Now many years later Thor stares at his home,

As he stands on the deck on the boat he is on,

He leaves all that he knows behind,

And looks to the future,

As a Norsemen invading Britannia.

----------------------

Thor 793AD

Thor ignored the sea that burst up over the side of the boat, soaking him to his skin. He was sat in the longboat, rowing for all his worth.

"I can see something" he heard one of his comrades' shout.

It couldn't be land; they were in the middle of the North Sea, between his home Esbjerg and the land they would be invading. There was nothing out there, except the sea.

Nevertheless, Thor grew excited, and grinned at his gruff companions. "Maybe it is a boat" he laughed.

Stony faced, the men looked back at the excitable youth, "you act more like a girl every day" one of them commented dryly.

Thor looked uncomforetably aside, grateful when he heard the call of "it's a whale, we can have a whale hunt."

------------------

Thor hadn't always been known by that name. When he had been born he had been named Thora, she had been dressed in pretty dresses, and her blonde hair had been grown long. Her mother had brushed it each day, tying it up in plaits, and ribbons. But when Thor's parents had died, killed by the brutal people that lived in their land, she had laid aside her pretty name, her pretty clothes were replaced with more serviceable ones, and she pretended to be what she wasn't, male.

Now sat in the boat, she had shuddered when one of the men said she was like a girl, he didn't know how right he was. All grown up now, she tied material around his breasts, and would rub mud into her sworn hair, and on her pretty face. No one realised what she was, and that was the way she liked it. It was the way she survived the brutal male world.

-----------------

Thor stared out at the grey churning sea, mesmerised when she saw the back of a great beast swimming just below the surface, and the spout of water it threw up into the air. She felt almost sorry for what they were about to do, but excitement also filled her spirit as she saw one of the men pick up a harpoon. Thor watched as the man aimed it towards the animal, surprised how fast and true it flew, straight into the whales' side, turning the water into a vivid red as it began to bleed its life away.

"We need to get to it" shouted one of the men, throwing a small raft overboard. He followed it over, along with another man.

All around the longboat this scene was being repeated, as man after man swarmed to the dying animal.

"Come on lad" the lead warrior shouted, "this is a chance you don't want to miss." Then he pushed her overboard.

Thor came up, spluttering in the sea, quickly she scrambled onto a raft, helped the last bit by the man who had pushed her.

By the time they reached the whale, it was dead. The faster men had already started to skin the great beast. They had then cut its flesh off its bones.

"Here you are lad" an older man pushed something red under his nose, "it is the liver, all the whale hunters get to take a bite of it, it is good luck."

Thor screwed her face up at the through of eating the disgusting thing. But she saw all eyes on her, and not wanting to appear girly, she timidly took it from the man, and took a tiny bite, swallowing it with difficulty.

"Yeah" the men shouted, slapping him on the back. "You are one of us now lad, a real Viking."

Soon the boat was loaded with whale meat and blubber, then they started to row with a ferocity that they hadn't had before. By nightfall, they landed on the small island unoccupied island of Fetlar. They set up camp, and then after building some fires, started to cook the meat.

Thor, picking up a mallet started to bash a piece of meat into a long strip. Then she placed it on an upturned shield over a fire to cook. She repeated this process until the shield was full. Over another fire, he spitted a large piece of meat, roasting it. She shouted over to one of the other men to keep an eye on the food, and then went into the forest to forage for some vegetable matter.

A short time later, she came back with his cloak laden with carrots, garlic, other tubers, and some berries.

"What have you there sweet lad?" one of the men raucously shouted.

Thor ignored him. After first checking the meat strips along with the roast, she stared to prepare the vegetables. This done, she put some into a cooking pot along with whale meat one of the men had cut up, and blubber. Adding some grain that they had brought with them, she put it over another fire, and waited for it to cook.

"I have found some apples" another young man close to his age told him. "Do you think we could make a pudding? I miss my mother's apple pie so much."

