Viking Raid (25 page)

"I have peace for this moment aye.  But it will not last."

"Then enjoy it while it does." She stood and kissed me on the head before returning to the other end of the table.  "I have spoken with Aiden. I know of the manner of the meeting with Brigid."

"And?"

"And we both know of your dream; the dream of your mother."

"How?" They both laughed and I felt foolish. "Do I have no secrets?"

Kara shook her head. "This was not a chance meeting. The Norns planned for you to save Brigid. She is part of your future."

"That is foolish."

"Remember my brother when he met Elfrida?  That was the Norns. Be happy."

"But your mother!"

"My mother is as happy as any as is your mother."

"How do you know?"

She looked at me with those huge eyes of hers which were like deep pools. "Because the Spirits speak with me.  Angharad was right in one thing; my powers have grown and I have learned to use them.  I do not need to dream for the spirits to speak with me. Do not fight it father; it was meant to be.  It is
wyrd
. Brigid was sent to you. You had a hole in your heart. I know that this rift between my brother and me pains you.  We can do little about that.  This Brigid is a good woman and she was sent by the spirits to heal you. She will give you the solace my mother did." She smiled, "This is a good thing, father.  You know better than to fight the Norns."

Aiden nodded, "And I have seen, in her eyes, that she admires you, Jarl.  There is much in common between you. Surely you must have felt something."

I looked from one to the other. "I did but…"

"Then do not fight it. This was meant to be.  This is
wyrd
."

I nodded, "You are right, this is
wyrd
." I was the plaything of the Gods, the Norns, and the Spirits. My life would change again.

Afon Hafron- River Severn in Welsh

Bardanes Tourkos- Rebel Byzantine General

Bebbanburgh- Bamburgh Castle, Northumbria

Beck- a stream

Blót – a blood sacrifice made by a jarl

Blue Sea- The Mediterranean

Bourde- Bordeaux

Byrnie- a mail shirt reaching down to the knees

Caerlleon- Welsh for Chester

Caestir - Chester (old English)

Casnewydd –Newport, Wales

Cephas- Greek for Simon Peter (St. Peter)

Chape- the tip of a scabbard

Charlemagne- Holy Roman Emperor at the end of the 8
th
and beginning of the 9
th
centuries

Celchyth- Chelsea

Cherestanc- Garstang (Lancashire)

Corn Walum- Cornwall

Cymri- Welsh

Cymru- Wales

Cyninges-tūn – Coniston.  It means the estate of the king (Cumbria)

Drekar- a Dragon ship (a Viking warship)

Duboglassio –Douglas, Isle of Man

Dyflin- Old Norse for Dublin

Ein-mánuðr- middle of March to the middle of April

Faro Bregancio- Corunna (Spain)

Fey- having second sight

Firkin- a barrel containing eight gallons (usually beer)

Fret-a sea mist

Frankia- France and part of Germany

Garth
- Dragon Heart

Gaill- Irish for foreigners

Galdramenn- wizard

Glaesum –amber

Gleawecastre- Gloucester

Gói- the end of February to the middle of March

Grenewic- Greenwich

Haughs- small hills in Norse (As in Tarn Hows)

Heels- when a ship leans to one side under the pressure of the wind

Hel
- Queen of
Niflheim
, the Norse underworld.

Here Wic- Harwich

Hetaereiarch – Byzantine general

Hjáp
- Shap- Cumbria (Norse for stone circle)

Hoggs or Hogging- when the pressure of the wind causes the stern or the bow to droop

Hrams-a – Ramsey, Isle of Man

Icaunis- British river god

Itouna- River Eden Cumbria

Jarl- Norse earl or lord

Joro-goddess of the earth

Knarr- a merchant ship or a coastal vessel

Kyrtle-woven top

Leathes Water- Thirlmere

Legacaestir- Anglo Saxon for Chester

Lochlannach – Irish for Northerners (Vikings)

Lothuwistoft- Lowestoft

Lundenwic - London

Mammceaster- Manchester

Manau/Mann – The Isle of Man(n) (Saxon)

Marcia Hispanic- Spanish Marches (the land around Barcelona)

Mast fish- two large racks on a ship for the mast

Melita- Malta

Midden- a place where they dumped human waste

Miklagård - Constantinople

Nikephoros- Emperor of Byzantium 802-811

Njoror- God of the sea

Nithing- A man without honour (Saxon)

Odin
- The "All Father" God of war, also associated with wisdom, poetry, and magic (The Ruler of the gods).

On Corn Walum –Cornwall

Olissipo- Lisbon

Orkneyjar-Orkney

Pillars of Hercules- Straits of Gibraltar

Ran- Goddess of the sea

Roof rock- slate

Rinaz –The Rhine

Sabrina- Latin and Celtic for the River Severn.  Also the name of a female Celtic deity

St. Cybi- Holyhead

Syllingar Insula- Scilly Isles

Scree- loose rocks in a glacial valley

Seax – short sword

Sheerstrake- the uppermost strake in the hull

Sheet- a rope fastened to the lower corner of a sail

Shroud- a rope from the masthead to the hull amidships

Skeggox – an axe with a shorter beard on one side of the blade

South Folk- Suffolk

Stad- Norse settlement

Stays- ropes running from the mast-head to the bow

Strake- the wood on the side of a drekar

Suthriganaworc - Southwark (London)

Syllingar- Scilly Isles

Tarn- small lake (Norse)

Temese- River Thames (also called the Tamese)

The Norns- The three sisters who weave webs of intrigue for men

Thing-Norse for a parliament or a debate (Tynwald)

Thor’s day- Thursday

Threttanessa- a drekar with 13 oars on each side.

Thrall- slave

Trenail- a round wooden peg used to secure strakes

Tynwald- the Parliament on the Isle of Man

Úlfarrberg- Helvellyn

Úlfarrland- Cumbria

Úlfarr- Wolf Warrior

Úlfarrston- Ulverston

Ullr-Norse God of Hunting

Ulfheonar-an elite Norse warrior who wore a wolf skin over his armour

Volva- a witch or healing woman in Norse culture

Waeclinga Straet- Watling Street (A5) Windlesore-Windsor

Waite- a Viking word for farm

Woden’s day- Wednesday

Wulfhere-Old English for Wolf Army

Wyddfa-Snowdon

Wyrd- Fate

Yard- a timber from which the sail is suspended

Anglo Saxon London

Northumbria circa 800 AD