Duke of Normandy

by Griff Hosker

  I knew that I was being unreasonable and I blamed Æðelwald of Remisgat. I had given orders that no priests could visit him and they had sent a Bishop. I was being laughed at in my own hall and I could do nothing about it. “You are right, priest. Godwin, would you join my crew?”

  “Aye lord for I was abandoned. My jarl was used by Godfrid and all of the crew I served alongside are dead. I owe Godfrid nothing. He is a corrupt and evil man. I would have vengeance on him.”

  “And after?”

  He shook his head. “I have too much running through my mind to make such decisions, lord. I was blind and Padraig has saved my sight. Perhaps there is salvation in the White Christ but I will serve you until Godfrid no longer breathes. I will not swear an oath to you but I give you my word that I will do all that I can to fetch you within a sword’s length of Godfrid.”

  I clasped his arm. “And that is all that I can ask. Tell me do you know where Godfrid met the King?”

  “Aye. It is a port. It was not Vannes. The King came from Vannes. It was called Nantes. The Romans had been there and there were many waterways around the port. It is a busy port, lord.”

  “Good. Then you shall join my crew. Go with Egil and chose a helmet, shield and weapons from the armoury.” I saw that William wished to be with them and I smiled, “Go with them but you are too young for a sword.”

  When they had gone Padraig said, “I know you are angry with me lord but the boy was going to take his own life. Jesus’ heaven was a hope for him and he grasped it like a straw. If I had not done what I did then he would be dead and you would be no closer to finding this Godfrid. He has told you where to find Godfrid and I have no doubt that you can do great mischief there.”

  Padraig was not afraid of me. Most men would have quailed and crumbled beneath my gaze but he was willing to take whatever punishment I offered. I smiled, “You are right! Do not try this with any of my warriors.”

  “Judge me when you have seen how Godwin performs. I think you will be surprised.”

  Chapter 11

  It took two days for us to be ready for sea. I spread the word that Wessex was our target. Many did not believe the story for all had heard of King Alan’s attack but there was no proof and as I prevented any man or ship leaving my port then the news would stay in Rouen. There might still be spies lurking in my town. The three kings were all resourceful men. Ships came and went but they would not sail until after I had left and no one could outsail me! We left at the start of Gormánuður.

  My son, William, had wanted to come but that had been out of the question. Over the two days of preparation I saw how close he was to both Egil and Godwin. Godwin was a surprise. He could speak Saxon, Danish, Frisian and Frank. He also had skills with weapons. He would never be the biggest warrior on the crew and he would struggle to row for as long as some but he was wily and cunning. He had quick hands and knew how to fight. He also had an instinct for survival. His wounds might have killed many men but he had clung tenaciously to life.

  Padraig had copied all of the maps for my captains but we knew where we were sailing. We knew as much about the coast as any sailor. When we returned we would know more! My plan was to sail west until we were beyond Angia and Sarnia. Then we would sail due south. We would approach Nantes and Vannes from the south and west. That way I hoped we would achieve complete surprise. Vannes lay to the north of Nantes and the river on which it lay, the Liger. Vannes lay in a small bay with an incredibly narrow entrance. Godwin had told me, although I already knew, that the Bretons had two watch towers on the headlands. A ship might sneak in unseen but it was impossible to get out without a fight. Godwin had been able to describe what we would see very accurately. Padraig said that was because he had been blind for a time and forced to make pictures in his head. He had spent hours of darkness remembering and the things he remembered the last were the freshest. That served us for we knew what we would find when we entered the dragon’s lair. Wyrd.

  I told Poppa and Padraig that we would easily be back before Ýlir. It was a month away but the Norns had spun and one never knew. In many ways my dream had prepared me for the fact that the unborn child in my wife’s womb might well be a girl. I did not mind so long as she was born healthy. As Rouen receded in the east I found myself regretting not doing something about Æðelwald of Remisgat. I knew he was a spy and that he was working against me. Perhaps he always had. We had blamed the curse for our bad luck but thinking back it all began when Æðelwald of Remisgat came to my grandfather. We had all made the mistake of thinking him ineffectual because he was a priest. We had been wrong to do so. I comforted myself with the thought that I might only be away for fourteen nights or so.

  I immersed myself in my drekar. I had fewer oathsworn this time and more men who were not known to me. But warriors such as Pai Skutalsson, Habor Nokkesson, Thiok Clawusson, Magnús Magnússon and Óðalríkr Odhensson had chosen to follow me and all were warriors who could be oathsworn. We did not row down the river. There had been rains upstream and the river was in full spate. We had a fast voyage to the river mouth. ‘Wolf’s Snout’ followed us. Gandálfr had even more men he did not know. Despite my secrecy and purported target older, wiser warriors knew our true target. The attack on my walls and the disasters we had suffered against the Bretons meant that many men were drawn to sail with us because they feared that if they did not then their world might come to an end. There were warriors who had thought they had given up the sea but now knew we had to fight for our land. I knew not if spies watched from the two headlands at the river’s mouth but it made little difference. We sailed due west. We had little choice. The wind was from the south and east. Perhaps Odin was sending us a wind to fool our foes. It was getting on to dark and so I went to the steering board and curled up. All of my problems were now on the land. At sea I had other problems. I trusted Erik and I trusted his ship’s boys. I slept.

