Rise of Rurik Chapter 984

The child slept most of the time, wailing and screaming when awake.

Noren and Beja Hill were not mentally prepared to give birth to their children in the battlefield. They are very weak now, and still insist on holding the baby child.

Rurik gave names to his two sons immediately after the birth.

The golden fetus is Worod, which means "Lord of War". His father was Rurik, his mother was Noren, and his blood was an impossibly pure North Germanic Viking.

Such a name was immediately praised by Biyonni and Floki, and their nephew's name is domineering, which is in line with the current large-scale war.

The brown-yellow fetus is Hasal, which is "unrestrained" in the Pecheneg dialect of the Turkic language. It's like galloping on a horse in the grasslands. Bejasil hopes that his children will be free from worries and restraints, and Rurik really likes this name. Because it means the same thing as Cossack.

Outside Hamburg, there were clouds of battle, and the wind and snow obscured the line of sight, causing concern that the Frankish army was approaching.

The howling wind is like the whining of evil spirits, coupled with the erosion of the chill, the soldiers of the coalition army are all living in the shacks.

The fortress in Hamburg is still warm, and Noren and Bejahir seem to be isolated from the war here.

The service of the maids reduces their stress, especially when the maids change diapers and even bathe the children in silver basins.

Babies are washed clean of dirt and blood after birth, and in principle, they don't need to take a bath for the next few days.

But the child squeaked and screamed and couldn't do it without washing.

This is an opportunity! Eskil made some mental preparations and resolutely decided to go in person.

Noren and Bejasil have walked freely, and their reproductive process is very smooth, so they think this is the gift of the gods.

But it is too dangerous for a child to be born in the cold winter. If he can get further blessings from the gods, the child will be able to survive the first dangerous winter safely.

They have such an inner appeal, and the appeal is learned by the maids who speak Saxon.

The maid was indeed a maid, with a sterling silver cross hanging on her chest. When Esquil asked them something, the maid made it clear and unreserved.

"Ah! This is an opportunity. You must let me know in advance when you bathe the baby again. I...will consecrate the baby."

So, when the child was swollen again and took a bath while changing the diaper bag, Esquil suddenly appeared with two young priests and a few pure gold utensils.

Eskil is no stranger to the two daughters, he is a foreign monk, essentially similar to the high priest of Ross. Noren and Bejahir didn't dislike him. As for this guy's sudden request for blessings when the child was bathing, the two girls thought it was a bit strange, but they were full of hope that the child would be safe for the winter, so they agreed.

The sterling silver basin was filled with boiled and sterilized warm water, and the child had been washed clean, and Eskill held the baby Volod in his old hands.

A little rose essential oil was poured into the silver basin, and Eskill slowly dipped the vigorous Volod into it. He kept reciting some Latin scriptures, full of blessings.

The child kept moving around in his hands until the top of his head was directly above his head and was instantly carried out. Such a short act, the child will not drown, but the ceremony has been completed.

The accompanying priest flipped through a page of parchment from the scriptures and handed Esquil the name of the first person they saw.

"Name, Adam. You will be blessed by the Lord, and the Lord will give you health, Amen."

Taking advantage of the opportunity to take a bath, Eskil personally baptized a prince of Ross, and was able to personally baptize the archbishop of the north, but countless Saxon nobles and even some Frankish nobles could not ask for it.

But Noren, the child's mother, didn't think so. Another world here, the local **** bless his child, he will be able to survive the harsh winter here.

However, Eskill had already assigned his followers to write down the child's Christian name, which was equivalent to confirming the child's religious status.

Next was Hasal with tawny hair. In the same process, the child was named Isaac, and after being baptized by Eskil, he immediately became a member of the church.

"Okay, two queens." Eskil finished his work, and his words were respectful. "Your children have been protected by God, the devil will be kept away, and they will have peace and health in this sacred place."

For this, Noren and Beja Hill also thanked Esquier. He even accepted two sterling silver crosses as a "talisman".

The plan has been completed, and the two new princes of Rurik are already Christians after this operation! Eskil knew that Rurik might be angry with his move, and he didn't care if he insisted on doing it. Now that the boat was done, the two princes had a special identity, even if the christening was not done in the open.

Such as icy snowflakes filled the whole world, the sky turned gray, and the visibility was really low.

The possibility of freezing the Elbe River exists, at least now the slow flow area on both sides of the river has been covered with ice floes, and people can even stand in the adjacent area.

