A wonderful family banquet finally came to an end. The leader Magnute could only drink a small amount of ale on weekdays, but now he felt that he had drunk the fine wine from Asgard, and finally became extremely drunk.
The chief family, who received a large number of gifts, did not hesitate to offer their return gifts.
The entire Balmok tribe fell silent, except for some light spots on the fjord in the distance.
Those were people who fished for eels at night. I don’t know when they discovered that they could catch large quantities of moray eels by lighting torches on fishing boats and then casting down fishing nets. Eels are more delicious than herrings, and Rurik praised the grilled eels for today’s dinner.
In the longhouse of the leader's house, in a room separated by wooden boards, Rurik, who had eaten and drank enough, just wanted to lie quietly on the soft leather mattress.
And Nolen, as a gift from the family, lay beside him.
Under the flickering flame of the oil lamp, she could clearly see Rurik slowly taking off his coat. She suppressed her nervousness and even worried that she would become a woman tonight. But if this is really the case, I have nothing to complain about.
Her destiny has been arranged. Even if she is not yet twelve years old, she can be sure that her drunken father will immediately go to the priests to communicate with him after he wakes up, and then organize a wedding as a matter of course. The wedding was just a formality, and now Rurik was standing in this boudoir.
"What are you looking at me for? Are you nervous?" As he spoke, Rurik threw the leather jacket aside.
Nolen sat curled up, her blond hair still hanging loose, wearing only a plain robe, and her feet were inserted into the soft and warm leather blanket.
The girl murmured: "My parents have decided. You... are my man."
"Indeed. Originally, your eldest brother was the first to propose this matter."
The girl nodded and asked weakly: "Do you... like me?"
What should I say? Rurik was not busy talking, but took off his strange trousers, revealing even stranger shorts.
Rurik would not treat himself badly when it came to dressing. He would always wear comfortable shirts and shorts, just like the norm for people more than a thousand years later. Because of his preference, those tribal boys and girls who received military training were also ordered to dress like this. It was this outfit that made Nolen unimaginably strange.
Rurik walked forward casually and sat down again. He stared at Nolen's face and asked, "Do you... like me?"
"I...I like it. You are a miracle man, and you also know music."
"Yes. I like you too. I like you playing the flute and singing."
"Very good."
The girl smiles like a blooming flower. She is careless. Rurik supports his great career of playing the flute and arranging new songs. He is the most perfect man in the world.
Rurik lay down calmly. Once upon a time, sleeping on a leather berth on the ground was the most commonplace. Now, this feeling is so novel.
He wanted to rest and enjoy the first peaceful sleep on stable land after twenty days of sailing, but how could Nolen let go of this dreamy man from the sea?
Rurik lived with his two traveling brothers for a whole year. What did they experience? How amazing are the Russians? Is there really a connection between Rose and the legendary Asgard?
Nolen seemed not tired at all. She kept asking all kinds of questions.
With so many questions surrounding him, Rurik, who was bored, had no choice but to suppress his temper and listen to the girl's endless talk.
Until Nolen asked a very pointed question.
"You...you are a great person. Besides me, you have many other women."
"A lot." Rurik said calmly.
"How many are many? It doesn't matter. The priest said that the gods have many wives, and it is natural for heroes on earth to have many wives. Tell me." Nolen held Rurik's arm and kept swinging. Hearing this tone, he As if the girl didn't even care.
Doesn't it really matter? Wouldn't she be jealous?
Rurik really couldn't care less. Considering that he was a king, without a queen and a bunch of concubines, people would question the power of the king and the strength of a man. In Northern Europe today, this kind of doubt is the most deadly.
"At least ten."
"Ah! So many!" Although Nolen was mentally prepared, she simply sat up after hearing this number. Under the dim light of the oil lamp, she looked at the smiling boy in surprise, "Then, what status will I have among your many women?"
"Of course it is a noble status. My women all come from various powerful tribes. But you are the most unique. You are good at playing the flute and know how to compose songs. You are smarter than ordinary women."
Originally, Nolen didn't expect such a great man to indulge in pampering her. Rurik's words warmed her heart. She lay down slowly and continued to murmur: "Maybe a woman shouldn't pursue playing the flute too much. I should also do a good job as a woman like an ordinary woman."
"No. Just because you are good at playing the flute, I like it very much and I will support you. And, I want to learn."
"You want to learn? I'll teach you."
Nolen was really careless. Her hobbies were constantly affirmed. She immediately got up and turned out the bone flute made of the eagle leg bone. She sat obediently like a bird and played a melodious, elegant and soul-purifying tune in front of Rurik.
