It was a warm, sunny day in old Ireland. The villages were rundown, the townspeople did not have much, but there was a castle on the hill. The levels of its tower were quite tall, and surrounding the castle was a beautiful lake filled with the clearest blue water and most amazing wild creatures you’ve ever seen. Some say it was magical because it was so beautiful and peaceful.

My name is Frieda. My husband is Halfdane. My brother-in-law is Erik.

When I first walked into the castle, I stood on the bridge to take in my surroundings. The bridge was controlled by four men on the lookout tower. The first thing that caught my eye was the huge bell that could be heard miles around to warn of enemy horsemen approaching. As tall as the walls were, there were concerns that the wall would crumble thousands of rocks into pebbles, leaving the people unprotected.

The water that day was clear as it can be. The color was as blue as my eyes; I felt the sand between my toes. It was warm and breezy on the lake.

I went down to the shore to welcome our fighters who would participate in the battle to become the new king and thus unite our kingdoms.

The first king was Eric. His name explains his personality very well: absolute ruler. He was tall and handsome, with long brown hair and a shapely beard. He was very strong, but extremely violent. In his mind, war was better than peace. He felt best when the field was filled with chaos and bloodshed; when his soldiers had traces of crimson on the blades of their swords.

Erik’s brother, Halfdane, took his men and built our peaceful kingdom (of name of village), where the villages were safe for children to run free and wild. Halfdane looked like a Dane, but his personality was completely opposite from his brother’s. He wanted peace and he wanted a family. Erik and Halfdane had the same father but different mothers. When Erik was little, his mom passed away in childbirth.

The brothers were separated after Erik’s mother died in childbirth. Erik went to live with a war chief, while Halfdane remained in the castle with his aunt and mother. Halfdane and Erik were close; they would write to each other and they would take one of their horses to meet with each other every month.

The day they were supposed to hunt, Halfdane took his horse to meet his brother. Halfdane and Erik chose to hunt in a new spot,because they did not want to be caught by their enemy, Ivarś tribe. When Erik approached this place, a group of men stood at the end of the road. Erik overlooked this,and continued his journey. In one fell swoop, these men grabbed him off his horse and rode off to Ivarś castle.

Erik and Halfdane were supposed to meet back at their meeting spot every two hours, but Erik never returned. Halfdane waited four hours in vain, but finally concluded that his brother had been captured and must be dead. He returned to the king and told him the news. The king took pity on Halfdane, and raised him.

Erik grew up as a prisoner in Ivarś castle. He sat in his cramped, dark cell and became more and more angry. He felt forgotten by his father and his brother, and promised that one day, he would find them and take revenge. He didn’t know that the king and Erik had tried and failed to rescue him after they heard rumors of his captivity in Ivarś castle. Ivar just kept feeding him lies to fuel his anger.

Over time, Erik and Ivar became like father and son. On Erikś 18th birthday he went into battle with Ivar to fight against his fatherś kingdom. This was the moment that Erik had dreamed of for years: the chance to confront the father and brother who left him for dead..

The day of the battle Ivar took Erik and went to the battlefield an extra day early to scope the land to pick the best place to fight the army. Once they got to the battle place, it was light out and the sun was just about to come up. It was so chilled outside that you could see your breath when you started to talk. The trees were dark and gloomy and the grass was as green as it could be. On top of the hill there was this wagon that was flipped down and a box outside of the wagon had the initials of his father’s name.

Ivar was lucky to have it taken away before Erik ever got to see it; he told his man to bring it back to the castle. Ivar had to decide if they were going to fight on top of the hill or the bottom of the hill. The best thing they could do for his army was to fight on top of the hill then he had his men take leaves and make a huge circle with dry leaves and stick too be able to start it on fire to trap the other army and then run down the field making the army not being able to see because of the smoke.

The day of the battle the sun was beginning to set, and Ivar took his men and divided them from each other in hopes of intimidating the other army. Each man started to yell and make loud noises. Slowly they gathered together making a first row. The first row went down on their knees to cover the lower part of the ankles and their knee caps. The second row covered the upper part of the chest. Then the spears and the swords went through the hole. Next the 3rd row covered the neck and the head and they held that position.

The fire went out and Halfdane saw his brother was alive. He wept with joy. Erik was not in the enemy formation. He was away from the main shield army, so he could observe and direct the battle. Halfdane ran to his brother and tried to speak to him but Erik swung his sword and began to fight his brother. Halfdane tried to tell him that he thought Erik was dead, that Erik had never come back from the hunt; that he had waited and gone back every day.

Erik realized the truth and lowered his sword down to embrace his brother. Both agreed they needed to tell father that he was alive and well. When they were on their way to the battle, Erik saw that Ivar was approaching his father, so he jumped off his horse and charged Ivar.. Haldane confronted Ivar. Ivar went to fight, but Erik struck him down. The battle was over.

Halfdane and Erik went home. Halfdane introduced me to Erik, and Erik met my dearest friend. They instantly fell in love. The two got married and now have three children. Just as Halfdane and I do.

We all went home and stayed in the village together. We worked together. We fought together. Together we ruled our lands until we reached a ripe, old age.