"Go you must.
No guest shall stay
in one place forever.
Love will be lost
if you sit too long
at a friend's fire."*

"Boat!"

"Boat incoming!"

The sound of a single horn blared forcefully into the bleeding sky as the last rays of the summer sun still reached over the fjord from the Western horizon, warming the dry air that was thick with dust of summer flowers.

Frida inhaled deeply even though it tickled her nose, breathing in the different aromas that the lazy evening breeze carried and feeling a familiar warmth spread through her body from her stomach.

Salt, poppies and birch. Clean.

When she heard Floki hissing out a nervous giggle, a wide smile prevailed over her lips, and she finally opened her eyes to look at her home that was growing bigger and bigger as their boat moved silently closer into the fjord of Kattegat.

Most of the other boats were already back. They waved silently over the still waters of Kattegat's harbor as if they had never really left, and Frida felt a strong impatience growing in her chest as she saw villagers appearing from around the cottages, scouting out over the still waters to the sole boat that slowly came closer, its black raven flag falling lazily from the top of the mast.

It was not long before the villagers recognized the flag, and the Vikings in the boat soon heard them cheering for their return. Frida let a relieved sigh escape her lips.

She was finally home.

...

Frida could not imagine for a person to feel more happiness pump through their veins than she currently did as she sat in her chair later that day, in the long-hall, her eyes wandering thoughtlessly around the crowd of people in front of her that were scattered around the tables eating, drinking, laughing.

A wonderful and excited air gushed vividly through the room, touching all of the faces that Frida had longed to see for so long.

Lagertha sat at one of the tables, talking laughingly with some of the other shieldmaidens, while Bjørn was sitting next to Ingeborg, apparently in a deep conversation with his uncle and the Geat king over a cup of mead.

Athelstan was listening smilingly to a story that was being told at his table, and over by the fire, all of the children sat with their own bowl of porridge while giggling sweetly from Elisef's singing.

Frida locked her eyes with a couple of mossy green ones, and she felt her heart fill with warmth when Ragnhildir waved her little hand excitedly up at her mother and father. Frida sent a short wave back before she felt familiar strong arms snake around her arms to hug her.

Ragnar's smell traveled up Frida's nostrils and filled her body with fires as he hugged her tight. She leaned her forehead against his cheek and let another relieved breath escape her lips.

She was so happy to be back here beside her husband, so happy to see the smiles of her children light up her entire world once more, happy to see that the storm that had separated the boats that were to sail together to England had only swallowed very few men.

Ragnar's voice was gentle and journeyed deep into Frida's body when he whispered into her ear. "Look at our boys, love, how they are so alike. I cannot express how happy you have made me. And how relieved I am of your return."

Frida felt goosebumps spread over her skin, and she smiled widely when her eyes roamed over her two baby boys, Halfdan and Ragnvald, down by the fire. They had grown so quickly while they were away.

"I, my love, am so happy too. We should make a sacrifice to the gods tomorrow. Thank them for bringing us all together again."

Ragnar huffed out an agreeing smile and turned his eyes to the crowd in front of them, soon rising to his feet. As Ragnar raised his drinking horn into the air, the joyful chatter in the room soon grew silent, and all eyes turned to the Danish king, excited and impatient.

Frida felt anticipation growing in her stomach too, even though she knew what Ragnar was going to say.

The air was thick with heat.

"Friends! Family. I think that now, we have had time to fill our bellies and hearts with all that we could desire. As all of you know, Floki's boat returned to Kattegat today, thank be to the gods."

Ragnar waved his horn down at Frida, and she felt her cheeks blush when all eyes turned to her.

"But!" Ragnar continued in a dramatic voice, raising his hands at the crowd that started cheering. "Floki and his men not only made sure of the queen's safe return, they came back with new knowledge. Knowledge of a place that is yet unknown by the common man. Floki?"

When all eyes turned to Floki, his dark encircled eyes widened in surprise, and he let his head fall between his shoulders in a quick movement, as if to hide himself from the crowd.

Frida noticed Helga whispering something to him.

Ragnar waved at the Viking once more. "My dear friend, why don't you tell us of your journey yourself, hm? As we all know, you are a better storyteller than me."

Cheering spread through the crowd as Ragnar sat back down on his throne calmly, taking a sip from his horn while keeping his eyes on Floki. Frida saw Helga nudging Floki's shoulder lightly before he rose to his feet to face the awaiting crowd.

His posture was crooked and strange as his eyes explored the many faces at the tables, and he took a couple of steps to the left, his long strides carrying him closer to the fire in the middle of the longhall.

His shadowed eyes burned with a strange light. He giggled out mischievously as he pulled out his ax and lifted it into the air, waving it through the air in movements of a wave.

Before he spoke, his eyes lingered on Eysteinn Beli and his princess daughter. Frida furrowed her brows but soon heard Floki's curly voice.

