by Griff Hosker
The ones who could not escape either threw down their weapons and begged for mercy or a few, fought with brothers and fathers. They were butchered. Half of the fyrd who remained, some three hundred or so made it back to the river. There they joined the housecarls, the mercenaries and their king. As the last thegn was slain my men began banging their shields.
“Dragonheart!”
I had fought in the first battle since Miklagård and I felt no pain. I had returned. The Dragonheart would live a little while longer and his enemies would learn to fear him.
Epilogue
I did not take my entire army across the river. I took my warband with Ylva, Ragnar and Gruffyd. I also took the Saxon scout I had captured. I took off my helmet and sheathed my sword as I approached their shield wall. Baldr carried my standard. Sámr guarded the prisoner and walked ahead of me. Ylva, Ragnar and Gruffyd walked beside me. I saw the Danes clutching their amulets as Ylva approached. The twenty who had survived were petrified. I saw the Saxon priests holding up their crosses. As I looked at the enemy I saw that barely five thegns had survived.
I spoke in Saxon, “I would speak with King Beorhtwulf. I am Jarl Dragonheart and I would speak with the Saxon who dared to cross into my land and bring war to us.”
To be fair to the King, he did not hide behind his men. He, his priests and his champion came forward. I wondered if he would challenge me. It had been known. The King took off his helmet, “What do you want barbarian?”
“First to return your prisoner. I promised him his life. Go.” The Saxon could not believe his good fortune. He rushed to the safety of the housecarls’ shields. “And now you will hand over these priests as hostages. When you have sent a thousand pieces of gold and two hundred head of cattle to me then they will be returned unharmed. You will also promise to never march north to my land again. I will have you swear it on one of your holy books! Your priests will be safe in my land. If you ask the man I just returned to you he will tell you that he was well treated.”
“And if I refuse, what then?”
“If you could not defeat me with more than a thousand men what makes you think you can do so with less than five hundred? Will these Danes fight against my witch? Will your fyrd face my swords? It does not matter to me which choice you make. Either way I have won and you have lost.”
I saw from his face that he would accede to my demands. He nodded and then spat out, “You cannot live forever, Viking! The Saxon’s Bane will die one day!”
“But not this day!”
The priests were herded together and, holding their crosses and mumbling their prayers they were led away by Olaf Leather Neck and Rolf Horse Killer. The Saxons first collected and then burned their dead. My men collected the weapons, mail and treasure. Baldr gathered the horses. We found more than thirty. We had had more than just a victory. The horses were better than the ones we had. They were bigger. The Danes had carried their treasure with them as had the Hibernians. It was a great haul. Forty thegns had died and their mail was the equal of any. Men who had marched to war without mail were now armoured like a lord. Our dead were buried in a barrow by the priory. Ylva spoke to the spirits and planted bulbs along it so that we would know where our warriors lay. When that was done we watched the Saxons depart. They made a sorry sight. Their wagons were used to carry their wounded. They were all laden. As bodies were washed ashore the true magnitude of the Mercian defeat became apparent. King Beorhtwulf had learned a lesson. He never tried to attack us again.
We left the next day and my men were in high spirits. All had treasure and all had glory. Ylva made a charm for Baldr but promised him a golden horse when she reached our home. She also gave him his name, Baldr Saviour of Witches. I am not certain that he understood the significance of the name but it made him a member of the clan in body and, now, in spirit. ‘Red Dragon’ took most of the goods we had gathered and the most severely wounded back to Úlfarrston. The rest of us began the long walk to Úlfarrston.
As we neared my land and saw Old Olaf Haaken One Eye said, “Jarl Dragonheart when you were at the door of Valhalla why did you not enter?”
I had thought about this since we had left Miklagård. It was not the fact that my name had been called. I do not think that the Allfather wanted me yet. King Beorhtwulf had been a threat but I wondered if there was something more dangerous waiting. Was there another enemy? Time would tell but I knew that we were better prepared now. We had the luxury of horses and I turned in my saddle. I saw Bald and Sámr flanking Ylva and behind them rode Gruffyd and Ragnar with Ulla War Cry and Mordaf ap Gruffyd. I had a purpose. More importantly I had a legacy and my family would make certain that my land remained, the Land of the Wolf.
I turned to my oldest friend, “Simple, my work was not done. The Allfather knew that the Mercians were coming and had I not returned then what would have become of my clan and my family? I will know when it is time to leave this world. It is not yet!
