Chapter 850 The new owner of the temple and the giant yew tree

Swined and his men ran all the way. With the support of their master, the men did not mind the crime of forcing their way into the Holy Land.

They forced their way into the Holy Land, but before they reached the low wall, they noticed something strange about this place.

"Sir, it seems that the place has lost its popularity. What are those priests doing?"

"Yes, it's too quiet"

The subordinates murmured the order. Swined was wary. Although a group of priests usually talk about gods and goddesses, most people like to stay in the temple and stare at the statues every day. It is not as quiet as now and can hear crows cawing.

Yes. The crow is cawing

When the soldiers heard the crow, they all looked up and looked at the big tree. When someone stops suddenly, everyone quickly stops.

Swined suddenly took a look and saw that his subordinates were all stunned. He already felt that something was strange and was even more frightened. "What are you doing? Get out of here."

" But sir." Someone raised his head and pointed at the branches of the big tree. "There is a crow. He is watching us. He is asking us not to invade the Holy Land."

Wyned was speechless. Although he was a little worried, considering that the boy Rurik was approaching in a menacing manner. According to legend, the boy was blessed by Odin. I'm afraid Odin really sent messengers to stand on the treetops to receive him.

"Stop dawdling and continue to follow me." He urged, "I'm about to go in. If you dare not to follow me, you won't get your salary this month."

For the sake of money For my sake, forget it all.

The brothers still have to receive money to live, and Odin will not pay the brothers.

The team resumed its advance, but was blocked by a bronze lock from the wooden door of the wall.

"Sir, is it too abnormal that all the priests have left."

"It is abnormal. What are they doing?" Swined scratched his head and was in a dilemma for a moment.

When his subordinates continued to ask about countermeasures, he made up his mind to "smash it with me"

Who will do it?

Seeing that his subordinates still had concerns, he decided He grabbed a handaxe and smashed the lock, then pushed open the closed door.

The door opened, and it was extremely quiet inside the wall.

The flat courtyard is empty, and the huge temple building is unpopular, as if everyone has left.

Thinking of the lock on the main gate, which was extremely unusual on weekdays, the inexplicable soldiers whispered to each other, saying that all the priests and monks had left.

"Where have they all gone?" Swined muttered.

A soldier came forward and said, "All signs indicate that they left."

"If you leave, spread out and let me search for you. The temple is not very big. Try to find me a living person."

Swined's voice was loud, and everyone obeyed.

The subordinates spread out to search, but there was no hope of finding the monk.

There were crows hidden in the large, lumpy trees. Only the crows were still chirping hoarsely, as if they were watching a show. Its sound was harsh, and it made Swynedd even more nervous.

As the Duke of Uppsala, he does not want to come to the temple area unless it is a festival. The monks have already built a low circular wall, which effectively prevents curious people from trespassing. He really felt that his move was inappropriate. Once the deal was done, he could only make the truth worse.

After all, as long as Rurik is king, he will be his subordinate. In principle, what happened today was what that kid Rurik asked for, and Odin would never blame him.

Swined understood the situation and immediately led several of his subordinates into the main hall of the semi-curved temple complex, a large temple with a huge and steep gabled roof. Longhouse.

The houses are dedicated to the gods Thora, Umber and Odin, the so-called kings of heaven, earth and gods.

However, everyone who entered the hall was dumbfounded.

Swined's eyes widened and he asked in his soul, "Where did the statue go?"

The platform on which the statue was placed is still there, but the bronze statue has disappeared.

Even though the statues of the three gods displayed by the Uppsala people are not large and can even be easily carried and moved by a strong man, who has the courage to move the statues out of the temple

He was so angry that he gritted his teeth, "The high priest and all your priests are using this method to defy the Russians and put me in an unjust position."

This is not the case. It was just an idea. As his subordinates brought over a crude wooden board, the truth became clear.

The wooden board has a large number of scratches carved with a knife, which is actually a letter written in runes.

