Personal History of Egill Assa

     My name is Egill Assa, I was born in the spring of 1055 and I am 28 years old.   I was born in the small trading town of Oseberg, Norway.   I was named Egill by my father, Buliwyf, in honor of his brother.  The name Assa was given to me by my older brother Tyr, and means eagle.  He says he game me that nick name because of the eagles that landed on the roof the night I was born.  He told me he could see the Aurora Borealis lighting up the night sky behind them.

     I am the second son of Buliwyf, an extremely successful, wealthy merchant.  The thing he specialized in was the making of armor--both in chainmail and in leather. 

     My mother's name was Freya.  She was an extremely beautiful, gifted woman who could make any kind of jewelry you could possibly imagine out of gold and silver.  She was also a talented artist.  

     I have two siblings, one younger sister and an older brother.  My brother is five years older than I am.  His name is Tyr, named after the God of battle, justice and the swearing of oaths.  Like me, he spent most of his childhood learning how to make armor and to sail with the help of Thorulf Sigurdsson.  He has a ship, and as a friend of our family he taught us both how to sail.  

     My sister is two years younger than me.  Her name is Freyja.  Like our mother, she is an artist.  

     When I was at the age of 12, Buliwyf left on a trading expedition into the Far East, across the Black Sea, to the trading city of Miklagard (Constantinople).  It was more than a year later before we learned that he was killed by a band of thieves.  We also learned that all of the outlaws were caught and put to death by being beheaded. 

     For the rest of the family still in Oseberg, life continued on normally for about another two years.  Around the time I turned 15, we started hearing stories about the raids taking place to our south in Denmark.  We were told of great riches being taken from the monasteries of the English Christians.   Although I thought of joining one of these raiding parties from time to time, for the most part I was too busy helping Tyr run both a farm and our business in town.  I tried to ignore the stories that we heard, as I was too busy as it was, and was needed where I was, doing the work I was already doing to worry about anything else. 

     It was the middle of July that I went with Freyja on a three day hunting trip.  We got lucky-we were already thinking of meat that would be needed for the upcoming winter.  We killed two deer and one black bear.  We spent part of a day skinning and preparing the meat for travel, and in this way we can get the skins to start drying in preparation for using them to make clothing. 

     We were both unprepared for and shocked when we drew close to home to see the rising smoke from both our home and the town that was burning.  Everything was destroyed and just about everyone was dead. 

      We found two people alive.  They lived just long enough to tell us who had attacked the town.  Before they died they told us they had been attacked by an English warship that was seeking revenge for all of the monasteries that had been destroyed earlier in the years. 

      When we got to the farmstead itself, we found Tyr dead, and our mother raped and then murdered as well.  I sent Freyja north to Borre to find Thorulf and anyone else who could help.  In the meantime, I started to prepare the dead so they could be buried.

     When Thorulf Sigurdsson and his men finally arrived, and we finished caring for our honored dead, I made an arrangement with Thorulf to sail on his ship, the Brina Vulf, with him in the hope that we could overtake the ship responsible for the murder of my family. 

     I talked to Ansuz, another long time friend of our family before he left to return to Borre.  He agreed to take Freyja under his care until my return.  Before the two of them headed north, Freyja presented me with a cloak that she said she hoped would keep me warm while out at sea.  It was made from the black bear we had killed a few days before.

     After getting the Brina Vulf ready for travel, we headed south in the hope of catching up with the warship.  We spent three long years hunting the ship that attacked the town of Oseberg, however,  unfortunately, we never did find them.

     I sailed with Thorulf for another four years.  We sailed the Mediterranean, everywhere from Rome, to Jerusalem, to Miklagard.  Like Thorulf, I served for a time as a trusted guard for the Byzantine Emperor. 

     After so many years away from my homeland, at the age of 22 I finally returned to Norway.  I returned with the hope of seeing my sister all grown up and hopefully married to a successful merchant.  Instead what I found on returning to the trading town of Borre was that no one knew who or where Fryja or Ansuz were.

     I spent the next few years trying to find out what could have happened to Fryja.  Once again, my search ended in failure, for I never did find out what happened to my little sister or Ansuz, the friend who had been entrusted to look after her.

     I again left Norway.  I ended up traveling through Europe until I finally settled in the lands of the Barony of Warwick, where I pledged my loyalty to the Baron Roberte Riche and the beautiful Lady Baroness GIllian.  To this day I continue to serve them both.