Varangian

by Griff Hosker

  The Normans had not placed scouts north of the town and they awoke to find a large Byzantine army ready for battle on their doorstep. The Normans are arrogant with a self belief which is hard to understand unless you have fought them. They drew their army up with the knights in the middle, facing the Thema. Alexios placed the Varangians on the left and the Hetaireia on the right. We had no reserves save for the secret weapon, which we wished to remain a secret.

  We began to move forwards, the Varangians beating out time with their spears on their shields. I was seated on a horse behind them and I suddenly realised that this was the first battle I had begun without Boar Splitter which still lay on the battlefield where I had left it. The Normans were not going to let us walk up to them and fight and they charged. Alexios shouted, “Halt!”

  The Tourmache of the front ranks called, “Spears and caltrops!” Each man threw down four caltrops as far ahead as they could and then the front two ranks braced their long spears into the ground and buried themselves behind their large oblong shields.

  The archers in the third and fourth ranks drew back their bows and waited the order to loose. I shouted to them men before me, “Shield wall but be ready for wedge when they run!” It was bravado but the men loved it and gave a cheer which must had disconcerted the charging Normans for their enemies were not fleeing and they were cheering!

  “I heard, “Loose!” and the sky filled with arrows.

  The Tourmache yelled, “Hold!” as the horsemen drew alarmingly close to our men. The arrows struck and the horses which escaped the storm of arrows reared and screamed as they hit the caltrops.

  This was the moment, “Wedge!” The men were in formation almost before I had turned to see if the Hetaireia had done the same, “Charge!”

  The two flanks moved quickly forward and the Normans who faced us did not like the sight of a Varangian wedge of steel hurtling towards them, especially when half of their knights lay dead. They ran. Some of them did not run fast enough and they fell to the swords and axes of Varangians keen to redeem their honour. I wanted prisoners and I saw one of my men preparing to end the misery of a wounded warrior; I shouted, “Hold!” My men were well trained and the sword remained poised at his neck.

  “Bind him! And see to his wound.” As he was attended to I watched the Hetaireia joyfully pursuing the fleeing Normans. The knights were already through the town and I hoped that the Banda were still in position. “Who commands you?” He shook his head; I nodded to the soldier who held him. “Right hand, two fingers.” The Varangian happily sliced off the two fingers. “I repeat, who commands you.”

  “William of Salerno!”

  “Good and who commands the army?”

  “Bohemund.”

  “Where is Robert Guiscard?”

  “I do not know for certain but we heard a rumour that the Holy Roman Emperor had attacked Italy and he would have to return there. Some say he has left already.”

  “And where is Bohemund?”

  He shook his head. “I held up my left hand and the soldier sliced off two fingers on the man’s left hand. He screamed and then muttered, “Larissa.”

  “End it.” The Varangian slit his throat, He would not have survived anyway, a soldier minus fingers on both hands, was a beggar.

  Alexios was delighted with the result. “The men showed more resilience.”

  “And I have some good news, Robert is back in Italy. It is just his son we deal with.”

  We entered Heracleum as triumphant heroes and the light cavalry brought us more good news, they had ambushed the retreating Normans and, although many had escaped, they had lost far more in doing so. It was not a huge victory but it was our first victory against the Normans and that is always a momentous occasion. While the men and officers celebrated we planned our next move. Alexios took out the well worn map. “Unless he has fortified the Tempe River crossing if we get across there we can be at Larissa with a two day march.” Now that we knew it was not the full Norman army we could be bolder with our moves. We still had the Scorpions and the Normans would be trapped between us and the walls of the city and we knew that there should be almost a whole Thema within the walls.

  The next day we sent a Bandon of scouts to the walls of Thessaly. As we broke camp on the second day two riders galloped in to tell us that there was still an army before Larissa. There were a thousand knights and eight thousand other soldiers, including some Varangians. Olef had joined the enemy. It was a sizeable force we faced but, without Robert, beatable. When I told the men who was fighting against us my men could not wait to get at the enemy. The newer men had heard of the perfidious behaviour of the Norsemen and all vowed to have revenge.

  The morning of the battle of Larissa we were all up well before dawn. There was keenness and an eagerness for battle which had been missing from all but my Varangians on the previous encounters with the enemy. We lined up with a single line of Thematic soldiers. They masked the ten Scorpions which stood behind them. On their flanks were the cataphracts, cavalry and Varangians in equal numbers. Alexios was tempting the enemy general who we assumed was Bohemund. He had seen the Thema flee the previous year and there was no reason to doubt that he would be able to do so again. Alexios had even chosen the battlefield to give him the illusion of favourable ground, for it was flat, but that suited our artillery more. As an incentive Alexios had detached the horse archers and sent the Bandon to use the old Parthian tactic of shooting as they rode up and then turning backwards to fire as they retreated.

  It worked and the knights only suffered the annoyance for half an hour. The pennants rose and the three columns of knights moved forwards with the four blocks of foot soldiers in between. The archers continued to loose arrows, almost goading the enemy on. When they reached a point, a hundred paces from our line, they split up and I heard the order to charge. The knights leaned forwards in their saddles eagerly anticipating an easy victory. Alexios roared, “Down!” and the front rank threw themselves to the floor.