The content of the letter is extremely simple, "We cannot serve the arrogant Russians. We will bring the statues and sacred vessels to the forest altar. When the Russians end their farce, we will return."

In his rage, Swynedd struck with his knee, causing the entire board to shatter into slag.

The content of the letter shocked everyone present. He told everyone, "You haven't seen anything and you don't know anything. Do you understand?"

Someone asked tremblingly, "The high priest "They"

"Shut up" Swinned slapped him with his hand. "You don't know anything. Only I know this. Now follow me and leave. I'll go meet the Russians."< /p>

But the priests did indeed move away all the important equipment of the great temple. There were no obvious footprints left on the ground. Based on the analysis of the facts, Swined felt that the priests had all left during the heavy rain while carrying the sacred vessels. If you think about it carefully, there are not many utensils that the priests have to move. The most important ones are the three statues of gods, and the others are some gold and silverware.

Even the residences of the priests were inspected by the soldiers. It can be seen that those people took some of their clothes with them when they left.

They still have a batch of daily necessities left behind, which shows that the withdrawalThe departure was quite hasty.

Swenned did not expect that the high priest would do something so extreme. Although there is an altar in the forest, is this attitude of completely refusing to cooperate with the Russians really good? Those Russians are so ruthless. The priest group of this family came to wipe out all the priests. They did not think it was a big sin to kill the priests.

In a sense, the Uppsala tribe's power of faith is the strongest in Sweden, but today's performance seems to be that their power of faith is very weak. The priest group guarded the sacred tree and actually took the initiative to separate from the Uppsala people living nearby. The Russian army entered the Neihu area and camped to build the city. Although the priests planned to meet the many demands of the Russian prince, they could only negotiate any way. He left a letter and ran away with the sacred vessel Sayazi.

Swenned was extremely disappointed with the group of priests. Could it be that the tribe controlled a sacred tree and a large temple, and the Russians were so full that they looked up to the Uppsala tribe. That's what he thought, but he didn't know Rurik's true thoughts.

What is quite darkly humorous is that the Ross army that is about to arrive at the Great Temple has a very small number of troops, but its clothes are very gorgeous, and the composition of the soldiers is very subtle.

The Uppsala tribe was in trouble during the cold wave during the wheat harvest many years ago. Some parents really had no choice but to drive their children, who were only twelve years old, to leave the tribe and work as beggars for food among the Melalen people.

All the beggars who could be found by the big Russian merchants were sent to Tombstone Island, and then transported to Novorosberg and even Novgorod. The ten-year-old boy at that time is now over eighteen years old, eating Russian food, receiving military training, and becoming a young soldier affiliated with the Sixth Flag. Now, they are revisiting their old places, but their souls have already belonged to Ross.

Rurik’s gorgeous team was getting closer and closer to the Great Temple of Uppsala. Until this time, the young warrior from the Uppsala tribe who was accidentally included in this small team finally Can't hold back my heart.

The soldiers risked being punished by breaking away from their formation and running to the prince.

"What's going on? Come to their temple. If you're nervous, get back to the team." Rurik scolded.

The soldier showed no fear and slapped his chest with his right arm, "Sir, I used to be from Uppsala."

"Oh"

A brief speech The description really made Rurik angry and happy. He himself did overlook that there were soldiers from Uppsala in his army. Although he had been away from his hometown for many years, it was reasonable to ask for some information. The soldier pointed out that the priests in Uppsala were very proud, and that the so-called guardians of the sacred tree were messengers of God, and so on.

Rurik didn't take it seriously. "If it's just these, I would have predicted it. Just step back. Your report is very good. Don't do it again in the future."

Uu The local priests in Psala were too redundant, and the architectural style of their great temple did not satisfy Rurik. This time the Ross army saw the low wall and a guard standing at the gate.

Rurik thought about the priests and soldiersWhen the goalkeeper took a closer look, he realized that it was Swined's man who had arrived first.

After walking for a while, Rurik was slightly out of breath. When he looked up at the huge ball-shaped tree, he felt that he was no longer tired.

