The Day of the Wolf
Page 28
And so Erik Haraldsson became the last king of an independent Northumbria — but what became of the other major players in our tale?
Gunnhild and the remaining Erikssons almost certainly left York immediately and went to Orkney. Here they seem to have taken over the running of the earldom for several years, turning their attention back to Norway and attempting to recover the throne from Hakon the Good. Gamli Eriksson was killed in battle there, fighting against king Hakon at the battle of Rastarkalv in 955, but with the accession of Gunnhild’s brother Harald Bluetooth to the throne of Denmark around the year 958 the family gained a powerful new ally. Several invasions were attempted over the following years, culminating in the Battle of Fitjar in 961. Hakon died of wounds received during the fighting; but before he did so, apparently having never married and being without a male heir, he elected to ‘keep the family business going’ by nominating Harald Eriksson as his successor. Harald reigned as King Harald Greycloak until 970 when, frustrated by his refusal to rule as an under-king after the help he had been given and eager to assert Danish dominance over Southern Norway, Bluetooth lured Harald to Denmark and killed him in an ambush.
Guttorm Eriksson died Viking in the Baltic while Sigurd, now labouring under the unfortunate nickname Slobber, was killed by a hersir named Klyppr for abducting his wife. Erik and Gunnhild’s daughter Ragnhild remained in Orkney, where according to the sagas her scheming resulted in several deaths among the nobility and others. Erik’s old rival for the kingdom of York, Olaf Cuaran, remained heavily involved in the warfare and political machinations in Ireland for the remainder of his active life. Defeated in battle in 980, he handed his family business over to a son and retired to the monastery on Iona where he died soon after. And what of Gunnhild Gormsdottir? For a time she ruled Norway at Harald Greycloak’s side in much the same way she had the young Erik Haraldsson all those years before, but following her son’s death she too was lured to Jutland by her brother Harald Bluetooth and drowned in a bog.
If the story of Erik Haraldsson which I have reconstructed from the sources available is naturally fiction, I hope that I have managed to get as close to the actual course of events as possible. The evidence for his life is simply too fragmented, contradictory and unreliable for it to be otherwise: brief entries in journals; sagas written more for entertainment than historical record, hundreds of years after the events they portray. But if the dates and details of Erik’s life have become little more than an echo of an echo, they were the final gasp of the barbarian Europe which had replaced the order of Rome. Christendom was advancing everywhere, with men like Erik and Olaf Cuaran fast becoming anachronisms in a world ruled by those twin pillars of civilisation, organised religion and nation states. Erik Bloodaxe was likely a shrewd enough character to realise this, but Eriksmál I think showed where his heart and those of his closest followers truly lay. That the skald had Oðinn choose Sigmund to welcome Erik to Valhöll was a deliberate act. In the epic Saga of the Volsungs King Sigmund, after a lifetime of victories, fights against an old man in battle who is really Oðinn in disguise. Oðinn shatters Sigmund’s sword and immediately disappears, and as the defenceless king falls to his enemies Valkyries arrive to escort the king to the hall of heroes to prepare for Ragnarök.
So perhaps it is fitting to end our tale by returning to Eriksmál and the threshold of Valhöll as Sigmund, another battle winner hand-picked by Oðinn to fight alongside him at the end of days, cries a greeting to Erik, Helgrim, Thorstein and the rest:
“Heill thu nu Eirikr, vel skaltu her.
kominn! Ok gakk i haoll, horskr.”
“Hail to you Erik, you are welcome here.
Come in! Enter the hall, valiant King.”
Cliff May
East Anglia
May 2020
Characters
Arinbjorn Thorirsson - Erik’s foster-brother.
Arnkel Torf-Einarsson - Brother of the Orkney Jarl and kinsman of Erik. Dies alongside Erik at Hreyrr Camp.
Conalach Cnogba of North Brega. High king at Tara.
Crinan mac Cellach - Avenges the death of his father by killing Mael Colm at Fetteresso.
Dunstan - An English churchman. Archbishop of Canterbury 960-988 — canonised by the Roman Catholic church in 1029.
Dyfnwal ab Owain - King of Strathclyde. Defeated and taken captive at Corebricg, he later burns in earl Regenwold and leads Erik into a trap.
Eadred - King of the English. The sickly king in Winchester.
Erik Haraldsson - Bloodaxe - King of Northumbria, overlord of the Orkneys and Sudreys.
Erland Torf-Einarsson - Brother of the Orkney Jarl and kinsman of Erik. Dies at Hreyrr Camp.
Gamli Eriksson - Erik and Gunnhild’s eldest son.
Godfred - a Yorkish earl. Leads the left wing at the Battle of Corebricg.
Grettir - brother of Gunner, Erik’s hirdman.
Gunderic - a Yorkish earl. Leads the right wing at the Battle of Corebricg.
