolish enough to consider these to be simple fishermen. Even pulling with all their strength he could not gain any headway on the clearly armed pursuers. When the other boat was about two lengths distant Stigandr ordered the port oars shipped, and those men took up their weapons. At the same time the starboard oarsmen dug in their oars. With his steering oar Stigandr turned their craft into the onrushing pirates before they could react. 12

Stigandr’s boat slammed into the side of the other craft, breaking off the oars on that side and knocking the crew about. Unfortunately, one of the pirate crew was able to heave a grappling hook into the Gotlanders’ boat. Hakon tried to cut the rope, but was stabbed when the pirate crew pulled the boats together. A second grappling hook was soon thrown across as the more numerous crew swarmed aboard.13

With Stigander’s crew occupied in fighting for their lives among the cargo, Fridr and Klaufi were cut off in the bow. The last of the pirates to board came at her with a roar. Klaufi clambered over some barrels, and clamped her jaws down on the man’s groin. He bellowed in pain and shock, and lifted his sword to kill the dog. Simultaneously, Fridr reached up her left sleave, and pulled out her knife. 14

Clutching it with both hands she dragged the blade deeply across the man’s stomach. Cutting through his thick leather jerkin, she used all her strength to continue the stroke until he was disembowelled. He dropped his sword to grab at his eviscerated gut. On her counter stoke Fridr drove the dagger into his temple below the edge of his conical helm. He fell backwards, straddling both gunwales with his lifeless body. It had taken only a few seconds.15

Enraged, Fridr and Klaufi turned towards the main melee. Seeing her husband wrestling with a man, she lunged forward and stabbed him repeatedly in the right kidney. Distracted by this onslaught, the man became easy prey for Stigandr’s sword. He and Fridr, with Klaufi’s help, slew one other pirate. Heaving from the stress and exhaustion they sat down amidst the carnage.16

Hakon lay dying from his original wound; but a wounded pirate lay next to him. Hrafn and the other two crewmen had dispatched the rest. They bore minor injuries. Exhausted but smiling ruefully they too collapsed to their seats. After a few minutes they threw the bodies of the pirates into the enemy’s boat. The living pirate they disarmed, and left unattended with his dead mates. They carefully laid Hakon out amidst the cargo and covered him with his own cloak. Finally, they tied the larger boat astern, and began a sombre row towards their objective, an island not two kilometres away. 17

* * *18

Having to kill someone who was trying to kill her and her own did not trouble Fridr. Even the blood on her dress did not shock her. It could be washed. What troubled her most was Hakon’s death. She remembered the recent gentle mockery of his humorous saga of her years on Gotska Sandon. His humour and hard work would be missed. And he belonged to the baer as she now belonged to the baer. As Stigandr’s wife, she would be responsible for making provision for Hakon’s wife and children. She would have to rely on the wisdom of Stigandr’s mother for the proper conduct. 19

It was a weary, bloodstained crew that pulled their boat up on the crowded beach. Several other boats were there, including a great river barge of a design Stigandr had never seen. Men were dickering in various languages, children running about, women talking or cooking. Trestles and booths stood in a meadow above the beach, where men in fine cloaks stood displaying their wares. Klaufi stuck close to Fridr everywhere she went, as the sights and sounds and smells of this island were so strange to her.20

Fine pottery, bolts of finely woven cloths, silver ornaments and gold jewellery, pots and pans of iron and bronze, cups and mugs of unfamiliar designs, amphorae of wine, tools, were all displayed. The bartering would go on for days, until an agreed value for the northern trade goods was established for each type of manufactured good. Stigandr thought how shabby his own possessions were, compared to the Roman goods. Fridr, for whom life had so far been barren of fine goods, was overwhelmed by the spectrum of the goods available. 21

Before trading could begin for Stigandr, he had to locate the local chieftain to report the attack by the pirates. Finding Arnulf sitting by a fire talking with a Roman trader, Stigandr explained the situation. Arnulf called several of his counsellors, and came down to the beach to identify the raiders. 22

“Aye, we know these vermin. Petty thieves, trade raiders, drunkards all.” He ordered the still living raider hauled out of the boat. Then he commanded his counsellors to assemble a Thing. Arnulf addressed the group of elders when they had gathered.23

