by Unknown
I heard a cry from inside, “You lie!”
Alfred the butcher was a big man with a voice to match. He shouted, “No, he does not! We were treated well. We ate well last night and our children did not wake crying with hunger!”
There was silence and then I heard raised voices from within the walls. Fearing a sudden attack, we moved back into the woods. The noise seemed to go on for hours and then the gates were flung open and men, women and children flooded out. We had won! Suddenly three horses with riders scattered the crowds, trampling one old man. It was Charles Filjean with two of his men and he was escaping. We could not send arrows for fear of hitting the townspeople. “Gilles, Bertrand, get our horses!”
Erik the Tall said, “I will come too, jarl!”
The four of us were soon mounted. “Rurik take command of the town. Treat the people well and speak to the ones who first fled. Discover whom we can trust.”
“You can rely on me, jarl. Take care. A cornered weasel is always dangerous.”
“I know.”
We did not gallop as the Franks had. They had a long way to go. If they kept the same pace for a long time, then we would find them besides exhausted horses. They would ride hard and then be forced to stop. Our siege had meant that the horses had not had good grazing and I doubted that they had had grain. Ours, on the other hand, were well looked after animals. We loped along at a steady pace. There was nowhere else for them to go but south. They used the greenways and then the road. The sound of our hooves pounding sent any other travellers running for racing horses only meant one thing, warriors.
Our pursuit was not purely for vengeance. Philippe of Rouen had accepted that we had won. Charles Filjean was a spoiled child who would never accept it. My men had told me that when we had attacked at the battle of the Haugr and my wedge had carved deep into the heart of the Franks, it had been Charles Filjean who had broken first. It had allowed Alain and my horsemen to harass the right flank of the Franks and that, as much as anything, had enabled us to win. He was clinging to what little power he had and, I guess, he hoped that the Leudes would give him a new burh. If he did so then he would continue to plot against me and my people. He was a boil which, left alone, would fester further. The lance was the only solution.
The further south we went the flatter the land became and we spied the first of the Franks soon after noon. His horse was lame. He had driven it too far. We could not see the others but I knew they could not be far ahead. The Frank kept glancing over his shoulder. He suddenly wheeled his horse to the right to leave the road and enter a field full of wheat.
“Erik, Bertrand, after him!”
There was just Gilles and I left to follow the two men we pursued. I risked going a little faster. I gambled that the race was nearly run. If one of the enemy’s horses had weakened to the point of exhaustion, then the other two could not be far behind. We ascended a small rise and passed through an, apparently, deserted hamlet. It would not be. The people would be hiding. As we reached the centre I spied the two Franks. They were less than five hundred paces from us. Charles Filjean had chosen the better horse for he was twenty paces further on than his companion.
“Gilles, let us catch them!” I drew my sword as we galloped down the slope. It was as though we were fishing and pulling on the line. With every step, we seemed to draw them two steps closer. The nearest Frank knew what was coming and he stopped his horse, began to turn and drew his sword. I did not break stride. I swung my sword at his chest. He brought his own sword to meet it. The shock shivered my arm but broke his sword and threw him to the ground. “Gilles, finish him!”
This was wyrd. I had defeated his father in single combat and the son had declined all of my offers. It would end now with the sea just four hundred paces from us. I recognised it as being close to the place where we had found the dead priest. The Frank’s head kept turning. It demonstrated his panic. I saw him looking for an escape. He spied a greenway which went downhill. He took it and I knew I had him. His escape was an illusion. The path went down and then climbed steeply to the dead priest’s home. His horse would not carry him. He disappeared, briefly, as he turned the corner. Then I saw him. His horse had simply stopped. He could not climb the steep path to the cliff top.
Charles Filjean dismounted and began to run up the hill. I rode Dream Strider to the distressed horse and left him there. “Watch over this brave mount, Dream Strider. He deserves a better rider than the one who abandoned him.” Dream Strider’s head rose and he whinnied as though in acknowledgement. I left my shield on my saddle and headed after the Frank. I knew he could go nowhere. The hermit had lived isolated and surrounded by cliffs and seabirds. The path was not well worn for none came here any longer. I allowed him to waste his energy running while I strode purposefully after him.
