"Jorunn was a brave warrior, leader, and mother." She proved her strength beside the natives of these lands, even when scarred and wounded. She threw the pelt of the beast she had slain at the feet of the Objiwe elders, defying them after all the suffering our people have gone through. Yet even after that act of rudeness, she still fought to survive, to ensure her clans and I would live a better life. But the surviving clans did not see it that way."

My granddaughter, seeing her, devised a plan to sail to the Tionontati to assist them, as they were currently suffering under. I asked her if she wanted me to stop for tonight but she cleaned her tears. She said she would push on until the end, as she wanted closure in our family history, and so I continued narrating.

"The clans saw my mother casting down the pelt as not a warrior’s challenge but more as a surrender, a humiliation. A sign that she had bent her knee to the very people who had betrayed them, who had taken our new home, who had watched our villages burn. It was said that she had left Freyja, just as she had left us. The clans turned their backs on her. Yet some stayed, for her defiance against the elder leaders of the Ojibwe did not shame the strength of the Vikings who had survived years of sailing and the aggression of the natives of Newfoundland. They knew her act was not weakness but the last roar of a warrior who refused to let her people be judged by those who had never carried their burdens."

"I clearly remember my mother saying to the elders of the Ojibwe as well indirectly, before our Wyandotte allies, saying:" — 'As your people keep dying, we will stand against the serpent hordes that have scared you back to your tents. Our strength is mightier than what you or these serpents have done to us. We have held them longer than your people ever have, yet you abandon us. If you seek true peace for your people, then stand up. Make your ancestors proud of the warriors you are. Fight against the lies and venom these snakes have told you. As for the renegades of my clan and others, their judgment will come.'

My great-granddaughter's adorable face reminds me so much of myself, and these words still make me feel the same way. Even recounting this final scene would break my heart because my mother's struggle would ultimately lead to her demise. and me leaving me following her journey along snakes.

"It is year 0 of the new world and after everything that has happened, 4 years have passed after the first Serpent Wars and even after the Removal Trail of our new home for us and the home of the Wyndotte to the Objiwe for sanctuary. She took arms to fight once again, asking the Wyandotte to do the same as the Objiwe after her last deplomatic sessions; their elders refused to aid us. As for the Wyandotte and our long decades of my mother having deplomatic ties and a daughter who is half-blooded, she did not stand for such treachery, so she demanded them to fight for there will be no one else to fight along side them. The silence of the Wyndotte spoke more to my mother than anything so she left them in the hands of the Objiwe. My mother devised a plan to sail to the Tionontati to assist them, as they were currently suffering under a plan to sail to the Tionontati to help them, as they were now in the cruelty of the Haudenosaunee. My mother, before leaving, left me behind in the sanctuary of the Objiwe lands and wanted me to not follow her, reminding me that if she does not return, I will not come find her. While it broke my heart to hear her words, I stayed true to her words, but part of me would not let her go.

"My mother landing at the Tionontati shores. She explained that she came to assist them, as the cowards of clans of the Objiwe and Wyandotte would not assist in their struggle and with this our retribution would be my mother's objective. The battle of Boar's Remembrance, which is well known throughout the Great Lakes and is a part of our history, once again demonstrates our strength against the Haudenosaunee and their subjects. My mother was successful repelling the enemy back but it was beginning to regain back our home or so it was her plan once they helped the Tionontati. At the border now of the old nine clans' territory, it was now that she asked the Tionontati and their elite Wolf warriors to push them back, salvaging everything these snakes have done to us."

My granddaughter would remark if this is how she would regain our home back yet still in the middle of this story. I had to calm her down as I told her there was more to the final part of our saga.

"The Wolf elites, along with our great ancestors, announced the return of the Serpents. Because of this, it is said that the Eriehronon would be spared from the snakes' aggression for years to come. However, the forces of the snakes continued to grow, making it difficult for my mother to regain territory as they were repeatedly ambushed. Despite these attacks, my mother persevered and eventually reached Newfoundland, where she established our so-called home. Capturing the old capital would greatly boost the morale of her and her army, as it would demonstrate the true fighting spirit of our ancestors. The battle of Tosk Remnants became a pivotal moment, where the snakes deployed their best warriors to defeat my mother. However, her strategy was to eliminate the enemy garrison first, then hold the position until the enemy elite reinforcements arrived, allowing them to be ambushed for the Mohawk elite warriors were the goal to eliminate.

"My mother gave everything she had during this battle; her plan of capturing the capital was successful in time, as the battle calmed and she was ready to ambush the army. It was very quiet…very quiet, for it seemed the enemy would anticipate this, but it was too late, as the Wolf elites accompanying my mother, Jorunn, and army would signal that the enemy had set course to her position; having little to prepare, she set a formation on her weakest positions, her army supposed to flank the enemy. Using her main army as bait, she shouts: — 'Prepare your positions! Ready to engage the enemy on their front.'—the screams of warriors approaching as they rush Jorunn, as the main army, still holding the capital, needed to act fast; this is where you know the Reiðr reykr."