If the river is covered with enough ice, the uniqueness of the pontoon will be lost, so that the enemy troops who reach Hamburg can directly cross the river to attack on foot. But again, this was what Rurik wanted to see.

So, will the big river freeze?

Earl Robert, a long-term stationer in the Hamburg area, gave ambiguous answers. The so-called when a certain year is cold enough, the Elbe will freeze, and most winter rivers will remain the same.

Said, but did not fully say, whether the winter at the end of 840 was an extremely severe winter, only God knows.

At least the main force of the Ross fleet has built a "city wall" on the river to guard the pontoon.

A few months ago, the construction of a moat around the city of Hamburg by digging ditches to create a moat is still going on. The so-called fear of the enemy or attacking from an unexpected place, a low wooden wall can be placed on both sides of the moat. It is more a fence than a wall. , this operation is only to delay the enemy's attack when necessary.

The defense of Hamburg is very strong, and tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians gather to keep warm while waiting for work.

The icy snow continued, and there was enough information to point out that the Frankish army had at least reached Bremen, and even if there was snow disturbance, it would have been able to reach the Elbe within a week.

But the situation that Rurik so hoped for did not happen.

As the commander-in-chief of the coalition, he made great efforts to do defensive works, but the enemy did not appear for a long time, which was really detrimental to morale.

At first, the warriors longed for a one-sided killing across the river. For this reason, senior engineers such as Kawei brought his entire team to repair and maintain long-range weapons. Ordinary warriors and civilians were not idle either. They took old arrow clusters that were recycled, remade new arrows that could be used, and received some rewards at a time. Almost all of the re-toolers were local Saxons, and their labor would be exchanged for the wheat provided by the Rus, which was a win-win business.

There was no fighting on the Elbe, and the morale of the coalition fell.

They were like groundhogs hiding in caves. The cold outdoors forced everyone to go out without anything to do. If it wasn't for patrolling and sentry duty, then they would reluctantly go outside for a walk.

Soldiers lack entertainment and want to play some games. Throwing arrows as small javelins is a new entertainment, and short arrows of crossbows are used as darts to smash wooden boards.

The traditional Viking game of "grabbing the clay pot" has never been abandoned. The clay pot was replaced with a cloth bag full of rags, and each flag team sent people out to compete. This is the most primitive rugby game, and it is also their rare pastime in winter.

Some soldiers were sent to the other side of the Elbe, and they were ordered to be scouts with crossbows. They should not go too far into the forest, and stop immediately after walking south along the forest road for a while.

The army was waiting, and the scouts were dispatched.

It was best to rest on cold days. Rurik boasted that everything had been settled, so he could calm down and pay attention to his two wives and concubines.

The wood and stone fort is warm enough by the stove, that is, once the stove is stopped, the cold will quickly erode in. The fort can't be airtight or even leaking air everywhere, so you don't have to worry about gas poisoning if you place some braziers indoors.

A tall blond man walked into the warm stone room, his steps were light, and there was no entourage beside him.

The two mothers lived together, each holding their own child.

They chatted with each other softly so as not to wake their sleeping child.

Rurik's visit was quite sudden, and he was overjoyed to see his man finally showing up despite his busy schedule.

"Look at your faces, everything is fine."

"Of course. You're finally back. Make me think you forgot about me." Noren sneered as he held the swaddling in his arms.

Rurik nodded and went straight.

"Is everything okay with Volod?"

"Everything is fine."

"Then." He looked at Bejahir: "Hasal is as healthy."

"Hasalle is fine, and..."

Bejahir still wanted to say something, but saw that Rurik had come.

When the sleeping baby is woken up again, it must be crying again. He sat at a wooden window and asked the two girls to sit over with the baby in their arms.

With a happy smile, the woman sat gently beside her man, holding her child in her arms, and then lightly pressed her big hand on her shoulder.

"It's really hard for you."

"In this way, I will soon be able to fight on horseback again." Bejahir raised her small face and her eyes trembled.

"Yes." Noren held up his noble head as well, "I can also take up arms. My brother and the army of my hometown are here, and I also want to try to fight."

They are warriors, but they are weak now, so they should "confinement" to improve their life and self-cultivation.

