An Excerpt of the Book
This is what I think happened.
Up until now my inference and assumptions where based on human nature and the historical facts I have found. I have tried to tell you what the message says as plainly as I can; accepting my first impressions as probably intuitively close.
Day One, they lost possessions ie; perhaps a boat overturned in the surf or a Polar bear came down the beach, maybe raccoons raided their camp in the night.
Day Two, the Christians (lead by Paul remember) are constraining (rationing) the supplies on a long journey. This would make sense if they had just lost some of their food.
Day Three, there are multiple signals. Lets see they are coming up the Red River from Hudson Bay. If you look at the geo-political map of the time they were traveling on the demarcation line between the Sioux and Chippewa Nations. So here comes beings that to the Natives look like creatures from another planet. An Iron Age culture clad in mail carrying metal weapons and wearing shining smooth hats appearing in the midst of a Stone-age one. I bet there were signals. This was a watched area by both Nations.
Day Four, they are ambushed and possessions are lost. The classic raid to see what these people carried and more importantly if they where human. This is classic tactics in information gathering.
Day Five, the Christians decide to fight; however they lose big with eight out of twenty three fighters lost. In my study of history any time one third of a fighting force was lost the remnants where in one of two states. Fleeing or captured. I think perhaps they were ambushed and caught say at sunrise without armor on or sword in hand.
Day Six, possessions are used possessions are gained. They lost their possessions however someone is feeding them and they traveled.
Day Seven, he mentions Paul for the first time and uses the symbol for (Dead God). Ok if you where a northern barbarian and being told the story of Christ for the first time. The teller would talk about how Christ died on the cross to save you.
You (the barbarian) might interrupt the story teller to say, ‘let
me get this clear, you want me to forsake my Gods for this one you say is
(dead)?’
What with the interpretation barrier it must have been a hard sell at some
times. However to Harrek and his compatriots this probably seemed a fitting
symbol for Sir Paul (the dead God guy).
Harrek goes on to say that Paul forms a secret partnership for possessions
gain, I think he was trying to build a secret supply to escape with. It
doesn’t work however, I think that the captors where using hunger
as a coercion tool to get their prisoners to cooperate so there wasn’t
anything extra to hide away. Also hungry men are weak men.
Day Eight, they standstill, Harrek is tracking time.
Day Nine, they standstill in defense, the people they are with must defend themselves from something earthly, wildlife or man. I would like to point out that within these two Native-American Nations there was tribal disputes and conflict. A raid from a competing tribe within the Nation would have been possible. The Vikings and their “Dragon canoe” would have been a big catch. Sort of like owning your very own cruise missile battery.
Day Ten, the warriors are whole (or sudden, like a thunderbolt) in Christian (or Christians) earthly defense. There was a fight and the Christians came off looking good.
Day Eleven, possessions gained, possessions used. Perhaps there was a sharing of the spoils.
Day Twelve, Paul constrains because of the secret partnership there is flow in the constraint we standstill in earthly defense. So now they are hiding food however there is still combat going on and they must defend themselves.
Day Thirteen, constraint by the Christians, they are not sharing the hidden food?
Day Fourteen, on the journey the secret partnership exists, there are signals we attack adversaries suddenly (like a thunderbolt).
Day Fifteen, signals, (it ain’t over yet).
Day Sixteen, Paul and the Christians in earthly defense.
So here are Stone-age warriors attacking Iron-age warriors. It went something
like this. The natives rush the men in iron. Their flint knives and stone
or wooden war clubs have little or no effect on these people clad from head
to ankle in ringed shirts with padding underneath and wearing iron helms.
The natives see terrible destruction done to their fellows. A butchers scene
of dismembered limbs and split torsos.
Day Seventeen, On the journey the Christians lose people partnership flow. They are not getting along with the natives so well. So what do you think? Did they give their weapons back, were the natives coward by the demonstration.
Day Eighteen, The Christians and Paul still have a secret partnership. They are still hiding food.
Day Nineteen, Standstill in partnership. There is a day of non-cooperation.
Day Twenty, Constraint by the Christian warriors is whole. The Christians are pulling together with their plan.
Day Twenty One, Possession use is constrained by the Christians and Paul. The Christians are successfully hiding food.
Day Twenty Two, Possessions used on the journey, Possessions gained.
Day Twenty Three, We journey much and see much possessions
use constrained by Christians.
Western Minnesota in the 1300s was an untouched wilderness abundant in natural
resources with a seemingly endless 200-year-old pine forests. The trees
were 5 feet thick at their base and towered over 200 feet in the air. Herds
of Buffalo, a creature Europeans had not seen before, stretching away to
the horizon. Flocks of birds and other waterfowl in their turn would fly
over head so numerous they blocked out the sun.
A veritable Eden to European eyes; all of this was wiped out over a period
of fifty years in the 1800s by European settlers.
There are 64 days of log entries