The sound of the sea surging against the rocks became louder. I saw his head as he ran hither and thither. He sought an escape which did not exist. Then he saw me and I watched as his shoulders sagged in resignation. He would have to fight me. He had his shield with him and he hefted it around to his front and balanced himself on the flattest land he could see. I took out my seax and strode up to him.
“Think of all the lives that could have been saved had you fought me like this when I asked. And now you will die alone. None will mourn you and none will remember you. Your father had courage and he had honour. You have none!”
I deliberately insulted him for I wanted him to be angry and he was. Seeing that I had no shield he ran at me, swinging his sword in a wide sweep. With no shield for protection the blow, had it landed, would have severed my left arm. I stopped, pivoted and swung my sword around back hand. The tip of his sword caught my cloak. Once again, the metal strip gave enough protection so that he merely tore a hole in my cloak. My sword continued its swing and found the Frank’s baldric and belt. It bit through them and severed some of the links on his mail. His baldric, belt and dagger fell to the ground. As he tried to race backwards he almost stumbled over them but just managed to recover his balance.
I stepped purposefully towards him. I waved the seax from side to side. It seemed to mesmerize him. I feinted at his hand and, as he brought his shield over, lunged with my sword. It pierced his bicep. He stared at the blood on the tip as though it was impossible for this to be happening. I kept moving forwards and he kept moving back. The edge of the cliff was just thirty paces from us and the ground before it was treacherous. I jabbed at him with my seax. He thought it another trick and did not react. My seax went through his gauntlet and into the back of his hand. He swung his sword at me again and this time it slashed across the front of my cloak and mail. I used the pommel of my sword to punch him in the face. His nose blossomed blood. I think his eyes watered for he waved his sword blindly before him whilst holding the shield as tightly as he could. I ducked beneath it and rammed my seax into his middle. It was not a mortal wound but it was one which shocked him. He looked down at the blood which seeped out. He took his shield and hurled it at me. I was forced to duck. He ran to the edge of the cliff.
“You shall not have the pleasure of killing me or claiming my father’s sword!” With that he hurled himself from the cliff top.
I sank to my knees. I felt deflated. This place of peace where a monk had died would now be forever haunted by the spirit of a man who had killed himself. Mary had told me that suicide was a mortal sin. The young man had paid a heavy price for his revenge.
Epilogue
The rest of the year was one of peace, growth and a growing friendship between my warriors and the new ones who had chosen to join our clan. Our church, on the island, became the one which the two new communities used. They travelled each Sunday to listen to Mary’s priest and sometimes they stayed, during the afternoon to talk with us. Rurik moved his family, along with Finni and they lived in the town of Valauna which we had renamed Valognes. It was easier for us to pronounce and was close enough to Valauna for the Franks to be happy. Both of my warriors left their slaves, no
w freed, to run their old farms.
We also began to improve Bárekr’s home so that we could use it as a port. It was safer for Sven to use. By the time the new grass was come we had a stone quay and our ships could remain moored all year round. We called it Bárekr’s Haven for it was a safe haven for our ships.
Our dead from the battle were buried with honour in a barrow close to where they fell. Mary planted small blue flowers which came back each year. Eventually they made the barrow blue from first grass to midsummer’s day. It helped us to remember them. We also remembered them by the many new children who would soon be born. Returning warriors celebrated well and most of the women were with child. Other, single men took wives. We had newly widowed franks who needed men and many young women had grown and were ready for husbands and families. Mary and Baugheiðr were also with child. For me it would be my third and for Gilles his first. Even Bertrand was now looking for a bride.
That Yule as we watched the Christians returning from the church on the island I reflected that we had come far in the last few years. We were now rich. We had made a new people and the revenge of the Franks had not weakened us; it had made us stronger. Wyrd!
