The daylight hours were already very short, and Rurik felt that only three or four hours had passed from the time the sun rose to the time it set.
The daylight hours are shortening drastically every day, and eventually polar night covers the world.
Do you really want to run to the Arctic Ocean in the polar night? Isn’t that crazy?
Having already reached Haikou and having made promises to his men and new allies, he found that he was in a difficult position and could only go one way to the end.
Now the question is, what path should we choose? Is there a clear path in the vast snowfield?
A group of people built a camp in the pine forest on the edge of the frozen lake (Lake Kemi). Some small pine trees were cut down suddenly, and the trunks were built into supports and covered with linen to serve as tents to shelter from the wind.
Everyone peeled off the deer skin, and the steaming leather quickly became hard.
The bloody venison was poked with pine branches, then grilled on the fire, sprinkled with a handful of salt and it was a complete meal.
The deer blood was not processed well, so the deer meat was really bad. Rurik could only bite the bullet and eat it while holding a lump of oily barbecue. He comforted himself that at least compared to the hunters in more ancient times or the nomadic deer herders who ate raw meat, he was not a raw meat drinker.
He was thinking about the way forward, and everyone was thinking the same thing.
The sons of the two leaders of Balmok, they did not dare to back down since they had decided to see the "Northern Sea". Backing down meant cowardice and would definitely be despised by the Russians.
In a sense, precisely because both parties in the alliance are supervising each other and flaunting their bravery, there is no room left.
Hungry, Biyongni gnawed on a deer shank and realized he would never be able to eat any more. He casually wiped his greasy hands with snow and shouted: "Let's go all the way north and follow this glacier, and we can reach the sea."
"This is impossible." Rurik said casually, tilting his head slightly.
"Why? We are right on the lakeside, and the river from the north obviously flows into this lake."
"Because water can only come from high places. We will continue to move forward on the glacier and will reach the source of the water, but not directly to the sea. We also need to find a real waterway leading to the north."
Rurik's words should have been easy to understand, but Biyoni didn't understand them for a while, "It doesn't matter. When we reach the source of the river and can't find a new ice road, we will go north in the wilderness. We will definitely be able to see that An ocean. If it really exists... No! It must exist!"
"Of course the sea exists, but we have to find the glacier." Rurik raised his head, and the flames of the bonfire reflected in his pupils: "I can guarantee with my reputation that there is a harbor that will never freeze in the north of us. It’s pure. I want to find it and occupy it!”
"Okay. I hope there are bears out there...Listen, my brother." Biyonni smiled slightly. "We are still interested in bear hunting."
"You can rest assured about this. We will definitely hunt a lot of white bears that catch seals. If we don't catch a lot, we will definitely catch a lot of seals. That's the only thing I'm worried about."
"You tell me."
"Will we enter pure night, a very long night? We will have to rely on starlight, moonlight and Aurora to continue our progress. Will we be forced to endure extreme cold? Or we may encounter severe snowstorms. Maybe in winter It’s not a good time to be adventuring.”
"The long dark night?" Biyongni looked at his brother Floki, and they both laughed. "What's that? We Balmoks are used to complete darkness in winter. Odin divided the year into twelve parts? Designing one of them into pure night is a test for us. We dare to march at night, and I hope you Rus That’s okay too.”
"This is best." Rurik nodded, feeling a sense of security in his heart.
The next morning, the luxurious sunshine shone on the vast snowfield, but the expedition veterans were already moving forward on the ice.
The reindeer were fed some wheat, and they gnawed some grass roots freely. After gaining strong physical strength, they continued to move forward driven by humans. The eight domesticated deer ignored the killed wild kin, even though the sled was also pulling a batch of pre-made meat skewers that were as cold as stones and threaded on the branches, as well as a batch of stretched out frozen meat. They couldn't feel it at all, as hard as a board of deerskin.
The Rus and Balmoks were all crowded together again and continued to move north in the increasingly cold climate.
The people on the sleigh were laughing and bragging to kill the boredom of the journey, while they were also observing the woods surrounding the glacier. If a bear, wolf or other animal appears at this time, they will not hesitate to jump off the sled and start hunting.