“I am Arnulf Thorstensson, chieftain of this place. Stigandr Eirikrsson, the Gotlander, you know from his previous trading here. You know him as fair and honest in his dealings.” Pointing to the wounded raider, Arnulf said in disgust, “This vermin we know is Gnarr of the Jutes, who sometimes lives among us with his Roman slave girl. He, with Harald’s crew, attacked Stigandr’s boat this morning. One of Stigandr’s crew was killed. Only Gnarr survived of Harald’s men. I have called this Thing so that we may decide Gnarr’s fate. Our trading requires peace not thieving. We must protect our reputation or loose our trade. What say you of Gnarr?”24

Knowing that the debate could take several hours to reach a consensus, Stigandr and his people went back to their boat to retrieve Hakon’s body. His body would be cremated and the ashes returned to Gotland for burial. Local men had already hauled the raiders bodies out of their boat and stacked them on the beach. They too would be burned; but their ashes left to blow away into the sea. 25

Stigandr inspected the raiders’ boat. It was marginally wider and longer than his. It was also newer. Its construction looked stronger and better designed than his. He decided that he would claim it as wergild for the attack. Even if the trading were poor, the acquisition of a new boat would offset it. Standing at the bow, Fridr read his mind, and observed, “With this extra boat we can increase our trading, and bring twice the number of these Roman goods to Gotland and Fårö.”26

He smiled and replied, “Your first trading voyage and already you are planning for expansion. Perhaps I should let you pick what we will take back with us.”27

“Yes you should,” she answerd confidently. “How would you know what the island women want otherwsie? If their wives and daughters are happy, then the men will be free to trade with us for the things they want.”28

He smiled deeply, and climbed out of the boat. Clasping his new wife’s shoulder he said, “Already you make me twice glad .” 29

She leaned into his ear and whispered. “When our child is born you will be thrice glad.”30

* * *31

The Thing had decided to hang the dying Gnarr, and throw him into a nearby swamp as a sacrifice to the gods to protect the trading. During the debate, Arnulf had sent a boat to the next island to fetch Gnarr’s concubine. When she arrived they proceeded with the execution. Arnulf chopped of both Gnarr’s hands, and then had him garrotted; though he was dead by then anyway. The concubine, a girl about Fridr’s age, hurled abuse at Gnarr corpse; mostly in a language that Fridr did not understand. 32

When Fridr questioned this response, Arnulf explained that she was his slave, and that he had greatly abused her, often in public. He doubted that she would shed a tear over him. The counsellors dragged Gnarr’s body and severed hands the several kilometres to the swamp. After some ritual entreaties the body was heaved into the muck to propitiate the local deities. As the ooze swallowed Gnarr’s remains the satisfied islanders listened as Stigandr addressed the Thing.33

“You have done a good thing to cleanse yourselves. It has done you credit in the eyes of those of us who have come a distance to trade on this island of yours. Do yourselves more credit, and grant me this boon. In exchange for the death of my friend, give me the pirate boat as compensation.” Fridr leaned over and spoke into his ear. “Stigandr added, “And grant us Gnarr’s slave girl, also.”34

Arnulf and his counsellor’s consulted and he answered, “Two of Harald’s men had wives and children. Gift us a cask of fish to sustain them, so that there will be no ill-will between they and you. Then the boat and slave are yours.” 35

“This seems good to me also,” he answered. And, knowing that this was just an opening bid, he added, “and I will also give each family a cow hide.36

“Then it is settled,” Arnulf announced as the crowd voiced their agreement.37

Hakon’s body was burned with ceremony, and his ashes placed in a burial urn for transport back to Gotland. Stigandr, Fridr, Klaufi and the crew slept in the boat that night.38

Fortunately the breeze was from the southwest when the pirates’ bodies were burned.39

* * *40

Leticia rejoiced over the painful death of her abusive ‘husband’. Slavery was to be expected in a slaveholding world. But Gnarr’s brutality left her much more scared psychologically than did her reduction to the status of slave. She felt no remorse at seeing him chopped, hung, and flung into the swamp. But she was too stunned by the suddenness of the day’s events to clearly contemplate her future. Following the execution she had taken her small bundle of personal possessions and followed Fridr. She helped in Hakon’s cremation, and then assisted Fridr in making a meal. In all this she had been silent. As the day wore on towards night, Fridr began questioning their new slave. “Do you speak our language?” Fridr asked in her Fårö accent. 41