Thor nodded, and showed the lad what to do.

That night they had a feast good enough for a king. After everyone had had their fill along with liberal amounts of beer, they settled down to hear stories of fighting and gore.

----------------------

Thor feeling comfortably full, snuggled up in her blanket next to the big central fire, and listened to the tale that was weaved.

"There was a time when our people were happy to sit at home, enjoying being with their wives, with their families. They had all they needed to live the lives they wanted to lead. But as more children were born, times changed. Our land became more crowded, where there was plenty, now there was not enough. And so some of our people, the young ones decided that it had to change."

"One young man, Biergh Haraldsson was sick of being a younger son, he held no status of his own, so he decided to make his own. He gathered other disaffected youth, and together they started to raid other towns."

"One night they crept into a sleeping village, staying as silent as possible they went into people's homes, taking their wealth. The raid was supposed to be an easy one, they had decided that if possible there would be no bloodshed, that they would take what they wanted and be gone into the night before the villagers awoke. That was until Biergh went into a home, where a young woman was asleep. She was the most innocent, beautiful maiden he had ever seen, her cheeks were rosy from her slumber, her blonde hair glistened in the moon light, and even though her body was covered, the blanket did little to disguise how voluptuous it was. His eyes were riveted to her face, he couldn't look away. When she muttered in her sleep, a small sigh, it was enough to break him out of his reverie, and realise what he was risking. Nevertheless, he couldn't leave her; quietly he crept closer, cupping his hand over her mouth so she couldn't scream."

"The girl had woken with shock, staring into the black eyes of a stranger. She would have screamed but his hand stopped her. She tried to wriggle away but his hold on her was like iron. She tried to bite his hand, but he replaced it with a strip of material tied through her mouth and around her head."

"Then he picked her up, taking the blanket to save her modesty. Again she tried to struggle, but it was impossible. He carried her through the door, just as she saw her lst vision of her parents; she managed to push the gag away and emitted a loud scream."

"Biergh knew that all had been lost, he knew that some of his friends could be killed that night because of his lust. He ran to the centre of the village where the rest of the men were waiting."

"What have you done now? one of them shouted when they had seen the girl."

"Biergh hurriedly tied the girl up, and then together they faced their enemy, swords lifted up ready to fight."

"As all good Viking battles go, it was a bloody one. Villager after villager were cut down as the raiders went berserk, cutting heads off, slashing stomachs open, and stabbing men through the heart. But it wasn't an easy fight, though the villagers were decimated, they didn't die easily, they took some of the Norsemen with them, men who from dying fighting were amongst the first to enter Valhalla, the resting place of the brave."

"Finally all the villagers were either dead or defeated, and Biergh carried his new bride home."

"And so with time our people got more ambitious and now we travel over the sea, for tomorrow we move south and will invade Britannia"

Everyone cheered at this proclamation though Thor wondered how many of them would be alive the next night.

-----------------------

The next morning Thor woke feeling gritty from the hunt the day before. It was still dark, so she decided that she would have a quick bath in the river she had seen the day before when she had been gathering. After quickly packing up her belongings, she hurried to the river, and took her clothes off, revelling in the feel of breasts unfettered by the restraining material that usually kept them at bay. Thor entered the tepid water, and then fully immersed herself; coming up a minute later spluttering, enjoying how the invigorating water felt running in rivulets down over her body. Thor lathered the soap that she always carried with her, and started to cleanse herself. She had just finished when she heard a commotion coming from where they were camping, and it was getting nearer.

It seemed like she wasn't the only one who had decided that a dip in the river would be good. Her comrades came through the trees, casting aside their clothing as they went. Thor stared at the water, as she shrank down in it up to her chin.

She didn't dare look up, what she had seen had already made her blush a bright red.

"Hi lad" one of the naked men swam up to her, splashing her in the face.