  The bolts whooshed as they were released, flying across the field and the teams of men quickly cranked them back to reload them. I had never seen them fired at real targets before and they impressed me immensely. The steel tipped weapons ripped through the first knight but did not stop, they punched through a second and third. I saw one go through a shield, a man and then a horse. They managed three volleys and then Alexios shouted, “Up!”

  The men leapt to their feet presenting a solid line of shields and spears. The front three enemy ranks were already decimated and the knights behind had to negotiate horses and men who lay in their path. The horse archers had wheeled left and right and now they poured their arrows into the flanks. The line hit my men solidly enough but we were ready with our own spears. The infantry stood little chance against my Varangians and I sought desperately to see where Olef and his men were. I spied them to our right. I turned to the cataphracts close to me, “Charge their knights!” The Droungarios grinned as he ordered his men into a line. I now had to make the room for him. Dismounting I took Death Bringer and my shield and forced my way through to the front rank who were despatching the last of the front ranks of infantry. “Wedge! We are going there!” I gestured with Death Bringer and my men roared when they saw that the target was Olef. I hoped he heard my men’s roar but it mattered not. I headed straight for the Norman knights who were still trying to get to the Scorpions. Bohemund or whoever led the knights knew that they could not retreat while the Scorpions remained or they would be slaughtered as they rode back.

  I used Death Bringer one handed to slice down at the neck of the mount of the first knight in my path. It sliced through to the bone and then continued down to take the knight’s leg off at the knee. Man and beast fell and, as I stepped over the dying pair, my men began to strike at enemies who were unprotected on their right sides. It was then that they began to flee and the ground between us and Olef thinned as men died. He saw me coming and I heard him shout, “Wedge!”

  Their training
was not as good as ours and they were slow to change formation, “Charge!” A wedge which is moving is harder to stop and we hit them with only the front ranks of the Norwegians organised. We struck them obliquely and the Norwegian Varangian before me never saw Death Bringer slice down, through his helmet and splitting his head. I punched with my shield and hit Olef in the side, stopping him from striking Aedgar next to me. The weight of our men pushed them back and over the legs of those who could not get out of the way. It was the worst thing which could happen to a wedge and the Norse Varangians, fell and tumbled to the ground. My men were merciless, the edges of shields, axes and daggers rained down upon them. To either side of us, the Thema had retreated to allow the Scorpions to pour their withering bolts into the packed enemy ranks but I only had eyes for Olef. I heard him roar and swing his axe, killing Ole, a young Dane from Hedeby who had recently joined us.

  “This bastard is mine!”

  “Saxon today I will get great honour by killing the coward who killed Hadrada with an arrow and I will live in Valhalla as a hero.”

  We approached each other with shields held forwards and axes behind us. It was though the rest of the two armies had disappeared. “The only thing a Norwegian is good for is shooting his mouth off; you are all piss poor at fighting and today, you cowardly renegade, you will die.”

  He feinted left and then swung his axe at my head. I ducked and swung my axe at his leg. He did not get out of the way quite quickly enough and I saw the spurt of blood which told me I had nicked him. He screamed and spat at me in anger. “You cowardly dog! I will cut you into pieces and rip your heart out.”

  He swung all the way from behind him with his axe and I saw it coming. I braced my shield for the blow which was so hard it made my arm numb. My trusty iron studded shield held and the blow had shaken him rather than me. I struck an overhand blow and he fended it off with his own shield but I saw a sliver of wood chip off and I punched him with my shield as he recoiled. Before he could strike again I swung my axe at his shield again. I saw the fresh white of wood as a chip the size of my finger flew off. Concern and worry filled his face and that is never good, for a warrior must have confidence that he can and will win. When his axe struck my shield it did not have the same power and I saw that he was favouring his leg; he was weakening. The next blow from Death Bringer made a hole in the shield and I could see his glove. He backed away fearfully. I gave him no chance to recover and launched myself at him. I brought the blade all the way from my ankle, over my head to smash down on his shield with all the power I could muster. The blade sheared the shield in two and took his hand off at the wrist. He fell backwards screaming in pain. I stamped on his right arm and stood over him. “When you see Hadrada, tell him there was never a Norwegian born who could defeat an Englishman.” I swung Death Bringer and his head rolled away with lifeless eyes staring at the walls of Larissa from which the garrison was streaming, killing the fleeing Normans.

  I heard the relentless banging as the blood cleared my head and when I turned, my Varangians were banging their shields and chanting Aelfraed! Aelfraed!” At their feet lay the dead men whom Olef had led to their doom. On the horizon I could see the remains of the Norman army fleeing westwards towards the coast. We had won and it had not been a skirmish or a minor battle, we had driven Norman knights from the battlefield. I wished that Ridley, Aelfraed and my father could be with me for I had finally done what I had set out to do years ago, I had helped to beat the vaunted Norman knight.

  We did not enter the city for it was crowded and, we had heard, had disease. Besides it was pleasant to be outside under the stars with the men telling their own tales of the battle. Eric would have enjoyed writing the saga of Aelfraed and Olef but others made a fair attempt. As with every battle such as this the men came to reverently touch Death Bringer, as though they could garner some good fortune from it.