In the current situation, hunting is no longer just for leather. People believe that their lives are facing a huge threat from extreme cold. Does hunger mean that the body is cold? It even means freezing to death.
There must be a tribe of deer herders in this area. Once they are discovered, the expedition team will not hesitate to launch an attack. Now Rurik is in an extreme environment, and he understands one thing? In order for himself and his brothers to survive safely, let the exposed deer herder tribe die. He really doesn't want to be a big villain? He can only hope that those guys don't get exposed.
The day was disappearing at a speed visible to the naked eye? It was evening again? The team encountered a problem.
"What to do now?" Biyongni asked doubtfully.
The velvet hat covered Rurik's frown: "A fork in the road. Damn it!"
"Should we go this way? Left or right? You make up your mind."
"Then go right."
"Why? Oh, I'd like to ask more questions..."
Rurik muttered with a calm face: "I remember that the harbor is in the northeast of Ironburg. Now we must go east and take the river on the right."
The team chose a path recognized by Rurik. Most people didn't care. Biyongni didn't care at first either. He just thought about what Rurik just said. The more he thought about it, the more amazing he felt. It was as if Rurik himself had been to the "freezing harbor" he mentioned. If Odin really gave him the warning, then the team is now on the right path.
No one knows the name of this new glacier, or any river has no natural name, and anyone can give a river a strange name.
If you have paper and pen at this time, Rurik will write down a log and record it.
He is currently unable to do so, so he can only bite the bullet and go on.
In fact, the glacier the team is traveling on is the Tennie River, which originates from the Murmansk region.
The team advanced under the glow of the Northern Lights. Everyone marveled at the magnificence of the Aurora and thanked the Valkyrie in the sky for lighting the way for them. The sky is clear, and the world under the night is very bright, but the air is really too cold...
The campfire drives away the cold and potential prey. Of course there are polar bears in this area, but these ferocious beasts are instinctively afraid of fire, and the sudden appearance of light on the earth also makes them instinctively avoid it.
They encountered another fork in the road in what is now known as the Savukosky Swamp, and the apparently wider river channel made everyone feel that walking along it was the right path.
The team passed a big turn and continued northward, traveling for two days on an almost purely north-south river. An even worse situation faced Rurik.
There may only be two hours of daylight left, and Rurik knows that he is about to enter the more extreme polar night zone.
It was at this juncture that three frozen rivers appeared in front of us!
Biyongni asked again: "Choose a new road! The river in the middle is too narrow, it must be wrong. The left and right are both wide. Which one should we choose? Or the right?"
Rurik was a little undecided, and he didn't want to show his hesitation. Since Biyongni said this, his concerns should be put aside.
"You're right! Just go to the right."
On the right is the river heading east, but the situation increasingly makes Rurik feel that something is wrong.
The team camped under night again. They skillfully used bows and drills to drill wood to make fire. After the campfire dispelled people's fear of the extremely cold night and darkness, they began to cook wheat and roast pre-made meat skewers. However, due to the actual situation, Rurik issued an order to leave more wheat for the reindeer pulling the cart. After all, once the reindeer cannot eat these high-energy foods, they will never be able to pull the entire team of people and goods.
People woke up during the night and the procession began to move forward again. The woods in this area unexpectedly became sparse, and Rurik guessed that everyone had entered the tundra area.
This is both a bad and a positive sign, because only a few of the toughest trees can live near the Arctic Ocean, a vast area that can tolerate extreme moss growth.
The sky gradually became brighter, and people who continued to follow the river north clearly felt that the river was rapidly narrowing. They didn't have time to be afraid, as they saw the sun lazily breaking through the horizon, and everyone saw the snow-capped mountains in the north!
Biyongni on the sled stood up directly: "I didn't know there were mountains here! Rurik, could we have been going the wrong way? If we climb over this mountain, maybe we can go home."
"Brother, you are stupid." Floki complained; "The direction pointed by the stars is correct. Look at the sun again. Could it be that the sun rises from somewhere else?"
Biyongni felt embarrassed. He hurriedly sat down and asked Rurik again: "The river is about to disappear. How can we go without the glacier? The front is not the sea, but the mountains."
Things became very difficult, and Rurik panicked for a moment.