Thor had never been so closed to a undressed male before, it frightened her, making her want to swim away as fast as she could but was afraid that it would reveal even more what she was. She sank as low as she could, and then let the river drift her away. She knew that at any moment one of the men could go under the water and see for themselves what she was.

When she was far enough away, she swam to the side of the river and under the cover of the bushes, and trees that lined in, she got out and hurried to her clothes. She quickly grabbed them, making sure none of the men saw her, and then ran back under cover and got dressed.

"That was a close one" she muttered to herself, and started back to the camp, ignoring the naked men jumping in and out of the water.

A pair of eyes watched her retreating back.

------------

By the time she got back, belongings were already being packed into the boat. Their leader was angry at the men that kept them waiting, and so went to find them.

Thor hurriedly grabbed her things, and stuffed them in the space in the boat that had been allocated to her. Then she sat at her oar, waiting for everyone else.

They were on their way by the time the sun had been out for about an hour. It was hard work, as she strained against the oar, hoping for not too many blisters.

"Come on lads" a voice shouted, and then started to sing.

"The Norsemen are coming,

We are invading your land,

You won't know what's happening,

Until we are at your door."

Everyone laughed, and then joined in.

"The Norsemen are coming,

You are going to get a shock,

When we creep up in the night,

And murder the lot."

Thor joined in "the Norsemen are coming,

You really should run,

We won't show you any mercy,

Because we are murderous men."

When she had finished singing, she noticed that everyone was staring at her, "pretty voice you got here lad" one of them howled with laughter, "not broken yet, maybe you are too young to be a murderous man, you should have stayed home with your mummy."

Thor tried not to blush, she wanted to say something clever, something manly but her feminine mind betrayed her, she couldn't think of anything.

--------------------

They reached their destination by nightfall, it was a small island off Northumbria, tales had been told of the Saxons having a hard time of late, so the Norsemen had decided to use this to their own opportunity.

"When do we attack?" a young man asked.

"Hush" one of the other men cautioned in a whisper, "we have to wait for the other Vikings boats to arrive, but then we will attack in the dead of night."

Thor started to snooze, she wanted to stay awake, enjoy the atmosphere but she knew that she should rest, restore her energy, for soon she would need as much of it as she could get.

------------------------

The hour had arrived, waking up she saw that the sea was now teaming with longboats, she felt her boat starting to silently move towards the coast, and ran to her allocated oar, to help.

Finally they all stood on the beach, their swords unsheaved, ready to maim and kill. They marched up the hill and up to the monastery, the reason for their raid.

They came upon a monk, praying on his knees, he never knew what was coming, for a Viking crept up behind him and slit his throat.

Thor was shocked at the brutality of it. She hadn't realised that death would be that way. She had thought it would be more, calm, peaceful, but it was bloody, brutal. She felt the contents of her stomach rising in her throat. She forced herself to walk on, trying to ignore the violence that her country men were perpetrating. But it was impossible, her face blanched as more men were killed, just for the sin of guarding a monastery. She was just about to enter the building, when she felt a hand grab her arm, and she was pulled to the side.

"Hello Thor" Athol, one of the Viking men, a particularly horrible one, greeted her, "you are looking a bit piqued, is all of the killing upsetting you? I would say a lad like you should toughen up, but you aren't a boy are you?"

Terrified she tried to bluff her way through to safety. "Of course I am" she said, trying to make her voice gruff. "What else could I be?

"You have hid yourself well, but I saw you when you were bathing. I don't know of any boys with fine breasts like yours."

"You're mistaken" she hurriedly said.

"I am, am I? What I saw, well it was more than your chest, I know exactly what you are. But what I want to know is, what are you going to do to prevent me telling the rest of the men?"

"I, I….."

"Well, I have an idea, I could do with a bit of, um, company. I am sure that is the least you could do, because if you don't……"

"What?" she shouted with fear.

"Well I am sure that the men would like a bit of entertainment on the long journey home. So what is it to be, you share yourself with me, or……everyone."

