The Light of The North (Norse TL)

[Sachmis]

Quick thing, From what I understand stand, the Greenland Colony Collapses do to Vitamin D deficiency. How do you attempt to pervent this?

Vitamin D Deficiency in Europeans Today and in Viking Settlers of Greenland - PubMed

The vast majority of the Earth's population lives between the 20th and 40th parallel north and south. It seems that right here humans have found the best living conditions relating not only to temperature and food recourses, but also to UV radiation necessary for the production of vitamin D by...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

There's significant debate about what exactly happened to Greenland. The issue is essentially Iceland didn't give enough of a shit to note down whenever whatever happened happened ( let along what) so we've kinda gotta try and piece things together from context clues. The timeline is somewhat suspicious in that Greenland's #1 export was Ivory, and the colony collapsed about the same time Portuguese expansion in Africa was making Ivory prices in Europe plummet.

Another noteworthy factor that's been pointed to is that their known walrus-hunting practices created a situation where once a year about a third of their entire population where at sea at the same time in right about the same place, so a single bad storm at an unexpected time could have potentially wiped out the colony's labor pool in a day.

 

[Tairo]

857, Skjótrgil

Avert your gaze Rán thought Ingjolfr. Gods he hated this section of the Noatun. Dragging the longship out of the river he distracted himself with thoughts of recent events.

The years since the initial contact and trade between Björnland and Lakeland[1] had seen the tribal violence amongst the natives of the river dwindle under the alliances built by the, now clan-mother, Jigonhsassee, allowing for naval expeditions between the two regions to be attempted. All had been hampered by the now infamous range of water that was quickly becoming known as the Skjótrgil. Neither knarr nor longship had proven capable of traversing it, forcing captains and merchants to have their ships dragged overland. An unspoken but acknowledged understanding had developed between the Norse and the Freyjalag had arose from this situation, in return for safe unhindered passage through the land, the Norse would provide iron weapons and tools to Kannata warriors. Their own smithing experience being still somewhat infantile, the farther south they travelled.

The mourning wars now at an end, for the time being, meant that Norse traders were being more frequently being met with Freyjalag merchants rather than their warriors. By no means an unwelcome change, even if it did necessitate a change in merchandise. As safe passage was restored, traders reported an increased demand for 'Norse Animals' specifically Horses amongst the Freyjalag. An animal still in short supply amongst the Norse settlements of Utaneyjar and thus still high in demand on Vinland.

A generation of Norse settlement on Vinland had given rise to towns and villages of self-sustaining populations no longer dependent on immigration from Iceland or Europe, that now nearly outnumbered the Skraelings. The Skraeling response to this had been wildly split amongst numerous chiefs and bands. The so-called 'cult of Baldr' had adopted some but not all religious and cultural practices of the Norse Almost certainly just someone looking to grab power, The Eastlanders had built their own trading settlements on the eastern peninsula of the island and began building their own trade networks through close Norse settlements on either Vinland or Thokeyjar, reaching to the far south lands of Mi'kma'ki. The Southlanders, or Skraeling, those who had been pushed south of the Vinland lakes region, rejected both these positions and quickly found itself in conflict with both, even as Norse settlements pushed further south and inland, with all sides claiming that their enemies were now Shawnook[2].

Mi'kma'ki, or 'Our Land' found itself emerging as a realm to counter Thokeyjar's influence in the region after several bands and settlements called for a Mi'kmawey Mawio'mi, their vesion of a Great þing for the region by his understanding, as Norse farming and technologies being adopted throughout the peninsulas. Technologies that had led to new crafts being made, with necklaces venerating specific dieties a common trade item, with Gefjon being most favoured by them. He would have preferred to travel to the realm were Gefjon was rising in prominence. I could get Sölveig one of their necklaces, she liked the last one I got her. Probably not a good idea to get one of Loki's though, would send the wrong message. Or maybe a Tagelharpa?. Exploration of their markets would have to wait a few months unfortunately.

