God's Hammer

by Eric Schumacher

  God's Hammer

  Eric Schumacher

  Copyright (C) 2004-2008 Eric Schumacher

  Layout design and Copyright (C) 2017 Creativia

  Published 2017 by Creativia

  Cover art: David Brzozowski, BlueSpark Studios (additional art by Reza Afshar and Dominik Mayer)

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the author's permission.

  Table of Contents

  Acknowledgements

  Glossary

  Prologue

  Part I Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Part II Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Part III Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Epilogue

  Historical Notes

  About the Author

  Acknowledgements

  This book may never have come to be without the advise, support and help of a handful of individuals. I am indebted to Barrie Markham Rhodes, B.Ed (Hons), MA, PhD, a coordinator of the UK Viking Network, whose insights and knowledge of Viking times provided me with details and colorful facts not obtainable through history books or research. The enthusiastic feedback of Eric Anderson and his colleagues at the Viking Age Club served as an invaluable source of energy during the cold mornings and long nights of writing. The keen eye and even keener advise of Marg Gilks masterfully shaped the story for public consumption; while the artistry of David Brzozowski gave color and vision to my imagination. It is to you all, and to the countless others who have gladly accompanied me on this journey, that I owe a huge debt of gratitude.

  Glossary

  Aesir – One of the main tribes of deities venerated by the pre-Christian Norse. Old Norse: Æsir.

  Balder – One of the Aesir gods. He is often associated with love, peace, justice, purity, and poetry. Old Norse: Baldr.

  Blotmonath – November. The name refers to the slaughtering of animals prior to the winter.

  bonder – Free men (farmers, craftsmen) who enjoyed rights such as the use of weapons and the right to attend law-things. They constituted the middle class. Old Norse: baendr.

  burgh – A fortified settlement.

  byrnie – A (usually short sleeved) chain mail shirt that hung to the upper thigh. Old Norse: brynja.

  dragon – A larger class of Viking warship.

  Dubhlinn Norse – Northmen from Dublin.

  Frey – Brother to the goddess Freya. He is often associated with virility and prosperity, with sunshine and fair weather. Old Norse: Freyr.

  Freya – Sister to god Frey. She is often associated with love, sex, beauty, fertility, gold, magic, war, and death. Old Norse: Freyja.

  fylke (pl. fylker) – Old Norse for “folkland,” which has come to mean “county” in modern use.

  fyrd – An Old English army made up of citizens of a shire that was mobilized for short periods of time, e.g. to defend against a particular threat.

  godi – A heathen priest or chieftain. Old Norse: goði.

  hird – a personal retinue of armed companions who formed the nucleus of a household guard. Hird means “household.” Old Norse hirð.

  hirdman (pl. hirdmen) – A member or members of the hird. Old Norse: hirðman.

  hlaut – The blood of sacrificed animals.

  Hogmanay – The feast preceding the Yule, which has come to be associated with the last day of the year.

  jarl – Old Norse for “earl.”

  jarldom – The area of land that a jarl ruled.

  kaupang – Old Norse for “marketplace.” It is also the name of the main market town in Norway that existed around AD 800–950.

  knarr – A type of merchant ship. Old Norse: knǫrr.

  Night Mare – The Night Mare is an evil spirit that rides on people's chests while they sleep, bringing bad dreams. Old Norse: Mara.

  Njord – A god associated with sea, seafaring, wind, fishing, wealth, and crop fertility. Old Norse: Njörðr.

  Norns – The three female divine beings who influence the course of a man's destiny. Their names are Urd (Old Norse Urðr, “What Once Was”), Verdandi (Old Norse Verðandi, “What Is Coming into Being”) and Skuld (Old Norse Skuld, “What Shall Be”).

  Odal rights – The ownership rights of inheritable land held by a family or kinsmen.

  Odin – Husband to Frigga. The god associated with healing, death, royalty, knowledge, battle, and sorcery. He oversees Valhall, the Hall of the Slain. Old Norse: Óðinn.

  seax – A knife or short sword. Also known as scramaseax, or wounding knife.

  seter – A simple wooden cottage in the mountains with a barn where farmers (bonders) bring their livestock herds (cattle, goats, and sheep) to be milked after a day of grazing in the mountain pastures.

  skald – A poet. Old Norse: skald or skáld.

  shield wall – A shield wall was a “wall of shields” formed by warriors standing in formation shoulder to shoulder, holding their shields so that they abut or overlap. Old Norse: skjaldborg.

  steer board – A rudder affixed to the right stern of a ship. The origin of the word “starboard.” Old Norse: stýri (rudder) and borð (side of the ship).

  skeid – This word refers to a midsize class of Viking warship.

  skol – A toast to others when drinking. Old Norse: skál.

  Terce – A service forming part of the Divine Office of the Western Christian Church, traditionally held at the third hour of the day (i.e., 9 a.m.).

  thane – A word used to describe a class of military retainer or warrior. Old Norse: þegn.

  thing – The governing assembly of a Viking society or region, made up of the free people of the community and presided over by lawspeakers. Old Norse: þing.

