When Estonia was little, he remembered his big sister, Setomaa, taking him by the hand. She took him inside her home and offered food and a small gift.

That gift was a small piece of silver.

“Take this, my child. It’s a gift from me and the Gods. Keep it with you at all times. It will protect you from harm.”

He couldn’t been more than a toddler back then. Now he was a little older (but still a child) and lived on his own, deep in the forest and near the sea so he could be close to Finland whenever he needed to be. But times were tough: the weather hadn’t been cooperating and his crops were suffering. Rumours of some illnesses were running wild in the nearby villages had him feeling anxious.

He had debated whether or not to do this. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

There was a special stone not too far from his tiny cabin that Estonia held dear to him. In the middle of the afternoon, he made the trek there. The sunlight beamed down from above and onto the stone. It was as if the Gods knew he was coming with a purpose.

He retrieved the piece of silver from a bag tied his belt and placed it inside a small hole inside the stone. Estonia got on his knees and prayed.

“My people are suffering with poor health and our crops are withering. I bring you this gift of silver in exchange for food and good health. I hope such a sacrifice will please you.”

Later in the week, the land was dumped with record rainfall that Estonia had never seen before. Day by day, his crops returned to life and rumours of the disease that was destroying the villages was disappearing. Estonia was grateful that his prayer was heard and accepted. As a thank you, he had planned to offer the Gods some of his finest bread and fresh fruit.

But the peace was not to last, for there were new rumours swirling from the islands.

The Danes were on their way to the Estonian mainland.