The Hall of high jarl Svein Blue Tooth

The hall of Svein Blue Tooth, high jarl of Torvaldsland, is made of wood
The hall of Svein Blue Tooth was of wood, and magnificent.
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The entrance to the hall faces the east, on one of the shorter walls of the longhouse
It is common, however, for the entrance of the hall to be oriented toward the morning sun, and for the high seat to face the entrance. None may enter without being seen from the high seat.
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The long sides of the longhouse are to the north and south
On the long sides of the hall, on the north and south, there were long tables, with benches.
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The main part of the interior of the hall is forty feet high and forty feet wide
The length of the hall is two hundred feet
The interior hall, not counting rooms leading from it on various sides, or the balcony which lined it, leading to other rooms, was some forty feet high, and forty feet in width, some two hundred feet in length.
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The floor is a dirt floor
At places, too, there were bowls, with oil and wicks, with spikes on their bottoms, set in the dirt floor, some six inches from the floor, others as high as five feet;
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The shields and weapons of the men of the hall hang on the walls
About the edges of the hall hung the shields of warriors, with their weapons. Even those who sat commonly at the center tables, and were warriors, kept their shields and spears at the wall.
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Hall is ornately carved
Above the shields on the walls are tapestries depicting scenes of war, ships or hunting
The hall was ornately carved, and, above the shields, decorated with cunningly sewn tapestries and hangings. On these were, usually, warlike scenes, or those dealing with ships and hunting. There was a lovely scene of the hunting of tabuk in a forest. Another tapestry, showing numerous ships, in a war fleet, dated from the time of the famine in Torvaldsland, a generation ago. That had been a time of great raids to the south.
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Extending almost the length of the hall (which would be almost 200 feet) is a pit for a "long fire" to prepare food
There was, extending almost the length of the hall, a pit for a "long fire" over which food was prepared for retainers.
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Holes are cut in the peaked roof to allow the smoke from the fire to escape
The smoke from the fire found its way high into the rafters, and, eventually, out of the holes cut in the peaked roof. Some of these were eighteen inches square.
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The cooking fire provides some light
Light is also provided by torches set in rings on the wall, with metal plating to protect the wood
Tharlarion oil lamps hang high above on chains from the beams
Bowls with oil and wicks set in the dirt floor - some six inches from the ground, others five feet from the ground
The dirt floor is strewn with rushes as is common in Torvaldsland
Light was furnished from the cooking fire but, too, from torches set in rings on the wall, backed with metal plating; too, here and there, on chains from the beams, high above, there hung large tharlarion oil lamps, which could be raised and lowered from the sides. At places, too, there were bowls, with oil and wicks, with spikes on their bottoms, set in the dirt floor, some six inches from the floor, others as high as five feet; this mode of lamp, incidentally, is more common in the private chambers. It was not unusual, incidentally, that the floor of the great hall, rich as it was, was of dirt, strewn with rushes. This is common in the halls of Torvaldsland.
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The men sleep in their furs behind the tables in the long hall
High officers and the Jarl & his family have private rooms in the hall
About the edges of the hall hung the shields of warriors, with their weapons. Even those who sat commonly at the center tables, and were warriors, kept their shields and spears at the wall. At night, each man would sleep in his furs behind the tables, under his weapons. High officers, of course, and the Blue Tooth, and members of his family, would retire to private rooms.
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On the western side (one of the shorter sides of the hall) is a long table
Behind the table, facing the hall itself and east, is the high seat
High seat is wide enough for three or four men to sit together
Great honor to share the high seat
It, on the western side, was lined with a great, long table. Behind this table, its back to the western wall, facing the length of the hall, facing east, was the high seat, or the rightful seat, the seat of the master of the house. It was wide enough for three or four men to sit together on it, and, as a great honor, sometimes others were invited to share the high seat.
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Pillars, eight inches in diameter, eight feet high, at ends of high seat
Bench placed between pillars is the rightful seat
On same side of table (near west wall) are other long benches
On each side of this high seat were two pillars, about eight inches in diameter, and some eight feet high, the high-seat pillars, or rightful-seat pillars. They marked the seat, or bench, which might be placed between them as the high seat, or rightful seat. These pillars had been carved by craftsmen in the time of Svein Blue Tooth’s great grandfather, and bore the luck signs of his house. On each side of the high seat were long benches.
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Opposite the high seat are long benches
A seat of honor is directly across from the high seat
Opposite, on the other side of the table, too, were long benches.