Leticia cocked her head to one side, trying to make out the strange sounds. She answered in the Ingwine dialect, “I can speak some of this people’s language.” Her accent was a strange to Fridr as Fridr’s had been to her. They both smiled awkwardly. Leticia tried again. “I am Leticia, daughter of Cladio Africanus, a merchant.”42

Fridr tried pronouncing Leticia’s name. “Lettija.”43

“Leticia.”44

“Lettijia,” was as close as she could get. “I will call you Letti,” Fridr announced finally. Fridr made Letti sleep next to her in the Gotlander’s camp, to show everyone that she was under her protection. Also, she was intraged by Letti’s olive skin, dark hair, and dark eyes. She had never see a “Roman” before. 45

On the morrow, as the men began the long process of bartering, Fridr and Leticia began the onerous duty of cleaning the gore from the two boats. It took all morning. Fridr and Leticia chatted in mutual semi-comprehension. Fridr told her the names of the different trade goods, and parts of the boats. Stigandr had assigned Ingvarr to guard the boats, and begin to unload the cargo. He corrected Fridr’s Fårö accent when it differed too much from Gotlandish. At midday Fridr ordered Leticia to prepare a meal, while she went to find Stigandr. Together they rounded up Hrafn and Bjorn, and all went to eat the meal of cheese, bread and gruel that Leticia had prepared.46

The men finished unloading the boat, and dispalying their cargo on the sward for prosceptive traders. In ones and twos, or in small groups, the various traders from the south would inspect the goods, and barter an offer. Fridr advised Stigandr on the likely value for cloth, household goods, clothing and jewellery. She had an eye for good quality, and kept him from purchasing inferior goods, but deferred to his judgement on everything else.47

Fridr and Stigandr had already discussed the likelihood of Leticia being able to handle an oar. She was small and slight, and unfamiliar with boats. Fridr suggested that they barter for a male slave who could assist with the long row home, and then be traded to someone in Vibaer. Stigandr used the amber for this purchase. 48

There were several male slaves for sale, but Stigandr focused on one who, despite his battle scars and current deprivation, held himself with pride and confidence. “This one was a Roman soldier captured in Genrmania,” this slave merchant explained when he noticed Stigandr’s close inspection. 49

A quarter hour’s dickering secured the slave at a price Stigandr was willing to pay. When the party returned to the boats Letti was waiting with refreshments. She looked inquisatively at the new person, and then began to speak with him in a language the rest had never heard. Stigandr was wise enough to allow them to talk freely without interruption. When they seemd to have talked themselves out, Stigandr asked Leticia for an explanation. Her Ingwine was not really adequate, but the Gotlanders got the gist of the story. To their ears the slave’s name sounded like Clemenius. He had been captured in the same battle as Leticia, and where her was father killed. 50

Stigandr explained to Leticia, and she to the Roman, that he had been purchased to work in the boat, and provide defense if they were attacked by other pirates. He acknowledged this role, and through Letti, assured Stigandr that he was a man used to obeying orders.51

On the journey home, Fridr decided to gift Letti to Hakon’s widow as compensation.52

* * *53

Despite the wealth and prestige the voyage brought, Fridr’s adult life was not a happy-ever-aftering. Real life brought problems to be solved, challenges to be overcome, and tragedies to live past.54

Though near term, on the day her first child was born, Fridr walked out to the horse pasture to talk with her mare. As she was stroking the mare’s mane Fridr felt the child move and drop lower. As she left the pasture, Fridr’s water broke, and her contractions started. She managed to reach her mother-in-law’s house, where the two women helped Fridr deliver a baby boy. Stigandr named him Eirik. Two years later a girl was born, whom Stigandr named Hvitastjerna, after his mother. Those two children prospered. But their births were followed by a miscarriage and a stillbirth.55

Materially, Stigandr prospered by Fridr’s advice, and he expanded his number of boats. The ex-pirate boat, with its larger cargo capacity, became his main trading boat. The old boat was relegated to just to fishing, and with his second season’s trading profits he built a second trading boat, and expanded his trade with the mainland.56

Hrafn eventually married Hakon’s widow, who though a few years older, proved to be an excellent match for his craftsman’s work ethic. 57

When the children were five and three, Stigandr’s mother died. For many months he was sombre and withdrawn, much to Fridr’s heartache. Their regular family sojourn on Gotska Sandön Island brought him out of his grief, and he and Fridr made plans for expanding the baer. They would add another store house, and extend their trading far to the north, to the Saami tribes. 58

