Pilgrim Reindeer in Pisa, 1348 a free multimedia novel by Thomas A. DuBois, University of Wisconsin-Madison

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 Part III. Italy. 55. Flight to Siena [May 21, 1348]

Of course this was a fun chapter to write. I wanted the merger of Sámi and Christian worldviews to be clear and equal, and it was great that two of the plants that a Sámi healer would have been likely to use to treat fever and skin eruptions were also familiar to Italian healing. I do not pretend to know if Bávlos's treatment would work to cure the Plague, but it's clear that getting some fresh air, nutrition, and rest were important for the body to fight off the disease. Not everyone who caught the Plague died from it, but lots of people did, and the chaos and despair that greets Bávlos in Siena is probably accurate for the summer of 1348. I have Bávlos depicting this chapter in two places on his drum: he draws an image of the hurried journey back to Siena at the very center of his drum, while the story of Christ raising Lazarus is pictured—like so many of the most important Christian narratives that Bávlos meets—along the outer edge of the drum. These are the very last images Bávlos adds to his drumface.