who is the star?

In the last post we left Harvey as he was laying behind Jim Caviezel in a stable clinging to life.



That scene ends, and we cut to find Harvey in a field with dozens of other villagers ‘gathering wood’, and ‘making himself look busy’. There is an unquestionable repetitive nature to this activity since each, and every time he completes his pile, he must ‘reset’ and do the whole thing all over- always ‘locking it down’, ‘rolling sound’, and starting on ‘action’.

This is moment is in the past since there is considerable effort on the parts of Kainin (Jim Caviezel), and ‘the guy who had nothing’ (Jack Huston) to build a trap for the alien monster.



While carrying a log on his shoulder, and walking a ‘slippery banana’, Harvey catches the eye of a beautiful red haired villager (Sophia Myles). Harvey was really only looking at her, and he was told by a viking friend that talking to the 'stars' was frowned upon.

But, the sun was out, the air was warm, and the three pairs of long underwares Harvey had on seemed heat him down below without the thoughts of the red haired villager.



Later that day, the scene jumped to night, and Harvey is standing amidst two torches some thirty feet in the air on the ‘parapets’. He is wearing a helmet adorned by silver chainmail. He is holding a flaming arrow, and he is aiming down into the trap. A command is given, which makes him jump back to the first time havey can remember. A voice yells: ‘The morween’ (alien monster) runs into the trap’, and the gate thunders shut. Harvey pulls back ready to fire, and remembers a moment when he was on the ground holding a spear, then another moment when he was lying dead on the ground, and then an instance when he was running as an old man with a limp from sheild hall. Could these all be the same moment in time? how is it possible?



It is at this moment that I must stop you the reader, to ask you to consider what is happening. Is there still a missing piece to harvey's puzzle?



Time seems to be no friend of ours in piecing together this story.

The next scene we cut to the alien is running around the village. There is ‘mass chaos’, ‘everybody is running about’, and some characters are ‘looking for their lost children.’ Harvey is given a ‘route’ to run. With broadsword and shield in hand he takes of running through the village- First to the armory, then to the church, and over to the tannery where he meets up with another villager to ‘run in a team’ across the open square to the well. Although he is uncertain what he is running from, harvey is told, 'it will look great in post'.



At the instant Harvey takes of with his partner Kainin and the little boy are running down the same square. There is a collision. Bodies go flying and land in the mud covered ground. Harvey is instantly aware that this was not supposed to happen. People rush in from all direction to provide help. but it's not to harvey's friend who is lying in the mud. it is for kanin. after harvey is told kahin is also one of these 'stars'. harvey wished he was one too.



This week there is a call for ‘an aerial shot’. Let’s hope it can gives us some perspective on the current situation.

The TAO Of The Vikings

Every life has a back story.



The term Viking commonly denotes the ship-borne explorers, traders, and warriors of the Norsemen who originated in Scandinavia and raided the coasts of the British Isles, France and other parts of Europe from the late 8th century to the 11th century.

Famed for their navigation ability and long ships, Vikings are also widely believed to have been early explorers of North America, with putative expeditions to present-day Canada taking place as early as the 10th century.

Etymologists assign the earliest use of the word to Anglo-Frankish writers, who referred to "víkingr" as one who set about to raid and pillage.



The most detailed accounts which we possess of the Viking Age are the Icelandic sagas. Some of these deal with the deeds of powerful rulers, such as the kings of Norway or the earls of Orkney. Others deal with the 'ordinary people' of Iceland, although the central characters even then tend to come from the ruling class. Often the sagas describe events in great detail, including what was said by those involved.



Historians in the nineteenth century accepted the sagas as more or less accurate accounts, except where they clearly strayed into mythology and fantasy. The graphic accounts of the sagas played a large part in the creation of the 'Viking' myth. More recently, historians have looked at the sagas more critically, and for a period in the late twentieth century, many historians wouldn't accept that the sagas had any historical value at all.

Today, most historians would accept that the sagas are not reliable, and that some saga material is clearly not factual, or reflects a much later society rather than the Viking Age. However, this does not mean that the sagas have no value at all. Sometimes the broad outline of events in the sagas is supported by other sources. In other words, we can use sagas to study history, but we have to be very careful when we do.



The famous 'berserks', whose name suggests they wore bearskins, may have fought in groups, and believed that Odin, the god of war, gave them both protection and superhuman powers so they had no need of armour. They would work themselves into a battle frenzy so intense it is said they bit on the edges of their shields, and could even ignore the pain of wounds.

The end probably came about as a result of tired Vikings who had become citizens of many places in Europe. They had become Christians back in their homelands, kings had evolved and were instituting taxes, and the economy had become such that you could get along much better as a trader rather than as a raider. The force of Viking onslaughts had caused European kingdoms to become centralized and focused. They had basically gotten their act together, learning how to defend themselves and to gain by trading and negotiating with the Vikings rather than just trying to fight them.



The Vikings are often portrayed as illiterate, uncultured barbarians who evinced more interest in plunder than in poetry. In fact, the Vikings left behind a great number of documents in stone, wood and metal, all written in the enigmatic symbols known as runes.

Want to get inside Harvey's head. Try writing your name in Runes!

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vikings/runes.html