Modern map of the Elbe River basin and its tributaries. The Oder River is shown along the right edge of the map. Blue arrow shows the location and direction of travel of Nauca’s group.
16:48 (Germania Time)
Thursday, November 13, 60 B.C.E.
Eastern banks of the Elv River (Old Germanic name of Elbe River)
Territory of the Saxon Tribe, Northern Germania
‘’Rivers and more damn rivers! What a waste of time! And precious few ferryboats to be found along those rivers.’’
Igrid nodded her head at that exasperated rant from Nauca as their group was riding upstream along the eastern bank of a large river, the fifth one they had encountered during the last two weeks.
‘’Have you noticed that we are encountering less and less people as we go West? We even found empty, abandoned farms on our way.’’
‘’Yes, I noticed that, Igrid. I find that quite strange, actually. Even though forests cover the great majority of the lands we crossed, the cleared fields we went through still looked quite fertile. Around Samarkand, people would grab such fertile fields in an instant. Yet, a good part of these cultivated fields now seems to be abandoned. And that was not out of some ‘over-population problem’: there are hardly any people living in this region, at least from what we saw.’’
‘’Maybe most of the people live along the coast, to the North of here.’’ said Talya, making Nauca nod once.
‘’That could be, Talya, but that does not explain the farms we found abandoned. Furthermore, all the signs showed that they were abandoned recently, within a year or two or even less. What could cause people to abandon fertile fields and intact houses like this?’’
‘’The coming of invaders, maybe?’’ proposed Igrid. Nauca immediately shook her head at that.
‘’What invaders? You saw like me that the people living along the Oder River seemed quite content to live there and didn’t show any fear of incoming invaders. And I don’t think that the three of us qualify as an invading army.’’
That remark made young Talya chuckle a bit.
‘’Us…an invading army… Yeah! Many young men would be happy to greet such invaders as us.’’
The three young women then fell silent while riding along the river bank and looking for a way to cross the large, deep river. After another half hour of riding and with the Sun getting quite low on the horizon, the group arrived at a large clearing bordering the river which contained what looked like two farm houses and a barn. Smoke rose from the chimney of one of the houses.
‘’Well, it seems that we finally are encountering some of the locals. Let’s go and ask them permission to use their barn for the night. I’m afraid that it is about to rain…again!’’
Making their horses trot towards the houses, which were surrounded by fields that seemed to have been cultivated recently, the young women soon stopped and dismounted near the entrance of the house that seemed to be occupied. With Talya holding the reins of their horses, Igrid and Nauca walked to the roughly built wooden door of the farmhouse, with Igrid knocking on it while speaking up in Germanic.
‘’HELLO! WE ARE LOOKING FOR A SHELTER FOR THE NIGHT. WE MEAN NO HARM.’’
Igrid then heard faint noises of a short conversation between a man and a woman and had to knock a second time before she heard steps approach the door from the inside. An old man with a long gray beard finally unlocked and opened the door. His well-used, simple clothes, told her that he was probably quite poor. He also happened to be holding a long knife and looked less than assured. However, his demeanor changed on seeing that his visitors were young women. Still, the arms and armor worn by Igrid, Nauca and Talya reawakened his suspicions.
‘’Who are you and why do you come so heavily armed, women?’’
‘’We are traveling merchants from very far to the East and we are armed because there are many dangers along our route. We mean no harm to you, on the contrary, and only wish to be able to use your barn for the night. As you can see, it is about to rain again and we would like to stay dry tonight.’’
After a moment of hesitation, the graying man, who was quite thin and looked underfed, relaxed and returned his knife to his belt before opening wide his door.
‘’We were afraid at first that someone was coming to take our farm but I must say that you are the most polite and prettiest invaders I ever saw. You are welcome to come in and use my barn, woman.’’
Both Nauca and Igrid chuckled at the remark from the old man, with Igrid then replying to him while bowing to him.
‘’Thank you for accepting to shelter us, old man. We will go first put our horses in your barn, then will come back to your house.’’
Igrid and Nauca then turned around and went to grab the reins of their respective mounts and pack horses to lead them to the barn next to the house. The barn, despite being of fair size, was next to empty, if you excepted a pile of hay, a through half-full of water and cages containing a dozen hens and a rooster. First unloading their horses and piling their saddles and bags in one corner, the young women then made their animals drink water and tied them next to the pile of hay. They finally brushed their horses before getting ready to go to the house. However, Nauca first made her two friends take one sack of rice, a small bag of dried tea leaves, a tiny pouch of curry powder and some smoked fish with them, prompting a question from Talya.