Her performance is really amazing!
Rurik sat up and felt that the person sitting in front of him was clearly a legendary female elf. The beautiful flute sound seemed to tell the distance of the sea and the tranquility of winter snow, just like her peaceful face under the oil lamp. Make people feel comfortable.
A typical Nordic melodious tune ended.
"It's a perfect song. Maybe we should find a suitable place. I'm willing to continue listening. Your parents, two brothers, and your slaves all live in this huge longhouse. It really won't affect them?"
"It doesn't matter." Nolen shook his head gracefully: "They have long been used to it, especially my father. He never felt that my flute was noisy. Besides, he gave me the flute and encouraged me to play."
Rurik was awakened by the sound of the flute. It seemed that Nolen's playing ability was self-taught.
She is a pure and artistic girl. In these years, Rurik asked himself, among the women he was used to seeing who were as brave as men, it was really amazing that a "female elf" who loved literature and art suddenly appeared.
Moreover, Rurik is really eager to learn to play the flute and learn to play the harp (if he can get it.) It is not that Rurik is suffering from a literary disease. He feels that music is powerful, and the Russians need music to let the barbarians Be classy. I have to say that Nolen is really a musical genius. This music is full of fantasy, ethereal and melodious, making people feel at ease.
Compared to this girl who loves to play the flute, if you ask yourself, the Ross tribe does not have such a talent. There are not even people who like music, and those who have flutes can only play half-hearted tunes. The harp that the tribe had snatched from unknown sources was so old that it became firewood.
The music of Western Europe in the Middle Ages all had this melodious and ethereal tone. In essence, this tone is a strong Nordic style. The reason is actually inseparable from the expansion of the Viking tribes.
On the contrary, it is the most orthodox Roman music. They learned ancient Greek music, and ancient Greek music learned from Phoenician music. As for Phoenician music, its roots are in the Mesopotamia. So much so that Roman music also has a wonderful Middle Eastern flavor.
As for ancient Egyptian music, because they used five tones, although they are 10,000 kilometers away from the East, their music resonates beyond time and space! The music of the Pharaoh's court resembles the grand, elegant and soothing music of the East.
Do the various tribes of the Vikings have to be bound to brutal killing? Rurik asked himself, in the past four years, the Rus people living in the fjords had indeed begun to exert their full strength under his own instigation. Rapid expansion was accompanied by conquests, and Rus' conquests were indeed accompanied by brutal killings. This is Rurik didn't deny it, but he didn't feel it was wrong at all.
Did this killing cause "too much resentment"? Is the future of the Russian people always bound to barbarism?
No!
If the Principality of Rus is destined to evolve into a huge Rus country, it is destined to rule most of Northern Europe and the entire Eastern Europe. Pure barbarism cannot achieve stable rule. Perhaps when the Duke of Zhou founded Zhou Li, Zhou Li paid great attention to the power of music, probably because he considered music's ability to turn barbarism into elegance.
But Lucia (the unified Russian country) in Rurik's impression has extremely dreamy artistic abilities, so as her predecessor, the current Russian people are not good at music! I can't bear it!
The Nolen beside me, maybe all this is fate. This girl who loves music will give the Russian people an eternal soul of art, and will make the Russian people forever different from those barbarians.
Even though the future of a tribe is mainly determined by the rational will of all tribesmen, Rurik now believes that the geniuses emerging from the tribe, or the talents introduced from other tribes, will give the tribe a great leap forward.
Rurik wanted to test whether Nolen was really a genius at controlling the flute.
"Nolen, if I hum a tune, can you play it on the flute right away?"
"Of course." Nolen stood up tall, with a confident smile that left Rurik no doubt.
"Well, listen to my singing."
Rurik hummed softly, and the song was "Grenadier March". He hummed the song rhythmically, which had a strong sense of rhythm. He saw Nolen in front of him. Her small body also followed his humming, as if she was under the magic of the music, and she spontaneously trembled rhythmically. stand up.
Why hum this tune? Rurik's intention is obvious, but Nolen's limited knowledge cannot yet detect it. Rurik's intention is to build a military band for the Russian army!
He had already had this idea, but the so-called music lovers in the Ross tribe were really bad at it.
Rurik only hummed it twice, and Nolen held the flute to show that he had completely learned it.
Then, a talented performer began her perfect playing.
The sound of the flute was refreshing and rhythmic. During the music, Rurik squinted his eyes and saw neat infantry phalanxes one after another, walking past him in neat steps.
Because "Grenadier March" is tailor-made for marching in neat formations! It is essentially played with only two instruments, the flute and the waist drum.
