by Griff Hosker
King Mordaf ap Hopkin hung on for a moon. His daughters never left his side. Gruffyd and Einar Fair Face were never more than twenty paces from the women they hoped to marry. We buried King Mordaf ap Hopkin by the Stad on the Eden. Aiden told us that the ancient kings, Urien, Coel and Pasgen, had ruled from there. It seemed right. We used stone from Old Olaf to build him a tomb. He was the last of a long line. Ebrel might have sons but, as we laid him in the ground, it was though one of the Norns’ threads had been severed.
We returned to my hall. The two princesses went to Aiden and Kara’s hall and I took Gruffyd and Einar with me to my hall. Brigid was on edge for she did not know my mind. We ate alone. Myfanwy was now of an age where she took note of everything. In two years or so she would be a woman. I allowed her to stay for it was important she saw how adults spoke.
Gruffyd waited until the food was finished and Uhtric and the slaves had cleared the table. Then he leaned forward and spoke, “So, father, when can I marry Ebrel and Einar Fair Face, Bronnen?”
I took my time and emptied my horn of ale, “I swore an oath to King Mordaf ap Hopkin. I said I would be as a father to Ebrel and Bronnen.” I pointed to Myfanwy. “In a few years’ time, I will have to decide if a suitor can marry Myfanwy.”
“I am your son!”
“And I can recall how you were reckless in battle. I remember when you did not think as a warrior should. Do you?”
His head hung, “I have changed.”
“Aye, you have and I am proud of you but think on this. The woman you have chosen is a princess. If you marry her then you are honour bound to reclaim her kingdom. Are you the warrior to do that? Think before you answer, my son. Would you be king? I have never wished to be king. Do you?”
I saw that my words were not what he had expected. He studied his horn as though it had a hidden message etched on the bone. “I am not certain that I wish to be king but I wish to marry Ebrel. I wish to have her bear my children and, if she wishes it then I would happily reclaim her kingdom for her.”
I nodded, “And Einar Fair Face, you would marry Bronnen. How do you see your future?”
“Jarl, I have carried your banner. I have stood in the shield wall. I would be a warrior of the Clan of the Wolf. Bronnen is not heiress to Om Walum. She will be the wife of a warrior. I will give her a good home and, hopefully, I will become a jarl and give her all that she deserves as the daughter of a king.” He smiled, “If that does not suit you, jarl, then I will not change my answer. I have learned from you. A warrior speaks the truth and keeps his word. That is the path I have chosen and the one I will keep.”
I smiled, “You have given me good answers. If you wish to marry the two princesses then you have my permission save that, before you do, each of you build a hall and finds ten oathsworn to follow you. What say you? Will you agree or will you take your princesses and flee?”
They looked at each other. Gruffyd smiled, “Father I expected a much harder task. We agree and we will have a hall built before the new grass is grown.”
I smiled too for my son had become a warrior, he had become a man. Wyrd .
The End
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
Glossary
Afen- River Avon
Afon Hafron- River Severn in Welsh
Àird Rosain – Ardrossan (On the Clyde Estuary)
Alpín mac Echdach – the father of Kenneth MacAlpin, reputedly the first king of the Scots
Alt Clut- Dumbarton Castle on the Clyde
An Lysardh - Lizard Peninsula Cornwall
Balley Chashtal -Castleton (Isle of Man)
Bardanes Tourkos- Rebel Byzantine General
Bebbanburgh- Bamburgh Castle, Northumbria also known as Din Guardi in the ancient tongue
Beck- a stream
Beinn na bhFadhla- Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides
Belesduna - Basildon
Blót – a blood sacrifice made by a jarl
Blue Sea- The Mediterranean
Bondi- Viking farmers who fight
Bourde- Bordeaux
Bjarnarøy –Great Bernera (Bear Island)
Brycgstow- Bristol
Byrnie- a mail or leather shirt reaching down to the knees
Caerlleon- Welsh for Chester
Caer Ufra -South Shields
Caestir - Chester (old English)
Càrdainn Ros -Cardross (Argyll)
Cas-gwent -Chepstow Monmouthshire
Casnewydd –Newport, Wales
Cephas- Greek for Simon Peter (St. Peter)
Chape- the tip of a scabbard
Charlemagne- Holy Roman Emperor at the end of the 8th and beginning of the 9th centuries
Celchyth - Chelsea
Cherestanc- Garstang (Lancashire)
Cil-y-coed -Caldicot Monmouthshire
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) pl. drekar
Duboglassio –Douglas, Isle of Man
Dun Holme- Durham
Dún Lethglaise - Downpatrick (Northern Ireland)
Durdle- Durdle dor- the Jurassic coast in Dorset
Dyrøy –Jura (Inner Hebrides)
Dyflin- Old Norse for Dublin
Ēa Lōn - River Lune
Ein-mánuðr - middle of March to the middle of April
Eoforwic- Saxon for York
Falgrave- Scarborough (North Yorkshire)
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
Ganda- Ghent (Belgium)
Garth - Dragon Heart
Gaill- Irish for foreigners
Galdramenn- wizard
Gesith- A Saxon nobleman. After 850 AD, they were known as thegns
Glaesum –amber
Glannoventa -Ravenglass
Gleawecastre- Gloucester
Gói- the end of February to the middle of March
Gormánuður- October to November (Slaughter month- the beginning of winter)
Grendel- the monster slain by Beowulf
Grenewic- Greenwich
Gulle - Goole (Humberside)
Hagustaldes ham -Hexham
Hamwic -Southampton
Hæstingaceaster- Hastings
Haustmánuður - September 16th - October 16th (cutting of the corn)
Haughs- small hills in Norse (As in Tarn Hows)
Hearth weru- The bodyguard or oathsworn of a jarl
Heels- when a ship leans to one side under the pressure of the wind
Hel - Queen of Niflheim , the Norse underworld.