With the attitude of coming here, he simply made up his mind: "Let's keep rushing! When we reach the hill, we will climb over the mountain. From a high place, we will definitely be able to see the vast sea in the north."
Unfortunately, the arrogant Rurik underestimated the complexity of the geographical structure. What appeared in front of the team was essentially the remnants of the Kola Peninsula Mountains. In summer, there are large areas of Arctic wetlands on both sides of the mountains, which are partially fed into the fresh water of the Gulf of Bothnia. The source is here. The place where Rurik is located is the largest water source of the Airon River (Kemi River), but now it is determined how significant this is.
The so-called adventure is to risk your life to explore the unknown world.
Rurik estimated that a tribe of deer herders would pass by here grazing in winter. He did not find any conclusive traces. He could only hope that the team would rush up to the bare hills and stand on a high place to see what was nearby. The sea is so close.
But even standing on the top of the mountain, he never expected to see the sea.
The Arctic Ocean is indeed in the north, and the nearest coastline is nearly 200 kilometers away from this hill. No matter how powerful the viewer's vision is, no matter how clear the air is, no one can ignore the curvature of the earth and see the ocean blocked by the horizon.
People were exploring cautiously. As the saying goes, there must be a road before the car reaches the mountain. When everyone was getting ready to jump off the sled and climb the mountain to look into the distance, a very obvious glacier appeared in front of them!
It is not an ordinary glacier, but a glacier with a very wide channel!
The river is nearly a hundred meters wide, with clusters of cedar forests on both sides, and more areas are tundra.
The team still found no traces of deer herders' activities. Perhaps this place has been a no-man's land since ancient times. Rurik suddenly wanted to do an experiment by cutting ice and inserting small pieces of wood. Everyone watched the experiment and confirmed that the river was flowing to the east. But what does this mean?
"This river is definitely heading towards the sea! I swear!" Rurik seemed to be very calm when he spoke, but people were excited.
"So, if we walk along this new glacier, we will definitely be able to see the harbor and the sea you mentioned?" Biyoni shook Rurik in excitement and kept asking.
"It can only be like this. I hope we can see the sea when it gets completely dark. Biyongni!" Rurik said extremely seriously: "It seems that we all have to be mentally prepared. We have to wait for the pure beauty at the beach. The night is over..."
"It doesn't matter! The priest said that there is a sea at the end of the world in the north, but no one has ever seen it. I can stand on the coast of the sea at the end of the world, maybe I can meet the Valkyrie, and I can talk to the heroic spirits of my ancestors..."
Biyoni talked about a lot of beautiful fantasies, but Rurik knew that these ideas were too unrealistic.
Time actually begins to enter December of the Julian calendar. The Gregorian calendar is five or six days correcter than the current old Julian calendar.
The daytime has become dispensable. In fact, in just seven days, the pure polar night will arrive, and what awaits everyone will be thirty-eight days of pure night.
The expedition team of Ross and Balmok moved forward in darkness for most of the day. The people on the sleigh felt a lot of discomfort, and the reindeer pulling the sleigh didn't seem to matter at all.
One day after the discovery of the new glacier, a new lake appeared!
This lake is extremely winding. It is Lake Turomsk, which is 80 kilometers long from north to south.
In the beginning, the expedition team was just for hunting bears, but now it seems that all humans in the world have disappeared, and only a small group of them are still struggling. They seemed to be marching in the small world created by Odin for them, relying entirely on the strong belief of "seeing the sea at the end of the world in the north", and as warriors who did not dare to retreat but were called cowards, they continued to move forward. Drive the reindeer north along the lake.
The huge lake brought huge benefits, that is, they no longer had to be constrained by the twists and turns of the river. They could take a straight route, so it didn't matter how dark the night was. They rushed to the northernmost point of the lake in just one day.
There seems to be some divine help. Just in the northernmost part of the lake, a river running to the north appears again.
The team decisively continued northward along the river, and the river miraculously continued to widen.
They only marched for one day, and huge difficulties forced everyone to go to the snow-covered river bank.
