UNKNOWN TERRITORY

Chapter 1: New Lands

Hundreds of years ago, Vikings lived in Northern Europe. This period of history is known as the Viking Age. Their territory was cold. It was not very level. It was covered in mountains. Therefore, they could not produce a lot of food. This may be why the Vikings were always looking for new territory.
During the Viking period, there was a town called Asglor. In Asglor, there lived a young man. He was a little older than 20 years old. He was named Thoric.
Thoric was very powerful. He was tall and had nice features. He had long brown hair and a large nose. He had a wide mouth and strong arms and legs.
One afternoon, Thoric returned from hunting. The town of Asglor was full of people. The sun was shining. It was a bit cold. On his way home, Thoric saw a well-known explorer. His name was Niels. Niels spent a lot of time outside of Asglor. He explored new lands. He looked for new sites to grow food.
Thoric waved to Niels. ‘Hello!’ he called.
‘Thoric!’ replied Niels.
‘Niels. Are you still in town?’
‘Yes. I’m here for two more nights.’
‘And then where are you going?’
‘I don’t know exactly. Chief Eskol says it’s very far away.’
Thoric had a lot of respect for Chief Eskol. He was a big man. He had the longest hair Thoric had ever seen! He also had big muscles and a serious voice. Eskol was a very strict man. He had many rules and laws. Sometimes he was mean. However, most people considered Eskol a good leader.
‘Does Chief Eskol have new plans?’ Thoric asked with interest.
‘Yes, but he hasn’t told us about them. He’s just said that we must go farther.’
Chief Eskol often sent out expeditions. They explored outside the town. Asglor was a small place. It was beside some mountains and a small lake. Near the lake there was a river that led to the sea. In summer, there was enough food. But in winter, the animals and plants were gone. There was not much food. During the previous winter, people had died. Chief Eskol knew he needed to find new lands soon.
‘That's good news,’ said Thoric. ‘I don’t want a food shortage this winter!’
‘Me neither. My family must eat better. I can’t just give them meat all the time.’
Thoric had never met Niels’ family. He only knew Niels’ father. He was a famous explorer in the village. ‘Niels, I must go,’ Thoric finally said. ‘I have to clean the animals that I just shot. My family wants to sell the meat.’
‘OK, lad. Good day to you.’
Thoric went back to his house. He spoke to his parents and sister. His family were farmers. They had a little piece of land. They grew some crops. They raised animals as well. They kept the females. They sold the males. They also sold the meat from Thoric’s hunting. They made money, but it was never enough.
That night, Thoric couldn’t sleep. There was too much to think about.
Where was Chief Eskol going? What was this new expedition all about?
Two days later, Thoric went hunting again. There were increasingly fewer animals. Winter was approaching. It was getting harder to find anything to shoot!
Thoric came back from hunting. He met Niels again. Niels was walking fast. ‘Thoric! Come quickly!’ he called.
‘What is it Niels?’
‘Chief Eskol has called a meeting. The whole town must attend.’
‘Is he going to tell us his plans?’
‘Mostly likely, yes! I have to go. Take that meat home and come quickly!’
Thoric took the meat home and walked quickly to the Great Hall. The Great Hall was a very big building made of wood. Its walls were covered in pictures of Viking gods. The Hall was Chief Eskol’s house. He lived there with his wife and four children. All the people who served his family and the town lived there, too.
Talks and meetings were often held inside the Great Hall. Chief Eskol would call everyone together. The whole town would come. It was a time to get important information. And that’s just what they got this time.

Chapter 2: Going West

The meeting was as Thoric hoped. It was about Chief Eskol’s strategy for the next expedition. It was true Eskol wanted to travel farther, much farther.
Chief Eskol announced his new plan. He wanted to go past the mountains and past the lake. He wanted to take the river down to the sea. He wanted to travel the seas to find more land. His strategy was to go as far west as possible.
