An Oath to Odin

Dawn found Thor and Garth a mile from the encampment, waiting beside a stream for a deer to come for a morning drink. Thor, without thinking, had belted on the sword that he had found. Although it was in dire need of sharpening, it was the only weapon he had. When the sun peaked over the rim of the small glade, Garth rose and fired an arrow that hit with a resounding thud into the side of a large buck that had emerged from the edge of woods. Falling within a hundred paces of where it had been shot, the buck died. Garth began the process of gutting the deer as Thor wandered into the woods, searching for a berry patch or a likely place to gather pine nuts. After he had been gone a short time, Thor heard a yell and ferocious growling from some beast in the direction of the stream where he had left Garth. Yanking his sword from his belt, he ran toward the sound of a terrible fight. Garth’s shouts were becoming less robust by the minute, indicating that the fight was in favor of whatever animal he was battling. Bursting through the edge of the woods, Thor came face-to-face with an immense black bear. Garth was nowhere to be seen. The bear was hunched over the deer, beginning to eat. Sighting Thor, the bear reared onto his hind legs and gave a mighty roar. Thor was overtaken by a strange sensation and could only respond with a defiant yell of his own as he closed the remaining six feet between them. Towering over Thor by three feet, the bear bared his fangs and extended his talons in a huge swipe that would have decapitated Thor, had it connected. Thor ducked under the swinging paw and drove his sword into the bear’s chest hard enough that it emerged from the bear’s back. The bear began swinging at Thor and fighting the blade that was sunk to the hilt in his chest. Thor, hanging onto the pommel of the sword, was trying desperately to pull it free when the bear let out a fetid gasp and collapsed in a heap. Thor, faint with the sudden cessation of battle lust, collapsed into a squat and just stared at the bear. He never would have believed that he would charge into attacking a large bear with just his sword. It just wasn’t done. Bears were usually hunted with dogs, spears, and bows, not swords. Garth, lifting his head over a fallen tree, stared with disbelief, first at Thor, then at the bear. “You surely have the favor of Odin with you, Thor, for no one could have killed a bear that size with just a sword!” “I don’t know what happened. I just got mad and charged the bear.” “When you become a great war leader, Thor, I’ll sing of this day for years to come,” Garth replied, laughing. “Here I am, knocked senseless, when out of the woods you come screaming at the top of your lungs. You just ducked down and stabbed that great bear through and through. What a tale to tell! I only wish that I were a bard, so I might give the tale justice.” “I don’t want any tales. I just thought that you had been killed. We needed that deer, so I felt I had the right to defend my property.” “Aye, and now we have an even bigger load to carry back!” Garth was not seriously injured, since he had managed to fend the bear off with his bow, but he was knocked about in the scuffle. Suffering numerous bruises and scrapes, Garth began the skinning process on the bear. Meanwhile, Thor constructed a basket out of pliable branches to help carry back the hearts and livers of the two animals. Then he cut a long pole to suspend the carcass. Not able to carry both the bear and the deer, the two men decided they would first carry the deer back to the camp and then return for the bear. Placing the organs into the basket, they suspended the deer and set out for home. Arriving at the edge of the settlement, Garth began an intrepid saga that was largely exaggerated and out of tune. He sang about the great hunter, Thor, who hunts bears for sport with a sword and a fearless heart. Hearing the singing, the women and boys gathered around to hear the tale of bravery and fearlessness from Garth. Char beamed at Thor and winked. Thor bellowed for everyone to quiet down and said, “I just wasn’t thinking. If we want to get the bear home, we need to start soon. I judge it may take two trips to carry so much meat to the village.” So, gathering up their baskets and knives, the group went to retrieve the bear meat and the hide, a chore that took them most of the morning to complete. Setting up drying poles on which to hang the meat and starting small smoking fires took the majority of the afternoon. The women were busy butchering the carcasses and hanging the meat when Grell announced that he had found sixteen timbers among the ruins that were still serviceable for building. Thor and Garth left the women to continue drying the meat. Following Grell, they surveyed the timbers he had selected. Thor chose the largest timber to be the center post for the lodge, and between the three of them, they were able to drag it the distance to the building site. Grell began work digging a hole in which the post would stand while Thor led Garth in a circle that would outline their lodge. Thor’s proposed building was approximately thirty feet in diameter, and Garth was skeptical about the small group’s ability to construct something so large. “Garth, when we have enough meat and hides to trade, we’ll go to the village south of here and try to increase our fortune. If we’re lucky, I’ll be able to persuade some of the men from that village to follow me. We’ll require lodging for them as well as for ourselves. Therefore, we’ll build with an eye to the future.” “But, Thor, if we convince others to move here, we risk starving, for there won’t be enough food to carry us through the winter, let alone more people.” “I plan to buy food, if need be, or to raid one of our enemies if we can get enough men to follow me. Then we will have enough to make the winter. We’ll also supplement our existence with hunting and fishing.” “Hah! I’m no fisherman!” “True, but if you wish to eat, you may soon become one!” “Well said, Thor, for every hungry man becomes what is needed when need be. Farmer, hunter, or fisher, I will do what is required to help you keep us fed.” “Good. Then let’s finish designing my hold!” Constructing the lodge was given priority over hunting, since there was only so much meat that could be dried at one time. Once the lodge poles were set and the thatch placed on the frames, the lodge began resembling a human place instead of a crude, barbaric shelter. The spirits of the group rose daily. After a week, the meat was dried, and the women had made rough baskets to store the bounty. The hides were still curing, and the lodge was slowly being completed. One day, Grell returned from a trip to the fjord with a brace of geese struggling under his arms. He had caught them by swimming under water and grabbing their feet from below. Since Grell was still young, he thought the whole ordeal was great fun. That evening, over a meal of roasted goose and porridge, flavored with wild onions and berries, Thor asked his people for an inventory of how much meat they had accumulated. Thor was told that, with the bear and the deer, they had managed to smoke some two hundred pounds of meat, but they were eating the store at a rapid rate. Thor knew that with the amount of work that he and Garth needed to perform, he would have to set Garth to hunting while he continued to work on the lodge. Since the women were no longer smoking meat, at least until Garth managed to bring in more, he instructed Grell to build some fish traps for the women to tend.