Everyone didn't know whether to be excited or scared, because there was supposed to be a very thick ice layer on the river, but the ice layer was already so thin that people were worried about falling in, and the river became very wide. If we continued to move forward in the old way, everyone would fall sooner or later. He froze to death in the river and drowned.
People had to move along snowy river banks, moving through terrible snow up to their knees. For the time being, no one dares to go deep into the pine forests on both sides of the bank because the snow thickness there is too extreme.
The snow on the river bank was not extreme yet, and they kept moving forward for a whole day, by which time the glacier had completely disappeared.
The sun only appeared on the horizon before disappearing. With the extravagant sunlight, the people trekking in the snow finally saw the magical scene.
Because there is no road ahead, there is nothing in the north, no pine trees, no tundra, there is only a lot of salty water!
"This! It must be the sea at the end of the world." Standing in the short sunshine, Biyongni was not very excited. He leaned on a wooden stick and calmly looked at the vast ocean in the north, listening to the waves beating on the frozen land. Everything was so peaceful.
"We have finally arrived. This is what I call the ice-free bay and the ice-free sea. The sea at the end of the world is here. But this is not the end of the world." Rurik forced a smile as he spoke.
Listening carefully, Biyongni felt a little disappointed: "I thought there was a cliff. The cliff is the realm beyond the World Tree, the world after ordinary people die. Could it be that the priest was wrong?"
"See it with your eyes!" Rurik said: "This is the Arctic Ocean, blessed by a warm sea. It will never freeze. If we Russians build a port here and place some ships, it will If you can take a boat to the west along the coastline, you can reach your hometown in as little as seven days."
"This..." Originally Biyongni didn't care too much about this. Standing in front of this legendary sea, he realized that behind Rurik's words, he was actually saying that this sea is different from the sea in his hometown. Communicating.
Floki listened carefully to Rurik's words, and his worldview was rewritten. Unlike his brother's doubts, he completely believed Rurik's words, and then interjected and asked: "So, what is at the end of this sea?"
"A new world!"
"New world?"
"First there is a huge ice sheet, and then there is land. If we continue to move forward, we will..." Rurik looked at Floki's expectant eyes and did not go into details. He made a pretense: "It's all from God. Revelation, it was Odin who told me about the existence of this place, and also revealed that beyond this sea is an unknown new world of happiness. Floki, if the preview you are carrying is true, you should find a way to cross this sea to find that New world.”
"I will! I will succeed!"
Floki was already jumping excitedly, and then shouted facing the Arctic Ocean: "Odin! I will succeed! In my life, I must lead my people to live in the new world!"
Rurik shrugged. He still didn't know that he had inspired a Norwegian madman with unprecedented power. Floki the raven, the one who colonized Iceland, if this is fate.
Biyongni was extremely realistic at this moment. He knew that the sun was about to disappear for a long time, and everyone could only stay here before the sun returned. The situation shouldn't be bad. The rivers and seas here don't freeze, so fishing is at least no problem.
He suddenly asked about Rurik: "We are building a camp. You are the hero who led us here. Give the camp a name and give the river a name."
"Okay. The river is the Moorman River, and our camp is Fort Moorman."
Moorman, what do you mean? Biyoni and everyone else didn't understand it at all. The name was quite simple. It was the name given by Rurik himself, and everyone accepted it immediately without any objection.
The team finally stopped on the coast of the Arctic Ocean. A camp called Fort Moorman, which will withstand the long polar night, is about to rise. In the future, this camp will surely become the true northernmost stronghold of the Ross people, even if it is far away from Ai Lomborg is already very far away, but what does this mean to the Russians, who are a branch of the Vikings? Besides, this place is really close to Narvik Fjord by sea!
As a result, under Rurik's personal exploration and supervision, the construction of Murman Castle (Murmansk) began in the last month of 831 AD.
But Rurik basically can't return to his hometown of Roseburg to participate in this year's winter festival. Even for the entire Ross tribe, people will suddenly find Lord Rurik disappearing into the ice field!
Are the tribesmen worried about anything? Rurik couldn't care less.
The people who rushed to the coast to investigate immediately saw the orange phantom in the sunset, and people began to get restless and laugh wildly.
Because those are polar bears that hunt seals resting on the shore, and there are quite a lot of them!
