Viking War

by Griff Hosker

  Chapter 2

  We lowered the sail when the coast of this new land hove into view. Josephus had never visited here before and none of us knew what sort of welcome we would get. The people here were isolated. As we had neared the coast I was amazed at how similar it was to the coast of Cymru.

  Cnut was sceptical about the potential success of the venture. “It seems a risk to me, Dragon Heart. We know not if they have such beasts as we need and, even, if they will wish to trade them. Would it not be better if we just stole them from our neighbours?”

  “We both know that bulls and rams are prized and kept safer than gold. Any we stole would not make our animals stronger and that is what we need; strength. We have riches Cnut, let us use them. Would you rather we squander them on warrior bands to adorn the arms of our warriors?”

  He became self conscious and laughed. He had many warrior bands, “No, Jarl Dragon Heart, as usual you are right. Besides it is easier to take warrior bands from the warriors I kill than to steal cattle and drag them unwillingly home.”

  It was a narrow harbour and would be hard to leave in a hurry should we need to. They had used two natural spits of land and, by depositing more rocks there, made a narrow entrance. I had to admire their engineering; it would also make sure that there was a good current to sweep away silt. I wondered, as we entered, if Cnut was not correct. Was this well done? I saw a few ships in the harbour. There were constructed and rigged like the Saxon ships; they were broader in the beam and shorter than our drekar. They were not fighting ships, they were traders and that gave me hope that perhaps we could trade with these strangers.

  “Aiden, you are more likely to speak their language. Haaken come with me and we will try to speak with someone in authority.” I remembered Frisia. “Josephus, try to find a berth where can leave easily and we can protect our vessel from surprise attack.”

  “Aye Jarl Dragon Heart.”

  We tied up at the end of a jetty. We had some way to walk to the buildings but that suited me for we would be better able to examine the place. We did not go dressed for war. We had just our swords strapped to our waists but we wore the fine clothes we had bought in Constantinopolis.

  “Cnut, take charge and remember the last port we entered. Just try to be pleasant.”

  He shrugged, “As I will not understand a single word they say and they will not offend me, that should be easy.”

  We walked down the wooden walkway to the gates of the town. We smiled at the other sailors and merchants we saw but they scowled back at us. Our hair and our beards might be slightly less unruly but we were Norse and, as such, dangerous. We were renowned throughout the western seas as pirates.

  Word of our arrival must have spread for some armed warriors were waiting at the gate. Aiden spoke. We had rehearsed what we would say. I picked out a few of the words the mailed warrior spoke and I gathered that we were not welcome. I was about to tell Aiden that we would return to our ship and try another port when Aiden smiled and said, “Jarl Dragon Heart, we are to be taken to their leader.” I nodded, feeling relieved until Aiden added. “They want our swords. We are to be treated like prisoners until they have questioned us.”

  Haaken’s hand went to his blade. “No Haaken. Let us see what the weird sisters have planned for us.” I took out my sword and said, “Aiden tell him that this is a special sword. I will be angry if anything happens to a blade touched by the gods.”

  Aiden explained. He said something and then pointed to the heavens. I saw the guards’ eyes widen. He nodded and took the blade and scabbard carefully. We were marched between the two lines of warriors up the steep path which lead to a stone citadel. It looked to be Roman in origin. The stonework and the design were similar to many we had seen at home. I could see the looks we were receiving; it was as though we were some sort of monsters which had been captured. It was always the same.

  The guard who had brought our weapons placed them on the table in the hall which I could see had been a Roman Praetorium at some time in its long ago past. A few moments later a man a little older than me came into the room. He spoke with Aiden.

  “This is Judicael and he is the headman of this town. He is the lord.” I bowed my head slightly. “He wants to know what we are doing here.”

  “You have told him?”

  “Aye, my lord, but he is suspicious.”

  It was too warm for my cloak and I never think well when I am hot. I took off my cloak. I did not expect Judicael’s reaction. His eyes stared at my neck. He turned and said something to the warrior who had brought us from the jetty. He said something to Aiden.

  Aiden spoke and then said to me, “I have told him your name. He seems interested in you now and yet he was not before.”

  I could see no reason for the interest. I was dressed as the other two were and I had only taken off my cloak. I did not feel threatened at all by the attention but I was curious. Was this the Norns again? Judicael appeared curious more than anything. A much older man came in. He looked to be even more ancient that Ragnar had been. He looked at me and then came to touch the wolf pendant hanging from my neck. It had been made by Aiden and copied from one we had found in the tomb at Wyddfa.

  He spoke to me and Aiden answered him. “He asked where you got this from and I told him.”

  The old man sat down and appeared to be treated deferentially by the others. He and Aiden spoke for quite a while. Occasionally Aiden said something and the old man would look at me and then back at Aiden.

  “What is going on Jarl?”

  “I know not, Haaken, but the old man appears interested in the wolf.”

  They stopped speaking and turned to us. I saw that Aiden was smiling. The old man reached under his tunic and took out an identical wolf pendant to mine. My mouth must have dropped open in amazement for the old man laughed.