Here Wic- Harwich
Hersey- Isle of Arran
Hersir- a Viking landowner and minor noble. It ranks below a jarl
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<
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Hundred- Saxon military organisation. (One hundred men from an area-led by a thegn or gesith)
Hwitebi - Norse for Whitby, North Yorkshire
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
kjerringa - Old Woman- the solid block in which the mast rested
Knarr- a merchant ship or a coastal vessel
Kyrtle-woven top
Lambehitha- Lambeth
Leathes Water- Thirlmere
Legacaestir- Anglo Saxon for Chester
Ljoðhús- Lewis
Lochlannach – Irish for Northerners (Vikings)
Lothuwistoft- Lowestoft
Lough- Irish lake
Louis the Pious- King of the Franks and son of Charlemagne
Lundenburgh- the fort in the heart of London (the former Roman fort)
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 designed to store the mast when not required
Melita- Malta
Midden- a place where they dumped human waste
Miklagård - Constantinople
Mörsugur - December 13th -January 12th (the fat sucker month!)
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
Penrhudd – Penrith Cumbria
Poor john- a dried and shrivelled fish (disparaging slang for a male member- Shakespeare)
Þorri -January 13th -February 12th - midwinter
Portesmūða -Portsmouth
Pillars of Hercules- Straits of Gibraltar
Pyrlweall -Thirwell, Cumbria
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
Samhain- a Celtic festival of the dead between 31st October and1st November (Halloween)
St. Cybi- Holyhead
Scree- loose rocks in a glacial valley
Seax – short sword
Sennight- seven knights- a week
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
South Folk- Suffolk
Stad- Norse settlement
Stays- ropes running from the mast-head to the bow
Strake- the wood on the side of a drekar
Streanæshalc- Saxon for Whitby, North Yorkshire
Suthriganaworc - Southwark (London)
Syllingar Insula, Syllingar- Scilly Isles
Tarn- small lake (Norse)
Tella- River Béthune which empties near to Dieppe
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.
Tinea- Tyne
Tilaburg – Tilbury
Tintaieol- Tintagel (Cornwall)
Thrall- slave
Trenail- a round wooden peg used to secure strakes
Tynwald- the Parliament on the Isle of Man
Tvímánuður -Hay time-August 15th -September 15th
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
Vectis- The Isle of Wight
Veisafjǫrðr – Wexford (Ireland)
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)
Wykinglo- Wicklow (Ireland)
Wintan-ceastre -Winchester
Withy- the mechanism connecting the steering board to the ship
Woden’s day- Wednesday
Wulfhere-Old English for Wolf Army
Wyddfa-Snowdon
Wyrd- Fate
Wyrme- Norse for Dragon
Yard- a timber from which the sail is suspended
Ynys Enlli- Bardsey Island
Ynys Môn-Anglesey
Maps and drawings
Ulf Olafsson’s Stronghold
Britannia 825 A.D.