There is a giant tree growing in the wilderness. The temple building is tiny in comparison, and the people under the tree are as small as ants.

The giant tree attracted everyone's attention. Otto raised his old head and lamented that the Uppsala people still have such a treasure. Many female relatives had never seen such a big tree up close, and they all opened their mouths with emotion.

Even the cavalry, they curled the flag on the flagpole and rode directly into the temple. The entire metal temple area of ​​the Russian army stopped spontaneously under the shade of the giant tree.

The squawking crow had flown away inadvertently. At least Rurik never noticed that there was a crow here.

Swenned walked out of the big temple with mixed emotions, and saw that the Russians were all shaded under the trees, but it was difficult to say anything.

He walked straight away and looked up at Prince Rurik who was in a good mood.

"As you can see, this is our temple."

"I did see an interesting building, and I thought I would encounter resistance from the priests. Obviously, you Drive them away."

No doubt Swined realized this was an opportunity. His eyes lit up and he immediately lied, "Yes, even if some people didn't want to leave, they were driven away by me." "That's it"

"How"

"The high priest took away some things, such as the statue of the god"

"It was like this" left. After all, Rick's warm face showed displeasure, "That old man with tattoos on his face actually did such a thing, is it because he doesn't welcome me?"

Swined shrugged, he did not express his position, his eyes But he made some statements. From his point of view, the high priest ran away in the rain with the holy weapon and idol, leaving the mess to himself. This is how he did not take the Duke of Uppsala seriously. The Russians dared to destroy their old priest group. The butcher knife fell. , the Rus nobles did not suffer divine punishment. He had to think carefully about whether he could follow suit.

But for the sake of tradition, Swined doesn’t want to be a villain. If someone wants to be a villain, let the Russians do it

He considers himself a kind person and is unwilling to make the truth very clear, so he continues, "Our high priest feels that since the Russians After bringing enough priests, the priests of Uppsala would be tarnishing their nobility by staying here. The high priest said that his level was too low, but the summer sacrifices in Uppsala still needed to be done, so he took away some sacred objects and left. ."

This is a fact, and it is only part of the fact.

The smashed letter was brief, but the disdain it revealed was genuine.

Rurik nodded and felt better again. "It seems that your high priest is still a duplicitous person, but he is very smart. I don't need your priest group at all. They can leave wisely. This will save me a lot of trouble.Is there anyone who has any objection to carrying out my coronation ceremony according to Sri Lanka's etiquette?"

Swined quickly replied, "I support you. Now that the high priests are gone, you and your priests can live here. "

"Oh" Rurik's eyes lit up, "You tell me more"

"I mean. The Great Temple is now yours and you can use it freely. "

Free use is just free use

An opportunity is in front of me

"I'd better go inside the big temple and take a look. Those people moved the statues away. It doesn't matter what, I will build a better one. "

With his wives and concubines, Rurik stood in the central hall of the Uppsala Temple. This is a large building with a large number of columns supporting the entire structure. It is a pity. It is a single-story building. Looking up from the center of the hall, there is no ceiling. If you look closely, you can see the highest beam.

The area where the statue was originally visited is indeed empty. Take a closer look. The furnishings in the main hall are a bit shabby.

Rumia, the high priest of Rus, has a small figure and a large antlered helmet. She entered the so-called largest temple in Sweden as a priest. She maintained great humility. Now that she entered the temple area, she was most moved by the giant tree. As for the large temple itself, the empty hall suddenly lost any sense of sanctity.

She gently pulled Rurik's hand, "We are going to erect the statue here"

"Here" Rurik smiled bitterly, "It's so boring, the buildings of the priests just look big. The so-called big temple is nothing. We can build bigger and more luxurious ones in Rus. It’s just that tree outside that’s such a treasure. "

"Then, we will put the statue under the tree"

"I also have this intention. Let's all go. There's nothing to see in the temple anymore. ”

Since Swinned is not in the hall, Rurik can feel free to say some contemptuous words. After he walked out of the hall, he explained his plan to Swinned. The so-called priest of Ross can take over. In this temple, the king-proclaiming ceremony will not be performed in the temple. The gilded Odin icon brought by Ross will be placed under the big tree, and a small shrine will be built to worship it. All ceremonies will be centered around the sacred tree. , shrines, and statues.