‘’Why bring those inside, Nauca?’’
‘’Did you notice how thin that old man was? He and his wife may well be close to starvation and giving him some of our provisions would be an adequate way to thank him for his hospitality. We can always fish, hunt or buy food on our way but I doubt that this old man can get food easily.’’
Talya lowered her head at this most recent demonstration of caring toward others from Nauca.
‘’You are right, Nauca. My own previous life did not accustom me to care much about others.’’
‘’But you are a good person and you proved to me that you still care, Talya. There is already way too much cruelty and indifference to the welfare of others in this World and too little kindness. When I was very young, my father and uncle had already isolated themselves from our tribe to live separately and thus get away from that mad culture of constant raiding and robbing other people’s herds that was part of the mentality of us Sarmatians and of other steppe people. I learned from my father and mother that being kind to others is overall more beneficial to everyone in the long run than simply applying the law of the strongest.’’
‘’A law that the Romans definitely believe in.’’ added Igrid before leaving the barn, the sack of rice on one shoulder and her bedroll on the other shoulder.
When they entered the farmhouse, the old man looked with incomprehension at the bags carried by the three young women.
‘’What are those bags?’’
‘’We saw that you probably don’t have much food for yourself and your wife and we didn’t want to take the little you have, so we brought in some of our own travel provisions.’’
The old woman standing next to the old farmer gave a thankful look at Igrid as she dropped her bag of rice in the corner of the small house used as a kitchen area.
‘’You are kind people indeed, young girl. Where are you from?’’
‘’I am a native of the Bastarnae Tribe, which lives far to the Southeast of here. However, me and my friends came from Samarkand, a city even farther to the Southeast. My name is Igrid and these are my friends, Nauca and Talya.’’
‘’And I am Grete, while my husband’s name is Friduric. But please, come and sit next to our fire.’’
‘’Thank you! Do you mind if we use your pots and utensils to prepare supper for all of us?’’
Neither Grete nor Friduric were ready to confess that they actually had nothing for supper, as they were trying to ration the little food they had left, so they simply nodded their assent to Igrid. They then sat close to the fire, using cut logs as chairs, and watched as their three guests got busy boiling water in two separate pots. While the water was warming up, Igrid and Nauca sat down facing the old couple, with Nauca starting to ask them questions which Igrid then translated, along with the answers from the couple.
‘’Tell me, good people: we saw very few people living in this region and even found empty houses and farms, yet there was no trace of violence at those empty houses. What is happening around here?’’
That question brought a bitter smirk on the old man’s lips.
‘’You can thank King Ariovistus for that, woman. Ariovistus is the King of all the Suebi Confederation, of which our own tribe of the Saxons belongs to. King Ariovistus decided about a year ago to move west and south to invade the lands held by the Celts on the other side of the Rhine River, which forms the border between us Germanic tribes and the Celts. He thus called to arms all the warriors ready to follow him, with the result that most of our men joined his army, taking their families with them at the same time. That is why the other house in this clearing is empty: my foolish nephew went away, dragging with him his wife and three children, with dreams of glorious battles and conquests in his head. Unfortunately for me, he also took with him our two dairy cows and our five pigs, leaving us with only our chickens and barely enough wheat grain to replant our fields next Spring. As a result, we barely survive from fishing and from our reserves of dried vegetables while trying to preserve that precious reserve of grains.’’
Nauca couldn’t help lower her head, discouraged by this latest example of human foolishness and selfishness.
‘’I must confess that I myself saw plenty of that kind of foolish thirst for conquest and so-called glory through battle in the countries I went through while part of a traveling caravan, Friduric. We ourselves fought many times in the past, but only in order to defend ourselves and our companions. That is why we are so heavily armed: to defend ourselves from the many dangers we encounter during our long trips.’’
‘’I wish that more people would be as thoughtful and caring as you, Nauca. Where are you going, if I may ask?’’
‘’We are going West, to get to the lands of the Frisii, where we are planning to buy some of their horses, which are said to be big and magnificent.’’
‘’Aah, yes, the Frisii! I know about them. They live along the coasts of the Nordsee, to the northwest of here.’’
