Clarissa: How Theya Two Mothers Avenged Leikashearth

From: Carlson, Pam <carlsonp_at_wdni.com>
Date: Fri, 04 Aug 95 14:37:00 PDT


How Theya Two-Mothers Avenged Leikashearth (Pam Carlson)

Theya Two Mothers was the daughter of Innana Ernaldnessdotir, Leika SpiritTalker, and Jarang Orlgandison, a hard-working and prosperous carl of the Jungardi. Her father had sworn his line to bloodfeud with a warrior from Hendrikiland. This warrior wanted to be chief of the Jungardi, to have lands and folk forced to carry his name - as the Southerners do. This warrior covered himself in fine metal. He rode giant horses and he led many warriors, but he had no hall or lands of his own. This metal-clad Stranger talked the Laws of Orlanth, but he scoffed at old magics. He preferred the foreign Invisible Magic of Arkat.

This Stranger made war on the Jungardi because they would not be his bondi.  He killed most of the thanes. He killed Theya s uncle, Kjarten-Stone. He even killed the old chief. But worst of all, he killed Theya s mother, Leika Spirit-Talker, when he raided her hearth. The clan called to the Hendreiki king for justice, but he merely sent another stranger to be chief instead. Jarang refused to live without Orlanth s justice, so he decided to take his family into the wilds of the north.

After they had packed what they could fit of Leikashearth into their wagon, Jarang and his children invited all the folk of Backford to Jarangstead to give away all the gear they could not carry with them. Jarang made a great show of inviting the metal-clad Stranger. He said: "I cannot afford to carry a bloodfeud into the wilds - I would end it now. Let the Stanger come or be known as a coward."

But at the Giveaway, Jarang wasn t there. The metal-clad Stranger was.  Folk stood about uncomfortably, quietly wondering where the feast food was.  Even children know Giveaways are always followed by feasts! Then Urtag jumped up on the wagon and began to announce his father s gifts. As he gave away each thing, he named a kindness the receipient had done for his family.
"Piers Akreson - you helped my parents clear the land for our fields. For
this we give your our smallplow.
"Ronna Ilfresdotir - you gave us three hens the year when ours all died. For
this we give you twelve in return.
"Mathi Safarasdotir - you fed my brother Illig after our mother Inanna died.
 For this we give you two fine heifers." And so on, until the stead was empty except for one large, grey bull.

Finally the Stranger, from high atop his great horse, bellowed: "Where is Jarang? Is he afraid to face me? I suppose he has great plans to plow me to death!" The folk laughed nervously.

It was Theya who answered him. "My father lies where I left him - sleeping in the forest. The children of Jarang only want the killing to stop. I, as the firstborn of Jarang s bloodline, will end the feud by giving the lands and buildings of Jarangstead to you. With this act we would end the feud."

The Stranger considered the offer. As much as he wanted the land, he thought the offer was a bit suspicious. Jarang was a proud man, and the warrior had expected violence. He roared, "I thought Jarang wanted to fight! Perhaps I should just slaughter all the Jarangsons? That would surely end this feud!" People began to back away from the warrior and his horse.

Illig leapt up on the wagon beside Urtag. "We are but honest carls," he said, "not mighty thanes like you. The children of Jarang wish only to start anew and live in peace. We would offer you the land of our mothers in return for the lives of their children." Now, Illig was known far and wide as a clever speaker. Folk said he could convince an apple tree to grow pears. Greed finally overcame cruelty in the metal-clad Stranger, and he agreed to accept the stead and end the feud.

"Now this bloodfeud will be peacefully settled, and witnessed by all here,"
 announced the Heorl, the Lawspeaker who planned to follow Jarang to the new lands.

Theya looked at the Stranger. "You cannot see the land sitting on a horse," she pointed out. He climbed down. "Now I will show you the stead," she said.
"This is the well. The CleanWater spirit lives here. As long as you keep a
brightly polished copper coin on the ledge, the water will always remain pure.
"This is the root cellar. The CoolEarth spirit lives here. As long as you
keep it very dark and make an offering of onions every season, it will drive off the rot spirits.
"This is the barley field. The GoldenHead spirit lives here. As long as you
plant in early SeaSeason and pour a mug of beer in each corner, the harvests will be heavy."

