by Griff Hosker
“Fear not Mercia is on the wane and Wessex is on the rise.” He clasped my arm. “I look forward to trading with you.”
I smiled, “Then remember that when my ships return. I expect favourable treatment.”
“The wolf will always be welcome here.”
“And if you hear of Rorik I would appreciate the information. I have a long memory for my enemies.”
And so we sailed home. We had no need to visit with King Selfyn for our holds were full and we all adopted the wolf banner for our ships. It marked us for both friend and foe. I was confident that Rorik would emerge once more and I would be there to quash him.
Chapter 8
We had travelled back with the Ulfheonar as crew on the two drekar. We had renamed the second one ‘Josephus’ in honour of the Greek who had helped us in so many ways. Poor Erik took some time to get over the death of his mentor. I spent some time with him, on the voyage back.
“He thought of you as his family, Erik. He will be in the Otherworld now feeling happy that his sacrifice saved your life.”
“But he is gone!”
“Just as Ragnar died and left a space in my heart. But he is still there in spirit. If you close your eyes and open your mind you will hear him.” I tapped the steering board. “He will be closest to you here. When storms rage and rocks threaten listen to your inner voice for that will be Josephus.”
“Truly?”
“I am never foresworn, Erik, truly.”
My words had the desired effect and I noticed that he brightened on the way home.
We had a fine welcome from both the people of Úlfarrston and Cyninges-tūn. The wealth we brought back was beyond their wildest dreams. All benefitted but it was Bjorn who was the happiest. The ore we had procured was of the highest quality and he had to take on extra workers to keep up with demand. We were also greeted by the progeny of our new animals. The cattle looked bigger and the sheep had more wool. Our voyages had been fruitful. That would have been a perfect year if we had not received ominous messages. This time they were not from the spirit world they came, instead from our brethren across the seas.
A messenger arrived from Windar. Arturus and I left directly. We left Aiden to distribute the goods we had traded and he wished to make more of the wolf pendants. Arturus was torn between helping Cnut and Haaken to train the replacement Ulfheonar and joining me. I was pleased when he accompanied me. We used the horses we had brought back from Kent. They were bigger than the ponies we normally used and allowed us to travel faster and travel with armour.
“You need to think about a wife, my son.”
He looked at me as we crossed the col near our valley. “I am too young yet.”
“You are never too young to father a son. I was your father at about your age. We never know what the Norns will throw at us.”
“How do you know if she is the right woman for you?”
“You just know. With your mother it was clear to everyone else before us but you will know. Remember, my son, we are the guardians of the sword called Saxon Slayer. The spirits and the Norns have determined that our destiny is out of our hands. We do not decide our lives. That is done for us. We have to be prepared. I need a grandson or granddaughter so that I know our people will be cared for. Your sister has not chosen children; it is down to you.”
He was silent for the rest of the journey. I had planted the seeds in his head and I knew my son well enough to know that he would ruminate and reflect on them. He was my son and he would come to the correct conclusion.
I could see from his face that Windar was worried. He was normally ebullient and without care but when he greeted us I saw the frown upon his face. “Come to my hall, Jarl Dragon Heart. I have much news to impart.”
He had his slaves pour us horns of ale and then sent them hence. “There are Norse and Dane raiders in the Dunum Valley and the Tinea.”
I smiled, “Slow down Windar. How do you know?”
“There were Northumbrian refugees who fled over the high divide. I had patrols out, as you suggested and they found them.”
“Were they harmed?”
“Jarl Dragon Heart, I am offended. I have tried to be like you in every way.” He patted his stomach. “I have failed in some but in others I do things right. They came not for war and so I welcomed them.”
“I am sorry for offending you. How do they know they were Danes?”
“They do not. That is why I said Danes or Norse. They merely said that they had been driven out by raiders in long ships.”
I took a swig of the ale. It was good. “Normally they come for slaves and they leave. I take it they did not leave?”
He shook his head, “They brought their families. We were told of a settlement south of the Dunum and one to the north, close to the village with the forges that you raided last year.”
“It was the Norns at work again. Had my raid opened the way for invaders?”
“And on the Tinea?”
He shook his head. “They said that they had heard that the Tinea had been raided.”
“Is this serious, father?”
“Aye it could be. The Dunum is a perfect artery for them to sail and conquer. It is only the waterfall which would stop them sailing here and that is less than forty miles from our borders.”
“But they are of our people.”
Windar and I shook our heads together. “No, my son, they are not. We are our people. The rest are looking for land that they can take. The Dunum is ripe for plucking. I think the day of the Saxon is numbered here in the north. It is no wonder that we have had little trouble from the Northumbrians of late. The raids must have been hurting them.”
“Will they come here, Jarl Dragon Heart?”
“Eventually they will, Windar. It may not be this year but they will want land and the high divide is not the land for either animals or farming. They will come. We know how good this land is and they will want it. We will have to persuade them that these pastures are not for them.”
I rode with Arturus towards the high divide. Windar tried to dissuade me. “Jarl, take some men with you for protection!”
