I finished reading THE SEA WOLVES last evening. Despite the butchery, it was an enjoyable book, divided into four parts: the raiders; the explorers; the traders; the homeland. I found all interesting, but the explorers most. Sailing west partially by chance ships being blown off course, partially deliberately, the Vikings moved from present day Scandinavia to the Orkney Islands, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, and in our year 1000 to what is now Newfoundland.
Seventy years ago I read such books and thought I can do that. Now I read such books and I know I can do that.
One of the pleasures of THE SEA WOLVES is names. Gorm the Old. Athlered the Unready. Aud the Deep Minded. Basil the Bulgar-Slayer. Bjorn Ironside. Charles the Bald. Charles the Fat. Charles the Simple. Erik Bloodaxe. Harold Bluetooth—reportedly the source of the name of Bluetooth wireless technology. Harold Greycloak. Ivan the Boneless—who may have been double-jointed. Sitric One-Eyed—my kind of man. Sitric Silkbeard. Thorgils the Devil. Sigurd the Stout. Rollo the Walker—who may have been a giant so big that no horse could carry him. Eyjolf the Foul. Richard the Fearless. Eric the Victorious. Svein Forkbeard. Edmund the Just. Eadwig the Fair. Edgar the Peaceful. Edward the Martyr.
A Viking ship captained by Olaf the Peacock got lost in fog and drifted for five days. When the fog lifted, there was debate among the crew about which way they should head. They informed Olaf who ignored them and told the navigator to make the decision. “I want only the shrewdest one to decide because in my opinion, the council of fools is all the more dangerous the more of them there are.”
So much for Facebook, Twitter and crowd sourcing.
One of the sites I visit each morning is the Earth Wind Map. You can turn and enlarge it. Click on any point and it will show latitude, longitude, wind direction, and wind speed. Kilometer per hour comes up first. Click on that to cycle through meters per second, knots, and miles per hour.
Zane, a New Zealand friend who lives in Auckland, is presently sailing his junk-rigged 26’ Contessa in the Bay of Islands and sending me beautiful photographs that make me home sick for a place that is not my home.
The above is a photo I took some years ago at anchor in Whangamumu Harbor.
