THE RELUCTANT VIKING By Sandra Hill
THE RELUCTANT VIKING By Sandra Hill
CONTENTS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Other Leisure and Love Spell books by Sandra Hill:
LOVE ME TENDER
THE OUTLAW VIKING
THE LAST VIKING
SWEETER SAVAGE LOVE
DESPERADO
FRANKLY, MY DEAR…
THE TARNISHED LADY
For my mother, Veronica Cluston, who taught me how to be a strong woman long before strong women were in vogue.
And for my husband, Robert, who taught me how to be a coyote. May we always howl together.
Author’s Note
From 1976 to 1981, the York Archaeological Trust undertook one of the most impressive historical excavations of all time: Jorvik, the Viking Age town of York. More than 15,000 small objects taken from the site gave historians a clear picture of everyday Viking life and allowed specialists to re-create a replica of the Viking city that flourished there under a series of Viking kings from 850 to 954 A.D.
Archaeological studies, like the “Coppergate” dig at Jorvik, prove that the Northmen, who made a highway of the seas during the Viking Age, 800−1100 A.D., weren’t always the heathen rapers and pillagers portrayed by early historians, usually Anglo-Saxon clerics with biased viewpoints. They were, in fact, men of incredible bravery, daring, loyalty and talent, driven by a ruthless hunger for new lands to settle as farms and trading centers.
The Vikings respected justice and, in fact, introduced the word law into the English language. They created in their Things, or local courts, the forerunner of our modern jury system. Furthermore, the Viking sagas and skaldic poetry show evidence of a surprising wit, sensitivity and appreciation for culture.
The Northmen began their extensive spearhead onto foreign soil at the end of the eighth century with small, hit-and-run raids that soon escalated into massive warheads, sometimes involving hundreds of ships and thousands of men. Over the next two centuries, they penetrated Europe, North Africa and Russia. They proudly served as hand-picked members of the Byzantine emperor’s personal bodyguard in Constantinople. Some discovered America.
Yet, there is no Viking nation as such today. Why? It’s because the Northmen blended into the local societies they conquered, adopting the language, customs and religion. Many of the noble knights of the Middle Ages were actually close descendants, even grandsons, of Vikings, such as the “outlaw” Viking Hrolf (or Rollo), first Duke of Normandy, my own grandfather thirty-three times removed. Hrolf also was the great-great-great grandfather of William the Conqueror.
The monk-historians also ignored in their biased records an elite group of Viking knights called Jomsvikings. The oaths of loyalty and reputed valor of these great warriors were reminiscent of the earlier King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
Although the word Viking was not used until later years, I’ve chosen to use it for the sake of my modern reader. For the same reason, I use twentieth-century names for countries.
Finally, despite the barbaric reputation attributed to the Nordic invaders, even the harshest critics never disputed their incredible bravery, huge stature and remarkable good looks. No wonder women of vanquished, pre-Medieval European countries were attracted to these exceedingly handsome men who carried such fanciful names as Gudrod the Magnificent, Harald Fairhair, Thorfinn the Mighty, Halfdan of the Wide Embrace, Rolf the Marcher, Thorkel the Handsome, Sven Forkbeard and Cnut the Great.
No wonder my twentieth-century heroine, caught in a web of desertion and despair, learns to love these proud, fierce people in her travel through time to 925 A.D. Jorvik, where living was more simple, but human relationships were just as complicated.
Her brows were bright, her breast was shining, Whiter her neck than new fallen snow… Blond was his hair, and bright his cheeks, Grim as a snake’s were his glowing eyes.
—Rigspula c. 10th century
Chapter One
“This is the first lecture in the ‘Mind Over Matter’ series. Before we start, clear your mind of all extraneous thought. Picture yourself floating on a cloud high above the earth—floating… floating… floating…”