Not just Stigandr, but many Baltic mariners were becoming rich through the cartage of Roman trade goods. The various tribal elites were more than happy to acquire fine Roman goods, wines, even furniture. And as trade increased, raids on trading boats increased. 59

Fridr and stigandr had been married twelve years when her life changed again. First, he beloved Klaufi died. Stigandr, now in his forties, had delelgated more and more of the trading voyages to Bjorn, while he did more of the fishing. But this season he felt a need to be voyaging, and captained a trip to the land of the Jutes. On the way back, just two days south of Gotland a pirate boat found them in a fog. 60

Clemenius, of a similar age to his master, proved his loyalty by valiantly defending Stigandr, though in the mele Stigandr was eventually wounded. The attackers were repulsed, but all of Stigandr’s crew had received wounds. When the boat limped back into the harbour the wounded crewmen were taken to the main house for care. Though Fridr nursed Stigandr day and night, though minor, his wounds were infected and he died within a week. On his deathbed he set his Roman slave free.61

Fridr ran the farm and the trading business until her son was mature enough to take over. During this time, her favorite mare died. When Eirik married, Fridr moved into her late mother-in-law’s house, and watched her family grow. One winter’s evening she complained of a severe headache; and was found dead in her bed the following morning. 62

Cremated, her remains were placed in a burial urn, and held for the summer. All the boats, and all the adults attached to the baer travelled to Gotska Sandön Island for the burial. The bones of here horse and dog were carried also. And, her most precious jewelery.63

Her daughter, Hvitastjerna Stigandrsdottir, remained a month at the cottage, to mourn her mother, and to better understand how this island had shaped her life. 64

* * * *65

Sadly, cultures change and turmoil overtakes societies. In the Viking era Fridr’s line died out. And, Gotland became a haven for pirates. 66

Over the intervening centuries Gotska Sandön Island was coloniesed and then abbandoned sevral times. The wood and thatch, foodstuff and bare furniture of the cabin had burned, or rotted away by then. But the hearthstones remained, as did the rusted remains of bronze and iron implements.67

In their third summer of excavations, archaeology students from Uppsala uncovered a small find near the southern beach. Discolouration in the soil, the hearthstones, and nearby midden indicated the presence of a dwelling. The rusted tools eventually brought a dating of 1AD, +/- 50 years.68

Even more staggering was the discovery, by way of a magnetic anomaly, of a bronze funeral urn buried in the smaller pasture area. The ashes gave no clue to gender. The urn itself, though bronze, was decorated in a style of the early roman-contact era. But buried along with the urn was a small iron framed chest, the wood of which had rotted away. It contained a woman’s jewellery, mostly silver broaches and pins. A pin of a running horse was especially well crafted. Also contained in the trove was an iron dagger with a silver handle.69

Buried beside the urn were the ashes and bones of a dog, and of a small horse.70

Obviously, this was the burial site of an important woman. The archaeologists estimated the burial as in approximately the same time frame as of the house site. The material objects were taken to Uppsala for cleaning and preservation. 71

The End72

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Klaufi and the Skogsruss: The Saga of Ragnfridr Hallbjornsdottir74

* * * *75

This is a work of fiction in three parts. Language, customs, sea currents and weather are not portrayed accurately. The archaeological discoveries are fictional.76

Timeframe: in the pre-roman-contact era of the Nordic Iron Age.77

Location: Gotland, Fårö and Gotska Sandön Islands, Baltic Sea, Sweden.78

Ragnfridr’s Family79

Father: Hallbjorn [rock bear]80

Mother: Ragnbjorg [helpful advice]81

Daughter: Ragnfridr [beautiful advice] Hallbjornsdottir 82

Brothers: Radulfr [wolf’s counsel], and Hrafn [raven] Hallbjornsson83

Stigandr’s Family84

Stigandr [Wanderer] Eirikrsson [Eric’ son] 85

Hvítastjerna [Whitestar], Stigandr’s widowed mother86

Stigandr’s Crew: Bjorn, Hakon, and Ingvarr87

S& Rs children: Eirik Stigandrsson, Hvitastjerna Stigandrsdottir88

Gnarr’s slave girl: Leticia/Letti89

The Ingwine: A Nordic tribe living in Iron Age Denmark.90

Jutes: A tribe living on the Jutland Peninsula of Denmark91

A “Thing”: Assembly for decision-making. 92

Wergild: blood money, payment for a debt of honour.93