Rise of Rurik

Swinned led his men on a wild run, and with the support of their master, the men did not mind the crime of forcing their way into the Holy Land.

They forced their way into the Holy Land, but before they reached the low wall, they noticed something strange about this place.

"Sir, this place seems to have lost its popularity. What are those priests doing?"

"Yeah, it's too quiet..."

The mutterings of his subordinates really alarmed Swined. Although a group of priests usually talk about gods and goddesses, most of them like to stay in the temple and stare at the statues every day, and it is not as quiet as now that you can hear crows cawing.

Yes. The crow is cawing...

When the soldiers heard the crow, they all looked up at the big tree. When someone stops suddenly, everyone quickly stops.

Swined suddenly took a look and saw that his subordinates were all stunned. He already felt that something was strange and was even more frightened: "What are you doing? Let's go quickly."

"But sir." Someone raised his head and pointed to the branches of the big tree: "There is a crow. It is Odin. He is watching us. This is asking us not to invade the Holy Land."

Swined was speechless. Although he was a little worried, considering that the boy Rurik was approaching in a menacing manner. According to legend, the boy was blessed by Odin. Is it possible that Odin really sent an envoy to stand on the treetop to receive him?

"Stop dawdling and continue to follow me." He urged, "I'm about to go in. If you dare not to follow me, you won't get your salary this month."

For the sake of money, forget it all.

The brothers still have to receive money to live, and Odin will not pay the brothers.

The team resumed their advance, but were stopped for a moment by the bronze lock coming out of the wooden door of the wall.

"My lord, could it be that all the priests have left? This is too abnormal."

"It's abnormal. What are they doing?!" Swined scratched his head and was in a dilemma for a moment.

When his subordinates continued to ask about countermeasures, he made up his mind: "Smash it with me!"

Smash? Who will smash it?

Seeing that his subordinates still had concerns, he casually grabbed an axe, broke the lock with force, and then pushed open the closed door with all his strength.

The door opened, and it was extremely quiet inside the wall.

The flat courtyard was empty, and the huge temple building was unpopular, as if everyone had left.

Thinking that the main gate was locked, which was extremely abnormal in normal times, the soldiers who were confused whispered to each other, and they all said that the priests and monks had all left.

"Where have they gone?" Swynedd muttered.

A soldier came forward and said, "All signs indicate that they left."

"Leaved? Spread out and let me look for you all. The temple is not very big. Try to find a living person for me."

Swined's voice was loud and everyone obeyed.

The subordinates spread out to search, but there was no hope of finding the monk.

There were crows hidden in the big trees. Only the crows still screamed hoarsely like they were watching a show. Its sound was harsh, and it made Swynedd even more nervous.

As the Duke of Uppsala, he would not come to the temple area except during festivals. The monks have already built a low circular wall, which effectively prevents curious people from trespassing. He really felt that his move was inappropriate. Once the deal was done, he could only make the truth worse.

After all, as long as Rurik is king, he will be his subordinate. In principle, what happened today was requested by that kid Rurik, and Odin would never blame him.

After clarifying the situation, Swinned immediately led several of his men into the main hall of the semi-curved temple complex, a large long house with a huge and steep gabled roof.

The house is dedicated to the gods Thora, Umber and Odin, the so-called kings of heaven, earth and gods.

However, everyone who entered the hall was dumbfounded.

Swined's eyes widened and he asked a question from his soul: "Where is the idol? Where did it go?"

The platform on which the statues were placed is still there, but the bronze statues have disappeared.

Even though the statues of the three gods displayed by the Uppsala people are not large and can even be easily carried and moved by a strong man, who has the courage to move the statues out of the temple?

Suddenly, for a moment, Swined thought of something.

He was so angry that he gritted his teeth: "High Priest, and all your priests? Are you using this method to defy the Russians and put me in an unjust position?"

This was just an idea. As his subordinates brought over a crude wooden board, the truth became clear.

There are a lot of scratches carved on the wooden board with a knife, which are actually a letter written in runes.

The content of the letter is extremely simple: "We cannot serve the arrogant Russians. We will bring the statues and sacred vessels to the forest altar. When the Russians end their farce, we will return."