The End
Glossary
Ækre -acre (Norse) The amount of land a pair of oxen could plough in one day
Addelam- Deal (Kent)
Afon Hafron- River Severn in Welsh
Alt Clut- Dumbarton Castle on the Clyde
Andecavis- Angers in Anjou
Angia- Jersey (Channel Islands)
An Oriant- Lorient, Brittany
Áth Truim- Trim, County Meath (Ireland)
Baille - a ward (an enclosed area inside a wall)
Balley Chashtal -Castleton (Isle of Man)
Bebbanburgh- Bamburgh Castle, Northumbria. Also, known as Din Guardi in the ancient tongue
Beck- a stream
Blót – a blood sacrifice made by a jarl
Blue Sea/Middle Sea- The Mediterranean
Bondi- Viking farmers who fight
Bourde- Bordeaux
Bjarnarøy –Great Bernera (Bear Island)
Byrnie- a mail or leather shirt reaching down to the knees
Caerlleon- Welsh for Chester
Caestir - Chester (old English)
Cantewareburh- Canterbury
Casnewydd –Newport, Wales
Cent- Kent
Cephas- Greek for Simon Peter (St. Peter)
Cetham -Chatham Kent
Chape- the tip of a scabbard
Charlemagne- Holy Roman Emperor at the end of the 8th and beginning of the 9th centuries
Cherestanc- Garstang (Lancashire)
Ċiriċeburh- Cherbourg
Constrasta-Valença (Northern Portugal)
Corn Walum or Om Walum- Cornwall
Cymri- Welsh
Cymru- Wales
Cyninges-tūn – Coniston. It means the estate of the king (Cumbria)
Dùn Èideann –Edinburgh (Gaelic)
Din Guardi- Bamburgh castle
Drekar- a Dragon ship (a Viking warship)
Duboglassio –Douglas, Isle of Man
Dyrøy –Jura (Inner Hebrides)
Dyflin- Old Norse for Dublin
Ein-mánuðr- middle of March to the middle of April
Eoforwic- Saxon for York
Fáfnir - a dwarf turned into a dragon (Norse mythology)
Faro Bregancio- Corunna (Spain)
Ferneberga -Farnborough (Hampshire)
Fey- having second sight
Firkin- a barrel containing eight gallons (usually beer)
Fret-a sea mist
Frankia- France and part of Germany
Fyrd-the Saxon levy
Gaill- Irish for foreigners
Galdramenn- wizard
Glaesum –amber
Gleawecastre- Gloucester
Gói- the end of February to the middle of March
Greenway- ancient roads- they used turf rather than stone
Grenewic- Greenwich
Gyllingas - Gillingham Kent
Haesta- Hastings
Hamwic -Southampton
Harpa- April 14th- May 13th
Haestingaceaster -Hastings
Haughs/ Haugr - small hills in Norse (As in Tarn Hows) or a hump- normally a mound of earth
Haustmánuður -15th September -October 14th
Hearth-weru- Jarl's bodyguard/oathsworn
Heels- when a ship leans to one side under the pressure of the wind
Hel - Queen of Niflheim, the Norse underworld.
Herkumbl- a mark on the front of a helmet denoting the clan of a Viking warrior
Here Wic- Harwich
Hetaereiarch – Byzantine general
Hí- Iona (Gaelic)
Hjáp - Shap- Cumbria (Norse for stone circle)
Hoggs or Hogging- when the pressure of the wind causes the stern or the bow to droop
Hrams-a – Ramsey, Isle of Man
Hrofecester-Rochester Kent
Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog- King of Gwynedd 814-825
Icaunis- British river god
Issicauna- Gaulish for the lower Seine
Itouna- River Eden Cumbria
Jarl- Norse earl or lord
Joro-goddess of the earth
Jǫtunn -Norse god or goddess
Kjerringa - Old Woman- the solid block in which the mast rested
Knarr- a merchant ship or a coastal vessel
Kyrtle-woven top
Laugardagr-Saturday (Norse for washing day)
Leathes Water- Thirlmere
Ljoðhús- Lewis
Legacaestir- Anglo Saxon for Chester
Liger- Loire
Lochlannach – Irish for Northerners (Vikings)
Lothuwistoft- Lowestoft
Louis the Pious- King of the Franks and son of Charlemagne
Lundenwic - London
Maeresea- River Mersey
Mammceaster- Manchester
Manau/Mann – The Isle of Man(n) (Saxon)
Marcia Hispanic- Spanish Marches (the land around Barcelona)
Mast fish- two large racks on a ship for the mast
Melita- Malta
Midden - a place where they dumped human waste
Miklagård - Constantinople
Leudes- Imperial officer (a local leader in the Carolingian Empire. They became Counts a century after this.)
