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The
Drinking Horn of Odin
Anlaf
the Mischief Maker was Laird of the Clan MacThoy when trading
with the Vikings was at its peak. He was one of the first in
the Clan to meet Eric the Red
in 980 A.D. Anlaf found him to be a pompous twit and was not
surprised he had been run out of his Homeland.
The Clan
went ahead with the all-night bender they'd planned with
the Vikings. Eric proved his worth and managed to
hold out against the Clan longer than anyone else in his
entourage. He finally dropped off to sleep after
failing to rouse any of the Clan for a game of Viking
Stickball.
Eric
and his men awoke the following afternoon to find that the
sacred drinking Horn
of Odin was missing and the MacThoy were no where to
be seen. The surrounding area was searched but
to no avail. (It
should be noted that the MacThoy were famous for their practical
jokes. They were administered as a compliment. The
reasoning being that the Clan would not waste time on a person
they despised.
It is
also suspected that this is the basis for many fairy-folk stories
of all night debauches with the innocents waking up alone in the
woods with all their possessions gone.--ed)
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Desperate
to recover the Horn, Eric overreacted. He had his Vikings embark
on a rampage of pillaging and burning that rivaled Genghis Kahn and would
not be surpassed until the arrival of Ivan the Terrible on
the Historical Scene.
What was once thought to be Norse colonization was in truth a quest to recover a treasured beer mug
(See Crusades Section.)
Eric's
punishment was exile once again. This banishment led to his
discovery and settlement of Greenland. With this stroke of
good fortune, he reason for his
sudden exile was forgotten by history.
With forthrightness
uncharacteristic of his Clan, the current Laird confirms
the theft and adds the the location of the Horn is known but unreachable.
Oral tradition holds that the Horn was
last in the possession of a scullery maid living at
MacThoy Castle.
To this day it remains in her hope chest at the
bottom of Loch Thoy.
(Recently an artifact has been recovered
from the MacThoy digs that may very well be the
Horn
of Odin.--ed)
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