In a fit of rage, Swynedd struck him with his knee, causing the entire board to shatter into slag.

The content of the letter shocked everyone present. He told everyone: "You haven't seen anything and you don't know anything. Do you understand?"

Someone else asked tremblingly: "The high priests and others..."

"Shut up!" Swinned slapped him with his hand: "You don't know anything! Only I know this. Now follow me and leave, I will go meet the Russians."

But those priests did move all the important equipment of the big temple away. There were no obvious footprints left on the ground. Based on the analysis of the facts, Swined felt that the priests had all left during the heavy rain while carrying the sacred vessels. If you think about it carefully, there are not many utensils that the priests have to move away. The most important ones are the three statues of gods, and the others are some gold and silverware.

Even the residence of the priests was inspected by the soldiers. It can be seen that those people took some clothes with them when they left.

They still left a batch of daily necessities behind, which shows that the evacuation was also quite hasty.

Swined didn't expect that the high priest would do things so thoroughly. Although there was an altar in the forest, was this attitude of completely refusing to cooperate with the Russians really good? Those Russians were so cruel that they even wiped out their own priest group. Killing the priests did not feel like a big sin to them.

In a sense, the Uppsala tribe's power of faith is the strongest in Sweden, but today's performance seems to be that their power of faith is very weak. The priest group guarded the sacred tree and actually took the initiative to separate from the Uppsala people living nearby. The Russian army entered the Neihu area and camped to build the city. Although the priests planned to meet the many demands of the Russian prince, they could only negotiate with each other. He left a letter and ran away with the sacred vessel Sayazi.

Swinned was extremely disappointed with the group of priests. Could it be that the tribe controlled a sacred tree and a large temple, and the Russians were so full that they looked up to the Uppsala tribe. That's what he thought, but he didn't know Rurik's true thoughts.

What is quite darkly humorous is that the Russian army that is about to arrive at the Great Temple has a small number of soldiers, but its clothes are very gorgeous, and the composition of the soldiers is very subtle.

The cold wave during the wheat harvest many years ago put the Uppsala tribe in dire straits. Some parents really had no choice but to drive their children, who were only twelve or a few years old, to leave the tribe and work as beggars for food among the Melalen people.

All the beggars who could be found by the big Russian merchants were sent to Tombstone Island, and then transported to Novorosberg and even Novgorod. The ten-year-old boy at that time is now over eighteen years old. He eats food provided by the Russians, receives military training, and becomes a young soldier affiliated with the Sixth Flag. Now, they are revisiting their old places, but their souls have already belonged to Ross.

Rurik's gorgeous team was getting closer and closer to the Great Temple of Uppsala. Until this time, the young warrior from the Uppsala tribe who was accidentally included in this small team finally couldn't hold back his heart.

At the risk of being punished, the soldiers broke away from their formation and ran to the Maharaja.

"What's going on? We are almost reaching their temple. Are you nervous? Return to the team quickly." Rurik scolded.

The soldier showed no fear and slapped his chest with his right arm: "Sir, I was once an Uppsala native."

"oh?"

The brief description really made Rurik angry and happy. He himself indeed ignored that there were soldiers from Uppsala in his army. Although he had been away from his hometown for many years, it was reasonable to ask for some information. The soldier pointed out that the priests in Uppsala were very proud, and that the so-called guardians of the sacred tree were messengers of God, and so on.

Rurik didn't take it seriously: "If it's just these, I would have predicted it. Just step back! Your report is very good. Don't do it again in the future."

The local priests in Uppsala were too redundant, and the architectural style of their great temple did not satisfy Rurik. This time the Ross army saw the low wall and a guard standing at the gate.

Rurik wondered if the priests still had soldiers as goalkeepers? After taking a closer look, I realized that it was Swined's man who had arrived first.

After walking for a while, Rurik was slightly out of breath. When he looked up at the huge ball-shaped tree, he felt that he was no longer tired.

There is a giant tree growing in the wilderness. The temple building is tiny in comparison, and the people under the tree are as small as ants.