Atlantic trade from the natives of Austland seldom reached Björnland as Thokeyjar or Mi'kma'ki oft found themselves attempting to levarage their positions in return for preferential treatment. As such Björnland had found itself somewhat dependent on trade with the native cultures of Vinland Bay, a situation no-one on the island wished to continue for long. Injgolfr had been a minor merchant son of a freed ambat befre he coming to Jarl's attention after his creation of several icehouses to store his merchandise through summer. Creations that allowed him to accumulate a small degree of wealth. While not ordered, she had heavily suggested he join one of the expeditions south to Lakeland to test the possibility of similar such structures, albeit much smaller in nature, for long voyages across water. Keep food edible for longer and sailors can journey longer, journey longer and we can reach farther than Thokeyjar Ingjolfr understood the implicit reasoning of her suggestion and quietly agreed. No invention he could dream of however, would ever make Skjótrgil navigable. The river flow sped rapidly here, to such a degree that Rán herself would take Skíðblaðnir to her halls were it to be sailed on it.



"We are being watched" Geirr's voice cut across his thoughts. There was no tone of warning, so he merely turned in curiosity rather than reaching for a dagger. Whoever had been watching them evidently panicked once they were discovered, fleeing into the trees. A child given their height.

"Should we see what that's about?" One of the men behind him asked. Go after a dark haired child in an area that Rán would call home? Not a chance

"Idle curiosity of a child, I would imagine. We have travelled long enough that arrival is almost certainly discussed amongst Kannata elders before we have accomplished it" Geirr replied. Evidently he too wished to leave this area as soon as possible. While both men and women of the North valued bravely extremely high, cleverness was held just as high. There was nothing clever about travelling on alfablót, about calling on the Allfather by name, or about lingering here.

"The last expeditions placed the people of the deer at the other side of Lakeland, I thought-" the first voice attempted to continue.

"I don't care where it is, we're not fucking staying here longer than we need, so move" Geirr cut across him.

What are the odds there's a navigable way out of Lakeland besides this river?

--
[1]Lake Ontario
[2]Beothuk for 'False People', OTL they gave this name to the Mi'kmaq after european contact led to hostilities between the two. Conversely Beothuk means 'True People'
Skjótrgil is the La Chine Rapids

Couldn't get this to work as infodump or character so tried combining the two, feedback on if it works is very welcome.

 

[Tairo]

857

The aftermath of the conquest of the welsh northern kingdoms marked a distinct turn in the politics of the British Isles of the 9th century. The Anglo-saxon kingdoms all but destroyed and the Norse still relatively disparate, Cináed mac Allpin sought to turn the Kingdom of the Picts into the pre-eminent power throughout the isles. Coming to power after a succession crisis in 843. Cináed had spent most of his reign so far in contest with numerous rivals including Dumnagual of Alt Clut, now a nominal vassal of the Kingdom of Dyflinn. The remainder of his reign see him attempt to keep the southern lands as disunited as possible, while he failed at this, this would be Pictish foreign policy for centuries to come.

The Norse petty kingdoms of the Atlantic that had been established at various points of the 9th century significantly hampered Pictish naval capabilty, as after the discovery of Vinland and lands farther west led to an influx of trade, they had each sought to raise themselves to the preferred location for goods coming from Utaneyjar. Faereyjar had attempted to establish a permanent navy, the prohibitive expense of such an endeavour however saw the initial attempts at such be quickly abandoned.

Hingwar, proclaimed as King of Jorvik by a volva in Lindisfarne - almost certainly as a deliberate insult to the christians of his new kingdom, had betrothed his infant daughter Asa to the youngest son of Olaf and began an intense proslytezing campaign to spread the Norse faith to his subjects. This proslytezing would come to be a defining mark of not only his reign but of the Kingdom of Jorvik itself and would led deviations of the Norse faith itself - The Norse who had sailed across the Atlantic in search for new land and stayed long enough had been rewarded with the ability of easier sailing thanks to the Freyjanal, those who had merely sought new land found barely arable land or lifeless rocks. Jorvik Norse would slowly come to be associated with an oddly optimistic fatalism.