Thor didn't know what to do, she was an innocent, one thing that her mother had always taught her was not to give away her virtue. But now it didn't seem she had any choice."

"I will take that as a yes" he laughed, pulling her face towards his disgusting lips. "mmm, you smell so sweet, when I think of what fun we could have had over here, well we will just have to make up for it."

Thor struggled in his arms, trying to get away, but he was stronger than her. She didn't want this, but it seemed like she had no choice. "Please" she tried to appeal to him, "I don't want…."

"Shut up, I don't rally care what you want, I have needs, and you are going to meet them."

With desperation, she looked around, searching for anything that could stop his assault on her body, but there was nothing. She started to scream, but his cruel mouth bit down on hers, crushing her body, and taking all breathe away from her. His stench overpowered her, making her feel faint.

"No" she managed to mutter, please don't."

He never got the chance to answer, for suddenly he was a dead weight dragging her to the floor. Arms reached in and grabbed her before his weight could crush her, and Thor saw a young man she had never seen before.

"Hello" the young man grinned, "my name is Edward, I think we need to get away from here before your, er companion wakes up."

Thor just stared at him.

"It is okay, your secret is safe with me, as are you. I won't touch you" he promise, grabbing her arm again, "but we have to get out of here."

"How do you know I won't slit your throat?"

"I don't know" he looked deeply into her eyes, "there is something about you that says you won't. I know it is silly, you are a Viking and I am a Saxon, but you know I trust you."

She let herself be led further into the monastery, up to a painting of an old monk. Edward stopped in front of it, and pressed an almost invisible switch, which opened a door, to a dark passageway.

"It will take us to safety" Edward told her, "it goes right under the sea to the mainland."

--------------------------

"What's your name?" Edward asked as they walked through the dank tunnel.

"Thor."

"Thor? That is a funny name for a girl" he commented.

Thor grinned, "Well as my secret is out, then I suppose I could start going by the name my parents gave me." She reached out and touched his hand, "as a child I was known as Thora, you can call me that if you want."

Edward looked down at her in the gloom, "Thora; that is a really pretty name. And yes I would like to call you by that name."

They carried on through the tunnel, finally reaching light they found themselves in Northumbria.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"My mother lives over here, she owns a farm. I am going to ask if you can stay there with us."

----------------------

"Mother" Edward called as they came to the farm, "we have a visitor."

His mother who had been hanging out washing stared at the scared young woman. "What have you brought home this time Edward? You are always bringing animals to heal, but this one looks like a Viking."

"She is a Viking."

Startled, she stared closer at Thora's face, "she?"

"She has been hiding herself as a boy; I came upon her about to be assaulted by a Viking male who had discovered her secret."

"Oh my dear, I am so sorry" Edward's mother's attitude changed once she realised that Thora was a girl. "Come in, come in, are you hungry?"

Thora nodded her head, she hadn't eaten since the morning before, "I could manage to eat a little" she agreed, her stomach affirming this.

"Come on then, my name is Aisa by the way. Why were you pretending to be a boy? No don't tell me now, let me feed you first. You are very thin."

-------------------

Her stomach filled, she started telling them her story. "My father was from this land, he was a merchant, and travelling over to the land of Norsemen, when his boat capsized. He managed to get free of the vessel, but was far out in the sea. He managed to swim some of the way to the coast, but then overwhelmed by the cold, and exhaustion, he blacked out. But he was far enough in that the tide brought him to the shore, and that is where my mother found him. She came from a long line of healers and on finding him, she carried him, dead weight though he was, to the home she shared with her mother. The two women set about looking after him, healing his wounds; he had a cut head where the sail had hit him, and helping him through the fever that came. My mother fell in love with the stranger, and he her, for when he awoke the first thing he saw was an angel, or that was what he said, it was my mother. They married a few months later, and he moved into their home.

"That is so romantic" Aisa sobbed.

