Chapter 55 - the Festival IV
The fourth day of the festival, was mostly dedicated to the sword games. Ryeamund oversaw a number of blacksmiths in his region. In place of paying tax, blacksmiths were encouraged to make things to send to the far north, instead of tax coin.
It was a practical thing. Why send tax coins to the far north, to the high king's treasury. Then, those same coins had to be transported out and to places where things were going to be purchased, then those things shipped up north. It cut out the middle man. Simply send some output from the smith shop up, and be done with it.
When the blacksmiths weren't sure of this plan, working for free as the words came to go around. Ryeamund explained, at great length to them. What would your normal tax be, you are paying anyways. They knew that from experience. Here is what you would be making, and would get picked up to go off. It was actually slightly less, than what the tax would be once all figured out.
It was the same for the woodcutters and the men that fashioned the hard timbers out of the felled trees. They actually made out a little better, if they simply cut a certain number of hard trees, and gathered a certain numbers of handle saplings. Simply let the finished timbers and handles be taken when it was time.
Some pig farmers, crop farmers, and other craft-workers were on the same plan. It was risky to ship gold around. It was far less risky to ship hardwood timbers and hard handle saplings. No bandit worth his salt, would try to drag away large timbers.
All blacksmiths that make swords, have not sharpened and slightly rounded tip swords on display, to show what they can make. Ryeamund borrowed all of these, and lined them up for his festival. The young men could choose among what was there to enter the games. Of the people that had a sword of their own to let their young man use? None of them were blunted and rounded anyways.
With twenty to one odds for Shan, the local men first saw what coin the north-men were willing to risk. It was on all of them? To get together twenty times as much coin, to have on hand that they could cover their wager. The pig farmer that Ryeamund had spoken to about the value of reckoning? Was perhaps the richest farmer around with his huge pig farm. They went to him, to help cover what they needed to have on hand. He obliged them.
The Gentle Man from the garten, a high reckoner, saw to counting and tying the sacks shut. He sat alone at a table, the sacks thus counted and tied up, always in plain view for all to see. If Shan lost either the sword games or the next day's hand fighting games? The locals got the north-men's combined wager. If, however, Shan somehow managed to pull off his great upset as they viewed it? Well then, the north-men got that huge leather sack, that held twenty times as many gold coins.
Before his first match, Shan addressed his father. He reminded him, that he had never formally been given leave to fight. Ryeamund chuckled, and told him he now and forwards? Had permission.
Shan when the time came, used one of his mother's swords. Long and thin as compared to the bigger swords most people of the time and day favored. She had a blunted and rounded one, it was used before her sons graduated to sharp and pointed ones.
The young men were all lined up, and every two young men had a match. An "odd man" got a "bye" and advanced to the next round. The next time around? The winners were arranged the same way. Each round, half the young men lost and were out, half the young men won and went forwards.
Stuart gave Wulfgar a bag of large high gold coins. It was a prize to the winner. A little geft from the high king to the festival. Wulfgar explained that while he was quite keen on finding men of even low reckoning, let alone high reckoning to fashion into big-men and kingsmen? A fine sword arm was another plus to add to that.
From Shan's first match up, it was quite a surprise. He could simply move around and avoid the opponent's big, heavy sword. They quickly got frustrated and tried even harder. They grew more fatigued, even quicker. When they were played out, he easily tapped them out.
He even let one particularly strong young man enjoy a treat. He stuck his own sword in the ground, and simply let him tire himself out. He had selected one of the biggest, heaviest swords there. When he was so tired he had trouble even picking his heavy sword up, much less able to swing it hardly? He grabbed the wrist that held the boy's sword, and disarmed him. Tired beyond measure, he easily tapped him out. With his own sword, no less.
It wasn't even fair to watch it. He appeared all but bored. Sitting at the Oxen table in armor, and drinking horns of fine-mead? Var loudly proclaimed that this wasn't even to be considered entertainment. Why, she could just as well have brought young girls down from RavinLunden, and it would have been more sporting.
A short time later, Var loudly proclaimed that Gullina would have fared better than any of the young men did in the sword games.