Title: The Nordics
Author: Shitza
Summary: In the far northern corner of Europe five nations were born. But despite their close connections and bonds, their history would come to be one of the bloodiest of them all. This is a story of the Nordic History, and how the Northern Countries came to be.
Disclaimer: The character of this story, and the main plotline of this story do not belong to me. Characters and character designs were created by Hidekaz Himaruya. The history belongs to the history really, and was generally brought because I like to add a little truth to my stories these days.
Also, one very IMPORTANT NOTE!: I have actually not watched Hetalia. I admit this, so that you don't need to pick on the details. I knew about Hetalia since long, I have seen some of it, but never truly fallen for the fandom myself. However, when you watch a full 12 episode documentary about Swedish History, a very nicely done cosplay version by Farbror Esters Pojkar on youtube and read The Second Kalmar Union by Coffee-is-for-Life, as an author with some historical interest it was hard not to start planning this one.
I hope honestly I can make the Nordic hetalia-based storytelling some justice, however certain events may seem quite out of character, seeing I base this upon what our history says, and now the anime or manga (or anything of the sort).
Sources of information: Nordens Historia by Sture Lindholm and Sveriges Historia (a TV-series documentary of Sweden's history.) And no fellow neighbouring countries, I will not be completely Sweden biased, considering there are reasons a King of Denmark would be called Kristian the Great, while I remember my old schoolbooks always spoke of him as Kristian the Tyrant. (And for this chapter, also the Bible).
Warnings: This story will contain character death, a whole lot of war, historical references that may seem very wrong and hints of yaoi.
Rating PG-13, but may go up if the violence gets too much for you all.
Extra special content and and general review responses will be posted on a separate LiveJournal account. Link can be found on my profile page.
The Nordics
Chapter 1 The beginning- 13000 BC- 1800 BC
A nation slowly awakens in the far north. The ice age has seized for now, but questions remain. Who is he? What is he? And why is he here?
From the beginning it is said the one God, before God created the world. The world existed as in darkness, where water and earth merged in an endless chaos. There was no warmth, no sun and no life. It was all non-existent, and yet so filled of darkness. It was all but an eternal night. But God changed all of this.
On the first days, he brought us light. He made it so that the day came for the first time, followed closely by the night. And God saw that it was good.
On the second day God separated the water and earth, and created layer of air. He called this layer sky, and made so that the sky and earth should never blend. Also this, God saw was good.
On the third day God separated the earth from the water. He called this dry earth, land. On the land green life sprouted, such as flowers, mosses and trees. Vegetation bloomed in lustrous flowers and huge leaves. Also this, God saw was good.
On the fourth day God lit the sun, the moon and the stars. This brought time to the world, as the sun and moon chased each other across the sky as in an endless playful game. Also this, God saw was good.
On the fifth day God brought life to the sea and sky. Fish populated the sea, while birds flew above them free in the sky. Birds bore feather and would rule above the head, while fish in all sizes roamed the vast deepness. Also this, God saw was good.
On the sixth day God created the animals, and finally man to resemble himself. He called the first man Adam and set him to the task of naming and respecting his creations. Also this, God saw was good.
On the seventh day, after six days of long, hard work, God rested.
God created light, he created life and all that we know and don't know off yet. And despite the fact that Adam and Eve later betrayed his trust, he created something more. A world in which they could live, resembling the paradise they were shunned from.
He knew someone would have to look after his creations, because despite being God, God cannot always be in every corner of the world. He would need someone to look after his children, because he knew sadly there would be a time when his children would forget him, and forget why they came to live upon Earth.
"Wake up..."
"Wake up..."
"Wake up... my immortal children. You, who are them, but yet will guard them, guide them and maybe even... die for them. Wake up, my nations. Their visions. Wake up, and help them discover their way back to me."
The first thing he could remember was the cold. An endless cold, a cold that covered everything around him, above him and beyond what his sensitive young mind could feel. But it didn't bother him, it never bothered him. It lay as a soft blanket above him, keeping him safe. And so, he slept, while his consciousness could freely roam above him. He knew someone, was it mother, was it father or someone else, would keep him safe.
