0:00:06 > 0:00:09Here they come, my two intrepid explorers...
0:00:10 > 0:00:12..Charlotte and Lokesh.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14I'm their Great Aunt Lizzie, you see,
0:00:14 > 0:00:18and I wonder which one is coming to see me today.
0:00:18 > 0:00:19Your turn!
0:00:20 > 0:00:22Ah, so it's Charlotte.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24Hello, Charlotte.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26Hello, Great Aunt Lizzie.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34Once upon a time, I travelled
0:00:34 > 0:00:39the world, discovering treasures from long ago and far away,
0:00:39 > 0:00:41and no end of stories to remind me.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47But my most precious possession of all
0:00:47 > 0:00:51is my extraordinary collection of teacups.
0:01:04 > 0:01:05Here we are.
0:01:07 > 0:01:09No time to count to the clouds.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12Let's have a nice cup of tea and a story.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14But first, we need the teacup.
0:01:16 > 0:01:17But which one?
0:01:31 > 0:01:33- That one.- Ah.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36The Viking tweezers.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38The Vikings used tweezers?
0:01:38 > 0:01:42Yes. Without them, the Vikings might not have conquered as much
0:01:42 > 0:01:44of the world as they did.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46Because of tweezers?
0:01:46 > 0:01:48Yes, because of tweezers.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52Can I smell flapjack, Great Aunt Lizzie?
0:01:52 > 0:01:55You'll have to wait and see.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57So let me tell you the story of
0:01:57 > 0:02:01Charlotte and the Adventure of the Viking Tweezers.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06The story of how little things have great consequences.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12And it all happened in the land of wild, forested mountains,
0:02:12 > 0:02:14and shimmering fjords.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39The rising sun was burning off the morning mist,
0:02:39 > 0:02:44and all around was the soft, bright hum of spring...
0:02:44 > 0:02:48when Charlotte began to hear what sounded like a disagreement.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51- But it's a big day tomorrow, Osmund. A big day.- Oh, I know.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53- Come on, let me see it.- Get off!
0:02:53 > 0:02:55- It can't be that bad.- Not that bad?
0:02:55 > 0:02:59I'm supposed to lead King Harald Fairhair's army in the morning -
0:02:59 > 0:03:02I can't pick up my sword and fight the enemy.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05- Think about it, it's only a... - It's only what, Einar?
0:03:05 > 0:03:07HE SIGHS
0:03:07 > 0:03:09Well, what are you going to do?
0:03:11 > 0:03:12I don't know.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16I'm the king's champion, and I can't even lift my sword.
0:03:17 > 0:03:18CRACK!
0:03:19 > 0:03:21What's that?
0:03:21 > 0:03:24Which seemed like a good moment for Charlotte to see
0:03:24 > 0:03:25what all the fuss was.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27Excuse me?
0:03:27 > 0:03:30The two warriors rose as big as giants.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34But they weren't so scary as to frighten Charlotte.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36HE CLEARS HIS THROAT
0:03:36 > 0:03:39I was travelling to the sea, I noticed you complaining.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42I don't complain. I'm King Harald's champion.
0:03:42 > 0:03:47- You were shouting about your hand. - No!- No, no, no.- But I thought...
0:03:47 > 0:03:48- No, no.- It's nothing.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53- How is it nothing if you can't lift your sword?- Just a splinter.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55- Einar!- A splinter? That's easy.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57I can fix that with a pair of tweezers.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01- I use them all the time.- Oh, you're a shield maiden?
0:04:01 > 0:04:05She can't be. A real shield maiden would have real Viking tweezers.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09You can't fix the sword hand of Osmund the Brave with those.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11He's very precious about his sword hand.
0:04:11 > 0:04:16I've already told you, you've got to go to Svanhild, the shield maiden.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19How would I get there? If anyone sees my splinter, they'll
0:04:19 > 0:04:23think the gods are against us and disaster will be ours.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27Then, Charlotte realised there was more than one way to help.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29Why don't I go and ask her to come here?
