A Golden Legend

The trunks of the precarious raft creaked and slid each other to the rhythm of the waves that became ever more intense, with ever higher peaks and valleys increasingly deeper. Bjorn looked sideways to the strings of the raft end that worked as bow, and noted with concern that they were deteriorated by the corrosive effect of salty water and the mechanical wear action produced by movements between the timbers. They would not last more than a few hours, and then the raft would disperse in the immensity of the ocean.   The adventure had begun two years before in Iceland, where half a dozen drakkars had set sail in the spring. It was the year 1024, although the existence of calendars in the cultural universe of Bjorn was not included. They had sailed first heading to Greenland. This was already a usual journey for Vikings, but for Bjorn it was his first experience in ocean travel. Accustomed to the narrow valleys and cliffs of the Norwegian and Icelandic fjords, the vastness of the icy plains of the huge island had amazed him. This was the first new experiences that would expand the world of the young man to levels that he could not even suspect. After a stay of one month in Greenland, the Scandinavian crew had again hit the sea heading west, towards the misty waters of the great ocean, following the blurred trail of Leif Ericsson and his men that had arrived to their knowledge through uncertain sagas. After a stormy voyage, they had arrived in a beach covered by flat rocks, which they identified with the Helluland discovered years ago by Leif, a bare wilderness where they remained only long enough to repair the damage caused by the storms in the drakkars. Helluland possibly corresponds to what we today know as Baffin Bay, in the far northwest of Canada. They then sailed for the purpose of arriving at Vinland, the site established by the Norwegians in the modern Newfoundland coast, perhaps in L´Anse aux Meadows, and in which those settlers had remained for several seasons. Continuous storms in a particularly unstable year from the climatic point of view led them rapidly to the South, while they prevented them from approaching the coasts for entire weeks, during which they suffered hunger and thirst.  Out of the twelve ships, two were presumably sunk. Another loss was the guidance provided by the narratives of former Viking travels, which had served them of reference up to there. The symptoms of scurvy, the dreaded evil of sailors that travelled without access to fresh vegetables, began to wreak havoc among the crew. After countless days sailing shaken by thunderstorms that alternated with periods of calm in the midst of a thick haze that made it impossible for them to orient themselves, the mist finally rose  and they managed to head westward, until at the end of a day and a half they sighted the coast. This was made up of cliffs, without natural bays that could accommodate ships and allowed the travelers to reach them. The Vikings toured the winding coast outline until they finally saw a narrow strip of beach, towards which they set bow. Upon arrival they found relieved that a coniferous forest extended to short distance from the beach, which ensured them a supply of wood to replace poles, timbers, oars and even a keel, all of them broken or lost in the previous agitated days. Another favorable feature of the site consisted of a rill that emptied into the sea, which gave them access to the necessary fresh water, whose scarcity had become critical. They remained two weeks in the place, time during which the sailors explored the surrounding area, noting that the beach was limited in its size and resources, so they decided to continue their navigation further south. After another week of travel, they saw what from the sea seemed to be a vast plain. The drakkars were directed towards it and after docking in a cozy estuary, protected from waves and currents flowing next to the shore, they established a camp with the aim to settle in the place for a longer time. For this purpose the Norwegians built huts using the materials available on the site, basically some wood, straw, stones and soil. They remained in the camp for about three months, during which they once again toured the hinterland, hunting, exploring and looking for traces of human population. Narratives made by Leif Erikson and other previous travelers referred to sporadic contacts, sometimes friendly and other bloody, with the skraelings, as the precursors had called the aborigines who they had found. Given their dual character of warriors and merchants the Vikings were ready to carry out peaceful or hostile contacts, but in any case the desirability of seeking contact with native people or circumvent it was an important consideration that the leader of the expedition was to carry out. In their trips and excursions the adventurers found no Indians, but they did find traces and evidence of humans of small feet lurking in the vicinity. This confirmed their belief that they were being observed and perhaps monitored. For this reason the sailors decided to establish permanent guards at relevant points of the plain, to prevent being taken by surprise by potential attackers. The guards were carried out discreetly, seeking that they would not be apparent to outside observers. This precaution proved providential, as time would show. Two drakkars which had undertaken the journey to Greenland replenish supplies, weapons and clothes lost in storms returned ahead of schedule. They explained that they had found the Norse settlement of Markland, located in what is now known as the Labrador Peninsula, ahead of which the expedition had unwittingly passed in their previous trip, in the middle of the continuous storms. In Markland they had obtained weapons and the required elements. The crew members of both ships brought the news that Christian missionaries had arrived in the colony from Iceland, and friction between them and the Vikings pagans who followed the traditional cult of Odin and Thor had occurred.   It had rained copiously during the night before, amid thundering and fall of lightning in the vicinity. The men had not slept enough and were tired by the forced vigil, close control and unloading the recently arrived ships, so that surveillance was temporarily relaxed. Dawn began to emerge amid the mists that were coming off slowly, giving way to an uncertain glow.   Chapter 2