“Windar, my son and I can take care of ourselves. We have our bows and we have our armour. I am confident that we can evade discovery. Do not forget that we know this land and the raiders do not. This will be the most opportune time to see how far they have come and I will be able to see who they are.”
In the end he had no choice for I was Jarl Dragon Heart and we headed east. I did not travel up Ulla’s Water. The land further north and east was good land but none of my people had settled it. I knew that it was empty. We went directly due east. Once we had negotiated the steep valley at the extreme east of the land we claimed we headed up the great divide. There were farmers here. They were hardy lonely folk. Some had lived here since the times of the Romans. They eked out a living alone and without defences. We sometimes found their roundhouses and their skeletons. Many had died in the wolf winter. We avoided anywhere with smoke. Smoke meant people and we wanted to be invisible until we saw signs of the Norse. I did not think that raiders would have penetrated this far so quickly.
It was when we reached the upper reaches of the Dunum that we moved with more caution. The raiders could have sailed quite a way up the Dunum. It was navigable for a small drekar almost as far as the falls. We walked rather than rode from the falls and we kept to the river. Three days after leaving Windar we had our first sight of the invaders. We saw a small ship; it was too small to be a drekar; I estimated it would have but six oars on each side but it would bring a family up the river and give them the means to both move and fish. It was, however, a Norse boat. The design was unmistakeable.
As soon as we saw the boat we took the horses away from the river, up the valley sides and tethered them. Taking our bows we made our way down to the tendril of smoke rising from their home. As soon as we saw the hut we stopped and waited. It was a Norse house. The Saxons liked their roundhouses. This one had straight sid
es. It had the turf roof and the familiar oblong shape. They might have come from the same fjord as Ragnar and Prince Butar. We watched until we had identified the number of settlers. It looked to be a family group. There were two women; one looked to have grey hair. There were two young children and I counted seven men. They ranged from a greybeard to two who were little older than Arturus. We only moved when night fell.
We moved a mile up the valley and we camped. We ate a cold meal of dried meat and the last of our ale. “It is just one family. They cannot worry us.”
“It does not worry me if it stays at one. But I remember when we came to Mann. We sent messages to our brethren in Orkneyjar and our home fjord that we had good land without enemies. There are others though, like Harald One Eye who seeks to rule a land. They will not share the bounty of the earth. They wish to rule. When the ones like Harald One Eye come they will not just take the land, they will head west to find new lands and when they reach Windar’s Mere they will think they have found Valhalla. They will not share. They will take!”
I saw him take it in. “Then how do we stop them?”
“We meet them when they being their migration and we stop them. We will need watchers at the steep valley to the east of Windar’s Mere. This year we will not be in danger but next year we will need five men living and watching on our borders.”
Surprisingly our news came as something of a relief to Windar. I think he had expected hordes of settlers pouring into his land. “No, Windar, for the present we are safe. You need to find young men who have their wits about them and can survive by hunting. I want them to keep a watch on the steep valley. Ulf can do the same at Ulla’s Water. I will find others and next year they can watch for the tide which will threaten to engulf us. I want a line of watchers to the east of our land. They watch not for the Saxon but the Viking!”
Haaken and Cnut were like me; they treated the threat with respect. “If any get a toe hold then they will flood in.”
“Aye. And we have too much empty land there. It will make it even more attractive to them. We need to encourage our people who want land to move to the east. The more farms we have there the safer we will all be.”
“Jarl Dragon Heart, we have friends in Orkneyjar still. Siggi and Trygg came from there. Why not find if there are landless men who wish to join us.”
“That is a good idea.”
“I do not understand father. What is the difference between men from Orkneyjar and the ones we fear, from the east?”
“One is invited and one is not. I would welcome men like Siggi and Trygg but not men like Harald One Eye and Rorik.” I could see that he was not convinced. “In this you must just trust me, my son. Haaken and I know the difference between thieves and warriors.” My oathsworn nodded as they clutched their wolf amulets.
When we reached our home again it was a hive of activity. Cheese and butter were being made with the extra milk we had from our new beasts. Bjorn and his smiths had smelted all of the iron and were now turning out armour and swords. The wool from the shorn sheep was being spun ready to be made into kyrtles.
Kara looked happy. She had grown into a confident young woman. Cyninges-tūn was the town I defended but it was Kara’s to control. She was a volva and understood the harmony between man and the land. We had achieved that balance. We cut only those trees we needed and we did not clear woods just for the land. The animals grazed in the open spaces we had and not the ones we had to create for them. The Water teemed with fish but we only took enough to feed us. We had no need to salt for we could fish all year even when there was ice on the Water.
My daughter greeted me with an embrace and a smile. “We will need to trade goods again, Jarl. We have filled the huts we use for storage.”
I nodded. “I had thought that too but I think we will sail to Orkneyjar instead of Lundenwic.”
She looked at me curiously and then, linking me, led me down to the barrow of my dead wife and child. “You have a reason?”
“We need no more iron just yet and besides we took the best. The men of Kent will need time to mine some more and King Egbert has yet to defeat Mercia. Our stocks of seal oil are becoming low and the men of Orkneyjar will pay a high price for our weapons and our cheese.”