0:04:29 > 0:04:31That'd be very helpful, thank you.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33I'll be as quick as quick as I can.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36So off she went in search of the shield maiden
0:04:36 > 0:04:39and the right kind of tweezers.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44Charlotte came to another little house,
0:04:44 > 0:04:46only to find a woman rushing out of the door.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48- Hello.- Hello.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51Are you coming along to join the army, too, dearie?
0:04:51 > 0:04:55No, it seems like a very good army, but I'm not sure I'd fit in.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58Nonsense. You could be a shield maiden, like me.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00You're the shield maiden?
0:05:00 > 0:05:02Thank goodness. You see,
0:05:02 > 0:05:07I've come because Osmund the Brave needs a shield maiden.
0:05:07 > 0:05:08(He's got a splinter.)
0:05:08 > 0:05:10A splinter?
0:05:10 > 0:05:13And I suppose he won't come and see me himself
0:05:13 > 0:05:17because if anyone sees his hand all bandaged up,
0:05:17 > 0:05:20they'll think of the gods are against us?
0:05:22 > 0:05:24Nonsense.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28Truth is, he can fight the terrifying Saxon hordes,
0:05:28 > 0:05:31but is scared of a pair of tweezers.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34He's not the first, I've heard it all before.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38I tried to use these, but he said they were the wrong kind.
0:05:38 > 0:05:39Let me see.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44Well, I can't hang around for a man with a splinter,
0:05:44 > 0:05:46and you seem to know what you're doing.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48These are my old ones.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50You take them,
0:05:50 > 0:05:54because when you have these, you are a shield maiden.
0:05:54 > 0:05:55Thank you.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57They were certainly tweezers,
0:05:57 > 0:06:01but so much clunkier than any she'd seen before.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03And when Charlotte looked up,
0:06:03 > 0:06:05Svanhild was gone.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07But what IS a shield maiden?
0:06:07 > 0:06:10None of that mattered now - Charlotte had
0:06:10 > 0:06:12the right kind of tweezers,
0:06:12 > 0:06:16so helping Osmond the Brave with his splinter would be a doddle.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19I couldn't get the shield maiden,
0:06:19 > 0:06:21but I got the right kind of tweezers.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25He's not here. He said he needed to talk to the old gods beneath the
0:06:25 > 0:06:26Misty Mountains.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31If you told me where he is, I could go and find him and...
0:06:31 > 0:06:32And what? Hm?
0:06:32 > 0:06:37Give him that hard stare of yours so he can sit all nice and sweetie pie
0:06:37 > 0:06:39while you take out the splinter?
0:06:39 > 0:06:43How on earth could she persuade the mightiest warrior
0:06:43 > 0:06:45in the Viking world not to be scared
0:06:45 > 0:06:48of a splinter and a pair of tweezers?
0:06:48 > 0:06:52It wasn't quite lunchtime and, goodness, Charlotte was confused.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55How's the flapjack?
0:06:55 > 0:06:57Delicious. The thing is,
0:06:57 > 0:07:01I don't understand why a mighty warrior would be afraid
0:07:01 > 0:07:03of a splinter and a pair of tweezers.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06Was it the splinter, or is it the tweezers?
0:07:06 > 0:07:09I don't know. He's already got a splinter.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11So I think he's afraid of the tweezers.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14Even though he knows they'll make him better?
0:07:14 > 0:07:16He thinks it'll hurt.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18Well, he imagines it'll hurt.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20Every time, he imagined it worse.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23So he gets more and more frightened?
0:07:23 > 0:07:27- Exactly.- If only he could stop imagining for a minute.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29Charlotte already had the tweezers.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33She would never give up without trying to help Osmund the Brave,
0:07:33 > 0:07:35would she?
0:07:42 > 0:07:46So off went Charlotte in her hat, bag and boots...
0:07:49 > 0:07:52..along the forest footpath...
0:07:54 > 0:07:56..and up the Misty Mountain Trail.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03When she was almost out of breath...
0:08:06 > 0:08:08..the path ran out.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16Charlotte took a deep breath.