The Kingdom of Dyflinn, by contrast had little interest in proslytezing focusing more on continued conquest of the Welsh kingdoms. Such rapid expansion outside of Ireland however had led to ambitious Irish chieftains raiding eastwards in attempts to reclaim the Hill of Tara, which although thwarted, hindered Olaf's ongoing campaign through Wales. Commonly claimed to be at his mother Auð's insistence, though evidence for this is spotty at best, Olaf's son Buðli was crowned co-king of Dyflinn and tasked with expanding the Irish border of the kingdom. It is unclear whether or not the Jarldom of Miðeyjar was considered a vassal of Dyflinn as sheer distance between the two would led to such a relationship being nominal at best. What is clear however is the steps Buðli took in order to prevent further irish raids, each raid defeated saw a counter-offensive on the attack with those defeated enslaved and sold throughout the Anglo-saxon lands of the kingdom with their lands granted to former political rivals while enticing Norse settlement in the newly conquered lands.

The death of Rorik of Dorestead in 857 is shrouded in mystery, what is known is that at a trade negotiation between Rorik and a West Francian noble an arguement broke out between the two and led to Rorik's death and the Noble fleeing to Constantinople. The reasons for both the arguement and the noble's destination afterwards a matter of debate. Rorik's death however led to Harald inheriting his lands in Northern Frisia and proclaiming himself King of Frisia, that he had not and would not set foot in Frisia in his lifetime seemed of little bother to him. The reborn Kingdom of Frisia was initally of considerable concern to the neighbouring Daneðing, essentially bordering it on two sides, before it became apparent that Harald had no intention of even visiting the Frisian lands of his kingdom. Nevertheless all further contact between them saw the Daneðing refer to him as 'King Harald'.

 

[Rolen Keng]

Huh, interesting that the Frisian didn't break away even though it could be considered that they had nominal independence under King Harald.

 

[Tairo]

Huh, interesting that the Frisian didn't break away even though it could be considered that they had nominal independence under King Harald.

Thanks for the feedback!

Harald's reign in England thus far has been extremely unstable, forcing him to focus on attempting to consolidate gains made by his nominal vassals there. The Frisians have 'accepted' his rule as he has an alternative route to invade West Francia, should they come under threat of them.

 

[Rolen Keng]

Oh yeah, what's going on with the pagan/Norsish Saxons under Theoderic?

 

[Sarthak]

I'm wagering it's either Dyflin or Daneðing who unites the isles. They sit at the most fertile regions, some of the most populous, and right in the middle of important trade nodes which they will control. They are in prime positions.

 

[Some Bloke]

So what's the bit in pink?

 

[Tairo]

So what's the bit in pink?

That's Harald's Kingdom/K. of Frisia

 

[Rolen Keng]

So the Saxons don't even exist in this TL! What?

 

[Tairo]

So the Saxons don't even exist in this TL! What?

I'm not sure what you're getting at here? The Saxons have been part of East Francia for about fifty years by now and the Anglo-Saxons are mostly under the rule of the Norse now - Mercia still exists but the way that 1444 Byzantium exists. Later chapters will display the shifting political landscapes of Francia without the treaty of Verdun, though probably not before I focus on Scandinavia proper.

 

[Rolen Keng]

Oh. I am so sorry, please forgive me. I forgot that the Saxons were conquered under Charlemagne, and now they are being ruled over by his descendants. So can I ask about what is happening to the invasions of Slavic lands.

 

[Tairo]

The Balkans and Panonnian Basin are essentially the same as OTL for now.

 

[Rolen Keng]

What about the Eastern Slavs?

 

[biffer]

Yay, Picts!

I’ll be interested to see if / how you include the kingdom of Alba here, in TOL it was another 200 years or so before Scots kings started inter marrying to Norse nobles (I think Malcolm Canmore was the first). If that were to start earlier, along with the other changes you’ve already introduced which would hamper and /or alter England’s growth as a power, we might see the northern half of the British isles becoming the stronger part

 

[Tairo]

4 Skerpla, 857
Ontario Shore

"I do not understand this game"

Ingjolfr suppressed a sigh as he explained the rules of Hnefatafl to his opponent, yet again. Their arrival at the kannata of the People of the Bear had initially been met with alarm and confusion from the Norse. That the place was on fire had a significant amount to do with that. He had heard rumours that this was a normal practice throughout Lakeland but hearing and seeing were two rather different things. Most of the kannata had already moved west, though a small number had stayed behind hoping to meet them. The child that had been following was supposedly some sort of a scout for a southern kannata of the lodge builders called the people of the river, who had then informed their westerly neighbours.

