•ᛉ• 5. Algiz •ᛉ•

        When he awoke from that night, it’d been years since he last felt this solid about his direction in life. He no longer felt the urge to return home or to Father Byrne, which he felt was near impossible at this point. He awoke just minutes after dawn, by the dim light entering through the cast stone cross window of his room, as well as the sound of a few passing crows. Hearing them and still clutched to the feather in his hand, he’d done what he never had before, and that was sneak away. He packed his things, wearing most of his plague doctor outfit that was black, mask excluded, to stay in the dark as he made his way back to Elverum, back to Eilif. Eilif welcomed him back, and was a bit overwhelmed to hear Audloed describe what he decided to do, all in the name of being with Eilif.

          They lived together well into 1350 as Eilif told him many Norse folktales, myths and legends. When he started to educate him about runes and their meanings, Audloed was struck with an epiphany when he asked about Algiz. Lightning hit him when he saw that rune symbol for the first time outside of his dreams.
          “That is an elder futhark letter not seen much anymore, but that is Algiz. The protection rune, the rune of the elk.”

          Suddenly it all made sense to him. That rune was the symbol of Fiadh. He lived through the means of that symbol, as Eilif described it in more detail. It’s often seen as a symbol of spiritual guidance, strength and a protective force against harm. He saw its relation to a cross, and how just a few movements of lines turned into the symbol of Fiadh. She was leading and protecting him all along. He started using his medical journal to record Eilif’s teachings, as no one but him would be reading or even seeing it anymore anyways. Eilif warned Audloed though, as it was all in the past, and displaying runes now is speaking out against the church. Surely someone would report him to authorities. 

          The conversion of Norway to Christianity began well before 1000.  Haakon the Good of Norway who had grown up in England tried to introduce Christianity in the tenth century, but had met resistance from pagan leaders and soon abandoned the idea. Anglo-Saxon missionaries from England and Germany engaged in converting Norwegians to Christianity, but with limited success. However, they succeeded in converting Olaf I of Norway to Christianity. Olaf II (later Saint Olaf) had more success in his efforts to convert the population, and he is credited with Christianising Norway. The Christians in Norway often established churches or other holy sites at places that had previously been sacred under the Norse religion. The spread of conversion can be measured by burial sites as Pagans were buried with grave goods while Christians were not. Christianity had become well established in Norway by the middle of the 11th century and had become dominant by the middle of the 12th century. Stave churches, like those in Oslo and Elverum that Audloed visited and stayed in, were built of wood without the use of nails in the 13th century.

            . . .

          When Eilif died of old age, Audloed being the only one that still knew of his existence, returned to his home in the forested highlands above Kongsvinger to give him a proper Norse burial. He stayed on that homestead of his throughout 1350, before the spring thawed out the land in 1351. Audloed had abandoned his church contracts and ties altogether, and planned to never return to Oslo where he could be captured and tried for desertion. He spent many months trying to decide what he should do, as the only logical reason was to trek westward toward the coast to see if a trade ship in fishing communities would bring him back to mainland England, or at least Scotland where he could make the final journey back to Ireland. However, it was almost at least once a week he was having vivid dreams of Fiadh. Dreams of her and deer were always intermingling, and naturally, he was “seeing” that everywhere. As he prepared to leave and ready the house to be abandoned, he found a small book on Eilif’s desk in his room. Eilif didn’t know how to write, but Audloed was beginning to show him, so he wondered if this is what he was practicing writing his English in. When he opened it, the first few pages were English letters, scratched on with a feather quill and messy ink drops. He noticed there was a bump in the pages, which he opened to see it was a repurposed Roman coin, silver, that he had engraved an elk onto. Picking it up off the page, he saw Eilif had left Audloed a message. He didn’t know how to write much, but he did scribble and scratch what looked like a raven with round eyes, being Audloed’s mask, and the word “Follow” written messily underneath it. The page was then ended with the Agliz rune he drew onto it with two dots beside it. That was a special, unspoken way he and Eilif would communicate on paper to each other. Eilif did also say the two dots did look like eyes on each side of the rune, which looking at it entirely looked somewhat like a raven’s face or Algiz itself the footprint of a raven. He could escape Norway all he wanted, but he felt a calling to follow more into the deep routes of Norway and the paganism that tied him to Fiadh and his true happiness. He painted the Algiz rune onto his mask and added blackbird and crow feathers to his cowl. 

          He traveled into new towns to treat plague victims where he was advised needing his help. When wearing the mask with the rune very visible, he could see the comfort of people knowing that he was there to help them in what new ways couldn’t be matched to the old. He was not there to convert them to Christianity, nor was he there to report anyone of any pagan malfeasance. He was given natural gifts, his favorite being deer jaws that the father would decorate with runes and traditional raven artwork. He became known in the rural forests and areas of Norway as “The Raven Man”, as he would not just treat plague victims, but heal anyone of any medical issues. People cherished him, but in that, were sure not to spread his reputation and stories far and wide. Surely the church in Oslo would issue bounties for Audloed’s return, and Norweigans were well adapted to keeping their heathen and pagan beliefs and ways well hidden from public eyes. He was welcomed at solstice ceremonies, as his disassociation and disconnection from people grew. He’d stay somewhere for a time before, like a gypsy, would relocate to another place. He often crossed into Sweden and back to Norway indiscriminately, as he followed the natural herds of elk and caribou. He saw Fiadh more and more in his dreams, which alone led him where he wished to go.