Trade

A horsecarriage filled with fish, skins, salt, bread, pork, wool and a little bit of silk went through the woodcovered streets of Hedeby. Erik was on his way to his booth where he traded the things from the carriage. He bought and traded the things he needed in his booth. He had just opened the booth when a man came to buy two barrels of salt. The man payed with 10 chickens. Shortly after a man came in. He wanted to buy five skins. He gave half a barrel of milk and one and a half silver coins. Erik's son Alf came into the shop to get a piece of pork for his dog that was called Tor.

Next day the tax collector came. He was leaning against their fence. He demanded two barrels of herring. Business hadn't been going well lately so Erik didn't have the things the tax collector demanded and the tax collector didn't want anything else from Erik's store that was in the outhouse. Erik asked for a respite and he got it.

Erik decided to sail to Birka. He brought chickens, salt, an old silk scard he had once bought from the Arabs, wool, bread, water, and half a barrel of milk for himself and his son. He went to find his seven loyal rowers. Erik took Alf with him to teach him how to trade. It would take a week to sail to Birka that was situated on an island in the lake Mælaren. On the first day of the journey Alf was playing chess with one of the rowers who wasn’t doing anything because the wind had increased so that the sail did all the work. His name was Balder. For dinner they had chicken and freshly caught fish and water to drink. They put in at Langeland to spend the night on the beach. Balder explained to Alf about the position of the stars. Then Alf fell asleep. The next day Alf woke up on the deck because Balder had carried him onto the ship when they were about to sail so that they could reach Birka as fast as possible. All the rowers were rowing because there was almost no wind. Alf sat up and took a chunk of meat and a wooden mug with milk in it.

When the ship put in at the port of Birka, Erik’s old friend Hake, who had ordered some goods from other tradesmen, was there. Erik asked if Hake would like to buy his goods and chickens. Hake would. Erik received three barrels of herring and some other things for five of the chickens. When he walked on the pavement in Birka he thought that he must buy some goods that he could sell at Lindholm Høje, so he went to the leathermaker. He bought twenty pairs of leather shoes. Then they sailed on.

On the way home Erik went around to Lindholm Høje. At Lindholm Høje there is only one market so Alf asked where they should finally trade and where the roads paved with wood were. Erik sold the old silk scarf that he had bought from the Arabs. He also sold the leather shoes from Birka. Alf hopped around to avoid all the pools of mud. Erik bought some salt because he thought that it must be cheaper as the market was so close to Læsø and Læsø is the only place in Denmark where you can get salt. He also bought an amber ornament from a man who traded for the jewelmaker at Lindholm Høje. Erik gave Alf a chicken that he could trade for what ever he liked. Alf immediately ran over to a booth. He had seen where you could buy, trade and sell. Alf traded the chicken for a sheath knife and a smoked herring. Then Alf went on to an outhouse where an old woman sold leathergoods. Alf traded the smoked herring for a leatherbelt with a sheath for his knife. Erik took the wool to a lady and asked how much she would charge to make the wool into a cape. The lady said that she wanted tow silver coins and a chicken. Erik agreed. The lady gave Erik another cape for the wool and the payment. Erik gave the cape to Alf because Alf’s old cape was very worn. Alf was very pleased with his new cape so the first couple of nights he slept in it. Alf was getting bored so he talked a tradesman into playing chess with him. The nice tradesman taught Alf a game that he didn’t know. It was called Nefatavl. Nefatavl is an old Viking boardgame that they used to play at the markets, in the home and when they were out sailing. It has eleven by eleven squares. The object of the game is for the one playing the black pieces to get the king into one of the corners but for the white to kill the king.

When Erik returned home the tax collector was outside his house. Erik paid him the two barrels of herring and he left. Later Erik sold the salt he had bought at Lindhold Høje. The next day Erik bought a gold ornament from the jewelmaker to show the other tradesmen that he was rich.

Rebecca, Jane, Theis and Oluf

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