Rurik looked left and right, and said, "It's not the time yet. The enemy doesn't appear as if he's conceding, and the snow is still going on outside. I won't take the risk and take the initiative to attack, but the enemy will obviously have to wait for a while. It may appear. You can rest assured. After a month, your body will fully recover, and your child will be strong enough. I will give you a chance to participate in the war. No! I will also carry my child to the battlefield and see the world. My son must be real Men must be nurtured from an early age."

It is not absurd to bring a handful of children who have just turned full moon to the battlefield in winter. Through this experience, the two children have actually experienced a war, which has become a beneficial gilded experience in life.

Take a good look at the children!

On the left is the blond Volod, and on the right is the tawny Hasal.

The second son's small appearance is very cute. Seeing their small faces breathing lightly, Rurik can estimate what they will look like when they grow up. As a pure-blooded Norse, Volod is likely to grow into a blond strong man with a height of two meters, and the mixed-blood Hazale is worse, but he will definitely become an excellent cavalry general, just because this is his destiny.

Rurik wished he could hold the child high up in turn, watching the child writhe his limbs comically in his hands and laugh with laughter.

He noticed the little amulet around Volod's neck, a tiny sterling silver statue of the goddess Freya, an abstract Balmer-style deity believed to protect the health of young children.

He also noticed Hasal's silver pony amulet, apparently of the Pecheneg style.

The children have a common amulet, which is the pure gold statue of Odin prepared by Rurik in advance.

However, this time, he saw a brand new amulet.

Do not! That's a sterling silver cross.

"Ah? What's going on here. How could they have a cross? Has anyone come here? Have you been in contact with some of the priests, or the maids?"

Rurik was shocked, not to mention, he felt very grotesque, and in a trance he felt that someone was making a fuss about his own children, and he was giving himself eye drops.

Beja Hill just like to say something, and now has a chance.

"It's that great saint... that priest named Esquil."

"It's him!? Ah! I...I think I guessed it." Rurik wanted to shout a few times, only to hear his two little babies groaning and swallowing the displeasure in his throat. .

Seeing his man's displeasure, Bejahir didn't want to say anything now, but Noren, who was outspoken, still explained exactly what happened that day.

Rurik was sitting here, and he heard all his teeth tickle with anger at this unrepentant Eskil.

"It's absurd. Why take a bath when you change diapers? Just take a bath and baptize my son? That old guy... It's a long-planned plan..."

It's easy to stab Eskil to death with a sword, how about a mere old man? But it must not be done, simply because Eskil is an important pawn, and even a bridge figure in maintaining the alliance between Ross and Saxony.

Unexpectedly, Noren was quite surprised by his man's anger. She plausibly said: "Why are you unhappy? I heard that this is no longer the land of Odin and the gods. It is ruled by the gods of the south. We need the protection of the local gods in our battles here, especially my child, Volo. De was born in winter, and the old man said that the child has been blessed by God, and he will not be in danger here."

"Huh? Is that what Esquille said?"

"it's him."

"Do you still think it makes sense?"

Noren shrugged. "It does make sense."

When she said this, Rurik suddenly didn't know what to say, so he stood up gently, pouted and shook his head: "It seems that I have to have a good chat with him."

At the same time, Esquil was still doing his job as Archbishop of the North. This is for the poor old man, who is indifferent to any pleasure and just wants to spread the gospel to the end of the world. He is essentially against war and believes that the power of faith can resolve disputes. For example, in this war, he chose to support the Duchy of Saxony, hoping to be a mediator in the decisive battle, forcing Ludwig and Ludov to sign a peace treaty , and then eliminated the war between the Franks and the Saxons.

As for Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Rus, and many unnamed northern barbarians, their lives are coming to an end, and it is no longer possible to persuade many lords and nobles to convert to God. Then, try to convince some noble children that many things will change slowly in the future.

So while Eskil was doing his daily activities in the humble monastery in Hamburg, Rurik suddenly broke in with a group of guards, which scared the priests and ran away.

An old man with a slightly hunchback always stood here, he took off his burqa to reveal the face that Rurik was very familiar with.

"Eskil, your actions make me angry. They! They are not followers of God, nor are they lost lambs. They are warriors of Odin!"

Rurik spoke in Latin, and his words were quite accurate.

When Esquil did that, he expected it for a few days, and even prepared some words.