The fact they still wished to trade was the reason for his repeated - and failing - attempts to teach the game to someone new. The ice in the ship had remained frozen for the journey, so his part was done as far as he was concerned. The captain by contrast had started talking with, hopefully, the kannata's drottseti in an attempt to build a trade post on the still burning land. They had attempted to build one several times on the route along the river but had been refused by clan mothers as the lands requested were still in use by one clan or another.

Rather than spend his free time listen to which of the more important men had the upper hand, he had decided to explore the shoreline, where he had met his opponent who had offered him an apparent attempt at alcohol. The recipe for which had apparently been mimicked from their neighbours on the river, where they had got such a terrible method of brewing he had no idea.

Lakeland alcohol, if it could be called that, appeared to consist of merely fermenting corn in water until it resembled gruel[1]. As a result, it both tasted worse and had a lower chance of getting drunk on than either Ale or Sapmead. It's taste however explained why previous attempts at trading Sapmead had been rebuffed without explanation.

They find it too sweet? This stuff is disgusting. He offered the rest of the drink to his opponent who had given him an odd look before taking and finishing it.

"You need to flank my pieces on both sides for it to count as a capture." The continual instruction was suddenly interrupted by nearby yelling. Glancing back towards the kannata, it seemed trade negotiations had been stumped by a demand for an absurd amount of cats.

"The women like them as pets. Not sure why. Never seen an animal with such a high opinion of itself. "

No weapons had been drawn and none of the rest of the crew seemed bothered, so he returned his focus to the game.

"Only corners count for Escape and Victory." Ingjolfr informed his opponent who proceded to do just that.

His opponent gave no indication that he was satisfied with the victory but appeared to be intensely studying the board.

"An intriguing game. You need to aim for overwhelming victory before moving your pieces. Ah rematch perhaps?"

Resetting the board, this time in a white-square pattern, they were interrupted yet again by more nearby yelling.

"I'm surprised your Drottseti is tolerating my captain's nonsense" Ingolfr said as his first piece was captured.

"Given how you have avoided both him and your other companions, one would think you were unfond of them"

"Oh, my opinion of them will probably increase in a few hours, or days. There's only so much time you can spend in close confines with someone before finding everything about them exceedingly annoying, Longhouses have doors at each end after all. After 800 vika listening to how they can arrange meeting between their children and þora or complaing that the Jarl spends too much time with Ylva, teaching the game is a welcome distraction"

"þora?"

"The Jarl's daughter. You know how it goes, someone with good fortunes has a child and those who wish to change their own fortune-"

"Seek to ingratiate themselves with said child. I'm familiar with the behaviour, though I imagine it expressed differently between us. Iouskeha warns against such practices but many fall to them" His opponent said as he finished his drink.

"Iouskeha?"

"You most likely call him something else, like how Heno is þor? Is that how you say it. The most favoured of the gods. He is the bringer of fire and of the sun, that released all the animals from beneath the land having wounded in the foot all but the wolf. From his mother he protects all those he has played tricks on from her."[2]

What

"His mother... would she happen to be wondrous beauty and a hideous crone to whom all the disfavoured dead are subject to?"

"Ah, it is just matter of name then. Ah my manners, we've been enjoying this game and conversation for some time and I have yet to introduce myself. I am of the Deer clan, my name is Tadadaho."

"Ingjolfr af þordisrike. It's not just a name matter. She's his daughter in the tellings I know. Her name is Hel."


----

[1]OTL what would become the huron tribes began experimenting with this 'beer' around the 1200s and drank it ceremoniously at Feasts of the Dead. The Feast of the Dead is not practiced at this point by any of the tribes, so along with continuous contact with Norse, it has simply became something they drink during trade with them. Norse knowledge of brewing sped up it's invention/discovery.
[2]Tadadho is condensing quite a bit of the mythology here but it's not incorrect.



Map of Lakeland areas that Norse have access to. Tribe names are translated to English to distinguish them for later developments.

Not too happy with how the map turned out so will probably redo it later. Feedback welcome.

 

[Sachmis]

I enjoyed the talk of religious syncretism. Its always rewarding, I find, to compare notes in good faith like this.