Iron Age Reality Check

Let’s say you wake up one morning and you're completely disoriented. You worry you've time traveled to sixth-century Scandinavia. It happens to all of us at times, surely.

Here are some clues:

🗡 Did I wake up in a longhouse with my family benched along one side and our livestock on the other? (A little smelly, it’s true, but nice and warm.)

🗡 Has my bicycle been replaced with a small fishing boat? (The answer is yes. Roads are few and difficult; the sea is the best way to travel as long as you stick close to shore. Not to mention the opportunity to catch your dinner. Try doing that on a bicycle.)

🗡 Can I have breakfast before I’ve milked the cows? (The answer is no. There may not be enough food to have breakfast, anyway.)

🗡 Does the local king turn up and expect the menfolk to join in some war he’s waging? (Good luck with that.)

🗡 Am I 60 years old? (If the answer is yes, you are very ancient and have probably outlived your childhood friends by 30 years. Most of your children too.)

🗡 Are there well-muscled Viking warriors with horned helmets and good teeth, and shieldmaidens with bronze breastplates? (The answer is no. If there are, you’ve woken up in a bad Viking movie.)

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Bones and Keeps: https://www.amazon.com/Bones-Keeps-Dena.../dp/1773170147

#writer #vikings #storytelling #womenwriters #writingcommunity

Painting: Yoann Lossel (from his Beowulf series)