  Alexios sent for me and I joined him in his tent where there was a jug of fine Cretan wine. He looked at me curiously as though trying to divine my mood. “It is strange Aelfraed I have seen you in combat before but I have never seen you fight like that. I doubt that any of the officers I know could show such skill.”

  “It is the way of your army. You have men who are great fighters but they are never promoted.”

  “They do not have the skills, as you have to make tactical decisions.”

  “Then teach them. My uncle was a strategos and he taught me. Not all men can be taught. I tried with Ridley but as he showed, his warrior instinct took over. If you want an army where the men respect their officers then train the best fighters to be good officers for you can never train a good officer to be a good fighter.”

  “Were you not afraid you would die?”

  I didn’t really understand the question but I answered it anyway. “I was a better warrior than he was. I knew I would win.”

  He shook his head. “And when you charged into the side of their horses, you knew you would win then?”

  “I knew that we had the advantage of attacking their weak side. I knew they were preoccupied with the Scorpions and I knew that if we hit them hard then they would crumble. If I thought I would die it would be hard to fight.”

  “And are you afraid of death?”

  “I do not want to lose but I am not afraid of dying for then I shall meet my friends in the afterlife. Olef was not a good warrior but he died a worthy death and he will be with Hadrada and the others now talking of Aelfraed and Death Bringer.”

  “You frighten me Aelfraed and yet I would not be without you. The men, even my Greeks, regard you as a talisman. As long as you live then they will win.”

  That was the last major battle for a while. We chased Bohemund from city after city. It was like a game of cat and mouse. We would find a city with a small garrison and take it and then head directly for Bohemund’s main army. Our light cavalry were superb scouts and we kept one step ahead of him. Gradually he worked his way back to Dyrrhachium, the place from which he had started. As we drew closer Alexios and I began to plan for our campaign in the East where Andronikos was still struggling to overcome the Seljuks. The scouts had reported that Bohemund was to the southeast of the city with his men and we made camp. A rider galloped in, his horse lathered and he exhausted. He handed over his package and almost collapsed.

  Alexios read it and then he sagged in his chair. “It is the Pechengs. They have begun to raid our northern provinces. When we meet with Bohemund tomorrow we will then need to head north.” It was the Norns again, tying me to this part of Greece and the Normans.

  Next morning we had even worse news. Bohemund and his garrison had slipped away in the night and were reported to be heading for Corfu which still remained in Norman hands. We headed into Dyrrhachium partly to see what effect the Normans had had and partly to give us some shelter after over a year in the field. Surprisingly the Normans had improved it with better defences and quarters. Alexios and I sat and ate dinner at a table, which was a novelty and we discussed how best to deal with the Pechengs.

  “The news was that they were in Thrace and we know that country well. The local tribes there, the Bogomils and the Paulicians, have allied themselves to the Pechengs so we have a rebellion and an invasion.”

  “The men are tired. Another march north might be their undoing. The cataphracts need a period of rest.”

  “I know Aelfraed and I cannot give them one yet. At least John has kept us supplied with weapons and armour.”

  “And the men that Ridley has sent have been a boon.”

  “I can give you a week strategos and no more and then we head north.”

  Except that we did not head north for we then received the worst news possible. Robert Guiscard was returning to Corfu with a hundred and fifty ships and even more knights. When Alexios read the news he was as low as I had ever seen him. “Look on the bright side, Emperor. It is a shorter journey down to Corfu and the islands than to Thrace.”

  “But we have no ships and by the time they reach u
s he will be back on the mainland.”

  “Did I ever tell you about my father” He shook his head. “Harold Godwinson? My uncle Aethelward advised him to keep an army by the south coast to counter Duke William’s invasion. It was a good plan and he did so. Then the barbarians allied with rebels in the north and my father took his army north and defeated the rebels but, by the time he marched south to fight the Normans that his army was so exhausted that they were defeated and his best men slain along with himself. So, Emperor Alexios, who is the greater danger, the Pechengs and the rebels, or the Normans?”

  He smiled. “I think these Norns of yours are real for the stories are so similar… you are right of course, the greater danger is the Norman threat. I will send the local Thema north to threaten them and we will go south and wait close to Corfu. Thanks to the Normans rebuilding and improvements, the garrison here should hold out if they are attacked.”

  The day before we left a scout rode in and approached me. “My lord, I was scouting for Normans close to the field where we fought and I found this.” He unwrapped the broken half of Boar Splitter. “We heard that it was a mighty weapon and I thought that you would need it.”

  Even though it was broken I now felt whole. Wordlessly I reached into my satchel and brought out a bag of a hundred gold pieces and gave it to him. “My lord this is too much, I did not do it for the reward.”

  “I know but the gold I give is not half of the value of this weapon.”

  “Will you repair it my lord?”

  “I thought back to the hillside in Wales where I had first used it and I shook my head. “No. I will take it into battle with me but Boar Splitter is a spear no more.” As he went I felt that this was truly wyrd, the spear had come back to me just as we were to confront my Nemesis, the Normans.