The next day, a messenger came from the village chief’s house to inform us that the demonstration of the Westwind Furnace would take place two days after Sauna Day.

Sauna Day.

More accurately, it was apparently called Bathing Day, but everyone in our family simply called it Sauna Day.

In this village, it was customary to have a sauna once a week, so saying something would happen “a few days before Sauna Day” or “a few days after Sauna Day” was enough for everyone to understand.

Life in the village quite literally revolved around the sauna.

It was that important and that deeply woven into everyday life.

Our family also had a small sauna hut on our property.

It wasn’t anything to boast about.

Almost every free farmer’s household had had a sauna hut for generations.

Our hut hadn’t been built by Father either.

It had been built by Grandfather’s father—so my great-grandfather, I suppose.

We’ve simply kept repairing and using it ever since.

Our family had been settled here for so long that nobody even knew who had originally built the house.

On Sauna Day, Father got up before dawn full of energy and spent hours tending a fire inside the small, half-underground sauna hut, filling it with scorching hot smoke.

It was a type known as a smoke sauna, quite different from the steam saunas most people imagine today.

Once the hut and the stones inside had been heated thoroughly by the fire, the flames were extinguished and the small roof window was opened to let the smoke escape before anyone went inside.

The heated sauna stones remained inside after the smoke had cleared, so water was ladled onto them to create steam.

That was how the sauna worked.

Before anyone entered during winter, though, there was something else that had to be done.

“Come on, wake up!”

“Erin, Thor! Did you bring your furs and clothes?”

“Brr… it’s cold…”

“Yeees…”

Erin and I took off the clothes we were wearing and tucked them under our arms together with the furs we used as blankets.

Father and Mother weren’t naked, but they changed into light summer clothing while carrying their winter clothes and the large fur rugs.

“All right, hand them over!”

“We’ll do this quickly before the heat escapes!”

Father cracked open the sauna door just enough for Mother to swiftly throw our furs and clothing inside.

She then hung her own clothes and the large fur rugs on the ropes stretched across the cramped hut.

“Now we wait for the smoke to clear.”

“Let’s head back inside.”

“So cold!”

As soon as we ran back into the house, Erin and I warmed ourselves by the fire burning in the stone hearth at the center of the earthen floor, now bare without the rugs.

Once we’d warmed up, we lightly swept the sleeping area and the earthen floor with bundles of barley straw.

Sauna Day wasn’t just for washing ourselves.

It was also for cleaning the house, the bedding, and our clothes.

The smoke inside the sauna fumigated the clothing and furs, killing lice and mites.

Since we shared the house with livestock during winter, everything itched sooner or later.

It was a ritual we couldn’t do without.

It was much the same as how people in old Japan washed their laundry using the hot bathwater.

The only difference was that here we smoked everything before steaming it in the sauna.

People often claimed barbarians never bathed, but villages in the North that held weekly sauna days were actually quite clean by comparison.

“All right.”

“The smoke’s cleared enough.”

“Okaaay.”

At Father’s signal, after he’d checked the remaining smoke inside, we hurried into the sauna hut, now cleared of all the clothing and furs.

Naturally, each of us carried a bundle of birch branches.

Birch was indispensable in the sauna.

Birch trees were deciduous and lost all their leaves during winter, but bundles gathered in summer and dried beforehand had been stored away for just this purpose.

The inside of the sauna hut was dark and cramped, lit only by the small window that also served as the smoke vent.

In the center sat a pile of stones that had been heated for hours by the fire.

Beside them stood a wooden bucket filled with water and a ladle.

“I love the smell of the sauna.”

Erin said happily.

Now that she mentioned it, besides the familiar scent of firewood, there was another pleasant fragrance lingering inside the hut.

Perhaps it had been added to perfume the clothes and furs.

“I tried burning alder and birch together.”

Mother said it with obvious pride, pleased that her little experiment had worked.

“Come on.”

“It’s cramped enough already.”

“You two sit down.”

“I’m pouring the water.”

Father scooped up a ladleful of water from the bucket and splashed a little over the heated stones.

With a loud hiss, hot steam instantly filled the little hut.

“Fuuu…”

“My joints are finally loosening up…”

“They really are…”

“I can feel all my fatigue melting away…”

Honestly…

Father and Mother sounded just like old people.

Still, the warmth was wonderful.

My fingers and toes tingled pleasantly.

As I sat quietly, sweat slowly beaded across my forehead.

That was when I lightly patted my body with the bundle of birch branches I’d brought in.

Birch leaves contained saponins, so gently striking the skin with the branches during a sauna stimulated blood circulation while sweat and the saponins helped lift away dirt.

“It’s hot!”

“Thor, try to endure it a little longer.”

“I can’t!”

“I’m going first!”

Maybe because I was so small, both my body and my head heated up very quickly.

I threw open the door and leaped straight into the snow outside.

“So cold!”

“It feels amazing…”

Rolling around in the snow, rubbing it through my hair and all over my body to wash away the sweat and grime felt incredible.

I finally understood, just a little, why the dog I’d once owned loved rolling around in the dirt.

Eventually my body cooled down, so I dashed back into the sauna hut.

“Cold!”

“Hot!”

“You’re always in a hurry.”

“You really are.”

Father and Mother laughed inside the dark, sweltering sauna.

“Ugh… it’s so hot!”

This time, Erin flung open the door and ran out into the snow herself.

I thought spending time together as a family in the sauna hut was a wonderful tradition.

Back and forth between the sauna and the snow.

We repeated it over and over again.

Father and Mother went out two or three times.

Erin did it five times.

I managed seven.

After spending several hours in the sauna, we returned to the house.

Once we’d had some water to drink, Father and Mother began grooming their hair and beards.

We weren’t as wealthy as Chief Jarl, but as free Karls, we still needed to show enough prosperity to keep our hair and beards long and properly maintained.

“All right, Thor.”

“Your turn.”

Erin sat down in front of me and turned her back.

I still couldn’t understand why braiding Erin’s hair had somehow become my responsibility.

“Because you’re better at it than I am.”

Well…

I couldn’t really argue with that.

I carefully combed her hair until it shone, then slowly braided it.

After a while, we switched places.

I closed my eyes and let her awkward little hands fumble through my own hair.

When I peeked through half-open eyes, I saw Father struggling to tidy his beard while Mother braided his hair for him.

It was nice seeing my parents get along so well.

Life in this harsh environment was difficult enough.

Families needed to stay close.

By the time we’d finished braiding one another’s hair, it was completely dark outside.

We ate a light meal of barley porridge with chopped dried cod, onions, and sage.

Then we climbed into our bedding, now carrying a faint pleasant scent from being smoked in the sauna.

That was how Sauna Day was spent.