  When I woke it was to a wet and grey world. It was raining. During the night someone had covered me with an old piece of sail. Even so my hair and beard were wet. I stood and saw that there were two other, larger pieces of old sail. One was forward of the mast fish and the other aft. Men were huddled together underneath them. The weather was an ally. Visibility would be limited. We could even risk sailing closer to Angia and Sarnia. I would not, of course. My plan was a good one and I would not change it. We would sail west until nightfall and then turn due south. We would slow at that point but there would be no danger of hitting any land. The lack of sun and stars would make finding our exact position more difficult but even Erik was familiar with the waters around the Cotentin and Brittany. We just had to recognise one piece of coast and we would know our exact position.

  The rain and the wind made the sea rougher than we had had of late. I glanced astern and saw that Gandálfr had closed up with us. He did not want to lose us in the murk. I took the piece of bread Godwin offered me and the horn of ale from Egil. The two had formed a bond and attached themselves to me. Godwin was a little fearful of some of my men. He was uncertain if his attack on Rouen might have coloured their judgement. He need not have worried. Once a man joined my crew he became as one with them.

  Godwin pointed east, “Godfrid was not a confident captain. He did not like to sail out of sight of land. He would not have sailed in these conditions.”

  I nodded, “If you have any more information about your former leader then let me know.”

  “He was never my leader. I followed Einar and he followed Godfrid.”

  Over the years I had seen many crews like Einar’s. Often, they sailed the smallest of drekar. Sometimes that might only have six oars on each side. If they were to raid successfully then they needed to sail in the company of larger warships and that meant taking orders. Sometimes that worked out but at others it could spell disaster.

  “When you are in port how many of the crew sleep aboard?”

  He grinned. I knew that when he did so it hurt his face for his skin was still red and cracked and smiling
still made him wince. Padraig had given him a salve. The salt water would aggravate the pain. If he grinned then it meant he was genuinely happy about something. “The ones who upset the captain. There were some, like his oathsworn, who would never have to do a duty. I knew some of the ones he did not like. They rarely saw a port. Karl the Wanderer was one of those. He said he did not mind for it meant he never spent coin. He confided in me once that when he had enough coin he would leave Godfrid and find a fairer captain.”

  I was getting a good picture of this captain. He was the antithesis of the best captains I had known. If anything, he seemed quite similar to the snake of a brother who had usurped my land and helped to destroy our clan. A small watch meant I would not have to use many men to take his ship. In addition they would likely be men with no real attachment to either the ship or the captain. What I planned was risky. We would be going ashore to kill Godfrid and Beorn Straight Hair in Nantes itself. The fact that King Alan would not be there gave us an advantage. Perhaps it was deliberate. He might use the Danes but he would not want them close where they could slit his throat.

  “And how many crew men did he have?”

  “That is harder for me to answer lord. He stole our ship. His, the ‘Ghost Dragon’, had twenty-four oars on each side and ours, ‘Wave Skimmer’, just sixteen. I do not know how many of his warriors survived. At the most it would be a hundred men for I saw some die but there might have been others who survived the attack and were taken aboard.” He shrugged, “Perhaps even some of our crew, the watch we left on board.”

  After speaking at length with Godwin I had a much better idea of the layout of the port of Nantes and my decision to use Nantes would be vindicated. Vannes was both older and better defended. Vannes had a narrow entrance and could be better guarded. A couple of islands added to the defence. Nantes lay on the river and all of the wharfs and quays lay on the northern bank. The land was lower lying and there was a network of smaller streams and rivers feeding into it. There was, as yet, no wall around the town. The warehouses, halls and houses melded into one. It was a jumble. That presented certain problems. Our aim was to get to Godfrid and, if he was there, Beorn Straight Hair. Godwin had told us that there were men in Nantes who were the warriors of the lord who ruled Nantes for Alan of Vannes. He was honest with me and told me that he could not give an exact number. We had to get into the port unseen. I needed to disable ‘Wave Skimmer’ and then find Godfrid. I would have to use Godwin like a hound.

  As we ploughed west Magnús Magnússon came to see me. He had been a mighty warrior who loved war until he met a young Frank from a village north of Rouen. Now he seemed content to farm. Or so I had thought until he had volunteered to come with me. I believed he was one who had chosen to sail one more voyage to save the life he had built. He now had two children. He was rich. He had been one of the most successful warriors who had followed me and even before he was wed he had not spent all his coin on warrior frivolity. He had bought well. His thralls were the best and he paid overseers to run the farm. When his last child, a son had been born, he had realised that he would not have many more opportunities to go to war. He was ageing. Unlike many warriors he did not have the death wish. He wanted to live to mould his son into a warrior.

  “Lord, I know that you have a plan in your head for that is your way. I am unsure how many more raids I have left in me. I would know how we fight.”

  My men were used to speaking to me thus and I nodded, “Getting in should be easy enough. We step the mast and we row up the river at night. From what Godwin says the Bretons regard Nantes as a safe port. They have neither tower nor wall. Godwin does not remember a night watch.”

