Oathsworn 1 - The Whale Road (45 page)
Read Oathsworn 1 - The Whale Road Online
Authors: Qaz
BIRKA
— Main trading port of the Baltic in the 9th and 10th centuries, it was also noted for being the site of the first Christian congregation in Sweden, founded by Angskar (see Hammaburg, below). After 972AD, Birka vanished from historical record—it is thought that a combination of silting harbours and a failure in the flow of silver from the east killed it off. Gotland, further east, rose in its stead.
BJORNSHAFEN
–– Orm's home. Fictional, it is based on archaeological evidence in many farm sites, such as Ribblehead in Yorkshire.
DYFFLIN
–– `Dubh Linn' (Black Pool) was established in the 10th century and became a favoured trading place for the Norse.
GARDARIKI
–– Norse name for early Russia, the kingdoms of Novgorod and Kiev. Usually translated as 'kingdom of cities'.
HAMMABURG
–– Early name for Hamburg, seat of Bishop Angskar, whose missionary zeal drove Christian priests out to convert the north. In reply, Vikings sacked the place in 845 AD and the bishop barely escaped with his life.
HEDEBY
–– One of the best-known centres for commerce and industry, situated at the bottom of the Danish peninsula of Jutland; the territory at that time was part of Denmark but it now belongs to Germany.
This thriving 'town on the heather', was destroyed in 1066 and no longer exists.
HOLMGARD
–– 'Island town', the Viking name for Novgorod, which was originally the chief town of Gardariki (see above) until the capture of Kiev, further south.
ITIL
–– Capital of the Khazarian Empire — moved to this city in 750AD from Balanjar—Itil was also the Khazar name for the Volga River. Destroyed circa 965/966AD by Sviatoslav of Kiev.
JORSALIR
–– Jerusalem—in the 10th century, it was the city of the People of the Book—Jews, Muslims and Christians—and, despite warfare outside it, maintained a religious peace inside. The baptised Norse, newest and most-travelled pilgrims, made a point of visiting it.
JORVIK
— The pre-eminent city of Norse Britain from 866AD, better known as York.
KHAZAR KHANATE
— The Khazar empire extended (8th-10th centuries) from the northern shores of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea to the Urals and as far westward as Kiev. In the 8th century this essentially Turkic people adopted Judaism.
KONUGARD
— Kiev—'city of the king'. Eventual capital of the Rus/Slav kingdoms which became modern Russia, the city was established by Turkic tribes and 'liberated' by Swedish Vikings Askold and Dir, traditionally in the year 860AD.
LANGABARDALAND
–– Norse name for Italy, which was gradually transmuted intòLombardy'.
MIKLAGARD
–– Constantinople, also known as 'the great city'. The place to be in the 9th and 10th centuries, the Big Apple of its age and capital of the Byzantine Empire.
NORVASUND
–– The Straits of Gibraltar.
SARKEL
–– Byzantine-engineered fortress of the Khazars on the Don river, which controlled the trade routes to the east so successfully that the Rus of Kiev eventually decided that it had to be captured.
SERKLAND
–– Baghdad. Also the generic name for the Middle East (so called because, it seemed to the Norse, the people there only ever wore underwear—àserk' or white undershirt).
SKIRRINGSAAL
— Once a Norse Baltic seasonal trade fair, called `Kaupang' by foreigners—a Viking joke, since that's what they told them it was called when asked. Kaupang simply means 'a market'.
Robert Low has been a journalist and writer since the age of seventeen in places as diverse as Vietnam, Sarajevo, Romania, and Kosovo until common sense and the concerns of his wife and daughter prevailed.
To satisfy his craving for action, he took up re-enactment, joining
The Vikings
. He now spends summers fighting furiously in helmet and mail in shieldwalls all over Britain and winters training hard. He lives in Largs, Scotland, where the Vikings were finally defeated and expelled from the UK.
This is his first novel. He is currently working on his second novel, which continues the adventures of Orm and the Oathsworn.
Please visit his Web site at www.robertlow.com.
The End