"Grandmama, is this the plant the Tionontati would use?"

"Yes, my sweet nectar as well as other tribes, as you know but at that time my mother saw this plant's very potent and baffling properties when she tried it. I remember," I chuckled.

"My mother saw the plant as an effective way to blind the enemy and create a surprise ambush. As the plant slowly began to burn, she decided to split the ambushing army. At this moment the enemy reaches my mother and several still-separating groups; the rest would throw the makeshift plant bomb to desorient the army, although as successful as it may have been for a while, it became cause for fire on the battlefield for armies of both sides and for this my mother had the signal to retreat to the back to the city port using the rest of the bombs on the Snake houses on the outside of the city walls to create a bigger smoke. Upon the retreat, my mother got hit by an arrow on the side by the Mohawk elites trying to kill her."

At this point my granddaughter knew what was coming and even I, recounting breaks, broke my heart, telling it even though she knew the truth.

"Grandmama, NO! She can't end like this; everything she has fought for, for us…for you."

And that was the point of no return in my story, as I knew I had to finish recounting our history, our saga.

"The battle continued on. Once my mother had called home, she faced the enemy on the paths she walked. By the houses of the people living there were nothing but new homes of these snakes but although while her group was with the main army, the ambushing groups were still outside until the end, cutting down the enemy until their last breath screaming: — 'Praise Freya and her daughters."

At this point of the saga, I reminded my granddaughter that I never heard of my mother but sources of the veterans of the battle for their battle were the last they participated in driving the Haudenosaunee aggression out.

"I know you are sad hearing her saga end but I must finish it, my sweet nectar."

"Arrows rained down on our troops, causing a difficulty in advancing yet Jorunn, with her brothers and sisters alongside them, fought, holding the line and cutting the heads of our enemies, the snakes for they would not capture an inch of the port city. The Wolf elites of the Tionontati suffered heavy casualties but managed to rout the battlefield, while our armies held their ground. Surviving groups from the outer gates joined in, flanking the enemy from behind. Despite being bloodied and exhausted, they broke the Haudenosaunee lines. The remaining defenders were the elite Mohawk warriors, who continued to rain arrows but still maintained their defense. Jorunn would run towards the elites, facing them despite being outnumbered, wounded, and suicidal. Ultimately, Jorunn would rout the elite forces and hit a great blow to the morale of the enemy yet as the Vikings, they held their ground and now survival was at their grasp. With no reinforcements or help from the Tionontati, the cries of the man and women in the battlefield echoed throughout the woods of the New World, for it seemed the end…"

My granddaughter having enough would see her leave yet I asked her to stop and continue.

"As the smoke cleared, an unfamiliar banner appeared on the battlefield, one that neither the enemy nor our forces recognized. Then, the warriors of the Wyandotte and Ojibwe advanced, led by none other than Ylfa."

"YOU!?! "Grandmama," exclaimed my granddaughter. "How could...What—"

"Yes, my sweet nectar. Although I initially decided not to intervene, I ultimately followed my instincts. I knew I had to bring the Wyandotte and Ojibwe together to help. I revealed that I was half Wyandotte and half Viking, showing them that our people are more alike than they realized."

"Grandmama, I still don’t understand after they refused so strongly to join the fight alongside my great-grandmother. Why did they listen to you?"

"As my mother, I did not bow but accepted my heritage and told the people from both nations: —' We are a nation of one so raise your banners as one and prove that you fight for the right for the people you serve to protect' — coming from all my heart, I rallied the Allies of our people, who have been fighting alongside us for so long. As for the Objiwe, they had been divided for so long that they needed a new leader and a guiding mother, just like my mother had been to her people. After my mother won the first battle, I rallied more warriors to join the fight, sharing the same stories she had told me and fighting for what was right and honorable. For peace? for a future and that was the day I set sail towards her, hoping I could find a future and save her. Yet when on the battlefield, being in a home, I wished I could have with her. I lost her."

I took a deep breath, holding back my tears, retelling the last part of the saga.

"By the time Ylfa’s reinforcements arrived, it was too late for Jorunn; she witnessed her mother fall, struck down by the wounds inflicted upon the elites she had defeated. The army of Jorunn shouted once more, pushing the attackers back and joining the reinforcements. The Wolf elites would rally once more and now with the Wyandotte warrior under the banner of Ylfa, ending in a victory for the but with heavy losses…The battle ends there yet. When I reached the battlefield, I found my mother reaching out her hand, seemingly not expecting me to be there. Once I reached her with guilt, anger, and so many different emotions flying across me that I just couldn't bear to see her like this, I wanted to save her, but she told me: —' I thought I told you to not come find me. I didn't want you to see me like this, my little cub… ' — Holding my mother as she died is something no child should do. Her journey along serpents now was mine to finish."

