The Land of the Northmen

by Griff Hosker

  When I reached the Haugr I rode to the warrior hall Einar used. He had taken a wife. She was a shy Saxon called Asa. She had been taken from the isle of the sheep. When I entered the hall, he stood and Asa covered herself with a shift. I waved my hand, “I came but to ask a question.”

  He smiled, “Jarl disturb me any time you wish. I have served you less than a month and already I have a wife who does not mind my scars. I have armour, a helmet, a hall and coins in my purse.”

  He was honest. Many would say too honest but not I.

  “I have a mind to sail to Angia at Þorri. I would speak with the warriors there. My other ships are laid up. If your ship is not available, then I would take one of the Frankish ships.”

  He slapped Asa on the rump, “I am ready to sail as are my men. We leave our women wanting more. How long would we be away?”

  “Seven days.”

  “Then that is perfect. They have time to clean the hall, wash our kyrtles and then pine for us.” He kissed a giggling Asa on the cheek. I was not certain she understood his words but she seemed happy with her man. “We will have the drekar ready. Will there be fighting?”

  “I hope not but to say so would risk the wrath of the Norns. We go as though we may have to fight.”

  “That is good. We will have our ship ready.”

  The warriors who had served with me the longest wondered why I took the newer, untried warriors. Even Folki voiced his concerns.

  “It is true they are new to the clan but they must earn their place. I gave them a raid to make them feel like warriors. It is Þorri. This is the time for warriors to make new warriors and to reflect on what we have achieved. Next year there will be war. I want my warriors to be ready to fight.”

  “We are ready now, jarl.”

  “No Arne Four Toes. You would go to visit Angia with me but your heart and your mind would be on your new grandchildren. There is a time and a place and warrior. This voyage is meant for Einar Bear Killer.” Arne had a grandson and granddaughter. He doted on them. He needed to enjoy the time of gurgles and giggles.

  Erik Long Hair nodded, “You would use his disfigured face to frighten them.”

  “Perhaps. It cannot hurt. Besides, Einar wishes to do this. He has much to prove, to himself at least.”

  We just took his crew this time. We had not far to travel. I took my banner. I was not worried that I might be putting myself in danger. I had learned that quick reactions can often remedy a situation you think has deteriorated into disaster. We knew that the main port was in a wide bay beneath a mighty stronghold. The men of Angia often ignored what the Count of Vannes ordered them to do. They appeared to be selective about which orders to follow. I did not think the Count of Vannes would sanction an attack on Flambard’s port but the men of Angia might decide they wanted to raid.

  There was an icy feel to the air. With little wind the crew had to row more than I might have expected but it kept them warm. I wore my sealskin cloak. I did not feel the wind. I knew of Angia. We had thought of raiding it when we had lived on Raven Wing Island. Had we still lived there then we might have raided. They were Breton but they had much Frank blood in them. That, alone, made me wary of them.

  We did not have shields arrayed along our side and we were allowed to tie up in their port. I saw warriors approaching our ship. “Einar, you come with me. Have the rest of your men stay aboard and keep out of trouble. If things go awry, then we must be prepared for a swift departure.”

  “Aye Jarl Hrolf. My men will not let us down.”

  I did not take my shield when we stepped ashore. That might be seen to be aggressive. I also left my helmet on the drekar. This was a peaceful mission. The warriors who greeted us were less than polite, “Why are you here? We need no trade with pagans.”

  I smiled. It was often the best weapon to disarm an aggressive opponent. “I am a new neighbour. My men have taken over the coast not far from here. I would speak with your leader. You cannot be afraid of one small drekar and a handful of men.”

  I could see that I had confused the man. “Come with me! Your men wait on board.”

  I shook my head, “They have not moved! I bring my hersir with me. Lead on.”

  The stronghold impressed me. It rose from the rock like a structure made by the gods. It was largely stone and I could not see how it could be easily taken. I had no intention of trying but I now understood why the lords of Angia could ignore their Breton masters. As we ascended the ramp to the gate we were stared at as though we were some kind of monsters. They had seen few Vikings here and we were a novelty. I think they expected us to be chewing on baby’s heads. I confess that Einar’s face reinforced that view.

  The gate was made of stone and showed that they had fine masons. No one tried to take our swords. That was a good thing for I would not have surrendered it. Einar stayed alongside me and his hand was close to his sword hilt the whole time. The lord of Angia was waiting for us. He sat on a raised throne. I thought it a little pretentious. I saw many young men who were gathered around him. All of them were armed and looked belligerent. The sight of Einar’s face gave them pause for thought.

  “I am Philip of Angia. I did not invite you here. Why have you come?”

  “We recently defeated the Franks and now control the northern half of the Cotentin. I have negotiated an agreement with the Count of Vannes. He will not attack my lands and I will not attack his. You are my nearest neighbour and I came to discover if you were aware of this arrangement.”

  He took a piece of dried fruit from a tray by his right hand, “I may be but that does not mean I am bound to obey it. The lords of Angia do not slavishly obey every petty instruction. If we choose to attack your land, then we will do so.”

