Alfheimr Renaissance Book 8

Live by the sword, die by thunder, day 1 Day 219, 1 February. Swing.

After breakfast, Elin, Asta and the others have once again electrical lessons, and later today Asta and Skirlaug will give maths lessons. Right now, all get to make lead-acid battery cells and repeat maintenance procedures. Many of my future projects will require many batteries, so they need to know and be able to handle them. They also help finish and assemble three more wind turbines, as we now have parts. We now have more powerful semiconductors to convert AC to DC, and we're conducting long-term testing of those copper oxide semiconductors in the 12V system, but these wind turbines are significantly larger and more powerful, because they are for the high-voltage higher power grid here or at the Academy. My hope is that the new wind turbines will provide 4 to 10 times more power through increased size and efficiency. I have started planning to build a much larger and more powerful horizontal wind turbine on the mountain north of Thrymheim so we can scrap the smaller ones, as they are kind of ugly on the roof. In the future, these islands will need a lot of electric power, and I need increased power production before the large wind-pumped hydroelectric dams are completed and filled with rain, because that will take several years. And I need to have built, tested, improved and created a good manufacturing line for a large wind turbine before building many to pump up water in those dams. The sea water dam will need good wind-pumping before summer, and even though that will be mechanical power, I prefer something more modern looking than classic windmill style.

As we work, there is a lot of talk about radio now that they have real experience with it, and it is crowded in here. Kari, Bodil and Ciara are working on assembling the pendulum clocks so that we can begin replacing the most public ones here, and install some in Borgheim etc. We obviously need to make sure there is a pendulum clock in every future radio station, because that makes it easier to synchronise times for radio transmissions so that someone are nearby and can hear when someone is calling. The pendulum clock bodies that the carpenter in Borgarsandr has made are very beautiful, but the same can be said about the barometer boxes and other items. Iselin is trying to make a 1500 mm long wooden slide rule so that we can verify that the maths and scales are correct, and then reduce it five times to 300 mm. Of course, it will have a scale for multiplication and division, but it is more important that the slide rule can be used for sin, cos, tan, square root, cube root and log.

I take a trip with Alith and Caecilia to check how the shallows and shoal markers are going and then on to the metal workshop to check on the steam boiler and the machines. Considering how little time they have spent working on the navigational markers, they are efficient, but I let the sailors help. A faering will be too small to safely transport the finished tripod markers, so the sailors will help with their larger knarr, and I will give the sailors a small bonus depending on how much they help.

Olafr, Birger and Gaermarr have been working like crazy, and have had help from the shipwright too. Olafr is really proud of his steam boiler creation. He goes on at length about how heat welding the pipes to the end-plates and heating them up has been a problem. Olafr is very pleased with the result even though he is worried about small leaks under pressure, and apart from small parts that I haven't had made yet, such as the injector, the steam boiler is starting to be finished, but there is still a lot of work left, which I know from experience takes time. The last 20% of the project can take 80% of the time or more, and they are not at the last 20% yet. Olafr has finished most of two RobA knives too, because he was so frustrated that he needed to take a break and do something 'simple' he is used to.

Somewhat unexpectedly, our discussion turns to Haera, whom he encountered while he was outside getting some air, and who, a few days ago, was on a walk with Skirlaug to check out and think about the location of her new manor house, and they started talking. Olafr obviously doesn't like the fact that she has been unfaithful to her husband, but he respects my wish to be polite to her. So he joined them to get away from work for a while as Haera offered a friendly ear for him to vent his frustration to. She hardly know anything about blacksmithing, but he was happy to talk it out and it helped him come up with a possible solution, and above all, it improved his mood.

Olafr thought Haera was pleasant to talk to and very charming and intelligent, and is certain she must have been a good Queen for the past 20 years. It made him realise that she had really only made one mistake after 20 years of loyal marriage to the King and service to the kingdom, and she realised what a huge mistake she had made and admitted it, fully aware of the consequences. How many men have not been drunk and caused similar or worse trouble in a much shorter time than that, and refused to take responsibility for the consequences, or forced a duel to the death so they would not have to apologise? So Olafr began to talk more with Haera and saw how she looked across the water towards the mainland and the islands with a sad gaze, but that at the same time she was hopeful about the future and happy to actually be able to live her own life, which she had never done before, which he hadn't considered before.

So Olafr now respects her as a person and her character and will not make her exile any worse, because technically he no longer lives in the kingdom either, but he can leave the islands if he wants to and visit his son etc. Olafr say I did the right thing in being a good friend to her even when she fell from grace, and he thinks the exile punishment is a little too harsh, so he will no longer have any problem socialising with her.

I am glad to hear that Haera at least has someone here on the island who respects her and will socialise with her, especially since it is Olafr. Because after me, Olafr is the most respected man on the islands, and he was not Haera's friend before, so perhaps this will encourage more men and women to gradually accept Haera's presence and perhaps make her future social life here on the islands less isolated.

Skirlaug, on the other hand, seems to be in a strange situation; unwanted and not knowing what her future will be, instead of her future that she thought was decided and secured. Skirlaug seems to be studying the books very intensely and practising Laitje and other things, because I have told her that the Academy lacks teachers and knowledgeable people. Skirlaug does not seem to be the kind of woman who wants to work on a farm or even manage it - even though she has started practising that too - and the Academy might be a possible good future with prestige.

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Since I am bad at following a plan, especially when it is boring, I'm working on the RC control when Jane shows up and says she has sewn something but needs help installing it. I become a little suspicious as she is vague and really smugly pleased.

I stand looking at what is scattered on her bed and don't understand what she has sewn, and she is hardly helpful. Jane just shakes her head and smugly says:

"Come on, figure it out!" while she stands impatiently drumming her fingers and almost jumping up and down.