The people of Asglor were surprised, including Thoric and Niels. However, they all agreed to the expedition. The building and organizing began.
A month passed. It went by very slowly. It was nearly winter. The people of Asglor knew they would need more food soon. They wanted to avoid shortages. Hopefully this would be the last hungry winter.
Niels led the building of the ships. They were made from trees near the river. Chief Eskol often visited the building site. He wanted to measure the progress.
‘Tell me, Niels,’ Eskol said, ‘when can we sail? I see that some ships are already on the river.’ Then he added with a serious voice, ‘We need to sail soon.’
‘I am not sure, Chief. Maybe in a week? Possibly sooner.’
‘A week? Well done!’
‘Yes, the wood is good. The materials are strong. And our builders are very skilled,’ reported Niels.
That night, Chief Eskol gave a second talk in the Great Hall. It was time to decide who would go on the ships. There was only room for 75 men. One by one, men raised their hands to go. Most of them were warriors. The warriors were very well trained. Their abilities would be good for the expedition.
Thoric wanted to go as well. Although he was not a warrior, he was very good at hunting. Food was always important on an expedition. Thoric raised his hand.
‘You don’t know what food there will be,’ Thoric said to the Chief. ‘You need hunters. I can hunt anywhere and anything,’ he said.
Chief Eskol looked at Thoric and said, ‘All right. Come with us.’
From that moment on, Thoric couldn’t wait for the expedition to begin. When the day came, Chief Eskol, Niels, Thoric and the rest of the Vikings prepared to sail. They asked the gods to help them. Their wives and families said goodbye.
Eskol put his wife in control while he was away. She came to discuss things with the men as well. She also offered them encouragement. It would be a long trip. At last the men got on the ships. The expedition began.
The three ships began travelling westwards. They were in excellent shape. Everyone seemed happy. The first few weeks went by with no issues.
Several weeks later, the ships continued to make progress. The explorers saw no land yet, only water. They did not even see birds. Birds meant there was land nearby.
Some of the Vikings began to question Chief Eskol. ‘Chief Eskol, are you sure there’s land in the west?’ asked one man.
‘I’m positive.’
‘What if we can’t find it?’
Chief Eskol became angry. ‘We will not fail!’ he shouted. ‘There is land in the west. Someone told me it was there. Someone who saw it with his own eyes. Do you understand? Now get out of my sight,’ said the Chief. The conversation was over.
Eskol was strong and determined. He didn’t like to be questioned. But he knew the men didn’t have his strong beliefs. For them it was unclear. He decided to speak to the rest of the ship.
‘There is land in the west!’ he shouted to the explorers. ‘I can prove it!
Do you understand me? I have evidence!’ He held up a small piece of cloth. On the cloth there were strange images. ‘Someone made this! You must believe me! I know something is there!’
The Vikings kept quiet and continued rowing. But they all had one question on their mind: who told Chief Eskol there was land in the west?
Later that day, it suddenly began to rain. The wind became stronger. The water began to get rough. Soon, a storm developed like they had never seen. It hit the ships so strongly that they could hardly sail. The Vikings fought to keep the three ships together.
At last the storm passed. Chief Eskol could see the sky again. He checked where the ships were. Then he became angry. The storm had changed their course! He could not be sure where they were. He could not tell the men. He could only hope he was still right. There had to be land if they went west.
Days later, Thoric woke early. He looked to the sky. Suddenly, he saw something. At first he couldn’t believe it. Then he looked again. Yes, they were really there!
Thoric ran for Niels. ‘Niels! Niels! Wake up!’ he shouted.
‘What’s going on?’ said the explorer, his eyes still shut.
‘There are birds!’
‘What?’
‘There are birds in the sky! There’s land nearby!’
Niels’ eyes flew open. He looked up. There, far to the west, he saw birds! ‘So it is true!’ he cried.
