A Fortunate Curse

On his way to New Sweden in the 1600s Nils tells the story of how Werewolves and Vampires came to be according to Norse Mythology..

A Fortunate Curse

      The Swedish ship The Eagle rocked and rolled with the wild waves of the Atlantic Ocean.  The trip was a long and full of peril, but one that many chose to take.  They believed that a new and better life awaited them in the colony of New Sweden.  Certainly that is what Nils and his two sons thought.

     "What brought you aboard The Eagle?"  Stieg asked Nils.  They were both sitting down in the hold passing the time between their tightly rationed meals.  There wasn't much to do during the incredibly boring days that stretched between Sweden and the New World.

       "My sons and I wish to find our fortune," Nils said interlacing his fingers as he looked down at them.  Momentarily he looked up and into the questioning eyes of Stieg.

       "Where is your wife?" Stieg wanted to know.

       "She died back in Varmland."

       "A plague?" Stieg wondered aloud.

       Nils paused for a moment, debating on rather to tell this stranger the truth.  With a long sigh he finally said, "No."

       "Childbirth?" Stieg guessed.

       Nils shook his head.  "No, vampire."

       "Truly?"

       Nils nodded.

       "I thought they were just the stuff of legends and folk lore."

       "Me too, but then a nest of vampires moved into Gunnarskog Parish and my wife, Eve, had the unfortunate luck to cross paths with one on a particularly tragic night."

       "That is dreadful.  I am very sorry for your loss."  Stieg leaned back in his bunk and shook his head.  "I suppose that next you'll tell me that werewolves and witches are just as real."

       "But they are," Nils insisted.

       “How could they possibly be real? Such dark magic does not exist in our world of science.  Besides, if they did exist, then they would have to be sired of Satan himself,” Stieg sighed.

       “These Lycanthropes  have nothing to do of Satan!” Niles exclaimed.  “They know nothing of Christianity for they are of Odin.”

       “The wolves of Odin, eh?  Tell me more.”

       “Dromi was the son of Loki, grandson of Odin himself.  He was born not a wolf, but as a shape-shifter.  He could transform at will and was not bound by anything or anyone.  His siblings were bound though.  Jormungand was the Midgard Serpent who was cast into the sea and Dromi’s sister Hel was tossed into the underworld.  It was only Dromi who was allowed to stay in Asgard. It was Dromi who Odin favored.”

        Nils drew in a deep breath and continued, “However, it was Dromi who was prophesied to bring down Odin at Ragnarok.  Dromi was eventually bound to the cave of Gnipahellir by Gleipnir.  Though he was bound, he sired a whole race of shape-sifters who were not bound to the cave at all.  These children were friends of Freki and Geri, the ravenous wolf �"friends of Odin himself. They were considered strong and brave warriors, protectors of Midgard.”

        “They were once considered fortunate men, for they could hunt and fight like no one else in Sweden.  They were a race of supernatural beings that flourished among men until one day a curse was placed upon them.  Knowing that it was the sons of Loki that were destined to swallow the moon and then sun, a powerful Seid vowed to keep them from fulfilling their destiny.  The white which created Vampires, the only natural predator and enemy of the shape-shifters.”

       “How did she create the vampires?” Stieg wanted to know.

        “She called upon both Hel and Jormungand for aide.  They advised her to kill her own children and bring them back to life with their magical blood.  So, Seid did just that.  She created a race of dead people who walked the earth as if still alive.  They were unable to enter the gates of Hel or to sleep in Valhalla.”

        “The vampires roamed the night in search of fresh blood to keep them alive.  They lived a truly cursed life.  Though supernaturally swift and strong, they could not walk during the day.  They were bound to the night so that they could hunt the werewolf in his wolf form.  For most shape-shifters were human by day, but wolf by night.”

       “But the shape-shifters, they could move freely about during the day?” Stieg asked.

       “Yes,” Nils answered.  “They were fortunate in their freedom until the witch and the vampires created a tether for all of Domi’s children.  Once vampires were born into the world, werewolves were cursed to transform at every full moon.  They would no longer shift their shapes during the day or during random phases of the moon.  They were bound to one night a month.  The witch would have bound them from transforming all together if she could have, but that was beyond her power.  The werewolves were still protected by Odin and the Yggdrasil.”

        “It was Yggdrasil that gave the werewolves the upper hand in the battle between them and Sied’s Vampires.  The world tree is a white ash and so any white ash tree carries with it the faint echo of the world’s great power.  It is a stake carved from the white ash and dipped in the white mud at its roots that gives werewolves and humans alike the power to destroy the vampire. But one must be careful, for dragons eat at the branches of the Yggdrasil and destroying the white ashes of this world can turn the hunter into the hunted.  The death of a vampire often calls upon much darker forces to avenge the destruction of the sacred White Ash.”

       Stieg let out a long breath, which he’d been holding toward the end of the story.  “That is some tale,” he said. 

        “It is no tale.  It is truth.”

        Stieg shrugged and yawned.  He was ready to call it a night and sleep.  Tiredly, he turned over and closed his eyes.  Nils sat still and silent until he thought Stieg was sound asleep.  It was then, that the left his bunk and wandered to the upper decks of The Eagle.  He stopped to look up at the full moon above in the clear night sky.  He shivered and felt the familiar ache throughout his slim, but muscular body.  He let out a yelp and then a long howl the transformation began.  It was painful as bones and joints cracked and reformed.  His skin stretched and silver fur grew upon his humped back.  He tried to keep from howling and screaming, but it was difficult to do.  After an hour, the transformation was complete.  He lay on the deck of the ship in his wolf form, sleeping.  Though starving for some sort of flesh and blood to nourish him, he refused to hunt any of the crew members.  He knew it would draw suspicion and that he’d be caught before he even reached New Sweden if he wasn’t careful. 

       The only precaution Nils could think of was to put a collar around his neck and chain himself to the deck.  Even that was no guarantee.  If some tasty morsel of a human being wandered his way, it would not take much to break his chains and devour the unlucky passenger.  He had been fortunate that no one had bothered him thus far, but he wasn’t sure how long his luck would last.