And so on. Theya continued to call forth the spirits that Inanna and Leika had befriended. She told them that the Stranger was their new guardian.  "These spirits are the playthings of women, and unimportant to a warrior!", sneered the Stranger. But Theya saw he was secretly pleased at the thought of more things obeying him.

Then Theya brought forth her father s last bull. The animal s soft, dappled hide rippled over a healty layer of fat. "A new steadmaster needs his own bloodline. With this bull I will help you found your own."

"But I don t have a wife!", wailed the Stranger.

"I can t imagine why no woman would want you," said Theya. "What, with all
that metal, you look so.... grey. No matter - I will arrange the ritual so that the next woman you lie with shall be your wife. Then you can found your bloodline." She smiled coyly at the Stranger, and swung her hips a bit. Now Theya Two-Mothers was a lovely woman, and the Stranger Who Knew Only War did not fancy having to run a stead all by himself. He grinned eagerly and quickly consented.

Theya beautifully intoned Orlanth s bloodline ritual, while Illig helpfully told the Stranger what lines he must say. The whole of Backford watched as the ritual was chanted. Now, this metal-clad warrior had devoted so much of his life to war that he had little idea of how a foundation ritual should work. Theya gave the Stranger a knife. "For extra fertility, you must first castrate the bull and bury his fruits in the Earth under yonder yew tree. That way the fertility will spread throughout the entire stead."

The Stranger cut the bull. (Theya had drugged the animal with tarma-root so he felt little pain.) Then he buried the parts under the yew tree. As the Stranger filled the hole, he disturbed a small bone already in the Earth.
"Never mind that," said Theya "Its just left from an earlier sacrifice."
(1)

After Theya sang a while longer, she instructed the Stranger to open the buill s throat, to pour his blood upon the ground. The warrior did so easily, for he was quite skilled at killing. As the blood spurted from the bull, that fine animal slowly fell to his knees, never to rise again. Illig told the Stranger to chant one last line in Earthtongue. It was one of the few phrases in Earthtongue men may chant, but the Stranger was so ignorant of Earth he didn t even know the words to "As with this bull, so with me."

The folk of Backford cheered. The Stranger beamed, for he had finally had forced folk to accept him as a thane, with land and bloodline. Theya told him that to provide a community for his bloodline, he must now share the meat of the bull with the village. But as the folk approached, young Svarr stepped forward to remind each one of some favor his mother had done for them:
"Bardast - don t you remember when my mother, slain by that Stranger, cured
your daughter from the Spotted Sickness?
"Umala - don t you remember when my mother, slain by that Stranger, brought
forth your son?
"Hroddar - don t you remember when my mother, slain by that Stranger, helped
the brook by your stead run clear again?"

And so on. One by one, the folk of Backford turned their backs on the metal-clad Stranger. The warrior s sacrifice was left to rot in the sun.  The Stranger was furious, but even the southerners cannot force hospitality on anyone. The warrior had no choice but to accept the insult. He sneered at Theya, "At least now I have your father s magnificent farm. He has nothing but a few pitiful possessions in a wagon."

"True," said Theya, sweetly, "and the next woman you lie with shall found
your bloodline!"

The earthly folk of Backford made their farewells to Theya and her brothers, giving them small gifts of food and things they would need on their jouney. Then they left the Stanger s hospitality, still hungry (2). After that day, the little stead beyond Backford, blessed by the bones mothers and the blood of bulls, produced rich harvests every year. But the metal-clad Stranger never produced a thing.

NOTES:
(1) It was the custom of the Jungardi to bury their mothers under yew trees.  Yew tree bark is an ingredient in many healing remedies, and the bark from grave-trees is especially potent.
(2) Leaving a Heortland social event without having eaten tradionally confers terrible luck on the host.


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