The Land of the Northmen

by Griff Hosker

  We hurled ourselves at the door which burst inwards. I saw that the interior was well decorated with couches and statues. It smelled of roses. More guards ran towards us. I saw that not all had helmets. They had dressed hurriedly. Arne and Einar screamed like demons and we threw ourselves at them. A spear struck my mail. The warrior shouted in exultation. The mail held and my sword swung like a scythe to bite through his arm and into his shoulder. He fell to the ground. Behind me I heard a roar as more of my men burst in to help their jarl. It was a one sided fight. These were sleepy guards and they were facing the fiercest of fighting men; Northmen!

  I turned to Sigurd and Skutal Einarsson, “Search the building. There must be something of value here. Take it to the drekar.”

  “Aye Jarl Hrolf.”

  “The rest of you come with me!”

  I knew there had to be more of value in this town. If a public building was so well apportioned, then what would the rest be like. The streets were now filled with the screams and shouts of those who had been roused from their beds. My men used the flat of their swords to disperse any who had no weapons. Those with a weapon soon found the folly of facing a Viking.

  Karl the Singer ran up. “Jarl Hrolf we have found a granary. Sven the helmsman is loading the knarr.”

  “Go and help him!”

  Arne said, “Already we are rich.”

  I shook my head, “We need gold more than grain. Let us see what else this has to offer. There must be a garrison somewhere. Keep your eyes open.”

  We hurried through the streets. They were broader than those in Dorestad, Dyflin or Lundewic and they were made mainly of stone. This had to be a rich town. “Search the houses!”

  Arne, Einar and myself ranged ahead. I saw a huge pair of buildings. One looked to be a temple or church of some description while the other had columns of stone supporting a roof. It looked as though the gods had come down from Asgard to build a home on earth. Suddenly the double doors of the great hall burst open and mailed and armed men ran from it. I saw, behind them, a robed man shouting orders.

  “Shields!” My two companions locked their shields with mine and we raised our swords above our shields. I counted ten men. Every one of them wore a simple mail corselet. All of them bore a small round shield and held a curved sword. The swords were not as long as I had seen before. The men were not dark skinned. They had a lighter complexion and they wore the same clothes. These were the robed ones’ hearth weru. They hurled themselves at us. Arne on the right had the most difficult time for his shield protected me. Einar could stab with impunity. Wearing mail and with a shield he was impervious to their weapons.

  Behind me I heard a shout, “The jarl! He is in danger!” It seemed a long way away. I swung my sword sideways and it clattered into two of the enemy swords. Arne brought his sideways and it tore through the neck of one of the enemy. Then the enemy swords fell upon our shields. I think they were confused by their size. They were three times bigger than the ones they used. As I saw surprise on the face of the man who had expected my shield to break I darted Heart of Ice forward. Made by Bagsecg’s father it was unlike any other sword save Ragnar’s Spirit. It had a good point. I found the throat of the warrior before me.

  I punched my shield at the warrior to my left who was facing Einar and my shield brother brought his own sword into his side. Finni Jarlson suddenly appeared to the right of Arne and his sword took the end warrior by surprise. As Finni swung his sword the Arab was trying to use his own shield to punch Arne. Arne was freed from the constraint of being the last man in the wall and he shouted a challenge. He punched with his shield as he brought his sword over his head. He split the helmet and the warrior who wore it.

  I saw that the robed leader realised that his guards had lost and he ran out of the back of the building. I did not follow immediately. There were men left. I slashed sideways with my blade and it bit into the thigh of one of the two warriors who remained. Einar slew the last one. “Finni take some men and search this building. Arne, Einar with me. Their leader is escaping.”