Wessex 830-338
Source: File:Southern British Isles 9th century.svg - https://en.wikipedia.org
Tintagel castle
Source: File:RemainsofTintagel.jpg - https://en.wikipedia.org
A knarr (reproduced from the Hrolf series- same design)
Historical note
The Viking raids began, according to records left by the monks, in the 790s when Lindisfarne was pillaged. However, there were many small settlements along the east coast and most were undefended. I have chosen a fictitious village on the Tees as the home of Garth who is enslaved and then, when he gains his freedom, becomes Dragon Heart. As buildings were all made of wood then any evidence of their existence would have rotted long ago, save for a few post holes. The Norse began to raid well before 790. There was a rise in the populations of Norway and Denmark and Britain was not well prepared for defence against such random attacks.
My raiders represent the Norse warriors who wanted the plunder of the soft Saxon kingdom. There is a myth that the Vikings raided in large numbers but this is not so. It was only in the tenth and eleventh centuries that the numbers grew. They also did not have allegiances to kings. The Norse settlements were often isolated family groups. The term Viking was not used in what we now term the Viking Age beyond the lands of Norway and Denmark. Warriors went a-Viking which meant that they sailed for adventure or pirating. Their lives were hard. Slavery was commonplace. The Norse for slave is thrall and I have used both terms.
The ship, ‘The Heart of the Dragon’ is based on the Gokstad ship which was found in 1880 in Norway. It is 23.24 metres long and 5.25 metres wide at its widest point. It was made entirely of oak except for the pine decking. There are 16 strakes on each side and from the base to the gunwale is 2.02 metres giving it a high freeboard. The keel is cut from a piece of oak 17.6 metres long. There are 19 ribs. The pine mast was 13 metres high. The ship could carry 70 men although there were just sixteen oars on each side. This meant that half the crew could rest while the other half rowed. Sea battles could be brutal. The drekar was the most efficient warship of its day. The world would have to wait until the frigates of the eighteenth century to see such a dominant ship again. When the Saxons before Alfred the Great tried to meet Vikings at sea it ended in disaster. It was Alfred who created a warship which stood a chance against the Vikings but they never really competed. The same ships as Dragonheart used carried King William to England in 1066.
The Vikings raided far and wide. They raided and subsequently conquered much of Western France and made serious inroads into Spain. They even travelled up the Rhone River as well as raiding North Africa. The sailors and warriors we call Vikings were very adaptable and could, indeed, carry their long ships over hills to travel from one river to the next. The Viking ships are quite remarkable. Replicas of the smaller ones have mana
ged speeds of 8-10 knots. The sea going ferries, which ply the Bay of Biscay, travel at 14-16 knots. The journey the ‘Heart of the Dragon’ makes from Santander to the Isles of Scilly in a day and a half would have been possible with the oars and a favourable wind and, of course, the cooperation of the Goddess of the sea, Ran! The journey from the Rhine to Istanbul is 1188 nautical miles. If the ‘Heart of the Dragon’ had had favourable winds and travelled nonstop she might have made the journey in 6 days! Sailing during the day only and with some adverse winds means that 18 or 20 days would be more realistic.
I have recently used the British Museum book and research about the Vikings. Apparently, rather like punks and Goths, the men did wear eye makeup. It would make them appear more frightening. There is also evidence that they filed their teeth. The leaders of warriors built up a large retinue by paying them and giving them gifts such as the wolf pendant. This was seen as a sort of bond between leader and warrior. It also marked them out in battle as oathsworn. There was no national identity. They operated in small bands of free booters loyal to their clan leader. The idea of sword killing was to render a weapon unusable by anyone else. On a simplistic level this could just be a bend but I have seen examples which are tightly curled like a spring. Viking kings were rare it was not until the end of the ninth century that national identity began to emerge.
The length of the swords in this period was not the same as in the later medieval period. By the year 850 they were only 76 cm long and in the eighth century they were shorter still. The first sword Dragon Heart used, Ragnar’s, was a new design, and was 75 cm long. This would only have been slightly longer than a Roman gladius. At this time the sword, not the axe was the main weapon. The best swords came from Frankia, and were probably German in origin. A sword was considered a special weapon and a good one would be handed from father to son. A warrior with a famous blade would be sought out on the battlefield. There was little mail around at the time and warriors learned to be agile to avoid being struck. A skeggox was an axe with a shorter edge on one side. The use of an aventail (a chain mail extension of a helmet) began at about this time. The highly-decorated scabbard also began at this time.
A wedge was formed by having a warrior at the front and then two and so on. Sometimes it would have a double point, boar's snout. A wedge with twenty men at the rear might have over a hundred and fifty men. It would be hard to stop. The blood eagle was performed by cutting the skin of the victim by the spine , breaking the ribs so they resembled blood-stained wings, and pulling the lungs out through the wounds in the victim's back.
