The time is ancient and the place is the Norse Lands. The people are the ancestors of those who will become known as the Vikings. The village where Thor grows up to become a huge man, the biggest in the village, is inland from the sea and the people grow some of their food and hunt and fish in the forests.   By the time Thor takes young Marion to wife all he has left of his large family of brothers and sisters is his youngest sister Neria.

There is much quarreling in the village.  A man will steal from his neighbour and boast about it.  The women rarely knew who the fathers of their children were.  This went against what Thor felt to be good for a community and when he saw that his 12 year old sister Neria was always with the young men he decided that it was time to make the move he had been talking to Marion about.

Soon he had a willing band of men and women ready for the adventure of crossing the mountains and making a new village by the sea.  It was agreed by all that they would endeavour to live by the standards that Thor laid out before them.  There was to be no stealing and the men and women were to be faithful to their partners.  All would try to live in harmony together.

Thor made it clear to Neria that when they arrived and had established shelter he would give her to one of his men in marriage.  All the excitement that Neria felt at going to a new place vanished when Thor told her this.   All of Thor's men were twice her age and to her that was ancient.

It was a hard journey to their new home.  They had to carry all of their goods over the mountains to where Thor had his boat moored in the river running to the sea.  Already Thor was a seasoned seaman and that was one reason he wanted to live by the sea. He knew that if they were near the sea he would not have to spend quite so much time away from Marion.  He adored her and none of the other women ever had a chance with him.  Neria suspected that the main reason most of the women came along was because they adored Thor and had secret hopes of prying him away from Marion.  They had been married for 6 years at this time but they had no children and the women lost no opportunity to taunt Marion about this.

It was on this journey that Neria became very close to Marion.  This was a friendship that would last a lifetime.

After much hardship the new settlement was established and Thor and his men set sail once more on their journies of discovery and trade.  Before setting sail Thor made good his word and gave his sister Neria to Olaf.  He chose Olaf because he was a man who would stand no nonsense and Thor flelt that Neria needed a stern master.

Neria rebelled against Olaf in every possible way, proudly flaunting her many bruises to all in the camp.  She hoped that Thor would take pity on her and deem Olaf unsuitable as a husband after all but he seemed to take no notice.   Marion pleaded her case with Thor but it did no good. Soon she found that she was pregnant and Marion pleaded with her to be a good and submissive wife to Olaf for the sake of the child.  While Neria was stubborn and wilful she was not stupid and so agreed to behave herself at least until the child was born.

The women and children of the settlement endured harsh conditions while the men were away.  Some of the crops failed and as a result food was short.  Perhaps it was this that contributed to Neria's hard labour when her time came.  She was very week but she managed to birth the child.  It was a girl, born dead.  Neria was consumed with grief and bewilderment even though she knew that it was something that every mother must experience more than once.

When the men returned Olaf beat her for birthing a dead girl child. He wanted a son and he wanted it living.  By now Thor was starting to regret that he had given his beloved sister in marriage to Olaf but he could not find a way to dissolve the union without Olaf losing face.

Soon Neria was pregnant again but several months into the pregnancy she miscarried.  The child was a boy and Olaf's rage was uncontrolable.   This time Thor stepped in and sent Olaf away on a special voyage that he had planned.  He felt that he could least rely upon him to lead the group well on this voyage.  This voyage lasted over a year and Neria settled into the life of the village, secretly hoping that Olaf would have an accident while away and never return to her.

All too soon the day came when the sailors returned and there was Olaf, all to eager to greet his reluctant wife.  Then a cycle of beatings and miscarriages started. Fortunately Thor was planing another voyage. Neria was pregnant when Olaf left on the voyage and gave birth to a living girl child while he was away.   Neria loved the child dearly but when Olaf returned and found that he had a daughter instead of a son he beat Neria badly.  Soon Neria was pregnant again and this time Thor stepped in.  He took Olaf aside and convinced him that beating Neria while she was pregnant would bring on a miscarriage. 