Thousands of years pass, but the time doesn't mean much to him. Slowly, slowly, as the time slowly crept by, a sliver of heat reached the coldness. He could feel something, like a tingle, as life started appearing around him. Great mammals had found his area, and they came as the ice that once existed slowly melted.
His first memories were of this. Back then, he didn't know there were others like him. He didn't even know his own name, or why he was there. But, the world had changed around him. Everything was a little warmer.
For the first time he sat up, in a field of endless grass. Herds of animals grazed the thin strands of grass. It was a pleasant sight for his young eyes. He stood up, on wobbly legs and tried to go after them.
But he didn't even get halfway when suddenly a flock of other creatures hurried after the now panicked animals. They carried long thin sticks, which they threw at the animals. The herd scattered and ran, but one young calf wasn't so lucky, and in the midst of all this chaos it fell. A stream of blood trickled from a small punctured wound.
The were high cheers as the creatures that gave chase caught up to the dead calf. But him... he just sat in the grass and he cried. He cried, because he had never seen death before, and death was the first thing he saw as he opened his eyes.
Little would he know how much death he would eventually see during his entire lifetime, but he was young, in one way just born. And his cries attracted the attention of the creatures that gave hunt.
This scared him, he saw them coming. He stood up and tried to run, but fell. After all, he had never run anywhere in his life, he could barely walk as it was. Soon the creatures stood around him in a circle of four. They came closer, spoke to each other, and somehow he understood what they said:
"Please, do not be afraid. We are not here to hurt you." a light voice said softly. It was the only one of her kind within the group, had long wavy hair and deep blue eyes.
"P-P-Please, don't hurt me." he cried as tears fell.
"Hurt you, why would we?" another, much darker voice said. This one was the tallest of them all, had a flat chest and very broad shoulders. This thing gave a hearty laugh.
"B-But... but you hurt that." he, whoever he was, said, and pointed at the calf which two creatures were binding the legs together to carry.
"Oh," the darker voice said as it understood. "You mean the calf? You musn't worry, after all you are no calf. You see, we need this calf to feed our children."
"Children?"
"Yes, our children. In which, were is your mother. Is she hear, is she nearby?"
"Mother?" he ahd no idea what the tall creature spoke off. "I don't know what this mother is."
The four creatures looked at each other.
"You mean, you never had a mother? Oh, you poor thing." the light voice said and picked him up. It was then he noticed the difference in their heights. He also learnt that she was very warm,and soon fell asleep in her arms.
"Let's take him back to our tents." a third voice said and the four creatures that found him and two creatures that carried the calf, walked back some distance, happy and content with food and a new member of the flock.
He learnt a lot in their presence. For one thing he learnt that these creatures called themselves humans, and they were hunters and nomads who had travelled from the south to chase their prey. The Great Wall of ice had slowly melted over the summer, which lead the animals to travel further. He also learnt that the light voiced human was called a woman and the darker voiced human was called a man. The two of them were partners, and she had carried three children for him.
He spent many happy years with them, but something about him seemed oddly strange (though this never crossed His young mind). But the adults noticed early that he never aged. He always stayed the same, as the adults got older and older and the children grew from children to adults themselves.
One morning, he-who-did-not-age experienced the true meaning of life. As we all know ourselves, humans cannot live forever. Our existence lives on, the memories of each other lives on as long as we acknowledge our pasts, but the body slowly breaks down and finally the eternal rest claims us. This happened one autumn morning.
He-who-never-aged had been out with two of the girls fishing when suddenly a large mammal appeared. It was a large wolf, and she was hungry. Her prey was very young, hence vulnerable and would most likely not be a very dificult prey.
Then suddenly he came, the oldest man, shot from the bushes with his spear held high. The wolf panicked, realising he had not noticed this ones scent. But she too could not back down, otherwise this great creature with the sharp tooth would kill all her cubs and carry their fur as a prize. So, she growled and snarled at him, telling him to back off. But he did not, because he too needed to protect his young ones.