Njoror- God of the sea
Nithing- A man without honour (Saxon)
Odin - The "All Father" God of war, also associated with wisdom, poetry, and magic (The ruler of the gods).
Olissipo- Lisbon
Orkneyjar-Orkney
Portucale- Porto
Portesmūða -Portsmouth
Condado Portucalense- the County of Portugal
Penrhudd – Penrith Cumbria
Pillars of Hercules- Straits of Gibraltar
Ran- Goddess of the sea
Roof rock- slate
Rinaz –The Rhine
Sabrina- Latin and Celtic for the River Severn. Also, the name of a female Celtic deity
Saami- the people who live in what is now Northern Norway/Sweden
Sarnia- Guernsey (Channel Islands)
St. Cybi- Holyhead
Sampiere -samphire (sea asparagus)
Scree- loose rocks in a glacial valley
Seax – short sword
Sheerstrake- the uppermost strake in the hull
Sheet- a rope fastened to the lower corner of a sail
Shroud- a rope from the masthead to the hull amidships
Skeggox – an axe with a shorter beard on one side of the blade
Skerpla -May 14th- June 12th
Sólmánuður-June 13th-July 12th
South Folk- Suffolk
Stad- Norse settlement
Stays- ropes running from the mast-head to the bow
Stirap- stirrup
Strake- the wood on the side of a drekar
Suthriganaworc - Southwark (London)
Syllingar- Scilly Isles<
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Syllingar Insula- Scilly Isles
Tarn- small lake (Norse)
Temese- River Thames (also called the Tamese)
The Norns- The three sisters who weave webs of intrigue for men
Thing-Norse for a parliament or a debate (Tynwald)
Thor’s day- Thursday
Threttanessa- a drekar with 13 oars on each side.
Thrall- slave
Tinea- Tyne
Trenail- a round wooden peg used to secure strakes
Tude- Tui in Northern Spain
Tynwald- the Parliament on the Isle of Man
Úlfarrberg- Helvellyn
Úlfarrland- Cumbria
Úlfarr- Wolf Warrior
Úlfarrston- Ulverston
Ullr-Norse God of Hunting
Ulfheonar-an elite Norse warrior who wore a wolf skin over his armour
Valauna- Valognes (Normandy)
Vectis- The Isle of Wight
Volva- a witch or healing woman in Norse culture
Waeclinga Straet- Watling Street (A5)
Windlesore-Windsor
Waite- a Viking word for farm
Werham -Wareham (Dorset)
Wintan-ceastre -Winchester
Withy- the mechanism connecting the steering board to the ship
Woden’s day- Wednesday
Wyddfa-Snowdon
Wyrd- Fate
Yard- a timber from which the sail is suspended on a drekar
Ýlir – Yule. The second month of winter (November 15th- December 14th)
Ynys Môn-Anglesey
Norse Calendar
Gormánuður October 14th - November 13th
Ýlir November 14th - December 13th
Mörsugur December 14th - January 12th
Þorri - January 13th - February 11th
Gói - February 12th - March 13th
Einmánuður - March 14th - April 13th
Harpa April 14th - May 13th
Skerpla - May 14th - June 12th
Sólmánuður - June 13th - July 12th
Heyannir - July 13th - August 14th
Tvímánuður - August 15th - September 14th
Haustmánuður September 15th-October 13th
Maps and Illustrations
