Here we go up, up, up,
And here we go down, down, downy;
And here we go backwards and forwards,
And here we go round, round, roundy.
And here we go down, down, downy;
And here we go backwards and forwards,
And here we go round, round, roundy.
(Traditional Nursery Rhyme)
Three
days of nonstop thunderstorms in the northern Atlantic meant a test of
endurance for the Viking vessel headed towards Iceland.
Walls of
water crashed against the ship’s oak bow, delivering a pounding blow to the
crew through its frigid embrace. Everyone knew the months ahead of them would
be tough when they first began their voyage, but these last few days had proven
to be more difficult than anyone anticipated.
Howling winds and rough seas rocked the vessel violently as it passed
over each wave, sending men and cargo alike into the air at points.
“This is
the price we must pay for glory” shouted the commander as another wave slapped
against the hull. This voyage had only one
objective: recover land and treasure.
The thought of bringing home chests filled with gold and silver was enough
motivation to brave through the rough seas for every Viking on board.
Picture of a viking ship
Sometimes when going over the largest waves,
the commander would become more vocal with his crew.
Here we go up, up,
up
Here we go down,
down, down
He would
shout to the men on board as their ship went up and over large rolling waves.
Finally,
just as the men were beginning to think they might be in over their heads with
this journey, the shoreline along Iceland’s coast became visible. Things were beginning to look up for the weary
sailors as an escape from the storms was now within eye sight. Everyone cheered with excitement, desperately
craving an escape from the thunderstorms and rough seas.
The
commander pointed the ship’s direction towards the North East corner of the
island as it looked like the water was deep enough to allow the closest
possible docking position for the boat.
And just as the vessel reached a point forty meters off shore, the ship
hit a large rock not visible from the water’s surface.
The ship
never completed its voyage and only one man survived. He managed to make it to the shore and began
searching for gold and silver on his own.
Though he never actually found any, he managed to make it back to his
home lands, where he wrote this story to remember the lives of his fellow
Vikings.
Author’s Note: This story is based on the Nursery
rhyme “Up, up, up” which is quoted in the story. You can find this nursery rhyme in TheNursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang (1897). This nursery rhyme is intended to be sung
while playing with a baby, but I added a different spin to it for the
story. I envisioned those words as
describing what might be happening onboard a Viking ship in search of treasure
or land. As the ship crosses the ocean I
imagined what it might be like to encounter rough seas and stormy weather, as
the ship would appear to be bouncing up and down and people would be jerked
forwards and backwards as the ship hit each wave. I turned this into a story describing what
might happen to some of the unsuccessful Viking crews that did not finish their
voyage and were forgotten by history.
This is a great story. I do not know if I will ever be able to hear it as a regular nursery rhyme again without feeling a little bit sad. The way you end it with the surviving Viking writing the story to remember his lost crew members is a decidedly touching and tragic ending. The story almost begs to be continued as the journey of how it became a nursery rhyme.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting interpretation of the nursery rhyme it definitely took a bit of imagination for you to create this story. I like the how the story is not purely dialogue but rather you put quite a few details in to create the story. I also like the setting I do not think that I would have chosen such an interesting place to orchestrate the story.
ReplyDeleteThis story is an interesting spin on the nursery rhyme “Up, up, up.” I found interesting how the nursery was used to create a story about Vikings on a journey who were caught in a storm. I also like how the commander said parts of the poem as they were in the storm. The writing in the story was descriptive and allowed the reader to visualize what was happening to the Vikings. I felt like there was a gap between the commander shouting the words of the rhyme and the Vikings thinking they might be in over their heads. It might have been good to add in something along the lines of the ship could not take much more of the pounding of the sea. When the Vikings hit the rock, it might have been beneficial to include more information on the struggles there. Maybe saying the commander had saved the Viking that had survived. The emotions of the Vikings I feel like were accurately represented and I feel like I would feel similar emotions in that situation. Overall, it was an excellent story.
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