  Aiden spoke. “This is Caradog son of Llenlleog. Judicael is his son. It seems that Caradog’s father served with your ancestor, the Wolf Warrior. He was given this for his service. It appears we are welcome guests now.” He added quietly, “They are a suspicious people.” Almost immediately our swords were carefully returned to us. Wine and cider were brought in as well as some bread and cheese. We ate and I was questioned. In truth Aiden answered most of the questions for he knew all that there was to know about the caves, the body and the sword that we had found. The Norns had been spinning well for had we landed anywhere else we would have had no welcome. The people here were the only ones who had any connection with the wolf pendant I wore. It was wyrd. Once again my long dead ancestor appeared and seemed to have a hand in my future.

  When Aiden mentioned the cave and the witch then Caradog showed the same degree of shock as I had. It turned out his father had been in the cave and visited the witch. I was about to say that it could not be the same woman when I realized that I knew too little about that world. I was a warrior. I was not someone who was comfortable in the spirit world. My mother and her tales of her father and grandfather suddenly made far more sense to me. I realised how little I really knew and, not for the first time, I regretted not speaking more with her when she had been alive. Her stories of her family had seemed interesting only because of the combat. I saw now there was more to it.

  It was dark when we finally left. We had not had time to discuss the animals we wished to buy but that did not matter for we had done the important part. We had opened the way for talks and we were safe. It had turned out to be a good day.

  Once back on ‘Heart of the Dragon’ we told our friends all that had happened. Even Cnut appeared to be affected. “I am sorry that I doubted you, Jarl Dragon Heart. We were meant to come here. It is wyrd.” He touched his wolf amulet to protect himself from the wrath of the Norns; just in case he had offended them.

  Haaken was almost beside himself with joy. “I shall have more tales to tell! When I am no longer a warrior because I am as fat as Einar Belly Shaker, I shall live well and people will pay me to tell them the tales of Jarl Dragon Heart and t
he magic the Norns wove around his life.”

  The trading the next day went well. It seems they wanted spices more than gold for Charlemagne and his stranglehold meant they were too expensive to buy. However we could not buy a proven bull. They were valuable and their owners regarded them jealously as prizes and symbols of power. Caradog, however, owned his own herd and he had a young bull, less than two years old. He told Aiden that the bull was meant to be traded to us for it had fought off an attack by a wolf pack. He had heard the stories from Aiden about my name of the Viking Wolf. He also traded us four heifers. The ram and the sheep were easier to obtain for they had those in abundance and we had a fine ram and ten ewes to take home. We handed over a mixture of pepper, cumin and the yellow spice which made all food so colourful as well as some of our gold and silver. We were not cheated and we still had more spices to trade if we needed them.

  We stayed for four days and Caradog would have had us stay longer. There was kinship between us. We were from different stock but we were both islands fighting the rest of the world. We fought Saxons and other Norse. They fought Charlemagne and the Franks.

  It transpired that our presence proved to be an even more propitious event. They had traded with Cornwall for years but Rorik and his pirates had made that harder. Many of their ships had been attacked and their crews slaughtered. Trade had dropped off as a result. In return for some of the drinks they made they asked us to escort one of their vessels to Cornwall. Aiden proved a master negotiator. His time in Constantinopolis had been well spent. We agreed to escort the ship if they carried our animals in their capacious ship and Aiden promised that they would be escorted back to their home port. It was an agreement which suited everyone. After we had returned home then the knarrs of Trygg and Siggi could return to trade some of our weapons for more animals and “Dragon Heart” could escort them. We now had a new trading partner. Escorting the slow moving cargo ship would mean a slower journey back but, as Cnut pointed out, we would not have the smell of the animals to contend with.

  Haaken had laughed, “No Cnut, you are right. It is just your belching and farting which will keep us awake!” The Ulfheonar laughed.

  The harbour entrance seemed wider going out than when we had entered. We needed no oars for our ship was much faster just under sail. We kept inshore of the cargo ship; especially when we passed the rocky islands to the north of Gwened.

  As we neared the stretch of water close to Frisia we kept a good watch and it was rewarded when Erik saw sails. Two small threttanessa appeared on the horizon. My men went to the oars and we rowed to position ourselves between the cargo ship and the drekar. We were bigger but I had no doubt that they had larger crews. I knew without even closing with them that they were Rorik’s ships. Although we had sunk two of his ships on our way south he had others and he was both ruthless and powerful.

  “Keep your weapons handy.”

  “Do you think he will seek revenge, Dragon Heart?”

  “Probably but he will need more than two threttanessa to achieve it. He will attack us only if he thinks he can win. We will have to make him believe we have a bigger crew than we do.”

  I let the cargo ship have more sea room. It headed towards the north west and I kept Josephus heading our ship north. My men had had much rest and we could row for a long time. Cnut kept a steady and even pace as we watched the drekar approach. When their sails were lowered a little I knew it would not come to blows. He wanted to talk.

  ”Take in the oars but watch for tricks. Have arrows ready if he tries anything.”