  “An honest answer and I will be as honest. If you choose to ignore the peace between your Count and my people, then I will bring the wrath of the Northmen upon you. You have been spared raids by my dragon ships because you are a neighbour. If I thought that you were an enemy I would bring my army here and destroy you. I would make sure that not a stone remained standing and the only creatures which would live here would be carrion.” I paused. I saw that my words, although calmly delivered had had the effect of inflaming those before me. “Of course, you have not said you would attack my land. You have just said that you might. I have been honest and explained the consequences.” I stood. “I am pleased that I came here. It is always good to be clear and know your neighbours and now I do.”

  The lord of Angia did not know what to do. He looked to the men around him. I think he had expected me to be conciliatory and apologetic. He did not know how to respond. “I could have you thrown into a cell to rot!”

  I kept calm. “True but my men would sail back to the mainland and within three days your beaches would be filled with angry warriors who wished to know what you had done with their jarl.” I smiled, “They like me!”

  One young warrior could contain himself no longer. “Cousin, let me end this pagan’s life. They are barbarians! The church would reward you if you killed them. Let me kill this pagan now and then we will destroy those in the boat. We can sail to their land and take it for us. We should not be content with just taking slaves. We could take their land!”

  I walked towards the young warrior. “You are loud and you are noisy.” I turned to the lord of Angia. “Do his words meet with your approval?”

  He shook his head, “He speaks for some but I confess that I would not be so aggressive. I would suggest that you leave now while you can.”

  “I am sorry but it is a poor leader who cannot control his wild men! I will leave but I urge you to restrain your wild young men. They will die else.”

  That was when the young warrior’s restraint ended. He whipped out his sword. “I have had enough of this! I will kill you myself for the insult to me and my people!”

  I faced the young and angry warrior, “Be careful what you wish for young man. I have fought many men and I have yet to be defeated.”

 
“Then I will be the first.”

  I turned to the lord of Angia, “You can stop this lord. I have no desire for bloodshed. I will leave and this young man will live.”

  I saw the hint of a smile on his face as he said, “This is out of my hands. It is your fault, Viking, for coming unannounced to my land.”

  I stared at him and my eyes bored into him, “Then remember this, lord of Angia. I do not forget such injuries. You are our neighbour and I would have you as a friend. Ask the Lord of Carentan what is the price of treachery! He has lost half of his land.”

  The young warrior shouted, “Enough talk! Let us fight|!”

  I took out Heart of Ice and my seax. “Before we fight what is your name?”

  “My name is William of Angia.”

  “Then William of Angia, lay on and know that I will not hold back. Either kill me or die!”

  “I will kill you. Believe me.”

  He thought to distract me with his words. He suddenly launched himself at me. He too had a sword and dagger and he intended to use both. The hall had a long table down the centre and would be an obstacle. I intended to make it an ally. As his flurry of blows stuck at me I met them all easily with my sword and seax. He seemed to be surprised that I was not dead and I appeared to be unscathed. When he came at me again I turned slightly so that he had the table to his right. It would restrict the swing of his sword. He was a powerful young man and he put all of his effort into each blow. I used his own efforts to deflect the strikes. He tired and I did not. His sword became blunted as he ground it against the hilt of my sword. After a few passes I decided to take the offensive. Instead of swinging at his sword I slashed low down towards his leg. His dagger was not long enough to block the blow and when he tried to bring over his sword it caught on the table. Heart of Ice came away bloody. My blade bit through to the knee cap. I saw white bone before the blood began to pour.

  I stepped back and said, “You can stop it now, lord. If he carries on, he will be killed.”

  William of Angia shook his head, “I do not need your mercy. It is nothing!”

  He was wrong. It was a deep wound. The blood alone made it hard for him to keep his footing and he had no strength in his left leg. He could not push off. He swung wildly at me. Because of the table all of his blows came at me from waist height. They were easy to predict and to block. I pulled my arm back. I saw the terror on his face as I swung towards his knee. He tried to turn to face me. The twisting movement made his left leg give way and his shoulder dropped. Midway through the swing I lifted the blade and brought it up. It slid across his neck and into his throat. I pulled it back to rip across the flesh and I watched the light leave his eyes. He fell to the floor. A pool of blood began to spread out from his body.

  I sheathed my sword. As I turned the moment was broken and some of the young men’s companions drew their swords. One shouted, “You cannot allow this barbarian to leave! Let us slay him.”

  I laughed and walked towards him. I still had my seax in my hand. I shifted it to my right. He seemed mesmerized by me and let me approach him. “And would you be the one to fight me? Come on then. I just have a dagger!”

  He raised his sword to strike me. I reached up and held the sword. I used the seax to tear through the tendons of his arm. The sword fell to the ground. I put my left arm around his head and held my seax to this throat. “Well lord? Do I kill this one and then all of the others one by one? If I have to I will.”

  “Hold! Drop your weapons. Let them leave. There has been enough bloodshed.”