  The large building was at the top of a rise and it was hard to stop from overbalancing as we ran down the streets. I saw the sea ahead and heard the robed leader shouting. A half a dozen men burst from a building. Without mail they had swords. We did not pause. I swung my sword hard and it chopped through the first man’s arm and caught in the bone. The man squealed like a stuck pig. Arne took the head of a second while Einar gutted a third. A sword struck my shield. It was well struck but it did no harm. I could not free my sword easily and so I headbutted the man who had hit my shield. Pushing him from me I ran after the robed leader who now had a lead of two hundred paces. He was still shouting and I feared another ambush but, as we neared the sea, I saw that a lateen rigged ship was awaiting him. He threw himself into it and they cast off before I could reach him. As Arne ran up I said, “That rules out another sneak attack. He will raise the alarm. Let us load the drekar and escape while we can. There may be many more riches in this town but let us take what we have and be thankful.”

  “Aye Jarl Hrolf.”

  Chapter 3

  Our dead were recovered and laid at our prow. We would bury them while at sea. It was after dawn by the time we were ready to pull over to the other bank and pick up Folki and his treasure. He had bales of material as well as amphorae filled with oils and wine. It took time to load the drekar and I fretted. The robed leader could have alerted other settlements. We needed to be gone.

  Eventually Sven shouted, “We are loaded.”

  “Then let us go. Take to the oars!”

  The wind which had brought us was now against us and we would have to work; at least until we could turn north and use the west wind for our sails.

  Harold Fast Sailing shouted, “A good song! Let Siggi know that the crew he trained can fight and row!” As the song mentioned my son too it was a clever choice.

  Siggi was the son of a warrior brave

  Mothered by a Hibernian slave

  In the Northern sun where life is short

  His back was strong and his arm was taut

  Siggi White Hair warrior true

  Siggi White Hair warrior true

  When the Danes they came to take his home

  He bit the shield and spat white foam

  With berserk fury he killed them dead

  When their captain fell the others fled

  Siggi White Hair warrior true

  Siggi White Hair warrior true

  After they had gone and he stood alone

  He was a rock, a mighty stone

  Alone and bloodied after the fight

  His hair had changed from black to white

  His name was made and his courage sung

  Hair of white and a body young

  Siggi White Hair warrior true

  Siggi White Hair warrior true

  With dying breath he saved the clan

  He died as he lived like a man

  And now reborn to the clan's hersir

  Ragnvald Hrolfsson the clan does cheer

  Ragnvald Hrolfsson warrior true

  Ragnvald Hrolfsson warrior true

  Now we could see the land we had passed at night. We had time to view the huge bay. It was enormous. There were villages to be seen. My son was on watch and he shouted, “I see a tower, Captain. It is to the north west. They have lit a fire. I can see the smoke!”

  Now I knew what the brazier in the tower was for. It was not warmth nor for cooking; it was a signal fire. I turned to Sven, “Keep well away from the shore. They have signal towers!”

  It would mean even harder rowing for our men but Sven nodded and eased the steering board over a little more.

  “Aye Jarl Hrolf.”

  We drew level with the watch tower. I saw that they were fanning the smoke to make the column rise high. Ships would come for us soon. “Harald take one in every two rowers from the oars.”

  “But that will slow us down.”

  “Harold, th
ey will send ships. You have seen these lateen rigged ships. They can sail as close to the wind as any ship I have seen. We will need to relieve our rowers and be ready to fight if we are to keep these treasures.”

  “You are right.”

  When they had been relieved, I said, “Eat, drink, rest: this will be a hard voyage. Karl the Singer, I expect a saga worthy of Haaken One Eye from you after this voyage!”

  “I will do so Jarl Hrolf!”

  Sven had managed to store the grain beneath our deck as well as some of the chests which had been taken from the richly decorated hall we had first captured. There were many other chests and they had come from the hall with the columns. I was tempted to peer into one but I had more urgent things on my mind.

  “Eystein Golden Hair, spread these chests in the centre of the drekar. It will stop them moving too much and give us better balance.”

  Olaf Ill-luck was eating. Someone had managed to find some fresh bread in Qādis. He snorted, “We have nothing to fear Jarl Hrolf from these little ships. We can squash them like a summer gnat! We have had a fine raid and in three days’ time I shall show my wife what a great warrior I am.”