Okay. Once again, long leather straps with metal buckles and also with padded wide parts and a larger piece of leather. She has obviously had Olafr or some blacksmith make a sturdy steel triangular thing about 70 cm wide with loops at all three ends. It is not an equilateral triangle, and reinforcement connect the loop in the middle with the longest side. A really strong tension spring that probably requires 30 kg or more to even begin to have an effect, as I can barely do anything with my arms. The long leather straps have been made adjustable with parallel bar like D-rings, and there are also three of the strong steel carabiners. I am quite convinced that this is something for sex, considering how pleased and smug Jane is and what she has sewn in leather so far. But it cannot be for tying her up or anything like that - the straps are too long and should not have wide padded parts. It is just the wrong size. The carabiners are too big to hook arms or legs into the rings as well; they're meant for climbing, fall protection and stuff like that, and they're supposed to be able to handle a ton of force. And I sure can't figure you how this might be used with a striptease pole. I have no idea, so I admit defeat. Jane beams with a playful excitement and says:

"Sex Swing!"

It takes a few seconds before I realise what that might mean. Ah! I hadn't thought of that. Jane is quick to explain that there is space for the swing in my room, and it can be hung from one of the sturdy beams in my bedroom ceiling, where the striptease pole was attached. Everything is finished, and I just need to attach the suspension hook to the ceiling beam or use one of the leather straps around a ceiling beam. Jane has never had a sew swing before, but a friend of hers had one, and Jane has wanted to try it, but her ceiling or doors just couldn't handle it. But here, everything is thick wooden beams, and in my bedroom instead of the b-room or her room, I can use it for more women. Jane hip bumps me, waggles her eyebrows and says:

"We both know that Iselin likes to swing around. Nudge nudge wink wink."

It is a sexy idea that would be fun to try, so of course I'm going to install the suspension hook.

Together, we do an 'installation inspection' and 'durability tests' because there is no good enough reason to wait until the evening when the swing is just hanging there. It takes a while before we figure out the best way for Jane to get into position and adjust the respective straps, but it's a fun, clumsy, giggly, sexy experimentation and a good workout for me, while Jane says that in certain positions she can lie in the swing all day without any problems, although especially some positions are a bit hard on the neck. She liked swinging around and using her mouth and being able to control herself when we tried that position. I try sitting in it when Jane goes down on me, but except when we're both in the swing together and she's on top - which, thankfully, the suspension, parts and spring are strong enough to handle without any obvious issue - we agree that the woman in the swing is more fun.

As we lie in bed together and rest, we are both happy with her creation, but Jane is going to sew a headrest thing for the swing, and maybe improve a few other things we discovered. It sure isn't something we'll use every time, but it will be a fun spice in our sex life, and variety is nice. I'm glad Jane has a lot more imagination than I do, because I would probably have had to google 'how to spice up your love life', and I have no internet here. To be honest, considering the striptease pole and swing, at least by me and my friends standards, Jane and her friends seems to have been uncommonly sexually advanced and experimenting. She's just 25 years old.

As usual, it is a pleasant lunch, and of course we talk about various things. At Cecilia's suggestion, which many agree with, we will have a music evening after dinner where I will just play song after song for a couple of hours, and anyone who wants to listen can, including the staff. Another topic of conversation is something that has been brought up before, and that is actually building a church in the village. Everyone already knows my thoughts on religious freedom, and my closest partners and friends know that I am not a believer. But the village should still have a church, as the general public are followers of the Aesir faith. The most beautiful and suitable location would probably be on the mountain southeast of the lake, where we can see it from here, but it is very close to the Academy and it is important that the Academy is not tied to or strongly associated with any religion. Also, I just don't want a large church there that spoils the view from Thrymheim, because I prefer to look out over nature. Of course, there are other places that would be impressive, such as the mountain north of the village or the mountain peak between the village and Thrymheim, but these are suitable for expanding the village and other things. Down in the valley would be fine, but I don't want to use farmland, and I would rather have the church in a nice place with a bit of a view. There is a fairly large cliff that juts up about 10-15 meters and a bit into the sea where the valley reaches the sea in the south and splitting the valley in two, which is a nice spot and more than big enough for a cathedral. But the cliff is not flat.

Haera suggest building the church close to where she is going to build her mansion, because there is a low but fairly large and flat hill about 100-150 meters to the west, which offers a nice view in all directions, and a very nice view of the archipelago from the north-west across the south and to the east. I would have preferred the church to be separated from other buildings, with some forest around it, because even if it isn't going to be a cemetery, it would be nice to have a forest grove etc, especially if we introduce cremation as the standard.

Perhaps the church should be more centrally located for both islands instead of in basically the western end of my small Furstdom. There are some wooded rocky low hills between Thrymheim and the sound where currently only sheep graze and there is a sauna-bathhouse, but for Thrymheims view and so on, that is definitely not what I want. It is difficult to decide on a location for a church.

And then there is the design as well. Argh.

A classic whitewashed stone church may be practical and reasonably impressive, and thick stone walls with high, narrow church windows may serve as protection for the population in the event of a future attack, but it is a boring design and too closely associated with the House of Heaven style Christianity they have here as well. Some other design would be better. Snöstorp Church on the outskirts of Midgårds Halmstad is a pretty cool hexagonal church that also have large pentagrams as some of the church windows. Then there's Kiruna Church, which is really cool and basically a pyramid with large dormer windows. There is old Norwegian stave churches too, that looks quite 'Viking' for obvious reasons. But it feels a bit wrong to imitate them. Something very modern also feels wrong, and the church should fit in with the general design of the village and the Furstdom.

Well, location and design are future considerations, as we won't have the workers, economy or time to build anything until later this spring or summer anyway.

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