The End
Coming later in 2018 the next instalment in the Dragonheart saga: Viking Legacy.
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)
Al-buhera -Albufeira, Portugal
Aledhorn- Althorn (Essex)
An Lysardh - Lizard Peninsula Cornwall
Balears- Balearic Islands
Balley Chashtal -Castleton (Isle of Man)
Bardas - Rebel Byzantine General
Beamfleote -Benfleet Essex
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 Essex
Belisima -River Ribble
Blót – a blood sacrifice made by a jarl
Blue Sea- The Mediterranean
Bogeuurde – Forest of Bowland
Bondi- Viking farmers who fight
Bourde- Bordeaux
Bjarnarøy –Great Bernera (Bear Island)
Breguntford – Brentford
Brixges Stane – Brixton (South London)
Bruggas- Bruges
Brycgstow- Bristol
Burntwood- Brentwood Essex
Byrnie- a mail or leather shirt reaching down to the knees
Caerlleon- Welsh for Chester
Caer Ufra -South Shields
Caestir - Chester (old English)
Cantwareburh -Canterbury
Càrdainn Ros -Cardross (Argyll)
Cas-gwent -Chepstow Monmouthshire
Casnewydd –Newport, Wales
Cephas- Greek for Simon Peter (St. Peter)
Chatacium -Catanzaro, Calabria
Chape- the tip of a scabbard
Charlemagne- Holy Roman Emperor at the end of the 8th and beginning of the 9th centuries
Celchyth - Chelsea
Cerro da Vila – Vilamoura, Portugal
Cherestanc- Garstang (Lancashire)
Cil-y-coed -Caldicot Monmouthshire
Colneceastre- Colchester
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- Bambur
gh 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
Dwfr- Dover
Dyrøy –Jura (Inner Hebrides)
Dyflin- Old Norse for Dublin
Ēa Lōn - River Lune
Earhyth -Bexley (Kent)
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)
Fornibiyum-Formby (near Liverpool)
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
Hrofecester -Rochester (Kent)
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
Karrek Loos yn Koos -St Michael’s Mount (Cornwall)
Kerkyra- Corfu
Knarr- a merchant ship or a coastal vessel
Kriti- Crete
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
Lundenburh- the walled burh built around the old Roman fort
Lundenwic - London
Maeldun- Maldon Essex
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!)
Musselmen- the followers of Islam
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
Pecheham- Peckham
Pennryhd – Penrith Cumbria
Pennsans – Penzance (Cornwall)
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
Prittleuuella- Prittwell in Essex. Southend was originally known as the South End of Prittwell
Pyrlweall -Thirwell, Cumbria
Qādis- Cadiz
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
Sabatton- Saturday in the Byzantine calendar
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 nights- 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
Skreið- stock fish (any fish which is preserved)
Skutatos- Byzantine soldier armed with an oval shield, a spear, a sword and a short mail shirt
Seouenaca -Sevenoaks (Kent)
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
Stybbanhype – Stepney (London)
Suthriganaworc - Southwark (London)
Syllingar Insula, Syllingar- Scilly Isles
Tarn- small lake (Norse)
Tella- River Béthune which empties near to Dieppe
Temese- River Thames
Theme- Provincial Army Corps
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.
Thuni- Tunis
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)
Western Sea- the Atlantic
Wintan-ceastre -Winchester
Withy- the mechanism connecting the steering boar
d to the ship
Wihtwara- Isle of White
Woden’s day- Wednesday
Wulfhere-Old English for Wolf Army
Wyddfa-Snowdon
Wykinglo- Wicklow (Ireland)
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
Stad on the Eden- a typical Viking settlement
A wedge formation (each circle represents a warrior)
0
0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
The boar’s snout formation
A boar’s snout had two wedges and up to five ranks of men behind.
Wessex 830-338
Source: File: Southern British Isles 9th century.svg - https://en.wikipedia.org
Roman Roads in Britain courtesy of Wikipedia
A knarr (reproduced from the Hrolf series- same design)
Historical note
For those who have my other books in this series; if you do not wish to have to read through the historical information that you have already read then scroll down to Theodora- Byzantine regent. It is eight pages down. I have had a complaint from one reader that my glossary and historical sections are unnecessary. If there are others who feel that way then regard them as a bonus. When it comes to ‘The End’ stop reading!
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.