  I rounded on him. “You are well named, Olaf Ill-luck. You would bring the wrath of the Norns upon us! We are still at sea and surrounded by enemies! Get back to your oar! You are a fool!”

  Erik Long Hair said, “He means no harm, Jarl Hrolf. He should not have said what he did but the raid went better than we expected.”

  I pointed to the cloak covered bodies, “Tell that to the dead, Erik, but shout it loud for they are in Valhalla and cannot hear you! If the Arabs catch us at sea and we die without a sword in our hands, we will wander the oceans for all time. Think on that.” My harsh words sobered my men. I knew that it did not do to antagonise the Weird Sisters.

  We changed the rowers some short while later. There was a subdued atmosphere now. I would have buried the dead but I wished all of the crew to be there when we did so. I needed my men to row.

  We were well out to sea but the coastline was still a smudge on the horizon. Shading his eyes against the sun, Sven said, “I think we must be close to Walbah now. It will not be long before we get to turn north. The men can rest then. They have done well.”

  “Aye they have.”

  “Sails to the north.” Siggi Far Sighted’s voice drifted down to us.

  Sven nodded, “They will be the ones searching for us. We have sea room. We can avoid them. They will have to use oars too if they are to catch us.”

  Then my son’s voice came from the prow where he was watching, “Sails to the west!”

  We were between two sets of our enemies. “How many ships?”

  Ragnvald’s answer came first, “Six at least!”

  “Four!” Siggi confirmed that this was a trap and we had sailed into it.

  There were ten ships heading for us. The ones approaching from the west had the wind. I had no doubt that they had been alerted by the signals and rowed west to allow them to get in position and to use the wind. I looked at Sven and Harold. I was jarl but they were the sea farers. I was Hrolf the Horseman.

  Sven the Helmsman looked at the sky and then the pennant to gauge the wind, “If we turn and use the wind we can sail south and east and then gradually turn back to our course, we can try to lose them. The men will be able to rest.”

  It was not much of a plan but it was better than anything I had. “Make it so.”

  “Oars in! Come about!”

  It was one of the most violent moves I had ever experienced. As we turned we heeled over so much that I thought we would capsize as the Arab had but the extra weight held us and we turned. We flew. We were heading for Africa!

  Our turn and the speed of our pursuers meant that they closed with us. It would be a close-run race. Inevitably it came down to the skill of their captains and it soon became apparent that, of the ten ships chasing us, two had more skilful captains. They began to pull ahead of the others.

  Harold Fast Sailing said, “If we can evade them until dark we can turn and try to lose them.”

  I looked astern, “The two closest are gaining on us. It is not much but they are fast.”

  Sven the Helmsman clutched at his hammer of Thor, “We can only do what we can do, Jarl Hrolf. The Weird Sisters have a hand in this!”

  Every eye went to Olaf Ill-luck. He hung his head. If we survived, then he would have to endure ridicule for a long time to come. The only way he could escape that fate would be to perform some incredibly heroic act.

  It would be a long time until dark and I could not see us evading them until then. We needed something to slow them down but I could not think what. I saw Ragnvald at the ale butt. We had emptied two and were on our last one. He was leaning in for it was almost empty. I said, “Here, let me reach down.”

  He shook his head. “There is barely one horn left in.”

  “Tip it and I will gather it for you.”

  He pushed and I managed to get half a horn. I handed it to him. He said, “Thank you.” He drank. “Will we escape?”

  “So long as we live and we sail the sea we have a chance.”

  It was then I had the idea. Sometimes the Allfather gives us signs in the subtlest of ways and relies on our wits for us to see them. “Get the old ropes. Arne, Einar, Erik, have some men fetch these empty barrels to the stern.”

  I could see I had them all confused. Sven the Helmsman gave me a puzzled look, “What is it Jarl Hrolf?”

  “The two ships which are closest have the best captains. They are the better ships. We need to slow them down and then turn and sail first south, and then south west. When we lose them we turn back to head north again.”

  “I can see that but how?”