Its core tune has only four sections, a military band that coordinates the march of the entire army. As long as these four sections are repeated infinitely, every soldier can adjust his or her own pace according to the rhythm of the tune. On the battlefield, the army is in a square formation, assisted by music to ensure that the formation is not chaotic, and presses against the enemy like a wall. This terrifying sense of pressure must greatly overwhelm the enemy in terms of momentum.
Rurik's eyes widened and he couldn't help but applaud: "You are a true genius."
"Thank you for your compliment. You too, the tune you hum is so wonderful, it makes me have the urge to shake my body."
"Hey, you will know my purpose. Now lend me the flute and you will teach me how to play it."
"OK."
She is a sentimental and talented musician who will definitely give the Russians literature and art.
Rurik knew the power of actions and actions. If the tribesmen saw that one of the Duke's wives was fond of music, they would definitely try to imitate him.
Yes, you need to form a professional palace band. When entertaining guests, let the musicians play for fun.
Of course, Rurik couldn't learn how to play the flute all at once. Even though she was a genius, Nolen did have a strong sense of music. As for using the flute skillfully, it was because her daily life was really leisurely.
She is the leader's daughter, and like the young girls of the Balmok family, she doesn't need to learn anything else except learning some simple "lessons that women must know". Daughters from ordinary families often have to work for the family like their other brothers and sisters starting at the age of five.
Balmok is a "huge" tribe with a population of nearly 20,000. Magnut has many brothers and relatively distant relatives. Those who control the dominant position have enough wealth, and their marriages are intricate. In this way, everyone's relationship becomes very close, even if there are some conflicts between them, for the sake of blood and marriage, everyone is in the forum. After some discussion, there were no more conflicts.
A large tribe must have a figure who represents everyone's rights, so Magnut was elected as the leader. The leader's beautiful little daughter lives a life of having nothing to eat. She lives like a homebody. In her boring life, learning musical instruments and rehearsing songs are the best ways to kill the boredom.
Now, she has welcomed the destined man. For the big family who learned about this on the dock, they are completely relieved.
Magnute was sleeping soundly, and her wife Yingbjorg was so surprised by her husband's snoring that the sound of a flute came to her ears.
Any mother hopes that her daughter will have a good man. Through the description of her eldest son Biyongni, this noble Rurik is already a real man at a young age, and there are already a group of noble men around him. woman. She was nervous at first, but as Biyoni briefly and casually described, it was said that Rurik was extremely friendly to all his women, even to those slaves, and it was such a friendly person who led the Russian army. Won many dangerous battles.
Yingbjorg, how much she hopes that something will happen between her daughter and Rurik this night. If there is a result, then the priests will be completely speechless. In this way, a ceremony will be held in a few days, and the daughter will be Got married successfully. She firmly believed that Rurik would take into account the strong strength of the Balmoks and allow Nolen to have a high enough status in the new family among the many women of Rurik, Duke of Ross.
As a result, something wonderful happened to the two of them after that night.
Magnute was still sleeping soundly. In the early morning, Yingbjorg walked into his daughter's boudoir with good intentions and followed the sound of the flute. I saw in the room, why did my daughter Nolen become two?
No! One of the people wearing strange clothes (white linen shirt) was Rurik. He had blond hair and played the flute, which looked exactly like his daughter.
The old woman coughed twice, attracting their attention.
"Dear Rurik, Nolen. It seems that your relationship is already very good."
"Yes." Rurik nodded: "I like her. And her ability to play the flute."
"That's great. You have come a long way, but you need to have a good rest for a few days. Rurik, in a few days the elders of the tribe will invite you to our council. These are your men's business, so I will No more questions. Get dressed and come and have something to eat." After saying that, Yingbjorg, who looked kindly, straightened his face slightly and ordered Nolen: "He is already your man. Nolen, take your man around our home for a while and see our fjords and great snow-capped mountains."
Nolen stuck out his tongue playfully, turned his head and smiled at Rurik...
Yingbjorg sighed slightly, turned around and left the girl's boudoir. His two sons, especially Floki, listened to his eldest brother's lies and insisted on kicking the blond hair off their heads and getting tattoos on them. Is it necessary for a true warrior to do this? On the other hand, Rurik, in the eyes of Yingbjorg, this young hero from the Rus is really more and more pleasing to the eye. She wished she could keep this boy by her side, but it was just an unrealistic fantasy.
At a glance in the morning, she saw Rurik actually busy learning to play the flute. It was a good thing that her daughter had a confidant, but as a member of the chief family, Yingbjorg knew too well the meaning and importance of political friendship.