Olaf finally saw reason.  Perhaps it was because he adored Thor as if he was a God and if Thor said something then it had to be right.   Finally Neria knew some peace with Olaf.  As her time grew near she began to get very frightened of what Olaf would do if the child was another girl or if it was a boy but born dead.  Fortune smiled upon her and she gave birth to a healthy son.   Olaf named him Arne.  Olaf never cared for his daughter and when she died shortly after the birth of Arne he beat Neria severely for showing her grief at the death of her daughter.  Up until then Neria was starting to soften towards Olaf.  He had not beaten her in over a year.  However, it was not this latest beating that hardened her heart towards him but his lack of love for their daughter.

It was about this time that Thor returned from another of his voyages.  This time he brought an "Outlander" with him.  When all the fuss of homecoming settled down Thor introduced his new friend from a far off land to the settlers.  His name was Armargh-Di and he was the most exquisite man Neria had ever seen.  He was shorter and thinner than the men of the settlement and he had a swarthy complexion with black hair.  He spoke their language poorly at first and with a heavy accent but as time went on his accent lightened and he became very fluent in their language.  He was a master boat builder in his own land and  Thor had saved his life.  A bond was forged between them and he agreed to leave his homeland and settle with Thor to become his master boat builder.

When Neria first saw Armargh-Di she was heavy with child but she pulled her furs around her to disguise this and insinuated herself into his presence.   He was instantly captivated by her and this was so obvious that Thor took him aside and set him straight about Neria's condition and pointed out Olaf to him.  Now Olaf was almost as tall and broad as Thor.  Armargh-Di was a slight man by comparison and also a very intelligent one.  He decided then and there to ignore Neria and find another willing mate.

During the next few months Neria was very occupied with her new son and the death of her daughter.  She almost forgot about Armargh-Di except that all of the single women talked of nothing else. When Arne was about 3 months old Thor sent Olaf on another voyage.  Neria was so consumed with grief for her daughter and hate for Olaf that she decided that she was going to have some happiness even if Olaf killed her for it.  She never even considered that he might kill anyone else.

Neria began to watch Armargh-Di to see what his habits were.   She soon found that everyday at noontime he would leave the settlement and go along the river to bathe.  He always went alone as she found by carefully following him.   One day when she had worked up enough courage she followed him again but did not hide in the bushes watching.  She boldly strode down to the river's edge, shed her clothes and dived into the water a lttle further up stream.  She swam down to where he was and surfaced right beside him.  Strangely, he was not surprised by her sudden appearance.  His words to her were, "I was wondering when you would show up and in what manner you planned to seduce me."  It seems that he had known she was following and watching him and found the whole thing so amusing that he managed to put all thoughts of Olaf out of his mind.  It is hard to say who seduced who as the attraction was mutual.

What followed was a few weeks of supreme happiness for Neria.  She loved Armargh-Di so much and he seemed to love her.  He was even good to little Arne.  They were careful to keep their relationship secret but of course Neria had to tell Marion.  It was Marion she confided in when she found that she was pregnant to Armargh-Di.  Together they went to see winifrid the midwife.   She gave Neria a potion that should have brought on a miscarriage but it did not.   The three of them then decided that Neria would give birth and Marion and Winifrid would strangle the child.  Armargh-Di was appalled at this plan but had to admit that Olaf would kill them if he found out about them and so he reluctantly agreed to it.   They all agreed that if the child were blonde and blue eyed that it could live and be passed off as a few weeks older thatn it really was.

When Neria's time came Marion and Winifrid attended to her.   She gave birth to a strong, swarthy little boy with black hair and so the awful plan would have to be carried out.  All of Marion's aching for a child of her own came to the surface and she could not be the one to do it.  Winifrid's heart was not in it either.  So many babies were so pitiful and sick at birth and this one was so healthy that it seemed so wrong to kill him.  By this time Neria had all her maternal feelings welling up within her and she cried, "No, no.  Let him live.  We will find another way out."

It was then that Marion rushed to find Armargh-Di to tell him that he had better start to practice his fighting.  This he did and  the settlement was abuzz with gossip as to why he was doing this.  When they saw Neria's baby boy they guessed the truth.