Niels got up. He had to report to the Chief. Thoric went with him. ‘Chief Eskol, wake up!’ shouted Niels.
Chief Eskol quickly woke up. ‘Niels? Thoric? What’s happened?’ ‘There are birds in the sky!’ shouted Niels.
‘There’s land!’ cried Thoric.
Chief Eskol quickly stood. Then he shouted to the ships’ men, ‘Row!
Come on! Wake up, everyone! There is land nearby! Row!’
The men rowed hard and saw land at last. Chief Eskol ordered the ships to stop at a nearby beach. The beach was very long. There were many trees and mountains nearby. It was beautiful.
The Vikings got off their ships. Chief Eskol called the men together.
They broke into small groups. He said to one group, ‘You lot, gather sticks.
We need a fire.’ Then he looked at Thoric and Niels. ‘We have very few resources left,’ he said. ‘We won’t last long unless we hunt. Shoot several animals.’
Thoric and Niels hunted, but nothing felt natural. The trees and sounds were different. Even the animals were different. But the men were hungry. They killed and ate the unknown animals anyway. The meat was different, but it was not bad.
Chief Eskol spoke to the men that night. ‘We’ve got food now. And we are thankful for that,’ he told them. ‘But now we need to explore. We must see what is beyond the beach. We need to find out if we can farm here. If we can raise food here, more Vikings will come.’
One of the men asked, ‘How do we know where we are? Some men think the storm took us off course.’
Chief Eskol didn’t speak for several minutes. In the end, he said nothing. He ignored the question and said, ‘We must explore this place. We’ll start tomorrow at sunrise.’

Chapter 3: The Decision

The men rose with the sun. They ate some of the supplies left from the journey. They also had meat from the hunt.
Thoric went to talk to Chief Eskol as soon as he finished. ‘Hello, Chief,’ he said.
‘Hello, Thoric. Do you need something?’
‘I need to talk to you.’
‘Go on.’
Thoric wanted to ask about one thing. ‘At the start of the trip,’ he began, ‘the men had doubts. They asked a lot of questions. They didn’t know if there was land in the west. But you were a good leader. We have arrived safely at this land.’
‘Yes. What do you want to say, Thoric?’
‘The man who told you about the land. The one who gave you the proof. Who was he?’
‘The man who told me that these lands existed?’
‘Yes, exactly.’
Chief Eskol looked around him.
‘What’s wrong?’ Thoric asked.
‘Where’s Niels?’
‘He’s eating, I think.’
‘I see. The man who told me about this place was Niels’ father.’
‘Niels’ father?’
‘Yes.’
Thoric was very surprised. Niels’ father was the mysterious man? But Niels’ father was dead. Thoric didn’t understand. ‘I thought Niels’ father died on a previous expedition. And that was an expedition going to the east,’ he said. ‘He died in a fall in the mountains.’
‘No. That was a lie. I sent them westwards. It was a secret expedition. No one knew anything.’
‘Did you send him to this land? Alone?’
‘No. I sent him west with 13 other men. Two men died on the way. Eight men died here. Niels’ father and two men made it back. They died when they arrived or shortly after. It was exhaustion. We didn’t have the resources to save them. Before Niels’ father died, he told me of this land. In addition, he gave me this.’
Eskol threw the cloth with the images on the table. It was some sort of writing. Thoric had never seen anything like it. Thoric looked at the Chief. Yes, maybe Chief Eskol did have evidence. Now. But what about then?
‘How did you know?’ Thoric asks. ‘Why did you send those men west? You said you thought there was nothing but sea.’
‘I had a feeling.’
‘You had a feeling?’ Thoric looked at Eskol in surprise. ‘Niels’ father died because you had a feeling? Because you took a risk?’ Thoric looked at
Eskol closely. ‘If Niels finds out, he’ll never forgive you.’
Chief Eskol took Thoric by the arm. ‘You cannot tell Niels. Niels is the best explorer we have. He is nearly as good as his father. He can’t be distracted now. We need him.’
