A mighty fleet sailed in the wind and snow. Even though the weather was very cold, the man standing at the bow of the flagship felt hot in his heart.
Otto was still wearing chain mail. He looked quite old at fifty years old. His gray beard showed his seniority. The way he stood in the wind and snow was even more admired by the younger generations.
But people will eventually grow old one day. He does not expect to live as long as the tribe's priest Vilia, but only hopes that his aging will be slower.
Everyone will grow old. For the continuation of the entire tribe, Otto, as the leader, is very pragmatic. He needs to use some method to get as many young people in the tribe to marry as possible.
The Ross tribe is no different than other southern groups.
Although the tribe has been intermarrying with friends in the south, the Ross tribe is more remote and few girls are willing to marry there.
Precisely because of their geographical remoteness, it is impossible for them to win the hearts of women from allied tribes through forceful means, and it is also difficult for them to obtain populations from distant places through robbery to strengthen themselves.
Those Sveg men who looted Novgorod?
If they are simply asked to give out part of their wealth, they will support it despite their complaints. Besides, a long time ago, the ancestors of the tribe made an agreement with Novgorod. In name, when Novgorod, a huge rural aggregation, encounters threats from other tribes, it can find the powerful Rus fanatics. Warrior help.
If they were to plunder their female tribesmen, they would be unilaterally breaking the treaty. That is their bottom line, and they will fight to the end with their wooden sticks.
However, the attitude of the leaders of the past is that if this is done, Novgorod will turn into a wasteland in an instant, and those Svig people will move to a place where the Rus tribe cannot be found.
A smart leader would not do such a stupid thing. The Rus tribe needs Novgorod. The twice-yearly Sorgon voyages will bring a large amount of valuable goods that are difficult to exchange with the southern allies. Losing them will be disastrous.
The tribe needs long-term development. Otto, who has been the leader for many years, clearly believes that developing southward to have allies to compete for grazing pastures or arable fields is pure fantasy. If you try to do this, it will not work well. Will cause violent conflicts.
If you want to develop, you must make use of distant allies.
Otto, strictly speaking, does not have particularly lofty ambitions.
Otto simply hopes that the people of the tribe can live a stable life, ensuring that there is enough food to survive, enough cold clothing to keep warm, and that every warrior of the tribe has a wife.
In fact, everyone knows that Roseburg is really a ghost place. The easiest way to live a happy life is to leave here.
However, family relocation is not allowed at this stage. The rebellion of a single person is difficult to restrain, and the rebel may only gain loneliness. Large-scale rebellion will be strictly controlled. As the leader, Otto and his cronies will not suffer such a disaster that seriously damages the strength of the tribe.
For those Swegs who paid tribute, who bowed their heads and gave away their wealth, were forced to do so by sword and battle-axe. Once the tribe's strength is weakened, they will no longer surrender.
At least now the tribe still retains its strong strength, and there is room for larger-scale transactions with them.
The return leg of this year's Sorgon voyage was already in early winter, and the snowfall made everyone in the fleet very nervous. What they were even more nervous about was actually the freezing of the sea water.
The Baltic Sea's salt content is too low and the region's latitude is too high, making the water here more susceptible to freezing. For example, in the sea area facing Rossberg Fjord, the sea is completely frozen for at least one month every year, and winter fishing is completely terminated at that time. At that time, it became an option to dig breathing holes in the ice to ambush Baltic seals.
The Ross tribe loves seals because they are both a delicacy and their fat is excellent for burning lamps.
Therefore, on the way back, the fleet was on guard against possible attackers from Gotland, and was also searching for movement on the sea or shore, and would catch seals as long as there was an opportunity.
They finally caught ten seals, which became an unexpected surprise on their return voyage.
The returning fleet left the Gulf of Finland smoothly with a northeasterly wind. When heading north, they had to paddle the whole way.
The original meaning of Ross is oarsman. The tribe prides itself on being the best at rowing, and therefore moves very quickly on the sea.
But this time, their journey north was slower, for a very simple reason - fewer oarsmen per boat.
how so? Did they lose sailors in the entire operation?
No! Because the returning fleet suddenly increased by thirty people, specifically thirty young women.
This time, Otto was very convinced that he had accomplished a feat and had found another way for the tribe to develop.
He is already fifty years old, and his only living son is too young. It would be great if he died of old age and Rurik had just grown up, so that the people of the tribe would recognize this "man blessed by Odin" more. Even without going through duels, when he grew up, Rurik used his natural appeal to gain recognition from the tribe.
Of course, Rurik was already recognized as having been gifted with special fighting talents by Valhalla. If he really participates in the competition, Rurik will definitely beat everyone.
If he dies suddenly, the tribe will choose a strong person to lead the entire tribe through a duel competition.
To participate in the competition, one of the hard criteria is that participants must be married.
There is no age distinction in the competition. Married men participate. There is only one rule. They use wooden shields and wooden swords to fight until the other person gives up or is directly beaten to death.
As a result, Otto still has a trump card, and that is Arik.
Under his careful training, Arik, who is nearly eighteen years old, is already a master of fighting. As he grows older, he will become stronger. Fighting within the tribe is also an external battle. Arik will eventually be like his father, Become a strong warrior.
But before that happens, Aric must resolve his marital issues.
Not only Arik, there have been few new weddings in the tribe in the past few years, and many men who have lost their wives for various reasons have difficulty getting new wives. And those women who lost their husbands already had new husbands.
As girls in the tribe grow up, they will marry boys from the tribe. Even so, the current situation of more men and fewer women in the tribe cannot be improved through internal adjustment. The only way is to intermarry with foreign tribes.
If you want to intermarry with the allied tribes in the south, ordinary young men in the tribe have to pay a high price, not to mention that most of the unruly "rowers" are unwilling to leave their beloved Rossburg and go to the south to do door-to-door work. son in law.
It is true that some young people will go south to join other tribes. If all the young people in the tribe do this, the Ross tribe's bravery will not last long.
Perhaps, at this stage, only the Sveg people of Novgorod can long-term alleviate this serious internal problem of the Rus tribe through self-sacrifice.
This time, Otto deliberately brought many young people from the tribe to action. In fact, it was very meaningful for them to see the world. Every young man similar to Arik's age was very excited.
As a result, greater happiness awaits them!
In the end, thirty Sweg girls married into Rus. They sat on the boat, wearing thick deerskin coats, sitting next to their new husbands. Although language is a problem, through long-term exchanges with Novgorod, these girls know some Norse language. There are also some experts in the tribe who understand the ancient Slavic language of the Sweg people, so there is essentially no communication barrier between the two groups.
Through learning, young girls will soon master the Norse language. They also know very well that whether they are willing or not, for the sake of Novgorod and their natal family, they must identify with their husbands and not give birth to children by their husbands. Heirs.
Otto used some methods to successfully complete a political marriage. This was something that had never happened before after the exchange between the two ethnic groups!
The marriage between a Sweg girl and a Varangian boy was first approved by the girl's family and the wedding was completed in accordance with local etiquette.
As for the Ross tribe, there is nothing to object to the marriage of young people. After all, the thirty tribal young people who participated in the operation got their beauties home this time.
They were happy, but Otto thought about a year later.
On the Sorgon voyage next autumn, it may be time to take a few Sveg girls and their children with them to report the good news to their relatives back home in Novgorod.
Yes, it must be done! This also proves to them that the Ross tribe can also be very friendly.
