Lady Of The Longboats

By Paul McCann

This is story of the first voyages of the Vikings in their Longships as they  ran through the waves to find new lands and conquer all who stood before them .

  Apart from being fierce warriors the Vikings where the very first master boat builders on the face of the Earth . Once they had designed the Longships it was clear the destiny awaited .

For on the isle of Tanna time had run out and .Tanna had already sunk into the sea . The people of Tanna had moved over to Dansor one of the outer islands in the cluster of islands , but Dansor was following the path of Tanna  .

And she was slipping slowly over the edge of the saltwater shelf and into the sea .

It had been decided by King of Tanna and Dansor that the bravest and strongest of the Vikings would embark on a voyage to secure new lands to inhabit . Ten Longships had been specially built for the journey .

  The first Voyage across the blue green waters towards Milesia  was an unknown passage . No one had ever passed beyond the saltwater shelf .

King Cora promised a new land to all the people on Dansor.

  On the voyage a number of huge hump back whales had collected three of 

the longships . Some of the drew were saved by King Cora’s crew but the majority had drowned.  

Once the blue green waters had passed the sea rose up like a monster to claim the remaining Longships .Huge white mountainous waves tossed the Longships about for days until only one Longship was left .

  King Cora and his crew had survived . The other Longships were all  unaccounted for . They had vanished into the thin air at sea .

The ocean  had claimed their lives and it calmed as if it were satisfied with the cost .

  Land appeared in view and the Longship soon had landed near shore .

As soon as everyone set their foot on land a black cloud appeared in the sky .
In seconds it covered the entire sky and the land was plunged into total darkness.
A wind swept up on the sand and twisted and turned taking some of the Vikings into the vortex and throwing  them high into the air like paper dolls .

All around trees began to bend and  the remaining Vikings ran and took shelter in a cave they found on the rocky cliff face  .

To their shock and surprise in the cave they found a strange Lady  with the tail of a fish .

She began to sing and the melody was so enchanting that all who had heard .went into a deep sleep .

As King Cora awoke he found himself lying there on the golden sands surrounded by all the other Vikings . How pleased  he was to see once again 

all those who had been lost at sea .

In the wonder of what was happening the Lady with the fishes tail appeared again  and said ,

“I am the keeper of Tanna now , please let me have Dansor too “

“Lady of Tanna “ Said King Cora, who smiled .

“You can have Dansor if you permit my people safe passage to this new land .and guard our Longships on the voyage .“

The Lady of Tanna arose into the air like a bird and hovered over the Vikings heads .She ran her fingers through her long hair and replied,

“ It would please me if you carve an image of my face and place it on the front of your Longships “ 

“Your request shall be granted . Each Longship will have you face “

“Then return to Dansor and leave as soon as possible “

Said the Lady of Tanna

“What about our Longships, would you give them back to us “

King Cora and the crew began to walk in the direction of the sea as one by one each Longship resurfaced .

The voyage back to Dansor was easy and free from trouble .

Immediately all the craftsmen began to carve out the wooden image of the Lady of Tanna as directed by King Cora and as each one was finished it was mounted at the front of a Longship .

One by one each vessel was the loaded. The  task of getting everyone off Dansor was difficult .

The sick and weak where placed together on  Longships with people who could care for them . The very young were placed in separate Longhips with their Mothers and all the main food supplies .

The  exile to Milesia began . Never before had  the like of this been seen as hundreds of Longships went out  before the blue green waters .

“Goodbye Dansor “ Shouted the King and he continued  .

“Take her now Lady of Tanna , she is yours “

At that moment the Island was swallowed up by the sea .

It  dived like a  whale into the crystal waters as it disappeared in a second .        

Swimming in the ocean beside King Coras Longship was the strange Lady   who looked up at the King and said , 

“Thank you . I am the the Lady of the sea and your journey ahead is a safe one and your new home awaits “

The King burst out in fits of laughter and said ,

“I don’t know if I am crazy or not but here I come . “

The King jumped from the Longship and into the sea and threw his arms around the Lady .who took him beneath the ocean into her watery home .

No one ever saw King Cora again

The End