The giant tree attracted everyone's attention. Otto raised his old head and lamented that the Uppsala people still have such a treasure. Many female relatives had never seen such a big tree up close, and they all opened their mouths with emotion.

Even the cavalry, they curled their flags on the flagpole and rode directly into the temple. The entire metal temple area of ​​the Russian army stopped spontaneously under the shade of the giant tree.

The squawking crow had flown away inadvertently. At least Rurik never noticed that there was a crow here.

Swined walked out of the big temple with mixed emotions, and saw that the Russians were all shaded under the trees, but it was difficult to say anything.

He walked straight away and looked up at Prince Rurik who was in a good mood.

"As you can see, this is our temple."

"I did see an interesting building, and I thought I would encounter resistance from the priests. Apparently, you drove them away?"

Undoubtedly, Swined found this an opportunity. His eyes lit up and he immediately lied: "Yes. Even if some people didn't want to leave, they were driven away by me. That's it..."

"how?"

"The high priest took away some things, such as the idols."

"Is this so?" Rurik's gentle face finally showed displeasure, "That old man with a face full of tattoos actually did such a thing? Could it be that he doesn't welcome me?"

Swined shrugged. He didn't express his position, but his eyes showed some. From his point of view, the high priest ran away in the rain with the sacred artifact and left the mess on himself. How disrespectful did he take the Duke of Uppsala to take him seriously? The Rus' people dared to destroy their old priestly group, but the butcher's knife fell, and the Rus' nobles did not suffer divine punishment. He had to think carefully about whether he could follow suit.

But for the sake of tradition, Swined doesn’t want to be a villain. If anyone wants to be a villain, let the Rus do it!

He claimed to be a kind person and was unwilling to tell the truth, so he continued: "Our high priest feels that since the Rus have brought enough priests, if the Uppsala priests stay here any longer, they are tarnishing the nobility. . The high priest said that his level was too low, but the summer sacrifices in Uppsala still had to be done, so he took some sacred objects and left."

This is a fact and only part of the truth.

The smashed letter was brief, and the disdain it revealed was genuine.

Rurik nodded and felt better again: "It seems that your high priest is still a duplicitous person! He is very smart. I don't need your priest group at all. They can leave wisely and save me a lot of trouble. . In this way, if I carry out my enthronement ceremony according to Ross’s etiquette, is there any objection?”

Swined hurriedly replied: "I support you. Since the high priests have left, you and your priests can live here."

"Oh?" Rurik's eyes lit up: "Can you tell me more?"

"What I mean is that the Great Temple is yours now and you can use it freely."

Free to use? Just free use?

An opportunity lies ahead!

"I'd better take a look inside the big temple first. It doesn't matter if those people move away the statues, I will erect a better one."

With his wives and concubines, Rurik stood in the central hall of the Uppsala Temple. This is a large building with a large number of columns supporting the entire structure. Unfortunately, it is a single-story building. Looking up from the center of the hall, there is no ceiling. If you look carefully, you can see the highest beam.

The place where we originally visited the statue of the god was indeed empty. If we take a closer look at the furnishings in the main hall, it seems a bit shabby.

Rumia, the high priest of Rus, has a small figure and a large antlered helmet. She entered the so-called largest temple in Sweden as a priest. She originally maintained great humility. Now entering the temple area, she feels the most emotional. What was there was the giant tree. As for the big temple itself, the empty hall suddenly lost any sense of sanctity.

She gently pulled Rurik's hand: "Are we going to erect the statue here?"

"Here?" Rurik smiled bitterly, "It's really boring. The buildings of the priests just look big. The so-called big temple is nothing. We can build bigger and more luxurious ones in Rus. It's the tree outside. Tree! What a treasure.”

"Then, we will put the idol under the tree?"

"I have the same intention. Let's all go! There is nothing to see in the temple anymore."

With Swinned out of the hall, Rurik could feel free to speak contemptuously. After he walked out of the hall, he explained his plan to Swined. The so-called Ross priests could take over the temple, and the king-proclaiming ceremony would not be performed in the temple. The gilded Odin icon brought by Ross will be placed under the big tree, and a small shrine will be built to worship it. All rituals are performed around sacred trees, shrines, and statues.