The fight was short, but bloody. The wolf lost, but not after having given him a deep bite in his leg. The older man was not as fast as he had been in his youth, and old hunting woulds slowed him even further.
All children ran up to him, crying. The woman, his partner, heard the commotion and came to see the scene herself. She told one of her children to run and get the others to help, while she tended to his wound as the best of her abilities.
The adults soon came, they used water and herbs to clean the wound. They used softened bark and pieces of fur to find around the wound, with a layer of soft herbs to help the wound heal quicker.
He-who-never-aged watched the adults work from the opening of the tent, and he was worried. But the woman ensured him that her partner would recover soon.
He never did.
The cold returned, but this wasn't what killed the man. Much later in history humans would discover bacteria, but now the humans did not know this. The man died, 27 years old, on plains further south of where they first found the boy.
He-who-never-aged experienced death at its coldest. The man was buried, with his favourite fishing hook, a comb and a short spear. The young boy was crying the entire time.
As the cold got worse, the humans talked about moving south after the animals, but when he-who-never-aged heard this he panicked. He could not leave these plains. They tried to coax him to come with him, but he refused. He would not leave this place. In the end, the cold was too much and they left him. They watched as slowly his tiny frame was once more covered in deep, deep snow.
He would get to experience many such years. Sometimes he slept, sometimes he woke up, but gradually the ice age melted and never returned. Humans came with the animals, moved for many, many years between his world and a world further north. Finally, they startled to settle among him.
It was during this time he first met others like himself. By now, he had grown slightly, wasn't what you'd call a child anymore. Still, he was yet to be an adult.
His first encounter was actually with two children like himself, and alike him they couldn't name themselves. They were both boys, however one wore a blue cape and the other a red cape. The red caped lived close to him, only across the small strip of land that tied them together. Later, he would be known as Göta or Gothia. The other boy would first be known as Svea, and later Sverige or as you may know him, Sweden.
But back then neither of them would ever think of fighting. He-who-we-all-know-now came because he was curious. His humans had told him about the worlds further north. They too were curious about settling, and so he told them about the very nature of farming. This meant their humans wouldn't need to hunt and move constantly, they could settle and build a house and raise a family.
This time was likely the most peaceful time they would have to experience for many, many, many years. However, as their humans became more and more and influences from south reached them, things would soon change. Little did these curious beings realise within the next ages they would cause more wars and bloodshed than between any country before or after their times.
This, my friends, is their story. The story of nations in who grew. The story of nations who won the greatest of battles and suffered the worst of defeats. This, my friends is the story of the Nordic countries.
TBC
Final Notes: During the early stone age, humans arrived from the south and east to populate what would later become the Nordic countries. This chapter was therefor mainly written from Denmark's POV, as (from what I can gather), Denmark was literally the first of the Nordic countries to get unfrozen. I simply like the idea of all the Nordic states lying asleep underneath all this ice, as the ice age did up here, and as people gradually started to populate this area, so did each country awaken.
I kind of imagine then how each one of them woke up from this deep slumber, equally as confused, however I doubt Finland had to witness a death so early on. Throughout history he isn't that bloody. But, I kind of like the idea of Denmark witnessing death so early, and trying to come in terms of life and death, slowly realising how hard it is for him to die.
I also brought in Sweden, as agriculture reached Sweden and the remaining north from Denmark and the East (which literally is not mentioned much through this history, sorry Finland). Also, yes, Sweden has a brother here, something I will touch upon later in this story. Do not fret, he won't be here for long (evil smile).
Also note, Denmark is, as some of you will mostly squeal about, really, really young in this chapter. Think of him in the lines of Chibi-italia's age, yet not obviously mistaken for a girl. Finland may have been, or it could be Sweden's need to express his masculinity.
Ps: Do note, I am not an expert on Nordic history, therefor I have no idea how developed these people were into medicine and how to tend wounds and such. I do know they were quite advanced in what to do with everyday items, so I would guess someone would know how to tend a wound.