She laughed, “And there is another reason. You need men.”
“Aye, we do. We lose fine warriors and our young men are not yet ready to become Ulfheonar. Your mother came from Orkneyjar as did Siggi and Trygg.”
“And so did my uncle. Look into men’s hearts, father not all of our brothers are to be trusted.”
“I will take the galdramenn with me. He has the ability to see beyond the words.”
“You will take ‘Heart’?”
“No. I would like to try a new crew and captain for ‘Josephus’.”
“That is good.” She kissed me on the cheek. “I will leave you here for mother is close by.” She smiled, “I will see that you are not disturbed.”
After she had gone I stripped off and walked into the water. The chill soon went as the water came up to my chest. I lay on my back and sculled with my hands beneath me. It happened that the angle of the mountain was the perfect one and I saw old Olaf looking down upon me. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling of isolation.
‘Our son is growing and you are right, he does need a wife. Sail the seas but watch for the red sail. Peer into the hearts of men before you trust them. Our land is rich and there are those who covet what we have. Blood will have to be spilled to hold on to what we have.’
There was silence and I asked a question in my head. ‘Are you happy?’
I thought that she had gone for there was silence, save for the lapping of the water and the distant quack of ducks.
‘It is hard to see you and not to touch you but I hear your thoughts and I know your heart. I am content.’
Then the silence returned. My wife had gone. She would be back in the otherworld. I was at peace for she had spoken with me and her words comforted me.
I left the next day with Arturus and Aiden. Haaken and Cnut had wanted to come with me on my voyage but my mind was made up. “You are the crew of the ‘Heart’. This will be a new crew and captain for ‘Josephus’. I have to know how they perform in difficult circumstances. Besides you have much to do to train the new warriors. We have benches to fill and you two are the best judges of character that I know.”
Haaken laughed, “You are mellowing. You have not used flattery before now to get your way.”
“You know me better than that, Haaken One Eye. I speak the truth.”
I had chosen the captain for the new drekar. He had been fishing with his father for some years and had shown much skill. His father would have been the perfect captain for he knew the wind and the tides better than any man. His wife had died in the Wolf Winter and he had daughters. He would not leave the Water again. Stig Haakenson was the same age as Arturus and he was delighted to be given the opportunity. Arturus and he had played together as children and Aiden knew him too. It was good that they would be able to watch him as we sailed. He could sail but he was a stranger to war.
The twenty six young men I took with me were the best of the new warriors. They had been the ones trained by my son during the winter. As yet they had to earn their armour. I had promised them a share of the profits and given them all a Bjorn made sword. They were keen to impress and their shields all had a wolf somewhere on the leather covering. It was not the black wolf of the Ulfheonar but it showed their ambition.
I took Trygg and his knarr with me. He was somewhat wary of returning to the home he had had to flee. “This time, Trygg, you go under my banner.” Kara and the women had finished my banner which had a black wolf with golden eyes on a red background. My shield was the same design and it looked striking.
“I am not worried Jarl but I would not wish you to be tainted with my punishment.”
“We go to trade and not to fight.”
Our stately progress up the coast suited both my ca
ptain and Arturus. He was keen to see how the warriors he had trained rowed. As we were travelling with a knarr we did not need the oars very often but the men pulled well together.
Stig was less happy about his ship. “It is slow, Jarl Dragon Heart. When we get the chance I would have her out of the water and examine her hull. I fear she has weed which is slowing her down. She should be faster.”
“I have something we can paint on the hull to deter weed and we can shift the ballast around,” Aiden pointed to the rowers, “and the rowers are not balanced.”
“I am sorry Jarl Dragon Heart, I have much to learn.”
“We all have much to learn. This ship is weregeld for Josephus. It will need a blood sacrifice. When we have made one and you and Aiden have worked together then she will fly. Bolli can also help you. This voyage is for us to see what the problems are.”
The jarl with whom Trygg and Siggi had had a dispute was Sigurd the Mighty. I hoped he was less belligerent than he had been. As we headed east around the northern coast of the mainland I looked for forts and settlements. I did not know who ruled in this land. I only knew that they were not Saxon. We followed Trygg for he knew these waters well and he took us into the harbour on the island of Hrossey. I was pleased to see that the drekar there were threttanessa. Had I brought one of my other ships it might have intimidated the leader of the people who live here in the far north.
I stepped ashore with Aiden and Arturus. We left the crew on board. We were here to trade. After he had tied up his ship Trygg joined us.
“The Jarl’s hall is on top of that low hill.”
I could see that the island was generally low lying but the anchorage was good. I could understand why they used this as a base to raid the mainland and Norway.
There were no guards at the open gates and we walked in. An old man repairing nets just inside the gate looked up as we entered. “Trygg! You have returned! Did you hear that the old Jarl had died?”
“It is good to see you, Rognvald. Sigurd is dead?”
The old man lowered his voice, “Some say murdered.” He stood. “What brings you back?”
