Odin, Guardian of Voltar: A Viking Saga

By Joseph Leo DeCelle

A king. His crewmen. His ship. An enemy from the past. That past returning to the present. The essence of a great leader lies in the heart of the man. The strength of will and soul. The soul""within lies the victor. About the Author Joseph Leo DeCelle was born in Akron, Ohio, but he has remained a resident of Arizona since February 1988. It was while living in Arizona that he began writing. The desert landscape has been a major inspiration throughout the years.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098008703

Book preview

Chapter 1

The Storm

The Norsemen ran frantically toward their ship, desperately trying to steady her from the oncoming early winter storm.

Waves crashed harder and harder onto the tiny beach that quickly became the foothills to the mountainous highlands behind them.

We must secure the rope lines, men, lest we chance losing her all together this very night! King Voltar shouted to his men, adding, We shall look like fools fighting the waves on our rafts tomorrow should we lose her this night, he said with a bellowing laugh. All the men laughed; as one by one, they fought the whipping ropes that lashed at them like angry pit vipers at the sight of their captors.

The men cheered as the last of the rope lines were once again secured. Voltar was pleased.

Voltar was a very brave man, a very strong man. Yet he was very humble at the same time. Voltar took his role as king very seriously, but he knew not to always take himself so seriously. He was their leader, but he was also one of them—part of the same tribe.

He was their leader. He was their strength. He always seemed to know just what to do and how to solve any problem. He taught them how to build a ship. How to repair it, even during a heavy storm, even while still at sea! Knowledge passed down to him through his ancestors. Voltar just always seemed to know.

He taught them how to tan the animal hides that literally kept them alive throughout the incredibly harsh winters, when to plant crops, how to hunt before hibernation season came, and how to fish. It was as if he (King Voltar) was in league with Odin himself.

Surely their god, Odin, had a place prepared in Valhalla just for Voltar.

King Voltar could have been many things; what he was not was a tyrant. He loved his people. They were, after all, his people, his tribe, and his responsibility. And great men cannot achieve greatness if ruled by an iron fist.

Paranoia and caution run side by side. A great leader must understand the risk he must take if he is to walk between the two. Too much caution and you will become weak and vulnerable. Too much paranoia and you risk becoming a tyrant—hated, unstable, dethroned, murdered.

Voltar’s wife, Laurentia, awoke the moment Voltar left the warmth of their bed to see to his ship. But she too would soon join him outside to see the men cheering and laughing. It made her smile. King Voltar insisted that laughter was medicine. Without it, people become bitter, selfish, spiteful, and even envious of one another. It might sound preposterous, but he knew it to be true.

It seemed a lifetime ago that there was no laughter. Perhaps because the laughter was taken from his village, his people, when he was just a boy. Voltar had experienced too much at too tender an age.

Scars, like the pain of witnessing the senseless slaughter of loved ones all in one night, do not heal at that age. They lay in wait for a chance at revenge. As Voltar grew into manhood; however, he grew tired of carrying so much heavy hatred around with him. It seemed to make every task that much harder. Sleep was almost impossible. Fear, anger, and pain from the past were overwhelming him, pressing down on him more and more. He prayed to Odin to help him, to bring him back to the days of laughter. Odin granted what the young Voltar requested because Voltar was true to himself, and Odin knew that a great man, perhaps the greatest man the world has ever seen was within Voltar. Happiness and laughter were thus forever granted. Vengeance would perhaps, one day come. The winds would speak to him of this in time. Voltar was at peace with this thought.

In time, he would become a great king. Yes, perhaps the greatest king the world had ever known.

Chapter 2

The Pain of the Past

Voltar was captured as a boy by the Tsuzonan tribe, three days after these barbarians attacked his village. Voltar, just nine years of age at the time and in truth, was ill-equipped to survive out in the wild in the harsh winter. He was almost relieved to have been taken captive on that third day. He would be made a slave to the Tsuzonan tribe, but at least, he would have a chance at life for he knew his time was becoming shorter by the hour out there in the cold.

As he grew into adolescence and then into manhood, young Voltar had plenty of time to think. He would daydream, or even lie awake sometimes at night pondering, plotting, and planning. Pondering the nightmarish memory of the slaughter of his village. But as he grew older, the rage of vengeance began to build inside of him, deep within his young heart. Voltar was planning his revenge.

How ironic. To think, his captors were sealing their own fate by not killing him right then and there that day in the woods. Voltar would sometimes smile at the thought.

He would be held captive until the age of twenty-nine. Then, finally, his moment had come. When one night, an earthquake in the lowlands caused a great avalanche, which quickly reached high into the mountains. This caused huge sections of the great granite mountains to crack, give way, and then fall. The great pieces hit with such force as to shake the earth as the earthquake itself had done only moments before. The Tsuzonan tribe tried to scatter. Only a few managed out of harm’s way in time, however. The rest just simply disappeared under the heavy tumbling boulders that were once part of these majestic granite mountains. Voltar survived and quickly disappeared into the night. He was free at last! And he swore he would never look back. He wouldn’t have to, for the past is always just behind you. It will always find its way back to you. You don’t have to embrace it, but you must be strong enough to respect it and except it when it comes into the present. Voltar was to be tested many times over, almost to the point of punishment for forgetting for too long. He learned not to ever forget, to never let his guard down to the past again, but also to never let it consume him and take away his happiness, his laughter.

Back at the ship that very next day, Laurentia said, Thor was being mischievous with you, my Lord. It would seem Odin must have taken him aside this morning however, seeing as how the skies are much calmer. This is the way my king should be allowed to begin his journey. She concluded with "I do not wish you to leave, Voltar, but if you must, then I want to see you off safely. I have a right to speak my mind of this, do I not, husband?’’

King Voltar burst out with laughter from her comment. But knowing his wife’s intentions were good, he replied, You may speak as you wish, my good wife, but be prepared for me to put you over my knee for it! They both laughed. He went to her. They both turned back toward the temporary huts that the men had prepared, as was always the way before they set sail.

Their families seeing them off from the shore was thought to bring good luck on their journeys. Family was the reason to fight the elements. Family was the reason to return.

Chapter 3

Setting Sail for their Trade Voyage

New Hope

Supplies had been loaded onto the ship. Much for trade in other parts of the continent. Everything securely bundled in heavy oil skins to keep them dry and mold free. Weather like the previous night would surely send great waves aboard their ship and thus try at damaging the sacks of grain and the many fur skins that would yield them the most profit. These items were the lifeline of the Nordic people, and they simply must make it there safely. At least as safe as the men themselves, for each man had an important position aboard this great wooden vessel. And they all counted on each other to get there and back in one