Day 61 - On Celebrating Leif Ericsson Day with My Kids, Learning About Being a Slave (Thrall) in Viking Days, and Getting a Little Creepy in my Ex's Kitchen

(Yes, this is a little break from my usual logs, but I had so much fun I wanted to record it in detail! *bounces*)

Happy Leif Ericsson Day!!!

No, I’m not Swedish or, as far as I know, descended from Vikings. However, on the way to see my kids on yesterday, my ex called, and we decided to put off my visit a day so that I could celebrate use Leif Ericsson day as an excuse to teach the kids about history – particularly, the Vikings.

And we had a blast! Particularly, my daughter and I did, because my son was off most of the evening with his uncle, who was playing a concert (he’s a professional jazz musician). After spending the morning (and last night) researching Vikings, I went over with a bag of stuff.

Having been told to expect a fun day, my daughter dressed up in a medieval dress, which we figured was accurate because Vikings were traders and could have gotten it somewhere. I, on the other hand, do have a Viking-style tunic that I sewed by hand years ago when I was involved in The Society for Creative Anachronism, along with a cape and a bag of hand-painted wooden rune discs, which I used for divination. And … all of that is in storage somewhere, so I found the best I could find in my closet (being a rustic-looking loose shirt, a thick skirt and sandals), and all was fine anyway. *chuckles*

I taught my daughter exciting stuff about Vikings, and their way of life, and the fact they were explorers, and how they were largely farmers or fishermen, and … I left out the fact that the major trade good of Vikings was slaves (my ex and I mutually agreed my daughter was too young to learn about such things). I researched that part pretty well last night, just out of curiosity, and it’s a fascinating topic … especially because I’m a slave, naturally. The way Vikings treated slaves was, in many ways, like the way Goreans treat slaves in the novels except … Vikings were (relatively) nicer, and they weren’t misogynistic. Men, women and children were all taken as slaves in the raids. And having a female slave serve as a bed partner wasn’t very common, by the way. Slaves (which were called “thralls”) pretty much did the backbreaking jobs the free people didn’t want to do. Slaves were, indeed, treated like livestock, in that they could be killed by anybody for any reason, and if somebody was found to have wrongfully killed a slave, the only penalty would be they would have to pay the slave’s owner the fair market price that the slave was worth. Slaves could also own some things, and although it wasn’t much, it theoretically allowed them to save up to buy their own freedom, which was a huge affair. Oh, and the mark of being a slave was the same thing as in Gor – they were forced to wear collars. Like I said, an interesting topic.

After teaching her about Leif Ericsson and his adventures, I taught her about how Viking girls were expected to not only learn womanly skills (such as making clothing and cooking), but also needed to know a lot of the manly skills (such as managing the household farm and mending furniture) because they needed to keep things going when the men were off raiding and pillaging. Oh, and I also taught her about Leif’s half-sister Freydis, who was known as a bit off a warrior, and I told my daughter how Viking girls, if they were strong and wanted to do it, could become warriors and fight alongside the men. Can you tell I’m encouraging my daughter to grow up to be a “strong, brave and smart girl”? (That’s our little catchphrase, by the way. *grins*)

After curling up on the couch together while I read her several of the myths about Norse Goddesses (concentrating on Freya, my favorite of them all), we got to the best part … the food! Sardines and herring and flatbread and apples and nuts and lots of cheese! Yum! My daughter loves fish of all types, and so she gobbled up the sardines and herring like nobody’s business! She says it’s her cat nature – she believes she’s a cat in a human body – and I’m not somebody to doubt her.

Next I got out the board and pieces for a Viking game to teach her, but my son came home about then and interrupted what was happening, and that was okay because I think my daughter had about absorbed all she could.

Turning to my son, I taught him everything I had taught his sister, but with him we discussed slaves, because he had already heard about that a bit in school. It’s weird to think that, in Viking life, my son would be old enough to be considered an adult, and to go out raiding and fighting in huge warships. *bites her lip*

Afterward, my son carved a really spooky pumpkin, and all of us transformed the kitchen into a “haunted house,” so that when my ex walked downstairs, all the lights suddenly went out, and my daughter (in a black cat costume) rubbed against my ex’s legs and meowed loudly and creepily, and then I started cackling menacingly and my son made his pumpkin float eerily all around the room. It was a hit! *giggles*

The Viking celebration isn’t over yet, for Sunday I’ll be returning, and we’ll all make Viking helmets and shields and battle axes, and then we’ll go out exploring new worlds, looking for adventure and even elves! (which is what, I’ve heard, Leif thought Indians were when he first met them).

Wish us luck!!!

*bounces happily*