Gunner - brother of Grettir, Erik’s hirdman.
Gunnhild Gormsdottir - Erik’s wife and queen. Daughter of King Gorm the Languid and sister to Harald Bluetooth.
Guttorm Eriksson - Erik’s third son.
Hakon Haraldsson - King of Norway. Erik’s half-brother by their father Harald Fairhair.
Hauk - A scout and member of Erik’s hird.
Helgrim Smiter - Erik’s huskarl.
Harald Eriksson - Erik and Gunnhild’s second son.
Hoskuld - Gamli Eriksson’s huskarl.
Indulf mac Constantine - son of the old Scottish king Constantine and kinsman of Oswulf of Bernicia.
Kolbein Herjolfsson - Erik’s huskarl and styrisman.
Mael Colm - Mael Colm mac Domnall - King of Alba. Killed at Fetteresso.
Maccus Olafsson - the Easterner - Earl Oswulf’s right hand man. Betrays Erik at Hreyrr Camp.
Morcar - Archbishop Wulfstan’s thane.
Mord - A scout and member of Erik’s hird.
Olaf Cuaran - Also known as Amlaíb Cuarán/Óláfr Sigtryggsson/Olaf Sandal. Erik ousts him from York with the help of archbishop Wulfstan.
Olvir - Erik’s scout and hirdman. Killed alongside earl Regenwold.
Oswulf Ealdwulfing - Earl of Bernicia.
Oswy - Archbishop Wulfstan’s gesith.
Oswald Thane - Archbishop Wulfstan’s right hand man and Erik’s trusted advisor.
Ragnfrod Eriksson - Erik’s youngest son. Dies alongside his father at Hreyrr Camp.
Regenwold - A Yorkish earl. Burned in by Dyfnwal of Strathclyde.
Sigurd Eriksson - Erik’s fourth son.
Sturla Godi - Erik’s banner man and skald. Survivor of Hreyrr Camp and author of the heroic poem Eriksmál.
Svan - Gamli Eriksson’s huskarl.
The Skulissons - sons of the slave trader Skuli — killed by Erik following a raid on Dublin a decade earlier.
Thorfinn Torf-Einarsson (Skull-Splitter) - Jarl of Orkney.
Thorstein Egilsson - Erik’s huskarl and prow man.
Wulfstan - Archbishop of York.
Wystan - Archbishop Wulfstan’s gesith.
Places/Locations
Bardolfsby - Barlby, North Yorkshire, England.
Bebbanburh - Bamburgh, Northumberland, England.
Bogas - Bowes, County Durham, England.
Byrgisey - Brough of Birsay, Mainland, Orkney.
Catrice - Catterick, North Yorkshire, England.
Ceasterford - Castleford, West Yorkshire, England.
Celerca - Montrose, Angus, Scotland. (see Stroma)
Conceastre - Chester-le-Street, County Durham, England.
Corebricg - Corbridge, Northumberland, England.
Dun Foither - Dunnottar Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Eidyn Burh - Edinburgh, Lothian, Scotland.
Fetteresso - Kirktown of Fetteresso, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Gefrin - Near Wooler, Northumberland, England.
Haydon - Haydon Bridge, Northumberland, England.
Hindrelag - Richmond, North Yorkshire, England.
Hreyrr Camp - Rey Cross, County Durham, England.
Hrypum - Ripon, North Yorkshire, England.
Miydilsburh - Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England.
Stonehive - Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Stirlin - Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland.
Stroma - Montrose, Angus, Scotland. (see Celerca)
Werchesope - Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England.
York - North Yorkshire, England.
About the Author
I am writer of historical fiction, working primarily in the early Middle Ages. I have always had a love of history which led to an early career in conservation work. Using the knowledge and expertise gained we later moved as a family through a succession of dilapidated houses which I single-handedly renovated. These ranged from a Victorian townhouse to a Fourteenth Century hall, and I added childcare to my knowledge of medieval oak frame repair, wattle and daub and lime plastering. I have crewed the replica of Captain Cook’s ship, Endeavour, sleeping in a hammock and sweating in the sails and travelled the world, visiting such historic sites as the Little Big Horn, Leif Erickson’s Icelandic birthplace and the bullet scarred walls of Berlin’s Reichstag.
Now I write, only a stone’s throw from the Anglian ship burial site at Sutton Hoo in East Anglia, England. The Day of the Wolf is my twelfth full length novel, following on from the bestselling alternative history collection of short stories set around the events of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 — Spear Havoc.
Also by C. R. MAY
SPEAR HAVOC
SORROW HILL
WRÆCCA
MONSTERS
DAYRAVEN
FIRE AND STEEL
GODS OF WAR
THE SCATHING
TERROR GALLICUS
NEMESIS
BLOODAXE
THE RAVEN AND THE CROSS