Thoric nodded. ‘Understood.’
‘Now, go back to the men,’ said the Chief. ‘Do not speak of this again.’
A short while later, the men picked up their weapons. They crossed the beach and entered the woods. They were ready for action. Niels led the group.
They walked for hours. Then, below a hill, they saw something. It was a small community. You could even say it was a village. Niels waved his hand. The expedition stopped immediately.
Niels, Eskol and Thoric looked closely. The village was strange to them. The houses seemed strange. The men, women and children were a darker colour. They were wearing strange clothes. They were speaking a very strange language. The men didn’t know what to think.
Chief Eskol went towards the village first. The rest of the group followed. At first many people were frightened. Some ran off towards their houses. Chief Eskol gestured calmly. ‘We won’t hurt you!’ he said in a low voice. Eskol said the words a few times. He did simple gestures each time.
After some time, the village chief appeared before Eskol. He offered
Chief Eskol a drink. Eskol looked at the drink. Then the village chief said ‘water’ in the Viking language. Eskol looked at him in surprise. The man knew their language!
Chief Eskol talked to the village chief for several hours. The chief explained many things. He had learned the Viking language from the first expedition. He had spoken with them!
The village chief then explained what happened to the men. The local people had not killed the men. They had tried to help them. The men did not accept their help and died. Some were killed by animals. Some died because they ate the wrong foods. Some died from disease.
After speaking with the village chief, Chief Eskol called his men together. He said to them: ‘Gentlemen, I have learned many things. Most importantly, there were Vikings here previously. They did not listen to the local people. And they died.’ He looked around at his men. He was very serious.
Eskol continued, ‘The village chief tells me some of those Vikings left. They tried to go back to their homeland.’ He paused. ‘I have met those men,’ he continued. ‘They told me about this land. They, too, are dead.
They died from exhaustion after the trip.’
The men looked at each other. So that’s how Eskol knew about the lands in the west.
Eskol was not finished. He became very quiet. Then he said, ‘We must make a decision. We don’t know where we are. The storm took us too far off course.’ The Viking explorers were quiet for several minutes.
Then Chief Eskol carried on talking: ‘We must now decide. Do we stay here? Do we learn to live in this society? If we do, the people of this community will help us. They will provide food. They will teach us.’ He looked around at the men. ‘Or is our aim to get home? And risk exhaustion and death.’
Chief Eskol looked at the people of the village. ‘These are good people,’ he began. ‘They know the land. They can farm it. They can hunt on it. They have asked us to stay. For me, the choice is clear. I will stay.’
The men looked at Chief Eskol. One man called, ‘So we’re just going to leave our families? Never see our friends again? We can’t do that!’
Another man shouted, ‘Look at the shape our ships are in! The storm damaged them badly! We can’t get back home safely. I vote we stay.’
Chief Eskol looked at his men. ‘Both of you may be right. That is why I can offer no advice. We will each make the choice as an individual. If you want to leave, you are free to go. I will not force you to stay. If you choose to stay, you are welcome. But from this point on, I am not your chief. I am just a man.’
In the following days, two groups formed. One group planned to stay in the new lands. They would establish a new Viking society. The second group would take the least damaged ships. They would make the effort to return home.
One month later, the second group left. As they sailed away, Eskol spoke.
‘Things did not go as planned.’
‘No, they didn’t,’ replied Niels as he looked at his former leader. ‘You wanted to help our town. Things didn’t turn out as expected. But this is a good place. We can live here.’
‘Yes,’ said Thoric. ‘It’s interesting. It’s good to be in a new place with new things.’
‘And we can keep exploring,’ continued Niels. ‘We can find new and interesting challenges. Don’t worry. We’ll be happy.’ Then he smiled and said, ‘Chief.’
The men laughed. They were ready for their next expedition – exploring a new world. One that would later be called North America.