"Oftenest they were in service. He had reckoned on this when he spared Dynaborg. Word got around that this was a dreadful band to fight against but sensible in peace and trustworthy. Kings throughout Gardariki needed men like that for their wars with each other and, still more, against the wild tribes that galloped in from the steppes. Traders needed guards for the laden fleets that yearly went down the great rivers and back up again. Hadding's were worth high pay." (pp. 89-90)
They get high pay and loot with which they become shrewd traders. Some buy farms. Hadding becomes rich, then buys ships, weapons, stores and goods to give as gifts and hires men. He aims at kingship. Thus, Viking fighting skills have been put to a variety of more productive ends.
1 comment:
Paul:
In Piper's *Space Viking*, Lucas Trask pillages both sides in a war on the planet Amaterasu. He tells the "president" of one nation, "I promised to avoid unnecessary damage or violence. I've already hanged a dozen of my own men for rape, murder and wanton vandalism."
Trask later came back to Amaterasu and "declared peace against the whole planet." In the book's final battle, he's got a starship from Amaterasu among his allies. Amaterasu didn't even have in-system space flight before Lucas Trask showed up.
Trask only became a Space Viking to hunt down the man who killed his bride. He found it far more satisfactory to rebuild civilization wherever he could, and to trade with people, than to plunder.
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