"Yeah it was" Thora agreed, "at least until her mother died. Other people in the village didn't like him owning anything that should be owned by their own people. And they started to cause trouble. First of all it was little things, a pebble thrown at their door, spat at in the street, when I was born the villagers called me Thora the swine', insinuating, well you know what they were insinuating."

"They were calling you a pig, and your father, and our people" Aisa's jaw settled in an angry expression.

"When I was eight years old, my mother was about to start my healing training. She had been meaning to do it for years but people had stopped coming to her for help, so she had grown complacent. But one night she told me that they had had enough of being controlled by those people. She said they were going to move. Find somewhere where all of us were accepted, and she told me that when we were settled then she would teach me all I needed to know. That night, they set fire to our home. My father rescued me, and put me outside, but my mother hadn't come out. He went back in after her, and that was when the ceiling collapsed. They were dead and I was alone."

"Oh my poor child, to lose your parents is hard, but at such a tender age….."

"I ran away, so frightened was I of the people who should have protected me. And I decided to cut my hair, as many children of the Norsemen, I carried a knife, so I cut my long locks off, to this stubble. And I stole boy's clothes drying in a garden. I became Thor, the ragamuffin, the boy that wandered from place to place."

"But how did you come to join those Vikings over here on a raid?" Edward asked.

"I wanted an adventure, excitement, I wanted my life to change so I when I heard they wanted men for the attack, I volunteered, but I never realised how brutal it would be, I suppose I am still a child, thinking that it would be a gentle journey, that I would have had fun. I could never imagine that my so called comrades could be so evil."

"Don't be so hard on yourself Thora" Aisa instructed her, "we all like to believe that there is good out there, and there are good people, but there are also bad ones. Now I think we should find you a bed to sleep in, you look exhausted."

--------------------------

Years past, Thora started wearing dresses again; she became Aisa's constant companion and help. Edward organised a local healer to teach them all she knew, and when they married, they became a husband and wife team helping the sick, healing the injured, and caring for those who needed them.

They heard tell that the Vikings had come back, but they had attacked Jarrow, far away.

They had everything they wanted, all that they needed, except for one thing. They had no children. By the time they had been together for five years they were desperate, they researched herbs that might help, prayed to God. But nothing happened.

All around them, their neighbours bred like rabbits, whilst they remained barren. There didn't seem any hope, if two healers could cure a problem, then who could.

So they gave up, they resigned themselves to remaining childless, trying to bury themselves in their work, they remained close, supporting each other, they were still in love, they had just given up on ever have a child of their own,

And as at times like these, with the worry gone, Thora fell pregnant to their utter joy.

----------------------------

He dragged his tired body out of the sea, he was seemingly the only survivor of the longboats, they had been met with a viscous storm out in the sea, and the Viking boats had been battered and tossed, everyone had been thrown into the churning sea.

He had only stayed alive through sheer determination, he had unfinished business that he had been seething about for many a year. He would have his revenge.

He crept up the hill, leading to a village, gratified when he saw someone had left clothes out to dry the night before. Hurriedly he grabbed them, and ran before anyone could see him. Then he changed into the clothes, no longer looking like a fierce Viking, he looked like one of them. It meant that he could intermingle, find out what he needed, he could plan, strategize, and ultimately win the day. Even if it meant that he forfeited his life, he would make sure she died first.

He went back into the village, this time look every inch of him the respectable Saxon, walking through the centre of it, he spied a coin on the ground, and quickly picked it up. "The gods are with me" he grinned, and then on seeing an inn, decided that it would be an excellent place to get the information he wanted.

He entered it, and was greeted by the inn keeper, giving him his coin, he thankfully accepted the mead, and sipped it, revelling in its sweetness. Then he took a seat, near a couple of old women, paying attention to what they said. His idea was soon rewarded, as one of them started to talk about a healer that had helped her daughter birth her baby.

"You know Thora is really a remarkable woman, her and Edward are a match made in heaven."