‘’Tell me about them, Friduric. Are they Germanic or Celtic?’’
‘’Neither! They are a tribe of the Belgae people, which lives along the coasts of the Nordsee. They tend to live their own lives and stay away from others’ wars while cultivating their fields and raising their herds.’’
‘’They sound like sensible people to me, from what you are saying.’’
‘’They are but don’t attack them, or you will get quite a fierce reaction from them. King Ariovistus is unfortunately ignoring the fact that the Celts who live to the South of the Belgae are equally fierce. He, along with my ex-neighbors and other tribesmen, may end up paying dearly for underestimating the Celts. But tell me, Nauca: if you were planning to visit the Frisii, why are you so much south of the coast? You should be traveling downstream, not upstream.’’
‘’A good point, I must say. The truth is that the number of rivers we have been encountering, along with the near absence of ferryboats or fording points to cross them, is greatly frustrating us and has forced us to head upstream in order to find fording sites or a ferryboat we could use. Would you know about such fords or ferryboats nearby?’’
‘’Well, you may find such a fording site some half a day’s march south of here, where the Elv and the Havel connect together. By crossing the Havel, then the Elv, you may find the water levels there to be low enough to let you wade across. I know that many people go there in order to cross the Elv.’’
Nauca couldn’t help let out a sigh of relief when Igrid translated those words from Friduric.
‘’At last! You have no idea how many days we have been wasting by having to chase after ways to pass the numerous rivers we encountered.’’
‘’Then, why travel mostly by land when you will come back towards your home? Most of the rivers of the region originate to the South or Southwest of here and some are quite long. If you could find a proper boat to carry you and your horses, then you could probably cut a lot of distance and difficulty from your trip home.’’
Nauca nodded slowly her head at that.
‘’Now, that is an idea worth exploring, Friduric. Thank you for that suggestion.’’
They discussed further for another few minutes, with Nauca asking Friduric to describe to her the geography of the region, until Talya spoke up.
‘’The rice is ready! We also have some hot tea to drink.’’
‘’Rice? Tea? What are those?’’ asked Grete, Friduric’s wife, prompting a smile and an answer from Igrid.
‘’Rice is a type of grain that is cultivated in the East, very far from here. The people there eat rice as much or more than they eat bread and it is one of the main food staples in those regions. Rice is very filling and can be used in all kinds of recipes, cooked with either fish, meat, vegetables or a combination of those. It is also easy to store it for long periods, as long as it is kept dry. I will show you later how to cook rice. As for tea, it is another staple cultivated in the East and is a type of leave used to make a hot and stimulating beverage by boiling its dried leaves in water. It has a bit of a bitter taste but many then put in a bit of honey in order to sweeten it. Tea is the perfect hot beverage for long winter days. I am sure that you will like both rice and tea. For our supper tonight, Talya has cooked rice with some smoked fish and a spice called ‘curry’.’’
‘’It does smell very good, I must say.’’ said Friduric while eyeing the pot of rice Talya was now bringing to the large slice of cut log that the couple used as a table. Talya then filled bowls of steaming rice, serving Friduric and Grete first. She, along with Nauca and Igrid, didn’t miss the way the old couple hungrily ate their rice after tasting a first bite of it: they were definitely bordering on starvation.
‘’By Wodanaz, this is really good!’’ said Friduric between spoons of rice.
‘’We are happy that you like it. Talya will now serve you cups of hot tea to drink. She added in some of the honey we are carrying for our trip.’’
The tea proved to be as well liked by the old couple, if not more, than the rice recipe. As the couple happily ate, Igrid showed them some uncooked rice and dried tea leaves and took a few minutes to explain to them how to prepare them and also gave them a number of suggestions about what kind of recipes could be made with rice. The happy farmers in turn told the young women about what they knew of the region, providing them with more useful information. From it, Nauca concluded with some discouragement that their problems about river crossing were far from over. However, she could only blame herself for having launched into this trip westward without proper prior knowledge of the region’s geography. She then reminded herself that there were no corresponding maps available to her and that she was in fact in the process of taking notes and scribbling sketches which would eventually be used to draw such a map of Germania. Right now, what these old farmers were telling her would have to do in order to help her upcoming travel through these lands.
