Eirik and Jensson were the two oldest sons of Jens the Wife Fearer. Jens had adopted Eirik at a very young age and he cared deeply for his two oldest boys. Jens was a true Viking and loved to sail the seas.

When Jens would come home from sea, he would tell of his adventures and of the most honored varangian guard from a land far away. He also told of the solenarions and of their most deadly crossbows. The two boys fantasized about one day becoming solenarions and felling their varangian foes before they could bring any harm to the guardsman.

One day while Jens was away from home, Eirik and Jensson decided that they would practice being the solenarions that they so admired. They fashioned a long bow from a branch that they determined to be sound. After finding a suitable piece of twine, they notched their branch and had constructed a properly functioning bow. The arrows they created from the straightest sections of smaller branches they could find, using flint stones wrapped by twine for tips. A few chicken feathers and a little tar made for adequate flights. It certainly wasn't the crossbow and quarrel of a Solenarion, but it would do for now.

After experimenting with the bow, they quickly became bored. How could they raid a village with one meager bow? They needed something extra to strike fear into the hearts of their enemies. Eirik and Jensson had always loved their favorite gift from Valhalla, the gift of fire. They decided that they could wrap their flints with cloth that had been soaked in oil. They would light the cloth on fire before shooting them! Their foes would think that the gods were throwing fire at their villages and would flee with terror! This is exactly what they needed.

The first few attempts were awkward, but at last they had the right combination of cloth and oil and their flaming arrows were a success! They could not wait to go on their first raid! They prepared a victory arrow and were so content that had never heard the footsteps approaching. They were very far from their village and had thought that no one would be looking for them. They had not realized that their father might return from his journey early.

Jensson had the arrow notched and was preparing to pull the bow back. Eirik had just ignited the cloth and was seeing the terror filled eyes of villagers in the flames. When their father spoke they turned in slow motion to meet their fathers gaze. They had seen that look before. It was usually just before they were told to retrieve a switch and return it to him. This look was slightly different; it was a combination of anger and remembrance. Jens had suddenly remembered a young boy who dreamed of being a Viking warrior and whose father had nurtured the dreams of that boy. Jens slowed retrieved the bow and arrow from the boys and inspected it's construction. It was very primitive he said with a frown but noted that it did seem sound enough to do the job. He pulled the arrow back and launched a flaming arrow from the gods that bested the boy's greatest effort by a great distance. Jens laughed a great bear laugh and beefy smacked the boys on their backs. The boys laughed and then tried their best to control their bladders, with limited success. They had gone from the switch to laughing with their father. The watched as their father hid their creation and elements in a nearby bush and put his arms around the boys as he lead them back to their village. His only comment regarding the entire matter on their walk back home was "Don't tell your mother or she'll kill us".

Thus endeth the first saga of Eirik and Jensson.

And yes this is a true story!