The Castle

Once upon a time, a very long time ago there was a family that lived close to Åbybro. They were so poor that they had to send the two eldest sons Sigmund and Toke out to hunt with a bow and arrow. But they had never tried to hunt before, because they had alway had to work the field, and their father whose name was Gunnar had become too old to hunt. When they entered the forrest they saw a lot of deer but they couldn't hit any of them. Their mother Astrid was a very sour lady so they didn't dare come home.

They walked for many days. Suddenly they saw a large castle. The wall around the castle was made of stone and there were ramparts around the walls. They asked around and found out that it was Aggersborg. Aggersborg is a ringcastle. There are approximately 36 longhouses at Aggersborg and it is the largest in Denmark. They also found out that there would be try-outs at the castle in a week for those who wanted to become soldiers.

At once they started practicing running, throwing the spear, shooting with a bow and arrow. They became very good at it all, but Toke, who was the youngest, didn't think the bow and arrow was very fun so he didn't practice that so much. The king provided a house for the men trying out to be soldiers. But Sigmund and Toke had arrived so late that they had to live in the stables.

The day came and the try-outs began. Sigmund and Toke were up for the running contest. There were about 100 men and the first 20 to pass the finishing line would go on to the next competition. Sigmund was among the first 20, and Toke also just made it, he came in as number 20. Next competition was spear throwing, they both did well in this competition. But at the last competition whicg was archery, Toke failed because he hadn't practiced as much for that as for the other things. Next day Sigmund became a warrior. He got to live in a longhouse with the other warriors and he made many friends.

About two years later.

Now the castle was completed, all the warriors had helped finishing the longhouse. It was quite difficult to get wood for the houses but they found straw. Sigmund had now become a great warrior he was one of the king's best men. Vagn, the king's most trusted man was getting very old, he couldn't advice the king and he couldn't fight. To months later. Vagn contracted a very nasty disease and died after a week. The king didn't know what to do. He couldn't rule the country alone without an adviser. Someone suggested to the king that he held a competition and the one that did the best would become his adviser. The test was to answer 50 question as well as possible, you didn't have to be strong, but it did give you a better chance. Sigmund passed the test and became the king's most trusted man.

A year later.

The king was now getting old, the years went by and he began to fall very ill. One day when Sigmund had come to the king to ask for more soldiers Sigmund found the king dead. There was now panic in the castle, noone knew what to do without a king.

A new king had to be chosen, and there was an election. Among the nominated men were Sigmund and a lot of other good warriors. But many had hears about Sigmund's friendliness and his wisdom so therefore he was elected. One day when Sigmund was out riding he met his brother Toke. Sigmund asked if he would like to come with him to the castle and be his most trusted man. Toke said yes to that and got up on the horse. One day the servant came to the king and said that there was a lady down by the well. The king said that he should bring her to him and shortly after she stood before him. When he saw her he wanted to marry her at once, because even though she was poor she was as beautiful as the clear sun. Not many days passed before they were getting married and they had a big party and they sang, celebrated and ate all day and all night. They lived happily ever after.

Kasper, Mia, Kristian and Marie.

Children Build a Web about the Vikings Return to Kaerbyskolen