Once they had all eaten supper, they then unrolled their bedrolls on the bare ground of the farmers’ hut and went to sleep: they were quite tired from their hours of riding and, with Friduric and Grete being too poor to be able to afford candles, the inside of the hut was now quite dark. Nauca mentally debated about having one member of her group stand guard during the night but finally decided not to: the population density of this region was so low and this farm so isolated that the possibility of some thieves or bandits showing up during the night was very low. Still, she made sure to sleep with her sword close at hand and so did her two companions.
When the morning came and they woke up, they found with relief that their horses, equipment, supplies and merchandises were still in the barn, untouched. While Igrid showed to Grete how to boil tea, the old woman in turn collected a few fresh eggs laid by her hens and boiled them, providing the group with a frugal breakfast of hard-boiled eggs. That in turn prompted Nauca in giving to the overjoyed couple some of her reserves of wheat flour, grain animal feed and salted lard. When the young women finally departed on their horses, the old couple came out to wave them goodbye.
‘’THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY! MAY WODANAZ WATCH OVER YOU DURING YOUR TRIP.’’
‘’AND MAY YOU GO ON AND LIVE MANY MORE YEARS, GOOD PEOPLE.’’ replied Igrid, waving back before trotting away. Thankfully, the weather that morning was dry, albeit cold, and the trio made some good way while riding upstream along the eastern bank of the Elv. After about two hours of riding, they arrived at the junction of the Elv and of the Havel that Friduric had told them about and continued on upstream of the Havel, hoping to find soon a fording point to cross to the west bank. Luckily for them, they found such a point within half an hour and were able to cross the river at low tide, with the water going up only to the belly of their horses. Going westward for another fifteen minutes, they found a similar fording site on the Elv and crossed it. Nauca’s spirits were now much higher than yesterday as her group was then able to trot westward at a good speed through the fields and forests of the countryside.
In the following four days of travel, her group encountered three more rivers across its way. Thankfully, those rivers proved much smaller than the Elv and they were able to cross them with little difficulty and waste of time. As they went, Nauca scrupulously kept taking notes and making sketches about the terrain they had gone through, using as a standard measure of distance the length traveled on horseback in one day. Once back in Samarkand, she would then be able to draw with Liu Han a map of the whole region that could prove very useful in the future. However, when they encountered the fourth river since the Elv, a river which would be known in the future as the Weser, that river proved to be a much more serious obstacle than the three previous ones. Nauca felt some worry as she contemplated the river, which was easily over 150-meter-wide at the spot they had arrived to.
‘’Damn! There is no way that we will be able to find a fording site along such a large river. We will definitely need a ferryboat or a raft. The question now is: will we be able to find one and, if yes, where? Upstream or downstream from here?’’
‘’I would say, let’s go upstream.’’ replied Igrid, who was scanning the horizon to the north of their position. ‘’I believe that I see a sort of village in the distance, along this side of the river.’’
Nauca looked in that direction for a few seconds before smiling.
‘’You are right, Igrid! Let’s go downstream along the riverbank: we should be able to get some information about a ferry or raft from the people there.’’
With renewed hope that they would be able to cross this river, the trio followed the eastern shore of the river at a horse’s walk, passing by the treeline bordering the river. As they progressed and got closer to the village they had spotted, Nauca couldn’t help frown as they could detail better the human settlement they were approaching.
‘’This place looks quite poor andprimitive, from what I can see. I doubt that those people could buy some of our merchandises, even if they wanted to.’’
‘’Be careful about judging only on appearances, Nauca.’’ replied Igrid. ‘’Besides, what we want now is information about a way to cross this river, not about possibly selling our things to these people.’’
‘’I don’t know, Igrid.’’ said Talya. ‘’This village doesn’t even have a palisade around it to protect it and the houses in it are mere huts. On the other hand, I see cultivated fields around it, along with a few heads of cattle.’’
‘’Well, it seems that we have now been spotted, as I see a group of people form up near the shore, looking in our direction. Thankfully, they look simply curious and not hostile.’’
Nauca’s last remark proved correct, as the mixed group of men, women and teenagers that had formed near the shoreline was armed with only a few knives and axes and didn’t show open hostility when the trio stopped near them. Both Nauca and Igrid dismounted and bowed to the villagers, with Igrid speaking to them in Germanic.