  Thor – A hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oaktrees, strength, the protection of mankind. Old Norse: Þórr.

  thrall – A slave.

  tun – A dwelling place usually consisting of a group of structures.

  Valhall (also Valhalla) – The hall of the slain presided over by Odin. It is where brave warriors chosen by valkyries go when they die. Old Norse: Valhöll.

  valkyrie – A female helping spirit of Odin that transports his favorite among those slain in battle to Valhall, where they will fight by his side during the battle at the end of time, Ragnarok. Old Norse: valkyrja, plural valkyrjur.

  wergeld – Also known as “man price,” it was the value placed on every being and piece of property.

  witan – An assembly of royal councilors.

  woolsark – A shirt or vest made of course wool.

&
nbsp; Yngling – Refers to the Fairhair dynasty, which descended from the kings of Uplands, Norway.

  Yule – A pagan midwinter festival lasting roughly twelve days. It later became associated with Christmas. Old Norse: Jōl.

  Prologue

  When King Harald was nearly seventy years old, he had a son by a woman called Thora Mosterstang, who came from a family at Moster and had good relations; . . . She was a beautiful and fine woman and was called the servant-maid of the king, for at that time many were obliged to become the king's servants, both men and women, although they were of good lineage. It was the custom with children of great men, that they should be careful in the choice of men to sprinkle water over them or to give them names, and as the time arrived when Thora was expecting to give birth to the child, she wished to go to King Harald, for he was then north at Seim, whilst she was at Moster. She then went north in Sigurd the Jarl's ship. During the night they stayed ashore and there Thora brought forth a child at Hella near the quay wall; it was a boy. Sigurd the Jarl sprinkled water over the boy and called him Hakon after his own father Hakon the Jarl of Lade. The boy soon became handsome and well grown and very much like his father. King Harald let the boy remain with the mother and they stayed on the king's estates whilst the boy was little.

  Athelstan was the name of the king in Engla-lond who had lately taken the kingdom; he was called the Victorious and the Faithful… One summer, King Harald sent a ship west to Engla-lond. . .

  Heimskringla

  Part I

  In this year fiery beacons of light appeared in the northern sky. And Sitric died, and king Athelstan assumed the kingdom of the Northumbrians.

  Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

  Chapter 1

  York, Engla-lond. Spring, A.D. 927

  Hakon spotted the bodies first.

  There were five of them, floating in the air like wraiths, their necks bent where the ropes had broken them, their decaying skin black and oozing on their bones. Open mouths and hollowed eye sockets gaped at the dark water below their dangling feet. Ravens sat on their stiff limbs, picking at the rotting flesh with sharp beaks. As the ship glided slowly through the fog, more corpses appeared, hanging from the jetty gallows a man's height above the murky water.

  Hakon shut his eyes tightly to block out the horrible sight. But it was too late; the corpses appeared behind his closed lids like ghosts materializing through a wall.

  “Open your eyes, boy,” Hauk reprimanded him. “There is nothing to fear here. These have gone on to meet the Alfather at Valhall. At least they did not die abed.”

  Hakon did as he was told and squinted from beneath his sandy bangs.

  “Stop skulking, boy. Open your eyes!”

  Hakon bristled at the man's tone. “I am a prince,” he muttered, “not a boy.”

  Hauk glared down at his cargo. “Then act like one. The princes that I know do not cower at the sight of death.”

  Hakon frowned and went in search of a better place to be. Near the helmsman he found an open spot and sank his thin frame to the deck, pouting.

  The longship passed slowly under the hanging bodies while the crewmen watched in unfazed silence. They were warriors all, a battle-hardened lot, hand-picked for this journey by Hakon's father, King Harald Fairhair. If they felt any fear or disgust for the corpses, they did not display it. Rather, some guessed at the length of time the bodies had been decaying, while others joked at how they'd died. The sight of it all sickened Hakon.

  “Who are these dead men?” he asked the helmsman.

  The helmsman glanced down. “Northmen, I suppose.”

  “Northmen,” Hakon wondered aloud. “Why would they be here?”

  “For many winters this part of the country and its main town, York—or Jorvik, as we Northmen call it—were controlled by men from the North. Danes, for the most part. They conquered it when your father was still a bairn, and made it their capital in these parts. That is, until a short time ago. Athelstan, the Saxon king, just changed all that. In one mighty push, he conquered the northern part of Engla-lond and laid waste to the Northern host. These men,” the helmsman motioned to the dangling bodies, “are the result of his victory.”

  “I am to be given to one who does such things to Northmen?”

  The helmsman flashed a yellow-toothed grin. “Aye. But worry not. You are just eight winters in age; I think the king would find no great fun in killing you.”

  Hakon looked away, lest the helmsman see the fear in his eyes.

