Etelka

Cild Archila (Weapons Mistress)

Meslek Archila (Quarter Mistress)

Primus Athelfi (First Sister)

Etelka, or 'Telka as she was known to her friends and companions, was for seven of her twenty-two years on this earth, trained to be a Ranger of the Nordic lands. Born to a Nordic family, she and her twin brother, Bjorn, were raised in the rough foothills of Gausta Peak. As her childhood developed, her father realized that he needed to teach her all the things he taught her brother if she was to survive in the harsh lands of her home.

As children, Etelka and Bjorn were made to help farm the lands. Working hard to make their parents proud, they both found they had each a different, but very obvious talent. Bjorn, the elder of the two, excelled at academic procedures and made a name for himself in the local village as a philosopher. Etelka, although not stupid by any means, excelled at athletics and from an early age displayed the lean, toned body of a warrior. At the age of fifteen, Etelka made history in her village by boldly asking the Thane to allow her to join his army. Later in life, at the meager age of seventeen and during her time with the Viking warriors; she was among those few who slew the Daemon Skrymir, the supposedly invincible Nordic Ice-Terror of the mountains, by extinguishing his essence completely. Once she had slain the Terrorist of the villages, the warriors took all the treasure and holdings Skrymir had selfishly kept. Etelka herself took but one thing, the Necklace of the Brisings, which contained hair from a flying horse of the Valkyries. With it, she felt as though she had the power of the Valkyries herself. This made her a deadly weapon and a formidable foe. The Chief of the army was mysteriously wanting for her to take over. After leaving the fireplace that night, he was never seen again. She soon became the next leader of the Viking clan she had so capriciously joined but two years hitherto.

A lethal force, her Clan grew with time until many men sought her out in hope of serving under her rule. However, after another year of fighting and warring, her heart longed for something more. She began to yearn for travel, for adventure and to see different cultures and lands.

Once she had made up her mind, she took steps to accomplish her goal. Taking one of the famed Viking longboats, she set sail south in the hopes of landing on the island of Eire, where she had heard tales of a feared race called the Celts. However, luck was not with her on this journey, and a storm blew her ship thousands of miles off course. After months of aimlessly wondering the seas, her food provisions running low, and close to death as a woman could be, the Norse Gods took pity on their famed warrior and her ship beached on a strange new land.

Traveling night and day, Etelka finally came across a small fishing village, but wasn't greeted with much warmth. Due to her strange appearance, the locals didn't treat her very kindly and she left. Again traveling as many miles in a day as she could, she began to hear stories of a nation of warrior women, she thought that these Amazons as the bards called them would be willing to take her in.

She was right.

Etelka's totems are the eagle and the spider. She uses the sword and the labrys in battle. Her hut mate is Bryseis, the Lyna. She rides a dappled gray stallion named Tyr. She speaks Norse and Gaelic.

Tae'Nah athelfi arche: 10 June 2003

Xena Warrior Princess is  © Studios USA, Universal City Studios, Inc. Webset design and content ©2007 Crescent Designs for Themiscyra Amazon Nation. Many thanks to Mike's Xena Page for most of the captures.