As the time for Olaf's return grew close Armargh-Di increased his training.  When the boat returned Neria and Armargh-Di  asked Thor for help but he said that they had made their bed and now must lie in it.  Olaf was wild with rage and would have killed Neria had not Thor gotten in his way.  Thor insisted that the fight be between Armagh-Di and Olaf and what Thor insisted upon is always what happened.

By this time it was nearly dark and a blazing bonfire was set up.  All the villagers gathered around to see the outlander slaughtered.   Neria huddled with Marian, Arne and baby Rhonde, close enough to give verbal support to Armagh-Di.  She knew in her heart that if Olaf won the fight he would kill her and she got Marion's promise to take care of the children when she was dead.  She did not want to live in a world without Armagh-Di.

The fight was fierce and much longer than anyone expected it to be.  Armagh-Di's practice was paying off.  Add this to the fact that Olaf hadn't regained his land legs and it became obvious that it was not going to be an easy win for Olaf after all.  Both men were becoming exhausted. Nobody could ever work out what actually happened at the end.  It seemed as though Olaf was all set to land a mighty blow into Armagh-Di when all of a sudden he was falling to the ground.  At the same time Armagh-Di also fell to the ground.  Everyone watched in stunned silence. For a few moments neither man moved and then Armagh-Di stirred and raised himself.   Olaf remained sprawled on the ground, motionless while Armagh-Di swayed, barely conscious, nearby.  Thor rushed to Olaf and soon pronounced him dead.  As he fell he hit his head on a sharp rock protruding from the ground.  Everyone felt that this was indeed the work of the Gods and they cheered Armagh-Di.

Then the cheers gave rise to, "kill the child of Olaf."  It was an ancient custom that deemed a child the age of Arne to be a burden to the village now that his father was dead and his mother belonged to another man.   Neria screamed and Armagh-Di came to his senses enough to realise that Arne was in some danger. He raised enough strength in his voice to command the attention of the mob.

"Here me!" he said.  "What is the problem with the child of Olaf?"  When he was told of the intent of the mob he again commanded their attention.  "From this day forward I have two sons.   The elder is Arne, the son of Olaf and the younger is Rhonde, the son of my body.   In my eyes they are equally my own and I ask that they be treated as such." he declared.  Immediately Thor backed him up with this adoption and so the mob quickly dispersed and calm settled once more.

The years that followed were kind to Neria and Armagh-Di.   They had many children, both sons and daughters of which most survived into adulthood.  The village prospered and grew until there were other setlements along the coast and inland.  Armagh-Di was greatly respected in the village and eventually Thor placed him in a position of authority.  He developed a design for a large sailing ship which he got the whole village involved in constructing.  Thor was very impressed and over the years he improved his design.  These ships gave the settlement an advantage in their trading with other countries and helped to build their prosperity.

Thor had decided that he would captain one last voyage before giving command of the ships over to Arne.  Arne had become a seasoned sailor while Rhonde's talents lay in the building of the ships.  A few days before this final voyage one of the ships returned from a place they had never been before and brought all sorts of interesting things to the settlement.  Unfortunately it also brought disease.  By the time Thor left a couple of the sailors from that ship had become ill.  No one thought to make a connection until it was too late.  Not that anything could have been done to prevent the spread of the disease.  Two of the sailors from the infected ship wanted to go with Thor on his final voyage and so they took the infection with them to Thor's ship.

In three weeks the population of the main settlement were all dead or dying.  By then it had spread to all the outlying settlements.   Armagh-Di died in Neria's arms, followed by all her children and grandchildren who were still living in the main settlement.  She had no idea how the rest of her large family were.  She assumed that they too would succumb to this illness. Neria and Marian were among the last to die and it is hard to know which of them died first as they lay side by side in a hut filled with the dying and already dead.

The very few who survived the illness packed a few belongings and sadly made the trek back over the mountains to where the original settlers came from with such high hopes all those years ago.  With them they took stories of Thor, the Man of Thunder who gave them a better way of life and such stories of courage and adventure to share around a camp fire at night.