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I
arrived at the inn in Arvika in Sweden, an hour’s journey from
the border of Norway back from my pilgrimage to the three major
sites, “Rome,” “Santiago de Compostela” and the “Holy
Lands.” The innkeeper saw directly that I was a stranger for I
still had my sclavein and my staff at hand.
The
innkeeper asked me, “What’s your name?”
My name
is Turkqach van Monslovan.
“Where
are you from?” He asked me.
“I’m
from Norway to the west.” I answered.
“Ah!!!
I’ve got some friends from there too, they’re from the
Oslo.”
“I’m
from Kongsvinger, close to the border.” I told him.
“What
happened there?” He pointed at my right arm.
“Oh
that’s part of my story.” I told him.
“Then
sit down, sit down and tell me your story.” He said.
“So I
went south from Kongsvinger to the site at Porsgrunn were I met
some bandits and I was saved by some rangers, though I could never
see the faces of my rescuers. And then I sailed to Skagen in
Denmark without difficulty even with the hazardous amounts of
Vikings in the Skagerrak. I then went all the way to the site in
Haderslev meeting with some more bandits, which I was captured by,
but was released the next day by their chief, who saw that I was
useless and poor. So I went to Lübeck in Germany encountering a
gigantic bear, at first the bear stared at me and then said
nothing and looked away, meanwhile I was so still, all I could
here was the whistling of the wind on the snow, and the next
instant I ran for my life. Then I went west, to the cathedral at
Ommen in Holland with another obstacle to accomplish, the wolves
and the snowstorm. Though I was used to the snow and the cold, but
snowstorms were too much.”
“Once
out of Holland I went to Antwerpen in Belgium and then I went
south to the church in Alzette in Luxembourg with once more, some
devilish wolves to run away from. That’s where I lost my right
hand.”
“I
see now, that mustn’t have been pleasant.” The innkeeper told
me.
I
answered with a nod and continued.
“I
then went to the church in Douai in France and next to Toulouse. I
encountered some more bandits and was once again was captured.
That next morning I awoke with the chief of the gang in front of
me. He asked me all sorts of questions and then he left for a
moment. I was in a tent with two guards in front of me and I
spotted a dagger at the far end of the tent with no one guarding
it. So I leapt for it and stunned one of the guards and the other
went asking for help so I took a horse that was near the tent and
rode off. This made it easier for me and quicker. So I rode to
Andorra la vela and went to its church and next, to the one and
only site at Santiago de Compestela. Once arrived there I was
overjoyed but at the same time I sighed, for the whole journey had
taken me almost two years and I knew that I would only be back in
another 6 years. Though I knew that I could do it and that a third
of my journey had been accomplished. So I road and continued my
journey southward to Lisbon in Portugal and back to Spain and to Málaga.
I then took a ship to Livorno in Italy. I slept in a tiny cabin
with my horse and I had little food. I stayed on the boat for
seven weeks and almost died of boredom. And once In Italy after
the 7 weeks of sailing over the Mediterranean and the fight
against pirates, I road south to Rome were I knew that two thirds
of my journey would be accomplished and that I had just to go to
Jerusalem and go back home to Kongsvinger. So I visited the church
and slept at the hospice next door and I had to sleep in a tiny
bed with 4 other people, it was infested with fleas and I had to
pay 2 golden coins! Well even with the shelter and the bed I
thought that it was the worst night that I had so far. Although
the other times I had nothing, just grass or snow but it was
definitely more comfortable. So the next morning I ate my
breakfast and left directly for the south of Italy, Catanzaro.
When I was about an hours journey from Catanzaro I met some more
bandits, they were about 10 and were all armed. They all had masks
and were approaching. Though I had an advantage because it was
night and they were on foot but they were already surrounding me.
So I charged for the enemy but I tumbled over my horse and my
horse ran away. So the bandits captured me in the next instant.”
“The
next thing I knew, I was in the middle of the field, where I was
captured the night before. I had thought that the bandits must
have seen that I was a pilgrim when there was light, but they
couldn’t see what I was in the dark. So I continued on foot
until I reached Cantanzaro. There I went to the sea and took a
ship to Holon in the Holy Lands. The boat this time was bigger and
the cabins where more comfortable and nicer. Though the journey
took 8 weeks and once again we meat with Pirates. They had the
Pirates flag and the Turkish flag. They had only one boat but they
were many aboard. This time I really thought that all was lost but
they took a wrong tack and so we took the advantage and sped to
the harbour at Holon, luckily they weren’t able to catch up and
the authorities helped us once they saw the pirates chasing us.
So
after the 8 weeks of sailing I bought a horse with what little I
had left and rode for Jerusalem. Once arrived at the Holy lands I
visited the church and knew that I had accomplished my journey,
that I had been forgiven and that I would go to heaven.”
“What
did you do to have to be forgiven?” The innkeeper asked me.
“It’s
not something that I would like to talk about.” I replied.
“You
don’t like talking when the talk is about you personally, do
you?” he asked me with a humoristic smile.
I
replied “Yes” with a smile and once again continued.
“So
once after being at the church I went back to Holon and took an
other boat to Kavala in Greece through the Aegean Sea. This was
about 12 weeks after I arrived from the Mediterranean from Málaga.
Once I arrived at Kavala I went to Skopje in Macedonia and
Belgrade in Yugoslavia with no problems but the higher I went the
more bandits there were as I knew from experience like in Germany,
Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. And so I went even more to
the north being more cautious and more discrete when I arrived at
Budapest in Hungary and next to Bratislava in Slovakia. Still I
had no problems except with one encounter with a wolf, which I
easily dealt with. So I continued on and went to Prague in Czech,
crossing the north of Switzerland and next to Warsaw in Poland
where once again I met some bandits, they were only three but only
one of them were armed so I ran for a forest near by and looked
back to see if they were following, and they were, they weren’t
as fast as me but if they could throw their heavy mace at me then
I would be lost. The next moment that’s what they did and the
bandit hit a tree, two inches away from me. I was so scared I fell
onto the ground. I looked back and I saw the three bandits lying
on the ground exhausted so I gathered my strengths and ran! The
next day I arrived at Vilnius in Lithuania, passing a bit of
Belarus and stopped at the inn. I ate a bit and I took a nap to
regain my strengths and once again I set off. I travelled north to
Daugavpits in Latvia and more to the north Pechory in Estonia.
There I went up to Tartu and crossed the Lake Peipus to Russia and
went north to St. Petersburg. Then I went up to Hamina in Finland
and went West to Turku. There I took a boat to Norrtälje in
Sweden and then I came here in Avika.”
“Well
that’s a long story, and I hope you’ll get repaid for all the
effort you’ve done.” The innkeeper told me.
“Thank
you.” I replied.
“How
long did the journey last?”
“It
lasted about 6 years.” I told him.
“That’s
quite long, I hope the church haven’t already claimed your
land.”
“It
doesn’t matter, I’ve still got the pilgrimage and I
accomplished my destiny. I don’t care about the future anymore
except for going back to my family.” I told him.
“Well,
I’ll serve you a nice meal and a comfy bed for the night and
you’ll be ready to travel tomorrow.”
“Thank
you very much. How much will be?”
“How
much will it be?! Why, free of course, for all you’ve done and
told me, I just want to show that my inn’s better than any old
stinky inn in Rome!”
“Thank
you so much, it’s the nicest offer that anyone has ever given to
me.”
“Ah!
Shut up, Turkqach van Monslovan.” He told me like if we had been
good friends all our life.
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