The Princess of the Anglevin Kingdom was as fair as the spring lilies in bloom. The fair Princess sat inside her ornate carriage on her daily ride from her palatial castle to the temple of Óðinn where she would worship to “the gods”. Her mind pondered wildly; she was often caught in the grip of anxious thought, never fully at peace with anything around her. She was proclaimed to be the fairest maiden in any land across the whole world, and how her family and subjects treated her, she found it hard not believe such claims. Though her beauty was unmatched, her inner strife eroded away at her. The Princess wanted nothing more than to make her father, King Wōdan proud of her feats in life. However, she did not need to do much to be the treasure of her fathers’ heart. From her delicate, pure demeanor, her stunning, piercing grey eyes, her wavy golden locks, and a face that was splendidly beautiful, she captured her father’s love without question. She was his favorite, his crown jewel… but she wanted more for herself, she did not want to be the fair Princess awaiting her prince, she wanted to be like her brothers. The Princess wanted nothing more than to brandish sword and shield alongside her brothers as they made their father proud in battle. In the old lands there were tales of women strong enough to fight with men known as the “Shield Maidens”, daughters of Valkyrie, and that is what the Princess aspired to… but she did so in secret, because her father would not have her tarnished by the horrors of war. The Princess toiled in her mind between wanting to be a good daughter and wanting a taste of the glory the men always pined for.

Her carriage suddenly came to a slow halt, and she drew back the carriage curtain to see a flock of sheep being herded from in front of her carriage around to the side. When she drew back the curtain, her subjects, the people of the city, gasped in wonder, they all gathered and stumbled across each other to get a look at this otherworldly beauty. The men’s eyes were engorged with want, the women looked on helplessly jealous yet undeniably infatuated with their fair Princess, the fair Brandiwijn of Anglevin. Everyone looked on except for one… the shepherd, he was not like the others. The Princess looked and saw him, he was on the other side of the herd of sheep standing calmly, watching his herd flow past him. He was dressed in a sackcloth robe with a charcoal grey shawl wrapped around his neck and shoulders, and in his bosom was wrapped a small lamb, but it was not his dress that made him so peculiar to her. He was a strange looking man, an obvious foreigner, his hair was black like soot and wisped about stiffly and wildly like wisps of black wool, on his chin a tuft of the same black woolen hair, and of course his skin…his skin was completely different from everyone else in the city, it was the color of dark red mahogany wood and made him so very peculiar looking. She stared at him, perhaps a bit too long because suddenly the shepherd looked up and upon meeting her eyes, he gave her a warm smile and went about his business. One of the guards around the carriage saw this interaction and strode up on his horse between the carriage and the sheep and said,

“Fair Highness, please forgive my intrusion into your gaze, however, I must warn you… one should not stare into the eyes of such a man, he is from far flung places, who knows what sorcery lay behind his eyes…”

Then suddenly the carriage started moving again in a quick jolt. The Princess peaked back to see if she could catch a glimpse of the shepherd once more, but he was gone. She then drew her curtain back over the carriage window and sat back in her seat. She then looked about at her three hand maidens who were each awaiting her next want and need, and said,

“Doth one of thee know about such a man in our city? I had not ever lain eyes upon such an odd-looking man, why come have I not heard of him?”.

The handmaidens blushed and blinked, and the lead maiden spoke up and responded, “My Fair Highness, he is but a shepherd who comes every fortnight to our gates, asking to pass his heard through so he does not have to go around the city from the mountainside. Your father gave him permission for a fee of gold and sheep. He is nothing and no one, you needn’t worry about such a man.”

The Princess grew perturbed and said curtly,

“I will make it my business, if I choose to do so.”

The lead maiden blushed and looked down and said,

“Of course, my Fair Highness, forgive my careless free speech.”

The Princess softened her demeanor and then smiled warmly, placing her hand on the maiden and said,

“Do not fret, I simply mean to say, that such curiosities are not beyond me, it is still an interesting sight. I shall ask my father of him upon return to the palace.”

Upon arriving to the temple of Óðinn, the Princess made her offerings and performed all the rites and rituals needed to satisfy her duty. Her land was a distant kingdom, lost beyond the raging empires of the West and the barbarian hordes of the East. The Kingdom of Anglevin was a strong Norse Kingdom founded by the great Víkingr Chief, Haraldsson The Bear, whom Brandiwijn was descendant from. She often went through the motion in her time for worship, these mighty gods of old lacked feeling for her, she felt there was something missing from them. However, she dare not ever proclaim such things aloud, or she would risk the ire of her father and brothers. After the worship was over she made the journey through the city once more in her luxurious carriage, her small feline pet , gifted to her from a High Priest of Aegyptus, sat on her lap now as he had woken up from his nap finally. As she gave her fluffy friend pets, she felt the urge to draw back the window curtain once more, and upon doing so she was met by the sight of the shepherd from earlier, sat under a tree on a hill, around him sat some children, a few elderly beggars and people afflicted by “the Rot”. The Shepherd sat calmly speaking to them and reading from a tattered leather-bound book. The Princess peered with intrigue, the man was not very impressive looking to her, he was dressed like a beggar, unkempt, and overall his look seemed off putting to her in a mysterious way, however he was…not like the others, this is what she kept feeling about him, it gnawed away at her as her carriage passed the hill on the way to her palace gates.

Dinner at the palace that night was typical, she sat with her father, mother and brothers at the high table as they overlooked the Viking style hall. The hall was flooded with boisterous laughing and babble amongst the noblemen and their families who sat at the tables of the main hall. The halls walkways were constantly flooded with servants bringing succulent meat dishes and Meade and Wine all around for everyone to partake in. As she ate, her curiosity got the better of her, she took a sip of her wine and she peered over to her father who she sat to the left of her and asked,

“Father, upon my ride to worship, I made glance at a strange shepherd man, the guard Oleksandr told me that he was from ‘far flung places’ and my maiden told me he’s trade dealings with you…Who is this man?”.

King Wōdan was a monstrously large man, feared and revered, but in his daughters gaze he was but rigid ice being melted away by his fatherly love for his delicate Princess. The King shifted in his seat and spoke sternly,

“Now my Brandiwijn, where did thee gain such a wandering eye?…That man is from Aethopia, a land even beyond the end of the world to the south, where great beasts and terrifyingly dark magic wreaks havoc. He is not to be trifled with, he speaks of his God, who laid waste to Aegyptus, conquered the lands steeped in sand, formed a kingdom called Israel, he even claims his God was the ONE who collapsed Babylon…..I spoke to our High Priest and he speaks of tale that this God that man speaks of was known to terrify men to such depths that they’d flee the Israelite’s before they even drew their weapons, they say he rolled up above on the clouds like thunder and smote down with one clasp of a hand thousands upon thousands of Assyrians. We would mock such claims but the oracle hags say be wary of this “God”…Worse yet… this God bore a Son whom they revere above all others, and their own God, Sacrificed his innocent son to defeat who he claims was “the enemy” of our world…That God is gruesome and not to be trifled with, you light a candle for it when you go to temple to appease it, we are no Babylon but we must not be so careless with the gods.”

The Princess raised an eyebrow, a God that her father respected that was not of the old land, this was interesting. She was enthralled by it all. The mystery ate away at her, her life was routine and safe, so a strange man and tale of a mighty God was interesting, she wanted to know more. She leaned back in her chair a bit and thought to herself,

“If I want to know more about this man and his God, I must make inquiry to my brother Verstappen, he once rode in the forbidden wood and found mysterious things. Also, he is often meandering in the city conducting business.”

To Be Continued…

Written By: Marcos A. Lopez II – 3/17/2024