Erik was a jealous man who coveted his brother’s wife. He desired to possess her beauty, her charm, her intellect, even her very voice. His covetous nature was no secret to those who knew him well. His brother knew it. His brother’s wife knew it. For the sake of friendship, they both chose to downplay his duplicity and focus instead on his better qualities of which were few.

The one gift Erik did possess was that of storytelling. He could weave a tale of tragedy or humor on a whim. Indulging his ego, his stories often revolved around his own experiences leading others to delight in his own life’s happenings. When his brother Thorsten died, he told stories no more.

Thorsten’s final request of his brother was to build him a boat – a funeral pyre on which his body would be pushed out to sea and set alight by flaming arrows as was done for Viking warriors of old, for Thorsten was a Viking warrior of old.