  “We use the old rope and tie these three empty ale barrels together. We drop them in a line. The two drekar either hit them or change course to avoid them. Either way we extend our lead and that will allow us to turn.”

  He grinned, “That is worth a try.” He glanced astern. “They are sailing closely together. The ones behind would have to avoid them.”

  Ragnvald asked, “Surely the ships will sail over the ropes?”

  “Their keels will catch them and then the barrels will be dragged closer to the ships. It will slow them down. If they strike them hard enough then they risk the barrels smashing into their sides. They could spring their planks.”

  My men had the barrels ready. I had no idea what our pursuers thought we were doing. They were closing rapidly. With their lateen sails and the water spraying over their bows it would be hard to see clearly.

  “Now!”

  My men threw the three barrels over. They landed with a splash and then bobbed up. They began to float apart and I watch with bated breath as the two ships came closer. They had a lookout in the bow and suddenly the two ships parted. One headed south and the other north as they tried to control their wild beasts and avoid the debris in the water. They both lost the wind in their sails. Even as they tried to regain their former course we extended our lead by seven lengths. I saw that they had lost momentum and the other ships had caught them. One did not have a good lookout and I saw him strike the rope. Two barrels raced towards his side and then a third. The stricken ship stopped in the water and then I saw it become lower as it filled with sea water. It had been damaged. One of its consorts stopped to help and we now just had eight ships chasing us.

  “Now I think, Sven!”

  Our move took them by surprise but they all managed to turn. We could not use the same trick again but we now had our healthy lead again. We needed to maintain it. We did not make any violent moves. Over the next hours, we gradually turned until we were heading west. We were heading for the edge of the world and I wondered whose nerve would break first. Sven had the men on the oars when we moved from a south west to west course.

  Siggi Far Sighted shouted, “There are just three ships left following us.”

  Sven looked at the sky. “Soon they will disappear i
nto the dark of the east but they will still see us against the setting sun.”

  Arne said, “We could turn and fight them.”

  The thought had crossed my mind. The men from the Caliphate had annoyed me yet I admired them for they were dogged. Sven’s advice decided me, “If we turn to fight them they will be in the dark and we will not, Jarl Hrolf. They could get around our stern and then we would be in trouble. The Allfather has set us this course we should follow it.”

  Arne was not convinced, “But we could sail over the edge of the world. There is no land of Hibernia to stop us!”

  “We are Vikings, Arne. We sail the seas. If it is our fate to sail off the edge of the world, then so be it but I do not think that the Allfather has finished with us yet. Throw the bones, Sven. Stay on this course until the sun has set and then we can turn.”

  We were out in deep water and the troughs rose and fell. The smaller Arab ships would be struggling in these seas. I noticed that the wind was getting up and a squall was heading our way. As soon as the last light went from the sky, Sven the Helmsman ordered us to turn. The sail was reefed and every rower took his place at the oars. It meant the rowers had to row harder for we were against the wind. Then the rain began and, as it did, Eystein Golden Hair shouted, “Captain, the wind is shifting.”

  We could not see the pennant and with the sail billowing full and bye it was hard to see. With no stars and no light then Sven could not tell our direction as accurately.

  “Where is it from?”

  “It has shifted from the bows to the steerboard side.”

  Unless we had been turned then the wind had gone from a westerly to an easterly. It would explain the rain. It would push us inexorably west. We would fall from the edge of the world.

  Sven the Helmsman took the decision. He was master of the ship, “Lower the sail. Arne the men can stop rowing. Rig the spare canvas. This is a shifting wind and I fear we are in for a storm. Let us try to ride it out.” With two sea anchors holding us against the wind we slowed down our progress west.

  That night I feared for my son’s life. The rain came harder and the wind blew stronger. It turned and it twisted. It was as though the gods were fighting amongst themselves. With the old sail rigged from the mast to just before the steering board the men were a little drier. I had my wolf skin cloak and seal skin cape and I stood with Harold and Sven at the steering board. Sven was now sailing by instinct.