Notes for this part: Copenhagen was the capital of Denmark-Norway. Bergen was, however, very wealthy itself because of trade. Poor Copenhagen lost about a third of its population to plague in 1711. The survivors didn't fare much better, with an enormous fire in 1728.
He's fighting with Denmark again and nothing is new.
Norway sits on a bench beside a maroon gabled customs house on the quay. The summer air is thick with the smell of the fish the merchants are selling and the salt dripping off the sailors' sweaty bodies and wet hair. His stockinged feet are unusually warm in his polished black boots. He adjusts his hair clip a little.
Bergen is a fragmented city on the water, surrounded by mountains reaching into the sky and ships sailing across the world and back. Back into his land, his city, bringing merchandise to his port, wealth to his people. Norway is half-surprised Denmark hasn't tried to find some way to redirect the cash pipeline to himself. Yet.
All for the common good of the union, he'd say, as he always does. A strong capital makes a strong country. And if Norway points out that Denmark made Copenhagen their capital on purpose, Denmark gets this look in his eyes and shrugs his friend off.
Bergen has as much money as Copenhagen and easily as many people. Norway knows this, but he bites his tongue.
He prefers not to remember the hungry fires and the festering plague.
So he crosses his arms and leans back into the bench by the harbor, wipes away a droplet of sweat crawling down his forehead, and closes his eyes. It's a toss-up whether he'll dream of freedom or the slow ravaging of Copenhagen.
Re: Laki [2/7]
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He's fighting with Denmark again and nothing is new.
Norway sits on a bench beside a maroon gabled customs house on the quay. The summer air is thick with the smell of the fish the merchants are selling and the salt dripping off the sailors' sweaty bodies and wet hair. His stockinged feet are unusually warm in his polished black boots. He adjusts his hair clip a little.
Bergen is a fragmented city on the water, surrounded by mountains reaching into the sky and ships sailing across the world and back. Back into his land, his city, bringing merchandise to his port, wealth to his people. Norway is half-surprised Denmark hasn't tried to find some way to redirect the cash pipeline to himself. Yet.
All for the common good of the union, he'd say, as he always does. A strong capital makes a strong country. And if Norway points out that Denmark made Copenhagen their capital on purpose, Denmark gets this look in his eyes and shrugs his friend off.
Bergen has as much money as Copenhagen and easily as many people. Norway knows this, but he bites his tongue.
He prefers not to remember the hungry fires and the festering plague.
So he crosses his arms and leans back into the bench by the harbor, wipes away a droplet of sweat crawling down his forehead, and closes his eyes. It's a toss-up whether he'll dream of freedom or the slow ravaging of Copenhagen.
Maybe they mean the same thing.
He tries to push the thought out of his mind.