"Even if I did it wrong. But the two princes of Ross have been baptized, Adam the blond and Isaac the tawny. I! I am the Archbishop of the North appointed by the Holy See, I am Rurik, even if you If you haven't converted, you must know our faith better than many priests." Said, the old guy kept approaching Rurik with a crucifix and a cane. "Actually, you are not disgusted with us in your heart. When you decided to go to war with the Franks, when you formed an alliance with the Saxons, you must have thought that your kingdom must have more contact with us. You do not hate us. Beliefs, you focus on whether those beliefs subvert your authority."

"you…"

"Isn't it. Do you think your savage beliefs can last forever? Our sacred beliefs are great, in fact, you know this subconsciously. So you Ross's holy relic is that book of "Exodus", you plundered Lindsfa En monastery, you burned everything but kept the Gospels in particular. You even converted your eldest son, and I am his godfather. So what's the problem with me being godfather to your other two sons?"

"Absurd. Aren't you afraid I'll kill you when I'm angry?"

"No! Young man, you are very wise. You know, if I die suddenly, I will cause you a lot of trouble. Young king! You Vikings have taken a lot of southerners, and those women will give you Having children, but they were all converted before they were taken away, and gradually their children will convert. Rurik, you can't change that."

Eskil is old, and he doesn't shy away from revealing his secrets.

These words sounded arrogant in Rurik, but they made sense.

When sturdy Viking men robbed a few daughters from the south to be wives, what they stole was not their bodies, but their beliefs. Any child must be better than a woman's hand. Mothers will pass on their knowledge and beliefs to their children, and will subtly change many things.

There was no war on the Elbe, but the dark line war did start silently by the priests.

A sudden sense of powerlessness arises, but...

Rurik suddenly cheered up, and he stared into Esquil's eyes: "You are quietly declaring war on me, but you will not win... I have already thought of a countermeasure."

"Only time will tell that I will succeed, even if I am already dead..." Esquil said silently.

"Okay. It's happened, and even if I deny it, you won't deny it. You're the godfather of two children, I'll admit it. But you have to pay a price."

"What's the price?" Esquil asked hurriedly, pressing Anshuang in his heart.

"Where's your manuscript? I want all the Gospels you have. You know, I know Latin very well, and I'm going to study it myself, and I'll find a way to change it all. Maybe, you won't agree. ."

"No! I agree!" Eskil didn't want to answer immediately. "In fact, you are still very interested in our beliefs. My child, you will be influenced and become one of us."

Forget it, this old guy opened his arms and straightened his back with difficulty, his whole being like a living cross.

Rurik shrugged and watched the "old friend" of Eskil perform.

That's all, right in the monastery, Rurik immediately got the full set of manuscript manuscripts of the Gospels, or the copies that Eskil had deliberately prepared.

Only Ross has the technology to make paper in Western Europe and Northern Europe, and only Ross can do printing in the whole of Europe.

The collection of all the Gospels is what is called the New Testament.

After today's encounter, Rurik was no more aware of the huge shortcomings of the Nordic beliefs than today - no heavy written scriptures, only a variety of trivial stories and legends passed down orally.

Odin's beliefs are too thin, and each tribe has different interpretations of the gods. Unlike Catholicism, which is a very strict belief system, it is also a ruling system that is different from the situation of the aristocracy. It is a system formulated by the Roman Empire, a system that can give a superficial explanation of everything in the world, a system of monks with strict hierarchy, so that the people feel that it is the eternal truth.

Ross has established a belief system of seven gods, of which Odin is the greatest.

However, this belief lacks a detailed scripture.

Rurik was well aware that his power was primarily based on the beliefs of the people. UU reading www.uukanshu.com himself is "a person blessed by Odin", such an identity is very appealing to ordinary Vikings. If the beliefs of the people quietly change in quantity and quality, the authority of their own family will decline, which will be a catastrophe.

If you don't have one, create a thick written scripture!

How to write this book, the Catholic set has a certain reference significance, and some paragraphs can be modified for reference.

Even Rurik had already thought of the title of the book, and it was called "Sakya".

In fact, "Saga" has been compiled a long time ago. Its person in charge is the top scribe Ella. However, sorting out the legends and stories of various parties is a troublesome project. She can only slow down the compilation after she is busy with official duties.

This project can no longer be procrastinated, it must be faster and more efficient. Rurik will be personally involved in this matter.

Esquil has silently declared war, and Ross can't be careless. This reform will be done after this war is over.

Chapter end