A Tale of the Aurochs

Based on the runestave Uruz: Britta's family home lies on the mountain where the last aurochs roams.

The last Aurochs lived at the top of the mountain where the Thorsteins lived.

Britta’s parents spoke of it often: an ox as large as a house, with horns as long as the branches of a tree and the strength of a hundred men.

Once, these beasts had roamed the forests in great numbers. They had inspired awe and fear in equal measure. As such, they became irresistible targets for men who wished to prove their strength. They were hunted mercilessly.

Now there was but one left.

It lived on the mountain where the Thorstein family built their farm many generations ago. They respected the ancient aurochs as a keeper of the mountain, and they knew that only by its leave were they allowed to live so near its home.

Britta’s father told her that, if she watched carefully, she might catch a glimpse of the magnificent beast as it prowled among the trees surrounding their home. Britta had spent countless days straining her eyes, looking toward the line of trees that marked the boundary of the family grounds. Every slight movement and passing shadow made her jump with excitement, eager to spot the legendary creature. She never did.

The disappointment at her lack of success was softened by the certainty that, when the time came, she would get the chance to do much more than glimpse the creature from afar. To honor the aurochs, a Thorstein would climb to the mountain peak once every winter, and give an offering to the aurochs: a token of their promise to live peacefully, and to honor its existence. The duty would fall to Britta once she came of age. On her thirteenth birthday, she would get the chance to finally see the great aurochs up close.

Or so she thought.

“Once you come to the peak,” Britta’s father explained as the time approached. “You must deliver the offering and immediately return. The aurochs may or may not show itself. If it chooses not to appear to you, you must respect it by taking your leave. Do not seek it out. To challenge its will would be a greatest offense, and would bring its rage down on us all.”  

This warning dampened Britta’s enthusiasm, but did not extinguish it. Surely the odds that she would see the aurochs were much greater than those of not seeing it.

Her thirteenth birthday came just as autumn slipped into winter. A couple of weeks later, she stood at the edge of the pine forest that covered the slope toward the mountaintop. A layer of snow already blanketed the ground, but the sky was clear on the morning of her journey.

Slung across her shoulder, Britta carried a bag with the offering inside it. The climb to the peak should take about five hours, according to her father; a little less time on the way back.

Her father patted her shoulders reassuringly before stepping away, seeing her off. Britta felt a tinge of nervousness for the first time. Trekking up a mountain, in the snow, by herself, suddenly seemed like too big an endeavor. She had no choice but to shake off her trepidation, as her father gestured impatiently for her to go on.

Britta turned from her father to face the wilderness ahead. She began her climb.

The going was rough. The path was lined with both ice and snow. She slipped as often as she sank into deep pockets of pristine snow. The air blowing against her face was frigid. Britta pushed onward by telling herself this would all be worth it, once she reached the fabled aurochs.

Her face stung from the cold, her fingers were stiff and her breath was short, but Britta completed the trek in one piece. She smiled triumphantly as she passed beyond the tree foliage and unto the exposed mountaintop. The face of the mountain was barren here: a combination of exposed rock and some snow. The wind buffeted Britta without any trees to shield her, tossing her hair wildly and forcing her to crouch to keep from being blown away.

Britta’s eyes filled with tears because of the icy wind, but she forced herself to keep them open. The clear weather granted her a magnificent view of the valley below. She could see beyond the valley to the mountains spreading toward the horizon ahead, and to the silver ribbon that was the river winding its way between them. It was beautiful. Britta, however, only gazed for a moment.

She looked back to the clearing on which she stood. Slowly, she looked at every jutting rock, every mound of snow. Nothing stirred but the snow getting carried by the wind.

She didn’t see the aurochs.

Britta looked around again, slowly.

Rocks.

Snow.

No aurochs.

She struggled to keep the rising wave of frustration at bay. She refused to give up hope yet. She still had to put the offering in place. She could do that slowly: very slowly.

Britta worked to open her bag at such a pace that one might have thought she wasn’t moving at all. Kneeling on a snowy crevice, she reached into the bag while looking over her shoulder every couple of seconds. She grabbed the offering, which was wrapped in cloth, and began to unwrap it with painstakingly slow movements.

She paused with her hands around the unwrapped gift: a small wooden totem, in the image of the aurochs. Now was the time for her to set it down and take her leave, as her father had instructed. His warning echoed in her mind, louder than the wind’s howling.

Do not seek it out.

She wouldn’t seek it out. Britta wrapped the gift once more, gingerly placing it back inside the bag, then she stood up and walked back toward the trees closest to the peak.

She chose one tree that looked easy enough to climb and made her way up its branches.

She was not to seek out the aurochs, but her father had not said anything about waiting for it to show up.

Satisfied with her reasoning, Britta settled onto a thick branch, making sure she still had a fair view of the peak’s clearing, and prepared to wait.

The sun began to sink while she waited. Blue skies gave way to a gray twilight, then faded to black, far more quickly than Britta had expected.

She sat in the tree as still as she could, rubbing her hands together and blowing into them for warmth. She could make no fire while she waited. The cold was brutal, and the idea of returning home at night filled her with dread.