  “But there may be one.”

  “Aye, Magnús Magnússon, I will assume there is one. Gandálfr and his crew will take and hold the wharf. We will enter the town. We have a big crew. There are sixty of us and half are mailed. Godfrid will be in the best hall in the town. We find it.”

  “That is the plan, lord?”

  “We may have to fight the local watch and the lord but I do not think they will be expecting this.” I lowered my voice. “We have spies in Rouen. The enemy have planted spies in the towns of my lords. I have left quickly so that word cannot get out to King Alan or Godfrid or any of the other enemies who seek to destroy us.”

  “Then this raid is the beginning?”

  “It is. I hope that we will be successful. I hear the Norns spinning and I am not foolish enough to say that we will win but if we survive then when we sail home we sail close to their coast. We look for landing sites for come the new grass we will return and hurt the Bretons so much that they do not even consider going to war with the Vikings again.”

  He smiled, “Then I have returned at the right time. I still have hair which has not seen the frost. My eyes are sharp and my arm strong. This mail and helmet are the best that I have ever owned. My boy is too young to learn of war yet. I will have one last, long bloodletting and then, when our enemies are defeated I can hang up my sword and become a fat farmer. I will tell my son of all that we did and I will make him a warrior to follow William Long Sword.”

  “When we have defeated the Bretons, we war against the Franks.”

  He laughed, “I knew that before I set foot on this drekar.” I cocked my head to one side. “I live not far from Franks. I have spoken with them. They resent our presence in their land. The defeat of Saxbjǫrn was greeted as though it was a Frankish victory. They thought it heralded the beginning of the end of Viking rule. I knew differently. I have fought alongside you, lord, and I know that you do not give up easily. When your brother tried to kill you and you were reborn it was though the gods themselves had changed you. We will prevail.” He smiled, “But that did not stop me from digging a ditch around my hall and placing my hall on a mound with a wall around it. I came to serve you but I have six bondi at my hall to guard it. When this is all over I will hire another six. What I have I hold and keep!”

  Over the next two days, as we headed first west and then north, others confided in me. Many had thought, as I had, that the end of the siege of Paris meant we had secured our foothold on this land. Like me they now saw that was an illusion. They wanted to keep the land and knew that it would entail the spilling of blood. They knew that warriors would die. The difference was that these were the warriors who had followed me as young men and now had families. They were ensuring the future for those families.

  Even when we turned north we did not have to row. The weather was still foul but the wind, from the south and east, still powered us. We travelled more slowly but soon we would have to turn and that would mean rowing. Each mile north meant less rowing for the men. On the third day out of Rouen Lars woke me, “Lord, the captain said it is time to turn. We have passed Ushant and the tide race speeds us along. We can now turn and sail into the wind.”

  I nodded. I made water and then, cupping my hands shouted, “It is time for us to begin to earn our passage. Make water, eat and drink; today we row.”

  The men were quite happy to row and there was none of the grumbling you found in a weak crew. From what Godwin had told me Godfrid rarely had his men row. Many complained. That showed him to be a weak leader. My men knew that I would take an oar too.

  Despite his recent wound Harold Strong Arm had insisted upon sailing with us. He would not land at Nantes. He was a true warrior and knew that he might not be able to keep up with us and a shield wall could have no weak links. He would guard the drekar. He could, however, row. “Well, lord, we will see if ‘Wolf’s Snout’s’ crew is as good as we are.”

  There was a healthy rivalry between the crews and the captains. If my men sailed in Gandálfr’s ship they would swear it was the best of ships. They were loyal to each other and the vessel in which they sailed.

  “Aye Harold but it will be a hard row. We will be at the oars all day.”

  “Good! It will strengthen my sword arm!”

  All the crew would begin to row while we stepped the mast
and turned into the wind. We had an hourglass which my grandfather had bought, at great expense, when he had sailed the seas seeking me. After an hour half of the crew would rest. An hour later and they would replace the other half of the crew. There would then be two-hour stints at the oars. If Erik had calculated correctly then we would be off the mouth of the Liger when darkness fell. We would sail through the small islands at dusk. With luck we would not be seen. Drekar with stepped masts were almost invisible. It would take three hours to row up the river to Nantes and we would arrive, with luck, two hours before dawn. Saxons I had spoken to did not know how Vikings could row so far and then fight a battle. That was because we were Vikings. The hard row would merely prepare us.

  Egil and Godwin would both row but they would be close to the bow where their lack of experience would not hurt us. They were both paired with more experienced rowers. We took our oars. Erik waited until we were all in position and then shouted, “Run out the oars!”

  I shared an oar with Haaken the Bold and we ran the oar out until it was parallel with the sea. The ship’s boys began to furl the sail.

  “Row!”

  I began the chant. We would only sing until we had way upon her.

  The night was black no moon was there

  Death and danger hung in the air

  As Raven Wing closed with the shore

  The scouts crept closer as before

  Dressed like death with sharpened blades

  They moved like spirits through the glades

  The power of the raven grows and grows

  The power of the raven grows and grows

  With sentries slain they sought new foes

  A cry in the night fetched them woes