  I saw Rorik as he stood at the dragon prow of his drekar. “You survived then, Dragon Heart.”

  He had not known where we were going and I assumed that he was fishing for answers. I kept him guessing. “So it would seem and you have another drekar now.”

  “You still owe me two ships. I will take that waddling duck who is your consort in payment.”

  “I think not, Rorik. Let us just say that my belly is now full and I have no need to destroy any more of your ships but a word of warning. If you approach this wolf too closely, it bites!”

  I could see that I had angered him. He drew his sword and pointed it at me. “This is not finished yet, Jarl Dragon Heart. I will have weregeld for the men and ships I lost.”

  I laughed and the sound carried to his crew. “Then teach your men how to swim!” I turned to Josephus. “Let us head home, your former master appears unhappy.”

  “He was ever so and I am glad that he has been punished for he was cruel.” We soon caught the knarr and we headed to Cornwall so that our new friends could trade for the Cornish tin they needed.

  As we left Cornwall for our home Aiden told me of the conversations he had had with Caradog. “It seems, Jarl Dragon Heart that our arrival was foretold. Caradog’s father, Llenlleog, when he returned to the land of the Bro Waroc'h, said that a wizard had told him that a descendant of the one who wielded the sword would come one day. They had almost given up waiting. It was the wolf pendant which told them that we had finally arrived.”

  “Wyrd and we knew nothing. I wonder how many other events are waiting for us.”

  “I know not Jarl but it seems we are all marked in one manner or another. The caves, the wolves, the islands they are all strands in the webs the Weird Sisters have woven.”

  I was overjoyed to see Úlfarrston. Pasgen was the headman of the port which was closest to our land and they were our allies and friends. Descended from the old Britons of Rheged they guarded the southern entrance to our lands and protected our ships. I saw the knarrs of Trygg and Siggi bobbing in the estuary. I felt relieved. The captains and their families had been driven from their homeland and taken refuge with us. They were now part of our family.

  “Cnut, take the Ulfheonar back to Cyninges-tūn. I need a crew to escort our friends and the two knarr back to our new allies.”

  “Aye Warlord.” He turned to the warriors. “Let us get this drekar unloaded. We will not leave this for the jarl to carry.”

  “Josephus can you manage another voyage for me?” He nodded, “It will be the last before winter.”

  “Of course, Jarl Dragon Heart but I am happy to sail over the winter too.”

  I shook my head. “You will be more valuable to me making maps for young Erik here to use when he becomes captain!”

  While they saw to the ship I went ashore to the settlement with Aiden and Arturus. I had seen little of my son on the journey back for he had been closeted with Aiden. Aiden was teaching him to read and to speak other languages. Arturus was ambitious and I knew he wished to rule the people after me. He would be better prepared than I had been.

  “Aiden, you will need to return with Josephus to Gwened for you have the words.”

  “Of course.”

  “Jarl, may I accompany him?”

  “You can and I am happy, Arturus, but why?”

  “My education is lacking. I am a fair warrior but I need to exercise my mind. We have learned much on this voyage and I believe I can learn even more.”

  “Do not forget you are a warrior first. Our people need our protection.”

  He smiled, “I can do both; I can think and fight.”

  I saw Aiden roll his eyes but I admired the confidence of my son. I had not had as much confidence when I was the same age. “Then go with Aiden and think how to get the animals safely from the ship!”

  Trygg and Siggi were waiting for me with Pasgen. A horn of beer awaited me. I found myself looking forward to it. I had not had a decent horn since I had left on my long voyage. They allowed me to drink before they began to question me. It took three horns for me to tell them all.

  “You wish us to return with ‘Heart of the Dragon’?”

  “Aye Siggi, have we much to trade?”

  “There are some farm implements and weapons as well as combs and some tunics made by the women. They have been spinning under the direction of Kara.”

  “How is my daughter?”

  All three la
ughed, “We are just thankful she is not a warrior for she rules in your stead with a hand of iron.”

  “And you, Pasgen; is there anything for you to trade?”

  “Aye my lord. Not much but enough to make us some profit.”

  “I am sending my son and Aiden. If you trust their judgement then they will handle the trades for you.”

  “I do not think it matters what we trade just so that we can find new markets. We have prospered since you have been away.”

  As I took a swallow of my fourth horn I laughed, “Perhaps I should stay away more often then Pasgen.”

  “Oh no, Jarl, I meant no offence.”

  “And I took none. It is the ale. I have been drinking wine since I left here.” I tapped his arm with my hand to show that I was not upset. “I am pleased and with the new bull and ram we should have better animals. What we need is a supply of salt. There are salt flats to the south of the land of the Bro Waroc'h.”

  Pasgen shook his head, “A waste of a ship. The bay to the south, where we get our shellfish, already provides some salt. It would not take much effort to produce more.”

  “Excellent, then we can salt our spare meat. I would not have another Wolf Winter where the people starve.”

  The crew of my ship came in with the two suits of armour given to myself and Arturus. I had almost forgotten them but they took the breath away of my three companions. “This is the armour of a king!”