In fact, Rurik even stated such a request: "You Uppsala priests abandoned your temple, and you preached that they would defend the temple or fight with me. They left, leaving the temple empty. Give it to me. Now this temple has a new owner, and that’s me!”

Out of emotion, Swined refused after hearing Rurik's unreasonable request.

He is a smart man and understands that if he tries to stop it, he will undoubtedly hit an egg with an egg. This matter can clearly be regarded as a transaction!

Swynedd stared intently and seemed to have a very decisive attitude: "It's absolutely okay. Sacred things should belong to sacred people, that is you. However, in order to build this temple and support this big tree, we Uppsala people also... …”

"Oh? I understand. You want some money, right?"

"yes."

"Just make a price."

"That's what I think. Regarding our big ship of Buyos in Uppsala, we will indeed have to pay a lot of food. My plenipotentiary helped me reach a deal, but... I feel very... Pressure. How about it? We buy you a big ship, and in exchange, the entire temple is yours!"

"This?" Rurik subconsciously felt that this guy was joking and couldn't help but retreat three times. "Really?"

"That's true."

"Ok, deal!"

No one could have imagined that things could be like this. Originally, everyone came to the Great Temple for the purpose of pilgrimage. How come that in just a short time, the Great Temple became the property of Ross? In this way, this giant tree also became Ross's property.

Fearing that Swinned would change his mind, Rurik quickly agreed and even forced a written document to be drawn up.

On the hard paper carried with the army, the document was signed in duplicate. The content of the document was written in traditional rune script, and both parties signed their names in the name of the great nobles of their own tribes. Naturally, Rurik wrote more, and added an additional name - King of Sweden.

Things changed so fast that it was so shocking that High Priest Rumia could not have imagined that this temple already belonged to Ross, and in principle she was the top manager here. Although the temple building itself is not very good, its characteristic is that it is very large, enough for a large number of people to stay overnight. And this giant sacred tree.

To hell with the Uppsala priests!

By the afternoon, Rurik was already exercising the power of the new owner of the temple. He also had to do something to prove that he really had ownership of the temple.

The first task is to abolish the rule that Uppsala people will be punished if they stray into the temple area during non-holidays. The second item is to order his subordinates to dismantle all the low wooden walls.

Vigorous wall demolition operations are underway, and Rurik himself is not idle either.

The thick trunk of the giant tree was so shocking that he asked his wives and concubines to join hands in measuring the circumference of the tree. It took seven or eight people to surround him.

Although the young woman's arm length is a bit short, even this can prove the hugeness of the tree. With the use of food saving, the circumference of the big tree was calculated, and the diameter at breast height of the big tree was also estimated to be an astonishing length. It actually broke through two stikas.

If the cross-section of a large tree trunk is a standard circle, its diameter will be more than two meters.

What kind of tree is it? Judging from the leaves, it is a special cedar tree.

It is indeed a cedar tree, a giant European yew. Find the bookstore www.zhaoshuyuan． com or the Nordic Giant Purple Shirt.

In principle, the European yew can grow to extremely large sizes, but its reproductive ability is very weak, and the entire species is scattered.

Even people in southwestern Europe discovered the super elasticity of yew wood and it was an excellent material for making bows. When they tried to cultivate it artificially in large quantities, they would not allow it to grow very large. When it was still a small tree, the yew tree was cut down to make bows, or it was deliberately planted for military purposes.

Rurik could not determine the true species of this giant tree. In a large open grassland, this tree was too conspicuous. It is indeed very tall, and its wide trunk is also the largest tree that the Ross army soldiers present have ever seen in their lives.

No one truly understands the World Tree, or perhaps because we are little bugs on the round fruit that exists on the World Tree, we naturally cannot get a glimpse of the whole picture.

People spontaneously called the big tree Yggdrasil, as if it had that name.

It was immediately given a formal name by Rurik: "Let's call it the World Tree (Homiggdrassil) on earth."

Please remember the first domain name of this book: . :