0:08:24 > 0:08:25TENSE MUSIC
0:08:40 > 0:08:41BATS SQUEAK AND FLUTTER
0:08:56 > 0:08:59At last, Charlotte stood high on a rock,
0:08:59 > 0:09:02towering over 100 snaking fjords.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09But there was no time to stand and stare,
0:09:09 > 0:09:12Charlotte had to find Osmund the Brave.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20On the edge of a wooded hollow beneath the Misty Mountain,
0:09:20 > 0:09:21she saw a woman eating.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25Raspberries? Would you like some?
0:09:25 > 0:09:29No, thank you. I'm looking for a man named Osmund.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33He's very tall, and he had a bandage on his hand.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37Oh, yeah? Why would a stranger be looking for the king's champion
0:09:37 > 0:09:38on the eve of a battle?
0:09:41 > 0:09:44(He's got a splinter, and he needs help.)
0:09:44 > 0:09:48I'm not going to give him away to the first person who comes along
0:09:48 > 0:09:52telling me what I already know. Why are you so special?
0:09:52 > 0:09:54Do you have a special potion?
0:09:55 > 0:09:58- I've got these. - You're a shield maiden?
0:09:58 > 0:10:00Why didn't you say?
0:10:00 > 0:10:02I'm so sorry. What was I thinking?
0:10:03 > 0:10:05The king's champion - of course.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07He's down in the gorge over yonder,
0:10:07 > 0:10:10looking for bees to bathe his hand in honey.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12Does he think that'll help?
0:10:12 > 0:10:15I told him he needs to get the splinter out first,
0:10:15 > 0:10:16but he's stubborn.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19You'll need more than a little persuasion for that one.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22You could maybe try distraction?
0:10:22 > 0:10:25By getting him to think about something else? But how?
0:10:27 > 0:10:30No idea. But then, I'm not a shield maiden.
0:10:30 > 0:10:31Raspberry?
0:10:33 > 0:10:35I'll think of something.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38Though in her heart, she wasn't sure what.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41- Thank you. Goodbye.- Goodbye.
0:10:44 > 0:10:45On went Charlotte...
0:10:47 > 0:10:49..in her hat, bag and boots...
0:11:00 > 0:11:02..to where the distant sound of a waterfall
0:11:02 > 0:11:05mingled with the buzz of wild bees.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07- BUZZING - Come on, bees!
0:11:07 > 0:11:09I really need honey to make my hand better.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19- Hello, friend.- Hello.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21I've got these.
0:11:23 > 0:11:24May I?
0:11:24 > 0:11:27You're a real shield maiden now?
0:11:27 > 0:11:30Well, yes, but I don't exactly know what a shield maiden is.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33Can you tell me about them and what they do?
0:11:33 > 0:11:37Yes. The shield maidens are some of the most important people
0:11:37 > 0:11:41in our army. We'd have lost many a battle without the shield maidens
0:11:41 > 0:11:45there to fix the wounded. They even join the fight if they have to.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48I remember the Battle of Hafrsfjord.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50You should have seen their army
0:11:50 > 0:11:52pouring down to the sea to greet us
0:11:52 > 0:11:53with their axes.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58What? You did it. But I didn't feel a thing.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00Not one thing.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02Oh, my hand feels better already.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05Thank you. Thank you, thank you.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08The greatest shield maiden I have ever met.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12You're very welcome.
0:12:12 > 0:12:13May I?
0:12:13 > 0:12:14CLICK!
0:12:14 > 0:12:17And that was that - the whole kit and caboodle,
0:12:17 > 0:12:19Charlotte and the Viking Tweezers.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23I don't think I'd really like to be a shield maiden.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26- Why not?- Those Viking warriors would have been scary.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28Especially with splinters.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31Were they really frightened of splinters?
0:12:31 > 0:12:34Yes. To row across the sea into battle, you'd need
0:12:34 > 0:12:38strong hands. Keeping them healthy was as important as having water.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42I suppose that meant the shield maidens were very important.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45The Vikings couldn't have done without them.
0:12:45 > 0:12:46Crikey, is that the time?!
0:12:46 > 0:12:49We'd better get going. SHE LAUGHS
0:12:51 > 0:12:53Well, who else are they for? Come on.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03Now, how did that get there?
0:13:03 > 0:13:05Home time, Charlotte.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13Thanks, Great Aunt Lizzie.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15- Cheery-bye, Charlotte. ALL:- Bye.