‘If the Vikings could handle it, I’m sure you can too,’ Nina said with a grin as she set off again.
The juddering journey resumed. It did not take long for the explorers to see that Eddie’s reading of the map had been correct; the landscape grew steeper and more rocky, the waterway narrowing. They continued up it, at one point almost doubling back as they rounded a hairpin bend before curving back to the north-west. A couple of kilometres further, and the banks rose higher, turning the valley into a ravine. Nina caught up with her husband. ‘If the sides get much taller, we won’t be able to see anything,’ she called.
‘Yeah, I know,’ he replied, looking up at the overhanging trees before turning his gaze back to the ice ahead. ‘Whoa, slow down. There’s a load of rocks in the river.’ He eased off the throttle as the group approached a cluster of snow-covered shapes rising above the surface.
Tova also reduced speed, changing course to avoid the obstacles. ‘If the Vikings were on foot, they would have gone away from the river here. Perhaps we should do the same.’
‘Might be an idea,’ said Eddie. He craned his neck to check the ravine’s top. The western side was noticeably higher than the eastern. ‘Dunno if we’ll get the snowmobiles up there, though.’
Nina, however, was now looking ahead. ‘Guys! You think that might be our bridge?’
The others followed her gaze. Crossing the top of the ravine was a huge slab of rock, a chunk of mountain that had been torn away and carried downhill by a glacier in aeons past, before eventually being dumped when the ice retreated. Shaded stripes ran lengthways through it, the various strata exposed. Some of the layers glinted in the sunlight.
The snowmobiles stopped. ‘Yeah, it’s a bridge,’ said Eddie, ‘but it’s not a rainbow one. It’s a bit grey. Unless the Viking who made the runestones was colour-blind?’
‘I guess,’ Nina said, disappointed. ‘It’s quite pretty, though. There must be a lot of quartz in it to get that effect with the light.’
‘Damn, and I was hoping it was full of diamonds.’ He was about to set off again when he noticed Tova staring up at the slab with an expression that suggested she had someone’s name on the tip of her tongue but couldn’t quite remember it. ‘Tova? What’s up?’
‘The rainbow bridge,’ she said, more to herself than in response to his question. ‘No, Eddie is right, it is not a rainbow. It is, it is…’ She suddenly flinched, excited. ‘It is not a rainbow bridge! The translation, it is wrong!’
‘What do you mean?’ Nina asked.
‘The translation of the runestone — not just the one that was stolen from the museum, but many others. The description of Bifröst is usually translated as “the rainbow bridge”, which we think of as being many colours, yes? But there is another possible translation, which is… oh! What is the word in English?’ She frowned and closed her eyes, thinking hard. ‘The word, the word…’ She snapped them open. ‘Shimmering! It can also mean “the shimmering bridge”! The light changes as you look at it!’
Nina regarded the rock again. The quartz crystals indeed shimmered, reflected sunlight subtly shifting as she moved her head. ‘That would definitely fit. But if you’re right, and that really is Bifröst, then…’
‘Then Asgard is on the far side — and so is Valhalla!’ Tova cried in delight. ‘It is real, it is up there!’
Kagan was more sceptical. ‘We do not know for sure. You may be seeing what you want to see.’
‘I want to see a nice pub with a roaring log fire, but it’s not happening,’ said Eddie. ‘We’ve got to check it out, at least. If there’s nothing up there, we can just come back and carry on.’
‘Yeah, we need to look,’ Nina agreed. She brought her snowmobile around.
Although Kagan was still dubious, they headed back downriver to the foot of the ravine. Eddie took the lead, revving his engine in controlled bursts to bring his vehicle up the steepening slope. Nina, Tova and Kagan followed his tracks between the trees. The snowmobiles lurched and bumped over obstacles hidden under the snow. ‘Bollocks,’ Eddie said after fifty metres. ‘It’s getting really rocky. Probably a good idea to leave the snowmobiles and go the rest of the way on foot. If anything breaks, it’ll be an absolute pain in the arse to fix out here.’
Nina was feeling faintly seasick from being thrown about. ‘Yes, definitely,’ she agreed, stopping and dismounting with relief. She gazed back the way they had come as the others also switched off their engines. The frozen river weaved away into the distance until it was swallowed by the forest, the sun reflecting dazzlingly off the ice. The stillness and sudden silence made the starkly beautiful sight seem almost like a painting. There was definitely a mythical quality to the snow-draped landscape; she could easily imagine the Vikings of old marching through it.
But would they have been heading for Valhalla — a real, physical place, not just a legend? She looked up the slope. Nothing was visible but raw nature: trees, rocks, snow. If the great hall were here, it was well hidden.
‘Everyone ready?’ she asked, though addressing the question mostly to Tova.
The Swede nodded. ‘Yes. I cannot wait to see what we find! If the rock bridge really is Bifröst…’
‘Then let’s see if it is, eh?’ said Eddie as he took a backpack from his snowmobile and donned it. ‘What about you, Kagan? You don’t look too excited.’
‘My leg is hurt, so I had hoped not to walk very far,’ the Russian grumbled as he collected his own gear.
They proceeded up the hill. The going was slow, the thick snow and uneven ground making each step an effort. But before long they reached the top of the slope and the glistening slab of quartz came into view. Another few minutes, and they reached it.
Eddie assessed the bridge. ‘Shouldn’t be too hard to get across,’ he said, brushing away snow to check the rock beneath. The great span was shaped roughly like a spearhead, the narrow end on the far side of the ravine. ‘Seems pretty flat under the snow. Looks solid, too.’
‘I will let you test that,’ said Kagan, with a faint smile.
Eddie took a coiled rope from his pack. ‘Tie the end to that tree,’ he said, fastening one end around his waist and handing the other to the Russian. ‘And don’t use a bloody granny knot!’
The line was quickly secured. Eddie set out over the crossing. Nina watched his progress anxiously — the drop to the ice below was at least thirty feet — but despite a couple of heartstopping moments when he almost stumbled, he was soon on the other side. ‘Piece of piss!’ he called. ‘I’ll fix the rope so you can get across.’
With the guideline in place and pulled taut, the others quickly followed him. Nina, last to cross, surveyed her surroundings as she set foot on solid ground. ‘So, if that really was Bifröst we just crossed, then technically… this is Asgard. The home of the Norse gods.’
‘That is true,’ said Tova, thrilled at the prospect. ‘If the Old Norse myths are euhemeristic, then Thor, Odin, Loki, Freyja… they all came from here. This is the land from which they ruled.’
‘There’s not much to rule, though,’ opined Eddie. ‘Except pine trees.’
‘It might not always have been forest,’ Tova said, a little defensively. ‘There have been warmer periods in the past. It may once have been able to support farming.’
‘Tova, where do we go from here?’ said Nina, keen to move on.
The Swede checked her notes. ‘The runestone said, “Across, follow the stream to the falls.” There must be a stream nearby.’ She pointed ahead. ‘This way, I think.’
‘You’ve been right about these things so far,’ said Nina reassuringly.