Stelios Kokinos to Brian O'Reilly - April 4th, 2016
Format: Hand written in human blood on the exclusive "Skull & Crossbones" correspondence cards of Smythson of Bond Street, London - Est. 1887
April 4th, 2016 A.D.
My Friend,
Let me first say that I am not one for chit-chat, though I do enjoy our frequent correspondences.
To answer your question, for the most part, the Norse language has passed entirely from the world, even among our kind. But, there are a few individuals of significant age and Scandinavian origin who still speak the tongue of the Vikings. While I do not know the language and have little interest in learning to speak it, I do know a few individuals who do. The primary difficulty in learning such a language is that it is now a guarded, secret language used by a select few who have reasons of their own for not sharing their native tongue.
While any surviving ancient of Scandinavia could teach the language, few would withhold hostilities long enough for you to make your request to learn their mother tongue. It happens that I correspond on occasion with an old acquaintance in Reykjavik, who might be willing to teach you the Norse tongue as he owes me a small favor. His name is Absolom, often called "The Dane" and he is what you would call Nosferatu. He and his coterie have made Reykjavik their home since the later nights of the thirteenth century. I have enclosed a letter of introduction for you to Absolom as a youth of good repute and excellent manners. There will be no debt inherent to his tutelage of the Norse tongue as he is settling a small debt owed me from previous nights.
The Prince of Reykjavik is a Lasombra Elder known as Almaric Treveylan. I have also enclosed a letter of introduction for you to him to ease your visit to Reykjavik. Almaric Treveylan was an Anglo-Saxon embraced in or around the year 735 A.D., he came to London in the train of King William of Normandy, when the latter conquered England. Mithras took an immediate dislike to him and drove him from London shortly after his arrival. It is my understanding that he took control of Bergen in Norway a scant decade later. He was later driven from Bergen in 1204 A.D. by the combined efforts of two Ventrue, one Herman Radov - now deceased and Rozenkrantz the Ancient. With the help of his friend Absolom and his paramour Lady Embla Ek he fled to Iceland and became its de-facto master. I am told that he holds no actual enmity against the Ventrue for the many political defeats he has suffered at their hands, but I would not trust too much in that possibility. Still, he has maintained control of Iceland for the last eight centuries and seems to have found an unassailable domain in Reykjavik.
The Lady Embla Ek is a Toreador from Sweden who fled the devastation of the "Black Death" in Stockholm during the middle years of the fourteenth century to join her lover in Iceland. She is younger than than Almaric or Absolom and was embraced in the nocturnal Court of Aachen at the beginning of the Ninth Century. It is she who is largely responsible for the growth of culture and the sciences in Reykjavik. She is an extremely learned Cainite, though not in matters arcane.
Of the three, Absolom is the most familiar with the arcane world and its many mutations. He was an elder and a skilled thaumaturge when he established the town of Copenhagen in the early years of Eleventh Century. He has been known to deal with the Clan Tremere and may have aided them in their early years in return for the Art of Thaumaturgy. It was also he who managed to take the enchanted Castle of Arkona from them through political guile and nocturnal warfare. It was also he who moved the ancient fortress stone by stone to serve as his haven in Iceland. While he is an erudite scholar, he is also creature of hidden agendas; take care in what transpires between you when he teaches you the Norse tongue.
As to those 'gods' of the Northmen, I know little more than any mortal academic might be able to reveal to you. I do know that those northern Cainites who worshiped the Norse pantheon were referred to in the distant past as "Einherjar," the most famous of them was Brunhilde the Valkyrie, a truly ancient Gangrel who may well predate Christ. She was active until the later years of the Thirteenth Century when she vanished from rumor to enter myth. Most believed her to have met the final death and many Cainite warriors claimed to have killed her, but there have always been those who believed that she entered the earth to slumber and heal. Though there have always been rumors, recently, I heard whispers of her awakening in during the Great War. Those who have long disdained Christianity in Scandinavia hold her legend in their cold hearts and say that the recent upsurge in violent protest and the occasional political assassination are her work. I cannot tell you what to believe, but it is certainly possible that she might have survived; if you should go looking for her, exercise the most stringent caution.
I wish you well in your searches and look forward to further missives from you.
Your Eternal Friend - Stelios Kokinos of Hypargos