Even, Rurik even stated such a request: "You Uppsala priests gave up their temples, and you preached that they would defend the temple or confront me." Fight with weapons. They left, leaving me with the empty temple. Now this temple has a new owner, and that’s me”

Out of emotion, Swined refused when he heard Rurik’s unreasonable request.

He is a smart man, and he understands that if he tries to stop it, he will definitely hit a brick with an egg.

Swined's eyes are fixed, and his attitude seems to be very decisive: "Absolutely, it is a sacred thing. Holy One, that is you. However, in order to build this temple and support this big tree, we in UppsalaPeople too”

“Oh I see. You want a sum of money, right?"

"Yes. ”

“Just make a price.” ”

“That’s what I think. As for our Uppsala Mairos's big ship, we will indeed pay a lot of food. My plenipotentiary helped me reach a deal, but I felt pressured to come up with a lot of food. How about we buy you a big ship, and in exchange, the entire temple will be yours?"

"This" Rurik subconsciously felt that this guy was joking, and couldn't help but back away three times. "Sure enough"< /p>

"That's true. ”

“That’s it”

No one could have imagined that things could turn out like this. Originally, everyone came to the Great Temple with the purpose of pilgrimage. The temple became the property of Ross, and the giant tree also became the property of Ross.

Fearing that Swined would change his mind, Rurik quickly agreed and even made the decision with force. Written documents.

The document was signed in duplicate on the hard paper carried with the army. The content of the document was written in traditional runic script, and both parties signed their names in the name of the nobles of their tribes, so they were naturally left behind. Rick wrote more, and added an additional title, King of Sweden.

Things changed so quickly that High Priest Rumia could not have imagined that this temple already belonged to Ross. In principle. He is the top manager here. Although the temple building itself is not very good, its characteristic is that it is very large, enough for a large number of people to stay overnight.

Let Uppsala. Priests all go to hell

By the afternoon, Rurik was already claiming the power of the new owner of the temple, and he had to do something to prove that he really had ownership of the temple.

The first task is to abolish the rule that Uppsala people will be punished if they stray into the temple area during non-holidays. The second task is to order the men to remove all the low wooden walls.

The thick trunk of the giant tree was shocking. He asked his wives and concubines to hold hands to measure the circumference of the tree. It took seven or eight people to surround him.

Although the young woman's arm length is a bit short, even this can prove the hugeness of the tree. With the use of food saving, the circumference of the big tree has increased. After calculation, the diameter at breast height of the big tree was estimated to be an astonishing length. It actually exceeds two stiks.

If the cross-section of the big tree trunk is a standard circle, its diameter is more than two meters.

What kind of tree is it? Judging from the leaves, it is a special cedar tree.

It is indeed a cedar tree, a giant European yew, or Nordic giant yew.

European yew can grow to extremely large sizes in principle, but its reproductive ability is very weak, and the entire species is scattered.

Even people in southwestern Europe discovered purple. The super elasticity of shank wood makes it an excellent material for making bows., when trying to plant it artificially in large numbers, it simply won’t be allowed to grow very large. When it was still a small tree, the yew tree was cut down to make bows, or it was deliberately planted for military purposes.

Rurik could not determine the true species of this giant tree. In a large open grassland, this tree was too conspicuous. It is indeed very tall, and its wide trunk is also the largest tree that the Ross army soldiers present have ever seen in their lives.

No one truly understands the World Tree, or perhaps because we are just bugs on the round fruits that exist on the World Tree, we naturally cannot see the whole picture.

People spontaneously called this big tree Yggdrasil, as if it had that name.

It was immediately given an official name by Rurik, "Just call it the world tree on earth." Please remember:, free and fastest update, no anti-theft, no anti-theft