‘’Good morning, good people! We are traveling merchants from very far to the East and are trying to find a way to cross this river with our horses. Would there be a raft or ferryboat available somewhere around here?’’
The older man of the lot, who was maybe in his late thirties, answered her in a Germanic dialect that forced Igrid to pay attention in order to understand him.
‘’There is a ferryboat that operates from the opposite shore, woman. When we need it, we simply blow a horn twice and it will then come, if it is available. Uh, how come three young women like you are traveling by themselves while carrying arms and armor? Are you answering the call to arms from King Ariovistus?’’
Igrid immediately shook her head at that last question.
‘’No! We didn’t come to fight: we came to trade and are from a very distant land to the East. We are not interested in participating in the local wars. As for our arms and armor, they are meant simply as protection against the various bandits and beasts to be found along our route. That ferryboat you mentioned, can it carry horses?’’
‘’Yes! It can carry about three to four horses or cows at a time. Do you want us to call for it to come here?’’
‘’Yes, please!’’
The man nodded his head, then looked at a teenage boy standing next to him.
‘’Hrolf, go get my calling horn and bring it to me.’’
As the teenager started running towards the village, the man looked back at Igrid with clear curiosity.
‘’You said that you are traveling merchants. What kind of merchandises have you brought with you?’’
‘’Well, we do have a variety of things we brought from the East. However, do you have something to exchange for them, or some silver coins?’’
‘’We have no coins, woman. As for things of value that we could exchange, we have a few furs that our people caught during the past year, but not much else.’’
‘’Furs will do. In exchange, we have some metal tools, like iron pots, shovels and pics, along with spices and blade weapons, like knives, swords and javelins.’’
‘’Some of us could be interested in your things. I will go warn those of us who have furs to trade to come to the shoreline in order to exchange them for your things.’’
‘’Tell your people that we would also accept fresh food provisions, like salted or smoked fish or meat, along with grain feed for our horses.’’
The man nodded again before leaving at a slow run. With Igrid then translating her conversation with the man for the benefit of Nauca, the latter then decided to unload and unpack a variety of the trading goods they had been carrying since leaving Samarkand. The men and women still on the shoreline immediately started looking at the merchandise while discussing their quality and degree of interest among them. As Nauca had expected, her domestic appliances and tools, like iron pots, utensils, bowls, scissors and sets of sewing needles, attracted more attention than the various weapons on display, while farm tools also proved of interest to the villagers.
When the elder villager returned, a horn in one hand and a bundle of furs under one arm, his first move was to blow his horn twice as loud as he could. His horn call then was rewarded by the sound of another horn’s double blow that made him smile.
‘’The crew of the ferryboat heard me and just signaled that it will soon be on its way to here. In the meantime, we could discuss together about the value of my furs. I have pelts from rabbits and foxes.’’
‘’Alright: let’s examine the quality of your furs and decide on a price value for them. Then, you will be able to see what you would like to buy in exchange for your furs. The same will go for the other villagers who have furs or other things to offer us.’’
‘’Fair enough! Uh, by the way, where are you going exactly?’’
‘’We intend to visit the Frisii in order to buy some of their big black horses. Horses are very important for us.’’
‘’The Frisii? Then, you won’t have long to travel further before you will encounter them. Their territory along the sea coast starts about one week’s march from here, once you are across the Weser.’’
‘Meaning about three days on horseback.’ thought Igrid. ‘We are getting close.’
With Igrid continuing to play interpreter while also participating in the haggling that followed, the trio ended up acquiring quite a lot of good quality furs, mainly fox pelts, along with a couple of large jute bags full of oat grains and some smoked or salted meat and fish, traded for an assortment of kitchen utensils, pots, pans and farm tools. The village elder’s wife also grabbed a pair of steel scissors and a set of sewing needles, while her teenage daughter got her hands on one of the silver mirrors on offer by Nauca. By the time that a large raft formed of tree trunks tied together showed up with five boatmen, both sides of the exchange concluded their business with strong forearm shakes, each satisfied by their dealings. Seeing that the raft could only support at most four horses at a time, Nauca decided to split her horses in three groups of three and sent Igrid across first with the initial three horses. Crossing her complete group to the western bank of the river took a total of about two hours, after which she handsomely paid the happy boatmen before starting again on her western trek. It would have been both foolish and quite stingy not to pay well such a useful set of service, which could prove essential for them again in the near future.