Up to now, Rurik felt that he had memorized all the records on the wooden board, and he had a general outline of the migration of the Ross tribe.
However, there are still many problems that trouble him, such as the precise latitude of Roseburg.
If he knew this data, Rurik, who had an engineering background, felt that he could accurately measure the location of Fort Ross in the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic Sea through physical knowledge, and even use wooden planks to measure the migration distance of the Ross tribe in the past. Describe and infer the location of their former home.
Currently, Rurik has been able to accurately know every day of the Julian calendar from Vilia. For example, today is November 27th. He also knows that one day in the future, the sun will not rise. rising.
In Roseburg, there are always one or two days without night and one or two days without light every year.
Rurik almost instinctively determined that Fort Ross was very close to the Arctic Circle. If the precise dimensions could be measured, it would be very helpful to the tribe. Because the latitudes of many areas had been measured, Rurik felt that he could draw a map of this area.
For any ethnic group that desires development, accurate regional maps can often promote the development of the ethnic group.
Rurik is indeed not an ordinary person. He remembers the basic outline of the modern world map in his mind. For drawing the map of Europe, I dare not say whether the details can be reproduced well. He can at least draw it relatively accurately. Drawing out the outline and replicating certain details as much as possible is a matter of specific proportions, which can only be determined through re-mapping of astronomy and geography.
At this time, no one had yet conducted a detailed map of the Baltic Sea.
Any geographical surveying and mapping must be guided by astronomical observations. After all, the stars in the sky are changing at an extremely slow speed that humans can perceive. To the ancients, the stars are eternal.
The immovable stars are a good reference, and the Romans, who inherited Greek scientific knowledge, have long recognized that the world in which humans live is a huge ball.
The wise men of the Eastern Roman Empire inherited the scientific heritage of ancient Greece. They knew how to use tools to measure the angle between stars and instruments to determine their approximate position. Unfortunately, this knowledge did not spread.
Western Europe in the ninth century was a vast and sparsely populated region in a realistic sense. Poor productivity levels resulted in a population of less than 15 million.
In those barbarian countries established on the ruins of Rome, the majority of civilians had no access to advanced knowledge from the outside world. In order to survive, they could only be bound to their respective villages and harvested with extremely rough farming methods. The few grains were given to the nobles as tribute, and they lived a life of hunger and satiety.
Compared to the poor farmers in Western Europe, the life of the Ross tribe is indeed much easier, because there is no problem in feeding thousands of people with the gifts of the huge Gulf of Bothnia. What's more, there are hundreds of thousands of wild reindeer on land, and of course their activity areas extend further and further north due to human interference.
A newThe leader is about to ascend his throne.
Rurik boldly asked Vilia for a treasure: "Grandma, I have an idea for a big order. I need your ruler for a special measurement."
p>"Measurement? What do you want to do?"
"Well..." Originally Rurik wanted to explain the truth, but now, maybe it is right not to say it. He said deliberately vaguely: "I just want to know whether the World Tree is real."
"So, do you believe he is real?" Vilia asked casually, but she did not reveal it. Bring out more emotions.
"Maybe it's just an old story. Our world is not a flat land lifted up by a big tree. My father told me that our world, Midgard, is like a big tree. If this is true, why do those in the south, especially the Romans, have different interpretations from ours?"
Hearing this, Villa couldn't help but be interested.
At this age, many things that she had once been sure of were now confused, especially when she came into contact with the men in black from Rome when she was young. Young Vilia listened to the elders' words. She believed in the World Tree, the twelve main gods of Asgard, and that humans lived in cold places.
Those Romans claimed to live in a warm land, and claimed that an infinitely great being created all of this, but that being was not Odin.
Maybe the great god Odin has different names among different people?
Until the man in black clearly pointed out that the world is not something lifted up by a big tree. The world is a huge ball, and the stars in the sky are rotating around this ball.
Although the young Vilia did not agree with what the man in black said, she did not selectively forget it.
Today, the immature Rurik actually raised such a question, which naturally awakened her dusty memory.
Villa ordered his subordinates to cut some more bacon, and then sat directly on the hide, crossing his legs, hoping to hear any special insights from the child in front of him.
"My child, sit down now. I have a question. Do you already know the Romans' explanation of the world?"
"I..."
p>Rurik was shocked. He really shouldn't understand the "Roman explanation".
He had an idea and deliberately said: "That Roman book! Thanks to Odin for giving me the ability, I understand part of the content. Those Romans claimed that our world is a huge Ball."
"Wait!" Vilia's squinted eyes suddenly opened wide, and her aging wrinkles seemed to burst due to her emotion.
Rurik never thought that the priest would be so excited.
"I...I just saw something like this. I was very curious. Because the book also said that our world is not only a ball, but also a ball that tilts and rotates.The ball..."
Heliocentric theory, this theory can be said to have existed since ancient times, but this theory was too alternative in the Greek classical era.
The mainstream is still the geocentric theory, because it is consistent with the vast majority of The simplest belief of the people.
Perhaps after entering agricultural civilization, people everywhere need to believe in a great existence, because primitive agriculture relies on the sky for food, and if the "great god" is angry, it will lead to food shortages. The end result is that the whole family will starve to death.
People always face the despair of hunger and natural disasters, but at the same time they always weave hope for a better future.
People always believe in it. God loves himself so much that he specially created a world for human beings to reproduce, and God also needs the respect of human beings.