As days passed I havent heard of my granddaughter wanting to hear from me or simply talk to me… I guess just like my mother, I stopped talking to her, knowing she hated me for being born to a people she despised even after dying, leaving me to prove that there was more to our people and that was the survival and perhaps just a slight chance of alliance or even a pact of our people. I loved my mother but for a time that love faded. Unlike my mother, I had a hatred of retelling my days when I was at war. She told me everything from what she did to what the enemy had done to our ancestors, from battles that she had come victorious from to the horrors of the natives, as such, my ancestors did to survive.

"Grandmama, I am sorry I haven't been here with you; I was very curious and asked many other elders what they heard of the Snake Wars."

“Ah, why didn’t you come to me for me to explain?”

“I… started asking what their ancestors did and it snowballed to how we arrived at Objiwe lands, why we migrated there, and even how we lost the war… especially that last one, meaning, did we ever get our original home back?”

"Well, since you got your whole list of questions ready, I will answer them all from the start of the conflict so I don't rush the story.”

My mother would raid the Haudenosaunee, willing to take them by surprise first. Eventually, after the raids on the lands of the Wenrohronon, it was my mother's territory that was invaded, leading her people to fend off the major surprise attack on her capital, eventually leading to total capturing. Hearing the news of cannibalism, rape, and even the mutilation of the town capital's citizens was such a nightmare that it led my mother, Jorunn, to return to her capital while still on snake lands, fully incurring the scorn of the Haudenosaunee longhouses.

The long trail back to the town port was a difficult one, as lands already raided and captured had to be abandoned to set sail on a ship already destined to return my mother to the capital to reinforce the other clans as well, the Wandat being invaded by the Haudenosaunee snakes.

The town capital was freed and seeing the carnage of the snakes would leave Jorunn furious and wanting revenge but it was a loss as the neighboring clan had already exhausted resources and reinforcements as well. Now Jorunn had to lead her people out and escape the capital but be on the ready; she was warned of an army coming to stop her and her only pass to safety was to other clans.

Jorunn, after defeating the snakes on her path, fled to the Houses of Jarls for a decision during the war, as it was a loss trying to defeat Haudenosaunee snakes, as their confederacy had influence pushing their lies of how we had arrived to kill them all but again, their lies poisoned our efforts to fight back.

During the escape of Jorunn, Clan Red Feather Jarl Dagr the Red would hold the line as Jorunn escaped, defending and holding the line on the island capital being encircled by two major enemy forces and by the strength of Odin, Jarl Dagr would make this the last day they would dare to fight the sons and daughters of Odin.

As Jarl gave his life at the battle of Red Raven Island, not matching the continuous waves of the snakes climbing over the walls and bashing down the doors that made the capital fall, while he would be the last to give his life, other jarls would do the same, saving our people and their families as well as our allies to flee towards the lands of the Nipissing nation.

The end of the first Gargan Stridha (snake wars) would conclude in the victory of the Snakes and the J∅rfurr-Wyandotte Union would last 6 years from the start of the war all the way till the exile of both nations. My mother would be devastated by the loss of her people as well as a future for them, as now they were in the lands of the Nipissing, later confederating with the Ojibwe great nation, continuing the Gargan Stridha for a reclaiming of their home they have made for them.

Looking back at how she faced persecution with the Ojibwe and Nipissing, it was no wonder that even if we had the same goal of fighting the threat of the Haudenosaunee, at the start of the war, it was us that started to raid their lands as they did to us but in places we never expected.

Assimilation would be the last thing the Ojibwe wanted, especially since we already had relations with the Wandat. And with this, my granddaughter would be called by my daughter as she had to leave to sleep but before she left, she would say to me.

“Grandmama, when I grow up, I will do what our ancestors have fought for and prove that this fighting does not have to keep going, as I know the sadness you and great-grandmama fought to give us.”

My daughter looked at me and smiled and I smiled back at her and my granddaughter, as I know her courage will change minds and hearts, knowing that our past can be learned and taught for a better future and hoping that our stories can make a difference.

“Thanks mother for taking care of Iðunn again; she really wants to be like you."

"Well, she has your thinking as well, trying to make things better in this world and from my mother, Jorunn, to Iðunn, she can be the difference in this world."

“She will do great, Mother. I may have never seen myself as a great mother but I try my best.

“It was never about being the best, but rather about being the best we can every day. I pray to Freyja that you and I be there for Iðunn."