Member-only story
Vikings and the Stories We Inhabit…
I was watching the TV show Vikings a few weeks ago with my youngest son (he’s a big fan), and one scene caught my attention beyond enjoying the drama.
Real, or Myth?
If you don’t know Vikings, then it’s a show about, well… Vikings. So here we are in Denmark in 749 AD…
A couple come for an audience before Lagertha, the wife of the new Earl Ragnar (Ragnar is away pillaging Northumbria). The husband of the couple wants to inflict a punishment on his wife for being unfaithful. He tells a story of their marriage of fifteen years, trying and failing to have a child. One day, a young stranger, Rig, comes by, spends the weekend at their farm, and nine months later the baby is born.
Lagertha reacts in an unusual way. She questions the wife, and then gives a completely different perspective; telling him how lucky he is.
You should be rejoicing for your wife and son, not punishing them.
She tells the husband.
Don’t you know who Rig is? He’s the God Heimdallr. You should be thankful he chose your house, and blessed your family with a son.
“But that’s just a story!” cries the husband.
Our whole lives are stories,