  “Frogar! Bjarni! Man the lines!”

  Hakon popped his head above the shield-lined gunwale and peered forward. Through the thick gray fog he could just make out a group of men on a jetty, awaiting the arrival of the ship with shields raised and spears pointed skyward. At their head stood a solidly built figure with a sword at his side and a colorful shield in his hand. “Militia,” someone muttered, though in the fog they looked to Hakon more like ghosts.

  Hakon had constantly told himself during the journey to be brave when they reached the new land, but the sight of the fog, the corpses, and now these strange men was too much. He whimpered involuntarily, drawing reproachful glances from those about him.

  Hauk grabbed the collar of Hakon's cloak and lifted him forcibly to his feet. “Keep your teeth together, boy.”

  When the ship neared the jetty, the crew pulled their oars back through the oar holes and dropped them to the deck. Frogar and Bjarni tossed their seal-skin lines to two waiting militiamen, who wound them tightly around the massive bollards that lined the pier. Others laid a gangplank from the jetty to the gunwale.

  Hauk strode neatly up the gangplank and addressed the man with the colorful shield. Hakon heard only bits of their conversation. It resembled the tongue spoken in his country—a discovery for which he had not been prepared. Though he knew not what to expect from these strange men, it had never crossed his mind that they might speak a language similar to his own.

  The conversation was brief; Hauk returned moments later. “Egil,” he called to the helmsman, “you and those on the steer-board side shall remain here to guard the ship. Those on the dock side shall come with me. Hakon, come.”

  Hakon searched in vain for something to grab. He didn't want to go. There were no friends here. No kinsmen. Only fog, and dead people … and fearsome warriors who hung Northmen like him.

  “Stand tall, lad,” Egil gently reminded him. “You are a king's son.”

  The words drew Hakon from his fear and firmed his weak limbs. Fists clenched at his sides, he climbed up the gangplank to the waiting escorts.

  The jetty creaked underfoot as the group moved to the shore. Once there, Hakon stumbled, then quickly corrected himself. It had been a long trip—nearly half a moon's time. He had become so accustomed to the swaying movement of the sea that the still ground felt alien beneath his feet. He paused to regain his balance, then followed the group into the billowing fog.

  They moved up a planked path toward what looked to be more activity, although the dense fog made it hard to tell for certain. More than once Hakon slipped on the damp planks as he surveyed the half-hidden world. They had entered Jorvik, he knew, but beyond that, he had lost all sense of direction. Disembodied voices surrounded him. Every so often a person's shadow crossed his path or a face appeared, then just as quickly vanished into the mist. Hakon could see the outlines of dwellings, but even those seemed indistinct, unreal.

  The party stopped at a large door that was guarded by two warriors. The leader of the escort addressed one of the guards. The man grunted something, then disappeared inside.

  “I hope the king is as hospitable as men say he is,” joked one of the crewmen.

  “You'll be lucky to get the scraps at the king's feet, Northman,” came an accented response from one of the escorts.

  Before the Northman could respond, Hauk turned to his men. “Listen quickly,” he whispered. “We will enter in pairs. Each man will guard the other's back. Those who enter first shall be the last to leave. K
eep your swords ready, but out of sight. Remember, we are here on an errand from our king; we are not here to fight.”

  “A pity,” chimed in someone.

  Suddenly the door opened again and the group was ushered into the hall. Hauk went first, with the forecastleman beside him and Hakon trailing behind.

  They entered an immense hall. Massive oak tables filled every empty space on the rush-covered floor. Beautifully woven tapestries, crisscrossed swords, long-shafted spears, and battle-scarred shields lined the timbered walls and thick posts. In the center were two of the largest hearths he had ever seen; the smoke from each lingered in the rafters high above his head. Over one, two pigs roasted slowly on a spit, while a giant cauldron sat among the embers of the other. The scent of roasted pork hung over the hall, blending sweetly with that of fresh rushes and boiled onions. Hakon's stomach grumbled.

  At the north end of the hall sat a young man on an intricately-carved oak High Seat. Men sat facing each other on two benches below him. They turned when the Northmen came forward, but did not rise.

  “Give me your weapons,” demanded a guard.

  “We come in peace,” Hauk answered flatly. “We mean no harm, nor do we wish to disrupt your gathering.”

  The guard turned to the man who had led the escort party, then back again to Hauk. “You cannot enter withou—”

  “Let them pass,” called the young man on the High Seat. “If they draw their weapons, we will kill them.”

  The man acquiesced.

  Hakon struggled to keep pace with Hauk as he crossed the room. Against the walls, guards shifted nervously, brushing their cloaks aside to show their swords. Hakon could see them inspecting him, and willed himself to remain calm. When they reached the young man, Hauk stopped.

  “Introduce yourselves.” The young man's dark, alert eyes showed the effects of the previous night's feast, but nevertheless remained focused on his visitors, watching their every movement.

  “I bid you greetings, King Athelstan.”