Once upon a time, in the age before the Norman conquest of England, the reach of the Scandinavians extended all across northern Europe and many other nations. 

The beginning of this Scandinavian migration began with the Viking raid of Lindisfarne, which was home to monks and an ever-growing library. In the raid, many of the monks were killed while others were taken as slaves, and the library, along with the entire monastery, was destroyed. Word spread, and that is how the Vikings got their reputation of being savages with no respect for religion or education.

Concerning religion, the Vikings had their own beliefs. While the later Vikings were quick to adapt to Christianity, the earlier colonies believed in a world centered around a cosmological tree: the tree of Yggdrasil. 

The tree of Yggdrasil was home to gods, humans, jötnar (giants), and other beings like elves and dwarves. Humanity resided in the center of the cosmos at a place called Midgard while the gods lived in Asgard.

The earth was made from the body of Ymir, the first of the godlike giants. Sprinkled about this earth, as signs of the gods’ generosity, were gemstones. Many gemstones were created, but only eight had power bestowed upon them from the gods.

These eight special stones were left in Midgard as a challenge. Whoever was to find all eight gemstones would become immortal, just like the gods that created them.

In the beginning of time, humans were filled with the motivation to find these stones. Many died from searching relentlessly for the keys to eternal life. As time wore on, the search grew fruitless. Mortals became too involved in mortal things that they soon forgot about the stones.

That was all until the day a child was born.

The child was born in the midst of a raid. In a meek fisherman’s colony just below a cliff, a baby was born amidst the flames and wreckage. The mother was not seen, the father not heard. 

Alone and crying, the babe sat in a wooden cradle that stood firm against the fire like a rock against wind. In the child’s hand laid a fiery orange stone that glowed a golden light upon the face of the possessor.

A viking from the clan saw the child and took them and the stone away to safety. As soon as the child was taken from the wooden cradle, flames ate the crib until it was no more.

Raiders left the town a smoldering pile of ash and mud. 

The only remaining piece of the town was taken and raised as their own.

- 

As a note, I will use some old Scandinavian words from time to time, so look at the footnotes for translations. 

Keep in mind that this is a historical fiction! The historical part of this will be extremely simplified in order to keep from being too boring. This culture is very detailed and definitely worth a study, so I encourage you all to research it more if you're interested!

Also, if there are any corrections concerning the culture and language, please comment below.

I hope you all enjoy!