A seat of honor, incidentally, was that opposite the high seat, where one might converse with the host.
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Bench is not raised in height, simply high as in a seat of great honor
The high seat, though spoken of as "high," was the same height as the other benches. The men of Torvaldsland, thus, look across the table at one another, not one down upon the other. The seat is "high" in the sense of being a seat of great honor.
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A pit for a long fire extends length of hall in center
Along the long sides of the hall, north and south walls, are long tables with benches
There was, extending almost the length of the hall, a pit for a "long fire" over which food was prepared for retainers. On the long sides of the hall, on the north and south, there were long tables, with benches.
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Smaller tables, parallel to the high table, in the center of the hall, near the long fire
Similarly, at the tables parallel to the high-seat table, smaller tables flanking the long fire on both sides, the tables nearest the high seat counted as being above the salt, those farthest away being below the salt.
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A thousand men, the Jarls men, seated at the tables
The lady of the house, the Jarls woman, seated near him, beside the high seat
The Forkbeard lifted his head boldly and, smiling, emerged from the side room, at the entrance to which he stopped and raised his hands, saluting the tables. He was greeted with warmth from the many warriors there. He had won six talmits. "The Forkbeard greets you!" shouted Ivar. I blinked. The hall was light. I had not understood it to be so large. At the tables, lifting ale and knives to the Fork-beard were more than a thousand men. Then he took his way to the bench opposite the high seat, stopping here and there to exchange pleasantries with the men of Svein Blue Tooth. I, and his men, followed him. The Blue Tooth, I noted, did not look too pleased at the Forkbeard’s popularity with his men. Near him, beside the high seat, sat his woman, Bera, her hair worn high on her head, in a kirtle of yellow wool with scarlet cape of the fur of the red sea sleen, and, about her neck, necklaces of gold.
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Salt placed on the tables to designate those who are "above the salt" and those who are not
Salt, in its bowls on the tables, divided men into rankings. Those sitting above the salt were accorded greater prestige than those sitting below it. If one sat between the salt and the high seat, one sat "above" the salt; if one sat between the salt and the entrance to the hall, one sat "below" the salt. At the high-seat table, that at which the high seat sat, all counted as being "above the salt." Similarly, at the tables parallel to the high-seat table, smaller tables flanking the long fire on both sides, the tables nearest the high seat counted as being above the salt, those farthest away being below the salt. The division, was made approximately at the third of the hall closest to the high seat, but could shift, depending on the numbers of those in attendance worthy to be above the salt. The line, so to speak, imaginary to be sure, but definitely felt as a social reality, dividing those above from those below the salt, was uniformly "drawn" across the width of the hall. Thus, it was not the case that one at a long side table, who was above the salt, would be farther away from the high seat than one at one of the center tables, who was "below" the salt. In Ivar Forkbeard’s hall, incidentally, the salt distinctions were not drawn; in his hall all being comrades in arms, all were "above the salt." Svein Blue Tooth’s holdings, on the other hand, were quite large and complexly organized. It would not have seemed proper, at least in the eyes of Svein Blue Tooth and others, for a high officer to sit at the same table with a fellow whose main occupation was supervising thralls in the tending of verr.
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Palisade encircles the hall and its associated buildings, enclosing roughly two acres
Within the palisade are many shops & storage houses, and an ice house (NOTE - these "shops" would be workshops for the smithing, the butter churning, the drying of foods, etc. - not retail stores)
There is a catwalk about the palisades with guards upon it
Looking out through the window I could see the palisade about the hall and its associated buildings. The palisade enclosed some two acres; within it were many shops and storage houses, even an ice house; in the center, of course, reared the great hall itself, that rude high-roofed palace of the north, the house of Svein Blue Tooth. Through the membrane, hardly distorted, I saw the palisade, the catwalk about it, the guards, and, over it, the moons of Gor. In the far distance, the moonlight reflected from its snowy heights I saw, too, the Torvaldsberg, in which the legendary Torvald was reputed to sleep, supposedly to waken again if needed once more in Torvaldsland.
I smiled.
I turned to Ivar Forkbeard. I saw that treasures, borne by his men, had been placed in this side room.
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Svein Blue Tooth’s holdings, on the other hand, were quite large and complexly organized. It would not have seemed proper, at least in the eyes of Svein Blue Tooth and others, for a high officer to sit at the same table with a fellow whose main occupation was supervising thralls in the tending of verr.
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