  I released my grip on the maimed man. He fell to the ground and I sheathed my seax. “Come Einar. The air is foul in here.” I pointed to the lord of Angia. “It was Yule not long since, the feast you Christians use to celebrate the birth of the White Christ, and I will forgive this attack. If ever you come near to one of my settlements, then I will return here and make this fine castle into a charnel house. Do you understand?”

  He nodded.

  We turned and left. As the gate was slammed behind us Einar said, “I did not understand the words but how did you get us out of there? They had us outnumbered. When I saw the lord slain I had my sword ready to fight them all.”

  “They fear us Einar. We are, to them, barbarians. We do not obey their laws. It is the greatest advantage we have. They can predict what Franks will do; Vikings? To them we are wild wolves and best to be avoided. I have bought us time to make more warriors and to be ready to go to war.”

  Chapter 17

  We had a favourable wind to take us north. The men would have to row once we turned south towards the Haugr but, for most of the time, we could use the sail. I sat at the prow debating my course of action. I could hear Einar as he told his men the story of the fight in the hall. The story would end up exaggerated. They always did. I could do nothing about that. When Ulf Big Nose and I had fought the two Hibernian champions the stories became so fanciful that when I heard them repeated, some years later in Dorestad, I did not recognise them. I put them from my mind and concentrated on this sudden rise in enemies.

  We had the Franks to the south. The Bretons were not an enemy; not yet anyway. The men of Angia might be. I would have to make sure that Ragnvald had as many horsemen as Alain of Auxerre. I knew now that they were the key. I looked down the boat at the crew. Einar had a young, keen crew. When the sailing season returned, it might be useful to have him based at Ċiriċeburh. The ships I had seen in the harbour of Angia had not been warships to fear. Even ‘Bear’s Claw’ , fully crewed, could deter them. It would double the number of men we had to fend off an Angian attack. We turned east as darkness fell and I returned to the steering board. The crew smiled as I passed and they returned to their chests.

  “I hope, Einar Bear Killer, that you did not exaggerate that little fight.”

  “No Jarl Hrolf. Although, to speak truly, I was impressed with both your speed and your actions. Had you slain both of them then they might have thought of preventing us from leaving.”

  “No, they would not. You and I could have fought our way out. The ones we saw in the court were not warriors. They were the nobles. They were young men who play at swords. They practise and use tricky little moves which impress their friends. You and I have faced death. We kill quickly. I was never worried about leaving there it is just the consequences of the death which bothered me.”

  “Consequences, jarl?”

  “The lord of Angia wanted that warrior dead. He was his cousin. I am guessing that he was some sort of rival. Perhaps the young man thought to kill me and gain support amongst his friends. What I may have done is make the lord of Angia more secure. Those are the consequences.”

  “He may become bold enough to attack us?”

  “He may. I have a request to make of you. I would have you and your drekar moor at Ċiriċeburh. There is land and there are halls there. That way you could sail, once every few days, down to Flambard’s port. The sight of you on the ocean would make the Angians think twice. You would still be able to raid and if danger came you could land and fight alongside my son.”

  “Just so long as we raid with you, Jarl Hrolf. I can see that it is true what they say about you. You are a lucky leader. I know that I was thought to be unlucky. We have proved those that said so wrong. But I believe I now have some of your luck. I would hang on to your cloak. I do not fear any foe so long as you are leading.”

  “The test will come when Henry of Carentan decides that he has enough men to come north and to wrest his land from us.”

  “You held him before at Valognes. Erik Long Hair told us that you outwitted him and sent him home with his tail between his legs.”

  “He will have learned. He made the mistake of trying to reduce Valognes by siege. He has horsemen. They are his strength. He will not repeat the same mistake next time. We tricked him and outwitted him. We drove off half of his horses and made a surprise attack. He will learn. He can ignore Valognes and use his larger numbers of horsemen to raid and ravage the land.
We have three strongholds but many farms. He can devastate our land.”

  “I thought it had been the land of the Franks?”

  “It had been but it has been the land of the Clan of the Horse now for so long that he would cleanse the land of what he calls the Northmen. It will not matter to him that he kills those who were his people. Do not fear. We will cling on. When the time is right we will head south and it will be we who will take the land.”

  When we returned to the Haugr I told my wife what had happened. She said, “I will speak with Seara of the Bretons. She may know this lord of Angia. What was his name?”

  “Philip.”

  “She may know of him. She is a good woman. Since you rescued her she has grown. Other women go to her to seek her advice. She understands children. She has the gift of knowing what is wrong with those who have ailments and of bringing smiles to the saddest face. It was a fine thing you did bringing them here.”

  I went to the shipyard. Despite the cold and the damp Sven and Harold still worked on the drekar. It was slow, painstaking work. Every curve had to be carved by hand. It took a skilful eye to use a side axe. The pegs used to hold the ship together had to be made individually but Sven had told me how rewarding it was. He said that part of the shipbuilder and his spirit went into each keel. After the ship maker was gone his spirit would live in the drekar and that was a reassuring thought.