The Sage of Einar

Chapter 78: The value of music

In the courtyard of the great hall Laura, Daven, and Dorete were doing their morning training.

From what they did not notice when from the door that led to the great hall, Einar was there along with Kassia, Helmi, and Elin, who was watching how the little children trained.

The training lasted a while longer until Peder sounded a horn which indicated the end of it.

It was at the moment that Laura, who was wiping the sweat from her body, saw Papa Einar at the door.

So she ran out almost immediately towards him. Of course, this caused other children to run towards Einar as they excitedly expected to receive a hug from him.

Einar, seeing the large number of children heading towards him, smiled as he dropped to one knee and spread his arms waiting for the little ones to come to him.

After hugging each of the children, Einar got up and put his arm around Kassia’s waist, “Children, I would like you to please show me how much you have advanced in math with the help of Kassia.

Remember that you should not be afraid if you make a mistake as it is normal for you to make mistakes, besides, I am here with you to see the level you have achieved in mathematics. “

All the children nodded and went to the warehouse in the great room. They must have taken out their little wooden pictures which had sea sand inside them.

With these, they did the numbers and basic operations such as addition using their little fingers, so that when they finished, they would only use their hands to erase what they wrote in the sand.

Laura, who already had her wooden box in her hand, helped Daven carry his wooden box as he looked like a small newborn animal.

Upon reaching the patio, all the children sat in their corresponding chairs and placed their wooden pictures on their knees, while Kassia stood in front of them.

“Very well children today we will show Papa Einar how you can write up to number 9, remember to use the fingers of your hands in the case at any moment you get lost and you don’t know what number is next.”

When Laura listened to the instructions from Mama Kassia, she used her little finger to draw the numbers that had been taught to her on the ground.

Daven laughed when he realized that Laura was writing the Roman numerals and not the numbers that Papa Einar had created.

Laura, who was more busy writing her numbers, paid no attention to Daven’s laugh, as she was more concerned with being able to write all the numbers correctly.

Einar who was watching all the children noticed that some used Roman numerals.

This was not a problem since those numbers could also be used in basic operations, although they were not very convenient because they did not have zero.

‘I will have to teach the children to use Arabic numbers over Roman numerals, otherwise, they will suffer when they have to do large operations or write long numbers.’

After a while, all the children stopped until they knew it was number nine, Laura for her part was very happy since she had written up to number ten, although she did not understand why when she turned her head she could see Daven’s smile as if she would have done something wrong.

Einar, taking advantage of the fact that the children had already finished, stood in front of them and congratulated him for completing the numbers.

“I am thrilled that you have written the numbers and although some of you wrote the Roman numerals, you have shown me that during this time you have been learning well.

However, you must remember to always write the numbers that I have taught them and not the Roman numerals as the first option.

This is because when you get to multiply or write much larger numbers, you will have a lot of trouble doing the operations.

Now I want you to show me how you do the sums.

So I will dictate to you and you will have to write the result on your sandboard. “

All the children prepared to write the results of what Papa Einar was going to dictate to them.

“One plus one

Two plus two

Three plus three

Four plus four

Five plus five”.

The children began searching for the answers using their fingers as Mama Kassia had taught them.

Laura, who was occupying her fingers, realized that if she used all her fingers together, she could get easier to get the result of the sums that Papa Einar had said.

Daven who was looking at Laura understood what she was doing, so by imitating what she was doing, he realized it was much easier to perform the operations with his two hands than if he only used the fingers of one hand.

When Einar indicated that time was up, all the children, regardless of whether they had finished, stopped writing in the sand and with nervous glances, they waited for Papa Einar to come by to review their operations.

Einar walked around the children and reviewed the answers to what he had asked. To his surprise, most of the children had answered correctly, although perhaps the time he had given them had not been enough because some questions were not they had been answered.

Upon arriving at Laura’s place, he was pleased that the little girl had answered everything correctly, so she stroked her hair and gave her a smile.

“You have done well Laura, now just let me check the other children and as I promised yesterday I will teach all of you to play an instrument.

Although at the moment they will only be able to listen to me since I will have to ask an artisan to make their own instruments. “

Laura, when she finished listening to Papa Einar’s words, raised her head with pride because she had been congratulated.

Daven who was next to Laura could only see her with jealousy, but fortunately, his turn came and it was then that he also received a congratulation.

After finishing checking all the children, he started teaching them the basics of music.

Helmi, who was quite interested in music class, asked Juni to bring 4 chairs because she planned to sit next to Einar while he was playing the flute.

Juni upon hearing Helmi’s instructions walked as best she could towards the great hall because her legs were shaking, but before she could enter Einar touched her shoulder.

“Juni, apart from the chairs, I would like you to bring along a wooden table.”

Hearing Einar’s strange request, Juni nodded and entered the great hall.

Because of Einar’s strange request, the warriors and all slaves from the great hall gathered in the courtyard.

With the table, ready Einar used the palms of his hands to hit the table twice. In the end, he gave light applause and repeated the two blows on the table again.

Einar’s actions surprised everyone present as the repetition of the movements created a small but sticky melody that could not be removed from the head.

“Children do the same as I am doing at the table. Just be careful not to hit the wood too hard because you could hurt yourself.”

The little children with smiles approached the table and all at the same time performing the same actions that Einar was doing.

“Keep doing the same movement and don’t stop for anything, also when I say

We will Rock You

You will only have to repeat that phrase, it doesn’t matter that you don’t understand what it means, just follows what I’m going to sing. “

At that moment Einar sang and everyone listened carefully to the words he was saying, although they did not understand what they meant.

Somehow everyone felt a sense of excitement when the children repeated in unison that phrase that Einar had asked of them.

All this lasted a few minutes until the song reached the end, Helmi who was still next to Einar just got up from his chair and gave him a big kiss.

“Could you repeat again the melody and those lyrics that you sang?”

Einar just laughed and asked the children to repeat the movements again while he sang. When they reached the choir everyone in the yard repeated those words.

Creating a very exciting environment that they have never felt before.

After singing for a while longer, Einar took a break as he underestimated the impact that singing a modern song would have.

Since being a time when there were not many things to do, a melody could be repeated for years or even generations, since it was a way to distract from the monotony of daily life.

While he was resting, the wood craftsman who had asked Seren arrived, so he drew some instruments for him to make.

“I wish you could do them as quickly as possible and when you go out, please look for Skald Per as I would like to invite him to lunch.”

The artisan nodded and took the drawings that Herald Einar had made. When he left the great hall he ran towards the Skald’s house intending to find him.

For the one who was warming himself in the fire while drinking herbal liquor, he heard someone knock on the door of his house.

This made Per sigh, and he will get up from his comfortable chair where he was sitting.

When he opened the door he was surprised to see Ulmer, who was flustered and sweaty.

“Per, Herald Einar wants to invite you to lunch. It seems he wants to talk to you although it could be anything.

Either way, I have to leave you since I have some instruments to make. “

After saying those words, Ulmer ran to his workshop as he feared being delayed with Einar’s request.

1. A classic Queen song, a delicacy…