She felt stupid. As much as she hated the idea of having wasted all daylight for no reason, Britta knew she couldn’t afford to wait in a tree through the night. She’d freeze before the aurochs deigned to show itself.

Britta reluctantly climbed down from the tree. She started to walk toward the clearing, then noticed a faint blue glow around her. She looked up as she emerged from the trees and saw that a bright blue aurora had lit up the night, shimmering and twisting above like a heavenly river. The sight of it made her feel like her long wait hadn’t been without reward after all.

As Britta turned her gaze from the sky, she was met with an even more rewarding sight.

Bathed in blue light, the aurochs stood before her.

All descriptions of the creature’s magnitude fell miserably short compared to the real thing. It loomed over Britta like a wall had suddenly been erected before her: immense and impenetrable. It exuded warmth: Britta could feel its body’s heat despite the distance that separated them. Its curling horns were so long they rivaled the branches of the tree she had just climbed out of. Its eyes… glared down at Britta from behind wide, flaring nostrils.

Britta’s wonder quickly morphed into alarm.

It seemed that waiting for the aurochs had been enough to offend it. The enormous creature pawed the snow with one hoof.

Britta took one step back. The aurochs tossed its head once, then charged.

Britta froze. She shut her eyes and waited for the crushing impact, but it didn’t come. She heard the aurochs’ thundering stride come and go. Still frozen in place, Britta dared to open her eyes and follow the sound.

The aurochs had run past her, into the forest.

The relief that washed over Britta was short-lived as the rest of her father’s warning came back to her: to challenge its will would be a greatest offense, and would bring its rage down on us all. 

The aurochs had not simply left. It had charged down the mountain. It had gone toward the Thorstein’s home.

Britta’s teeth clattered. It wasn’t the cold that bothered her now. She stood in place, stomach knotting as she realized how big her mistake had been. She stood there until the blue aurora faded and left her in darkness.

It was too late to undo her actions. Leaving the offering here now would mean nothing… But what else could she do?

There was only one thing to do. She took one deep breath, ignoring her own shivering, then started running down the mountain.

Britta fell and rolled almost as much as she actually ran. Within a short time, she was bruised and battered, but she used every roll to come up with more momentum and go even faster.

A half-moon had risen and provided just enough light for Britta to dodge trees along the way, though just barely.

Her lungs felt as if they had turned to ice. Her legs burned. The bruises all along her body throbbed. She didn’t think about what she was running toward, or how far she had to go, only that she had to keep going. For hours, she kept going.

Until she caught up to the aurochs.

The beast had nearly reached the house. It had stopped running, but crept toward the building steadily.

Britta stopped when she saw it. It looked bigger than she remembered. She felt like an ant chasing after a bear.

She could still run away. She thought of climbing up a tree and shouting a warning; maybe her family could escape in time. There were plenty of trees to choose from here.

Instead, Britta grit her teeth and sprinted forward. She mustered one last burst of energy and ran out of the tree line, unto the clearing where the house stood. Candlelight glowed through the windows.

The aurochs heard or felt her giving chase, and it stopped. It turned toward Britta.

Britta stopped running. She forced herself to look up and meet the aurochs’ gaze. I will not back down, Britta wanted to tell it.

The aurochs ran at her.

As the aurochs charged, Britta kept her eyes open. She trembled like a leaf, but she stayed rooted in place.

She cried out as the aurochs reached her.

A moment passed. The aurochs did not trample her or stick one of its great horns through her, but stood close enough for its breath to mist Britta’s head like hot vapor. She tried not to wince. She had to crane her neck to meet creature’s eyes this time.

Britta and the aurochs faced one another, neither moving, but breathing hard.

It felt as if a long time passed, and Britta thought that the aurochs had started to look impatient. Or expectant?

Uncertainly, Britta reached a shaking hand into the bag that she still carried, without breaking the aurochs’ gaze.

After feeling around for a moment, her hand closed around the wooden totem. Slowly, as non-threateningly as possible, she pulled out the offering and held it up.

The aurochs snorted, then lowered its massive head toward Britta’s hand. She tensed, but the creature only pressed its nose against the little wooden totem. It made a grunting noise before stepping back. Then it lowered its head all the way to the ground.

Britta stared at the aurochs for the space of a heartbeat before tentatively placing the totem on the back of the aurochs’ neck, which was as wide as a large tree trunk and covered in coarse fur. It made for an excellent placeholder. Once she had placed the totem, the aurochs raised its head and snorted again, almost appreciatively now.

Britta smiled. The aurochs was as incredible as she had always imagined. She vowed that as long as she lived, none would threaten its peace.

Satisfied, the great beast turned toward the forest and disappeared into the trees.

In the years that followed, Britta no longer attempted to get a glimpse of the aurochs. If she ever thought she saw movement in the forest, she only smiled, in case the great mountain keeper could see her.

The bruises Britta had gained on that fateful night’s run down the mountain faded with time, but the memory of facing the greatest beast in existence, and her vow to protect it, would stay with her as long as she lived.

Author's Note

Second in the Rune Tales series.