A Boy in Old Norway

There was a boy walking through the forest when he found a rock. He touched the rock and he passed out. When he came to he went home, but his home was not there. Instead he found a wooden house which was exceptionally long and was only one story tall. there were people in this house, and they came out to look at him and ask why he was staring at their home. He saw that they were wearing leathers and furs, but didn’t comment. Instead he told them that it was his home, “Though I don’t know what you did to it.” The leader of them, an older man, told him to “Get out of here, we don’t want a crazy person like you cluttering our yard!” The rather stupid boy then attempted to force his way into what he believed to be his home, but stopped short when the man puled out an axe. He backed up quickly and left, deciding to figure out what had happened to his home. He found another, friendlier-looking, person who he struck up a conversation with. “So, what happened here?” he asked. “Well now, what do you mean? Nothing out of the ordinary has happened here, except you of course.” “What do you mean? I’m the only normal person here! You’re shepherding goats!” The man looked at him oddly after this, and he pointed out the fact that most of the other people here were also shepherding goats, and that nobody else was wearing such eccentric clothing as the boy. “Well of course!” the boy shouted “It’s all of you who’re dressed like we’re in medieval times!” This was when it occurred to him that he might be in medieval times. “What year is it?” The man looked at him oddly, but at this point the boy was well used to it and didn’t think of it. “It’s 816” the boy looked down at the ground and then back at the man. Oh boy, he thought. Well, do you know anyone who would take me in? The man then asked “Don’t you have a family?” “Not any more, or at least, not yet.” the man sighed, concluding that the boy was a crazy runaway. “I suppose I could house you for a night he said. “Thank you” the boy said. “Look after my goats, I’ll be back soonish.” “Wait! Where are you going?” “To have a drink.” “But why?” The man looked at him as if he was stupid. “Because I have someone to watch my goats.” He walked away. The boy then walked over to another goatherd and asked where they were. “In the field.” “No, I mean what country are we in?” The goatherd paused and asked if the boy was sane. “Of course I am! Now tell me where we are!” “Norway.” He said, and walked away. Later in the day, with evening coming on, the original goatherd came over and led the boy and goats to his home. The boy entered, and was immediately confused. He turned around and asked the man where he should sleep, since there was only one room. The goatherd sighed and pointed to the bed in the corner. “And where will you sleep?” the goatherd was now heartily sick of this boy and simply drove his goats into the one room house. “What are you doing!?” “Don’t you want to be warm tonight?” was his only answer. Thinking back to earlier that day he then asked “Where are all the Vikings?” “The Vikings? You mean the warriors that go down south?” “Yes” “Well, there aren’t A lot of them are there? I mean, a few people left with Bjiorn and his ship a year ago, including my uncle, but people have got lives here and don’t want to go sailing around.” “Oh.” He went to sleep and in the morning he woke up to find a bowl of soup waiting for him. When he asked what was in it, the shepherd told him that there was some deer, along with beans and onion. The boy then asked how many different foods he ate, since he had always thought that medieval people had a very limited diet. The goatherd told him that he normally had a soup but sometimes had a burger or a steak. And when it was soup it was never the same soup since there was so many things he could put in it. “Now get out of here! I’m sick of you’re questions.” the boy left and went to the forest, where he found the same rock that had brought him there. He grabbed it eagerly and went back to his own time.