for there were no roads like there are today.

Odin’s cloak had a hood, to keep him dry, as umbrellas hadn’t been invented yet - and a traveller’s stick to help him beat back the bushes and branches back as he walked along. When he came down to earth, which they called Midgard, he wandered about in a long dark blue cloak, with a beautiful silver clasp with letters called runes engraved on on it. Like most of the gods, he didn’t stay in Asgard all the time. As well as being god of war, battle, victory and death, he was also the god of magic, poetry, prophecy and wisdom. Odin lived in Asgard, the home of the Norse gods. There are lots of different stories about him but in every one, one fact remains the same and that is that he had only one Eye, This is because he had sacrificed the other to gain wisdom in order to save the World. The Vikings had several gods, the chief of whom was Odin. Some went to Britain, and to other parts of Europe including Normandy in France, and Sicily, and some went to Greenland and all the way to North America. They journeyed in long boats looking for somewhere easier, and perhaps warmer, to make a living. Because they were so poor, many Norsemen sailed away – these were the Vikings. Most people, except the Kings and jarls or chiefs, had a constant struggle against the cold, and against hunger and disease. They mostly came from the countries that are part of Scandinavia, which is now rich, but was then very poor. The Norsemen lived long ago, roughly half way between the time of Jesus and today.

Sleipnir the snow fell