This kind of thought is almost inevitable, so with this thought, this thing under his feet. The earth is the center of everything, so it is logical to think so.
Greek philosophers tied geocentrism to mythology, and Rome further promoted this idea. The destroyers of Western Rome and Eastern Rome directly combined it. The idea of geocentrism is bound to the legitimacy of its own rule.
But as early as the Greek classical period, there were still scholars in Peloponnese who believed that the sun was the center of everything.
The two theories were actually summaries made by ancient scholars based on their own observations of astronomy and geography. They had different opinions due to different observation angles. The advocates of the heliocentric theory in the city-state era were completely defeated, and Aristotle failed. and Ptolemy won.
Of course, both theories are wrong, because the concept of "world" eventually became a huge scale that is incomprehensible to humans in light years, and the universe does not exist. The definite center, and even the earth itself, is as small as the sand on the beach.
But this is unimaginable by people in the ninth century, and even by ordinary Viking farmers and fishermen.
After all, the two ancient doctrines have many overlaps. In the areas that were and are still ruled by Rome, people who have learned about those ancient classics at least believe that the world is a big ball.
Dimension. Leah felt strongly touched in her heart. In thirty years, she found the second person who claimed that "the world is a ball". Moreover, isn't the appearance of this person a miracle?
Wei Leah tried her best to suppress the excitement in her heart and said: "A long time ago, the Romans I met also said the same thing. They gave me some examples to try to prove their words, but unfortunately I couldn't understand them. It's been so long, what the world is like, maybe when I die and become a Valkyrie, I can really see it in the sky, haha. "
Villa said this, with more ridicule in his words, and regret that he could not understand the true meaning of the world while living.
Rurik took advantage of the situation and relayed: " Haha, then you will see that the world is a ball from high altitude. Maybe the stories I heard were only part of the truth. Perhaps one of our ancestors long ago had alreadyI know everything, but I am worried that ordinary people like us cannot understand it, so I use a set of words that we can understand to explain it. Passed down by word of mouth for countless generations, the story has slowly become divorced from reality. ”
Although the child is young and speaks very logically, maybe I will never be able to treat him as a child.
Velia also got some inspiration from these words. She had to I don’t doubt much.
The priests will deliberately make up some stories to stabilize people’s hearts, and at the same time to maintain their own interests and let the tribesmen continue to worship their priests. So, what are the fabricated myths by the priests of the past generations. How many private things have been added? No priest will publicly declare that he is making up a lie.
Vilia will not collapse her worldview just because of a few words.
"Well, maybe our world is a big ball held up by the World Tree. Because none of us have seen the whole world tree. "
"It may also be held up by something we can't see. Rurik had an idea and said with a smile, "For example, air?" After all, without the nourishment of air, all living things will die. People must breathe. Maybe the ancestors just wanted to explain that our world is nourished by something, like a big tree, by describing a world tree. ”
“Exquisite explanation! "
Facing each other, Rurik could clearly feel Villa's excitement, as if his nonsense was outlining a new worldview system.
In this case, Rurik let go of his courage: "Asgard should be in the sky, and they must be one of the stars. They are always watching us, sending their Valkyries to check on us every winter. They may also go to watch the Romans and send messengers named Angels to blend into the crowd and guide the outstanding ones among them to achieve merit. ”
No child would say such complicated words. Welia, who is sitting cross-legged now, does not think she is seventy-three, but she is just a child today.
Stay Rick's words are an attempt to describe that the Viking-style Nordic beliefs of the Ross tribe are actually not much different from the Romans.
After all, if the Ross tribe integrates. The Slavic world is a historical necessity, so it is also inevitable to have a cross and obtain a double-headed eagle.
In order to meet this necessity, reinterpreting the World Tree may be the most correct choice.
However, everything needs to be proved that the earth is a ball.
For this, Rurik needs at least a rope ruler. The next step is to use the most primitive level to select the testing site, and then to stand up. Rod shadow measurement is so simple.
Through a large number of measurements, the length of the solar shadow at noon on the winter solstice was calculated. Of course, Roseburg had been under polar night for many days on the winter solstice. Based on the measurements, we can finally calculate the possible photo studio on the winter solstice. This operation can finally calculate a basically correct solar angle., we can basically calculate the precise latitude of Roseburg.
In fact, as long as the latitude can be calculated, the explanation of "the world tree supports the land of mankind" may be shaken. The final result is that it will also allow people to hunt, fish, smelt, and The residents of the Ross tribe, who know almost nothing outside of fighting and rowing, know that the world is a ball.
Because it is impossible to be a "great leader" who can truly bring so-called prosperity to the Ross tribe. Prosperity requires the joint efforts of all units that make up society.
Rurik, or Liu Li, believes that prosperity should be like this. In layman's terms, when ignorant people become smart and knowledgeable, and begin to actively think about the meaning of their own existence, that is to say, they will no longer follow others' opinions, and no one or thing will restrain their philosophy, and the creativity of the human group will also welcome. Have a total explosion.
In ancient society, even a few technological breakthroughs would bring huge leaps to this ethnic group.
What can bring about the longest leap is often the most basic thing. For example, the Vikings in the ninth century generally believed that the world was first of all a ball.
If they believe this, they may dare to think about the feasibility of circumnavigating the world.
Ah, after all, the geographical discovery was only six hundred years later.