Early in May the ice had melted in the rivers and the lakes of the great country.
Several ships had already been gathered in Aldeigjuborg in Gardarike. The crews were rough and skilled in the use of arms. Each ship was lead by a viking chieftain, and the chieftains had sworn loyalty to each other, and the men of each ship has sworn loyalty to their chieftain.
The ship were loaded annd ready to sail off. The ships were not bigger than they could be easily dragged over land if necessary. The ships build for both crew and cargo.
The merchandise was packed in barrels, buckets and chests to be sold in the distant country of the Bulgars: skins of enimes, foxes and beavers; weapons made in the forges of Birka, Norse ornaments, fine woolen goods from Central Europe and the Nordic nations.
The food was also onboard. The smell of stockfish was mixed with the smell of tanned skins.
The chieftains who were mercants, had been waiting for nice and windy weather to sail off. Some of the merchants had travelled the long journey earlier, and their ships sailed first up the river.
The vikings had planned in Aldeigjuborg (Staraya Ladoga) to travel northward in the country to get sable.
They sailed fast on the lake Ladoskoje Osero, but the comfortable sailing came soon to an end. Yards and sails were lowered, and they started rowing. They rowed steadily the ships up the river Svir, and after a while they got problems because of the falls and the rapids. They had to drag the ships long distances on the bank. Some places they had to carry the ships over land.
In the night they camped on the bank. They built a fire on the beach and prepared food. They ate mostly fish.
Some places they went ashore to buy skin. The vikings knew the local Finnic people and found them easily. They spoke Finnish to each other, and some of the Finns can speak Norse.
The days and nights passed by.
They reached the lake Oneskoje Osero, and from here they travelled northwards. First they sailed on the lake, then they sailed on the rivers. The store of skins grew larger.
Mostly the mercants traded, but if the local people did not cooperate, they made attacks.
One place they had special luck. The local people ran away and left behind many fine skins, probably the whole taking of the last winter.
The vikings sailed back to the south bank of Oneskoje Osero.
The vikings rowed up Vytegra, and soon the river got narrower and swifter. Constantly they had to leave the ships to carry them over land. The men collected rollers, and they hauled the ships ashore.
They began travelling the slow journey.
The woods were dense. The men were watchful. When they were having meals, they were quick. They were vulnerable to attacks.
They came to a marsh that is digged and cleared so the ships could float, and it was possible to pole the ships along. But soon they had carry the ships again. Finally, they reached a river that ran soutward. They launched quickly the ships. They rowed easily down the river. Only some currents gave toubles.
So the river ran slower. After a while they reached Lake Bolero, and the men who had visited Lake Bolero were told that Lake Bolero meant "the white lake", because the lake was white after storms.
They continued to sail to Bolesero where they met friends. They stayed and traded in Bolesero several days. The men were paid pro rata of the profit. They were happy because they had had good luck so far.
This was the reason why the chieftains let the men got drunk.
The vikings rowrd the ships down Sjeksna. Sjeksna was a a silent and wide river.After a while they reach Volga. There was a town where they traded furs and met friends before they continued the journey.
Volga ran through a wooded valley and became greater and greater because of the water of the side rivers. But the vikings sailed up some of the side rivers to trade. They traded furs, wax and honey. They bought also the famous furs of the blackfoxes which existed in the district. These furs were much more worth than the the sables. The chieftains kept the blackfox furs for themselves.
But the trading was not always peaceful.
One day one of the vikings thought that he has been fooled by a trader. The trader did not like the accusation of having fooled the viking. He became angry and hits the viking. The viking killed the trader using his sword. The murder started a battle. The local population ran away, and the vikings took the merchandise.
Three of the vikings had been wounded in the battle. One of the vikings was killed. But the three vikings were not seriously wounded. They buried the dead viking on the river bank. It was normal to loose men on the long journey.
Some days later the vikings were not lucky. They lose a battle, and they had to run away.
The days passed and passed.
It was time for the great market in Bulgar when the vikings were sailing soutward down Volga. So far, the vikings had sailed Volga eastward for many a day. Volga was a wide river. Volga was wider than all the other rivers that the vikings know of.
One morning they arrived Bulgar. In west the landscape was full of hills, and in east there were no heights.
The marketplace was situated on the east bank of Volga, and the vikings have their own anchorage. They casted anchor, and the merchants were rowed ashore.
The market had already begun, and crowds of people in strange clothes walked around. There were noises everywhere: people laughed, greeted friends, quarrel, shouted and traded, horses knighed, camels proceeded proudly through a appearant confusion of tents and trade stores.
The Nordic merchants warned they who were in Bulgar for the first time. They had to take good care because they could be fooled or robbed. The vikings walked always together. They knew it is profitable to trade the first days of the market.
The market iwas full of merchandise: cattle, sheep, articles of wood; honey, wax, nuts, tropical fruits, grain, amber, clothes, weapons, coats of mail. There were furs of three kind of foxes: redfox, whitefox and blackfox.
The vikings returned to their quarter. They met friends from home, they drank and told their stories about their journeys.They played board games.
The next day the merchant started trading. The customers knew the vikings usually had merchandise of good quality. They bargained and gesticulated. Sometimes they needed an interpreter in the trading.
When the vikings had sold all their merchandise, and they had bought merchandise to transport westwards, they planned to journey back to Aldeigjuborg before the winter.
Some of the merchants had planned to go southward, because they wanted to trade in Atil, the capital of the Khazars. The most adventurous men decided to go with them. The merchants changed the crews, the men were paid by their previous chieftain and bidded farewell to their old comrades.
On the return to Aldeigjuborg the merchants decided to spend the winter in Holmgard. The local chieftain did not like vikings, but he had no choice. The chieftain and the merchants made an agreement: The chieftain had to provide food for the vikings, and the vikings will protected Holmgard against other vikings. The vikings should live in two great halls.
During the winter the vikings did not feel safe because of their riches: silver, expensive clothes and other goods. They keep watching their goods day all the time.
It was a long winter, and some local men entertain the vikings with fabulous stories. In the spring the vikings wished they had been hosted by a local queen and her girl-friends than the local chieftain.
Early in the spring the vikings left Holmgard and returned to Aldeigjuborg.
