Written by: Prashraya Shrestha - 26014, Grade X
Posted on: 24 August, 2023
In the medieval times there lived a young man, Hird, who was the heir to the throne of Norway. He was an arrogant leader as he was the only child of the king. The king spoiled him rotten. He thought the world belonged to him and he could do anything. As all Norwegians do; he had a deep hatred towards Sweden. In the ongoing Nordic war Norway had lost a huge amount of land to Sweden but the King was laid back but wise, he knew that war only brought bloodshed and tears to his own people but no one understood him.
Soon his kind nature became his downfall and his kingdom was invaded by the Swedes. The Swedes had an army of one hundred thousand troops led by the all mighty Anders. The king had seen it coming, so he had escaped to the bunker with his son. But the bunker was not away from the reach of Anders. He tore through the door but his guard stalled him enough for the king to hide his son with his right hand general Fredrik. Anders chopped the king's limbs and hung him by his hair. In a fit of rage the Hird jumped at Anders poking his left eye but Anders just flung the weak young boy.
Anders asked the king, “Tell me, what do you wish for as your last wish?”.
The king replied “Let the boy flee!”.
Anders smiled and said, “Wish granted.” and chopped the king's head off.
He let Hird flee with Fredrik. On a makeshift boat they sailed oceans together until they found land. All they had was Fredrik’s armor and a book which the king gave Hird before dying. They reached land, only to be discovered by vikings. Fredrik tried to fight but he was no match for the trained vikings considering his physical state. But the viking leader, Karl, was intrigued by Hird. Even in his royal clothes he was not afraid to take a beating and was confident. Karl took Hird and Fredrik into his guild, and Hird received a new name, Gunnar.
15 years passed and Gunnar still had a deep hatred for Swedish people but now he has killed numerous innocent Swedish People. Fredrik, because of his fighting skills, was promoted to the leader of the viking group after Karl died. The viking group now was the size of a nation and their primary objective was to invade Norway. On the day the king died they invaded but they were no match for the Swedish troops and numerous soldiers were killed. Fredrik knew they would die if they invaded Norway so he had given Gunnar sleeping pills so that he would be late to join them. After awakening Gunnar followed the trail and reached Norway. He saw numerous bodies of his friends with whom he had spent years with but more importantly he saw Fredrik taking his last breath after a brutal fight with Anders. Even though Anders was slayed, Fredrik was too weak to live much longer. Gunnar went close to him and Fredrik said “Gunnar, this life is not for you.” and hands him the book the King had given him, and continues,“I wish I had read this earlier” and shuts his eyes forever. The soldiers take notice of Gunnar, and Gunnar runs, while tears roll down his face. He gets shot by arrows but escapes to the forest.
There he encounters a blonde haired woman picking flowers. She attends to his wounds and brings him to his home far away from the kingdom. She has two children and her grandmother but her husband was killed by the local viking group failing to pay their loans on time. She was old and had not spoken in years. Gunnar spends months with them. Doing handy work in exchange for shelter. He starts calling the woman, sister and the old woman, grandma but he secretly despises them as they were Swedish. One day Gunnar asked, “Sister, what is your actual name?”. She replies with a smile, “Freydis Hird”. In a fit of rage Gunnar grabs a hammer and starts threatening her. Freydis replies, “What has gotten into you?”
Gunnar says “A Swedish peasant like you with the name of Norwegian royalties? Stop joking with me!” Freydis insists that it is the truth but it was too late Gunnar took his hammer and hit Freydis with it. His anger which has fully consumed him went to the grandma and attempted to hit her but he couldn’t. The grandmother who had not spoken in years speaks for the first time, “Stop son, stop hitting your own people!”. Seeing Freydis die he gets reminded of Fredrik and his last words. He reads the book he was given. Which says:
Dear future king of Norway,
It is me king Hird the 5th and you must be Hird the 6th. As now you are the king of Norway, you are worthy of the truth. Our story starts off 5 years before I was declared the king of Norway. I was a simple farmer living beyond the forest, Sweden . Yes, I am a Swedish man, I was a slave for a man with my mother. I had fallen in love with another slave and we were declared married by our owner. One day while farming, a boy walked in the farm wearing a big helmet chasing butterflies. He was the same age as me but I could feel his kind and gentle aura. I talked to him and gradually we became friends. The next week he came with 4 armed men in a very expensive looking horse and declared me the owner of the farm. The previous owner tried to object but he was shut by a pouch of gold. The boy started coming more often and one day he did not bring his armed men. It was just him and his horse. He said to me, “Do you want to be the king of Norway?”. I replied, “Of course, what kind of a question is that ?”