"Have you heard the story of how they met?"

"Yeah, wasn't she a Viking."

"She came over in a longboat, pretending to be a Norseman."

"It is so romantic, he saved her from a randy Viking, rescued her, brought her to Northumbria, and they fell in love."

"And now they live at Aisa's farm with his mother."

He had heard all he needed to know, he had the information he wanted, taking one last sip of his drink, he left the inn, shocking the gossiping women as the door slammed shut.

-------------------

Thora was the happiest she could ever remember, it was spring, she was pregnant and the baby was due in a couple of months.

But even though she was with child, she didn't shirk her duties, both healing and those that needed doing around the farm. Aisa had been having trouble recently, she was aging, and to make things more easy for the woman she regarded as her second mother, she had decided to take on more tasks.

That morning she left the farm early, she had fed the dog, collected the chicken's eggs, milked the cows, and has just rescued a lamb that had become entangled in brambles. She was about to walk back to her home when she saw him, a murderous look on his face.

"Hello lad" he grinned maliciously at her, "well you certainly look different from the last time I saw you." He stepped forward to touch her golden hair that now tumbled down her back, and over her breasts. "When we were last together your hair was short, shorn like a man would have it, I will enjoy the way it feels when I take what you owe me."

She stepped back, nervously looking for an escape.

"And I see you are blooming, though it would be better if it was my baby in your belly. Though when I take you back, I will make sure as soon as the brat is born, that you have one of mine in there."

Thora gulped, "I won't come with you Athol, you won't touch me."

He laughed, "and who is going to stop me? You?"

She tried to answer him, but her throat was too dry. With desperation she furtively looked around, trying to find something that she could use to protect herself.

There was nothing, she had no escape; he would have his way, she could do nothing to stop him.

Athol took hold of her arm painfully and started to drag her away from her home.

"I will find a boat" he told her, "we will soon have you back where you belong."

She thought all had been lost, that she had no chance, that there was no escape, but then out of the corner of her eye she saw a blur. A bundle of fur ran past her legs and leaped up at the Viking, snarling, teeth bared, the animal bit deeply into his throat, killing him outright.

Athol's body fell onto the grass, already red from the widening pool of blood.

Thora looked down at the grinning animal at her feet, his tongue lolling out of his mouth speckled with fresh blood. For a second to shocked to respond, she then bent down, and hugged the animal "thank you boy."

Drained of all energy, she left the man and walked back to her home. She opened the door and collapsed into a dead faint, as her body couldn't hold her up anymore.

----------------------

Edward and Aisa insisted that she spent the rest of her pregnancy in bed. When they had first saw her lying by the door they thought she had haemorrhaged, and was dead. They were relieved to see her breathing but were concerned, upset when she eventually told her story.

She asked them to take care of the body, throwing it in the sea as was the Viking way. So once they had got her to bed, they had taken care of the body, give Athol the respect he didn't deserve, saying a prayer for the wicked man as the tide took him away.

Now it was summer, and Thora yearned to be out of bed, she was enormous now, too big to be comfortable wherever she was, she tried to walk around, but they always returned her to her bed.

Then came the day when she had an urge to get everything ready for the baby. They found her putting bedding on the baby's crib that Edward had made. Once again she was made to rest, and Edward did everything she asked.

"She's nesting" Aisa said wisely, "the baby isn't far off."

And that night Thora had the first pain. Initially she thought that she just had an urge to use the commode, but then the pain grew more severe, and she knew she was in labour, the baby was coming.

Finally exhausted, covered in sweat, but happy she held the longed for child. "It's a girl" she showed her husband. She kissed her gently on her little forehead, and then tucked up she fell asleep, her last sight her softly sleeping baby.

-----------------------------

The child grew up, and lived her life,

It might have been full of strife,

But it is not her story that I must tell

But another's, her descendant, a child of her line,

As we journey again, travel through time.