The Rosewood Chalice
A Novel of the First Crusade
by
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Lars, at his family table that night, knew he must conceal from his wife and daughter the knowledge of what Eric had done earlier that day. For Eric’s safety, he could take no chance that Rolf’s family, the Nilsens,. might find out about the tragic death of their son at Eric’s hands, at least until enough time passed that Eric could be well on his way to Constantinople. He had always shared his thoughts with his family, as they had with him; but now, for the first time, he must not confide what he knew, and especially that he had just seen Eric. His eldest son, Peter, was the first to wonder where Eric was. "Father, Eric and Rolf went hunting, shouldn’t they be back by now?" Lightly dismissing his eldest son’s concern, Lars reassured him that Eric and Rolf could take care of themselves. In the face of such pretensions, Lars suffered from guilt over his bitter comments to Eric before his younger son’s final farvel. He wished he could take them back. He wished he could suffer in his son’s place, but for now he must agonize alone. Lars strived mightily not to appear worried, affecting to savor the delicate, slightly tart taste of cloudberries picked that afternoon by his wife, Sigrid, and his daughter, Ellen, from higher elevations in the nearby mountains. Then Peter mentioned what most people were talking about--the rivalry among three brothers for the throne of Norway. "Father, now they’re saying that King Sigurd will be given our area to rule. The country will be divided into three parts, and there will be no war over the succession." "It’s good that there will be no war here," said Lars, "but Sigurd wants to join the Pope’s Crusade." Lars, the last of his family who still adhered to the old Norse gods Thor and Odin, along with a few others in the village, resented the Pope’s call to arms. Lars was vehement. "Already thousands of young Englishmen, Frenchmen and Danes have died trying to liberate old ruins from the Muslims. "His wife Sigrid, although she had accepted Christianity, agreed there should be no religious war. "The Muslims don’t want us in their land anymore than the English wanted us at Stamford Bridge. Why must our sons die?"
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About the Book
The Rosewood Chalice
The Sandersen brothers, from a small village in Norway, traveled to the middle east to join the Crusade by different routes: Peter, the eldest son, by joining the sixty-ship fleet of King Sigurd, first European monarch to "take the cross." His brother Eric, faced with banishment for killing his best friend (albeit in self-defense) by leaving abruptly and traveling through Sweden and Russia to Constantinople, where he joined Emperor Alexius’ Varangian Guard, Byzantium’s elite fighting force of western Europeans.
Early in his odyssey, Peter is driven by a quest for the Holy Grail, Christendom’s most sacred relic, the cup used by Jesus and his disciples at their last communion together. Eric admires Constantinople’s grandeur and history. He vows to defend it against encroaching Muslims, and ultimately rises as high in the military hierarchy as is possible for a non-Byzantine, becoming the consort of the Emperor‘s daughter.
The Rosewood Chalice sheds light on the origins of Christian-Muslim hostility that exists even today.
About the Author
Orville Richolson has traveled widely in western Europe, and studied at the University of Oslo. He was editor-publisher of the Newport (Ark.) Daily Independent for thirty-five years, winning many awards for feature and editorial writing. A graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, he also earned a degree in History there, his interest in medieval history piqued by a course, the Early Middle Ages, taught by Professsor Mullett. He and his wife, Betty Jo, are at home in Newport. They have four children, three grandchildren, and one greatgrandaughter.