He removed his helmet and put it on my head, it was the first time I had seen his face he was majestic with blue eyes and brown hair, then he said, “From now your name is Hird and you are the heir of Norway, I am going far away never to be seen again” and handed me 3 pouches of gold and silver. He left and I never saw him again. I hid the pouch of gold underneath the first crop I ever planted. And the next day armed guards came and took me. I still regret leaving my wife as she was pregnant with our first child and I still regret leaving my mother. After being declared king I was forced by the Pope to have kids with a Norwegian woman. And my second child was born. Who is you…
Gunnar was brought to tears and to confirm what had been written in the letter he went to look for the gold. He finds it and leaves them to his grandma and sister, and leaves. He had become the person he hated the most. All his life he despised Swedish people but he himself was a Swedish man. He felt like his life had crumbled before his eyes and tried to commit suicide but the memories of Fredrik’s sacrifice does not let him. Now, he is an empty man.
He wanders the forest for years, aimlessly walking towards nothing. He blames God for making him Swedish. He wants vengeance but he finds killing his own people to achieve vengeance against his own people pointless. Out of exhaustion he collapses. In his dream he is sent to a heaven like place where he sees nothing in the distance and the floor is covered in water. He sees Fredrik who says, “No point fighting young boy, no matter if you're Norwegian, Swedish or Danish you all came from god. No matter how much you try to separate yourself from others you can't be separated as every person in this world is your brother and every woman is your sister. Accept who you are, at the end of the day you came from the same place and will go to the same place, so there is no point fighting, now open your eyes Gunnar.” Gunnar awakens but now his eyes are not filled with sorrow but are filled with admiration and will power.
He starts accepting himself for who he is as a person and not by his origins. He becomes wiser and starts practicing meditation. After 3 years he returned to the farm, his grandma had sadly passed away but his sister even after what he had done was happy to see him. He says to his sister, “Sister, I want to help the people I despised the most as after 3 years of self reflection and meditation I have come to realize the only way to terminate my hatred for Swedish people is by accepting them. Acceptance is the key to overcoming hatred as we gain love and respect from it and love and respect is the only power that can overcome hatred.” His sister smiles and says, “My brother has grown so much, He is finally the man our father wanted him to become. I will support you brother.” Gunnar leaves carrying a pouch of gold. He buys a nearby farm in a small village.
The same year, the Nordic war began and he gained an influence among the villagers. With their help they treated any person in need, No matter their skin, their color and nationality, no matter losing the war or winning they helped everyone. Each day he had tons of people laying down on his open farm and he used to treat them. By this time he had seen many soldiers die and treated many soldiers. During this time he gained popularity in Europe and earned the name, “Helper”.
After the Nordic war was over the Swedish throne was empty and an election was held by the Pope the majority of the people agreed to let Gunnar rule as he had helped all regardless of their ethnicity or race accepted all into the nation. Due to the diversity the nation became a trade hub which earned the kingdom a lot of wealth. After 10 years being in office Gunnar passed down the throne to his nephew. And he embarked on the journey with his pupils to seek eternal happiness and peace by the help of acceptance. 30 years later he died and last words were, “Fredrik was right, acceptance does bring you happiness”.
From a person formed by hatred, acceptance made the protagonist a man loved by all. It does not matter if you accept yourself or other people, it ultimately brings happiness to your life. Like the protagonist of this story we should seek happiness with the help of acceptance. And be a person loved by all. We should respect everyone no matter their skin, color or ethnicity. We should accept all as it is the only key to happiness.