"For a strange reason…" he started carefully, moving his ax through the air as if it was a boat sailing over the waves. "The storm sent our boat to different seas than our fellow men."

He made a sharp movement with his ax, causing a gasp to sound from a young girl sitting next to him. Floki made a nervous giggle before his eyes turned hard, glaring out over the villagers in the longhall dramatically.

"We lost many men. Only nine of us were left when Njord finally let the sun rise over us, and we sailed West, hoping to see the other boats."

Floki started circling around the fire, his eyes locking with Ragnar's before he continued.

"We drifted for many nights and days, weeks even, nothing but the open sea as far as the eye could reach. But one day," Floki made a small nervous jump, his eyes burning, "Something small appeared in the horizon."

Frida felt excitement rush through her body, and her eyes soon roamed over to Faxe at one of the tables. His handsome face was glowing eagerly.

"From the color of it, we soon realized that we had not come to England. We do not know the island's name, for we seem to be the first ones to have set foot there," Floki breathed, his face turned away for Frida to see.

She furrowed her brows, her lips parting slightly.

What had he just said?

She felt pearls of sweat starting to gather at her hairline as she watched Floki take a step further away from her view, and she stretched her neck to watch him better as he continued.

"And when we did place our feet on this foreign island, we knew that we could not stay for long. We found nothing more than rocks and ice, a dead and gray sky hanging over it and bringing bitter winds during the days as well as the nights."

Frida felt her blood rushing for her ears as she listened to Floki and his words of deception, about their journey to Thule, and she felt panic pounding in her chest, yearning for her to discard his story.

When her eyes connected with Faxe, Frida felt her body yanking forward, as his eyes thundered at her with anger and remorse. He wanted to stop Floki too.

But before Frida could do something, she felt something hard push at her chest, and she was soon being forced against the back of her wooden throne. She looked down at her husband's arm that was pushed against her chest, and she furrowed her brows as she turned her eyes to Ragnar's.

She gasped out silently when he pierced her with his ice blue crystals, crashing into her core and ordering her to keep quiet.

She shut her lips tight, and gulped down as Ragnar kept staring at her with hard eyes.

When Frida finally managed to tear her eyes away from him, they quickly roamed over to Faxe again, but she was even more confused when she realized that he was no longer sitting in his spot. She shut her eyes hard.

What in the name of all the gods* was going on?

Chills ran down her spine when Floki continued his lying: "No life roamed there, it was more dead and colder than Niflheim*, not even birds could be heard for there were no trees nor even roots. The few mountains, hills, really, of the island were covered in snow, everything gray and white."

Floki breathed loudly before he turned around to face Frida, who stared back at him with widened eyes, smirking devilishly. Giggling.

"We soon realized that we had been guided there by the gods, for them to have a good laugh. Can you hear it now? There is still laughter to be heard from the great halls of Asgård."

Many of the villagers chuckled in warmth at Floki's words.

"Which is why," he grinned as he turned back around to the fire. "I have named it Ísland.*"

The crowd of people laughed once more and cheered when Floki bowed down, and they all raised their glass to acknowledge his adventurous story, even though their journey seemed to have been a simple joke made by the gods.

Frida turned her eyes to Ragnar. Nonchalant, he was smiling and he casually nodded at some people in the crowd with his drinking horn raised.

Frida breathed out impatiently as he was about to take a sip of ale, but he stopped his horn just by his lips and whispered silently, just for Frida to hear: "He does not trust Beli."

Frida closed her eyes shut.

Laughter and happy chattering was loud in her ears, but it all of a sudden seemed unreal to her now, as she took in Ragnar's words.

She wanted to ask him questions, but his hand on her arm urged her not to.

Not here.

She plastered a forced smile over her lips and turned to the crowd of people in front of her.

Ísland…


* From The Havamal

* FUN FACT - In the name of the gods: This is a saying that you still use to this day in Denmark. For example, when saying "Hvad i gudernes navn foregår der?!" This translates to "What in the name of the gods is going on?!" It is pretty funny, I think, that we still have these sayings.
Another fun and old Danish saying with the gods: "Det må guderne vide." This directly translates to "The gods must know it" but a better translation to English would probably be "That is up to the gods." You say this when you have no idea about something. For example, when someone says: "Where does she keep her mugs?" And you shrug your shoulders and go: "The gods must know it."

* Niflheim: One of the nine worlds in Norse mythology. It is a cold and foggy Northern kingdom/world, in which Hel is placed, actually. There is said to be a dragon there by the name of Nidhug, and one of Yggdrasil's roots drinks from one of Niflheim's rivers (Hvergelmer).

* Ísland: Iceland. Yes, Iceland ;)

The funny thing about this chapter is that in Denmark, it is said that the guy who discovered Iceland and Greenland played a joke on the other Vikings. He named the green and lush island Iceland and the icy island Greenland. The Viking who discovered these islands was named Floke Vilgerdssøn (Floki)!