by Griff Hosker
Raibeart and Aelle were envious of my weaponry and now looked at their Roman daggers with disdain. I had a shield which made me look like a warrior. Many of the men in the hill fort now had spears and I wondered if we could hold off a determined band of Angles.
As winter began to bite my father suggested that we heed the words of the king and improve our defences. At first the others were reluctant; late autumn and winter was a time to do the tasks within the warm huts, not labouring in the cold. Our hut was close to one gate and my father shrugged his shoulders, “Well boys. We will have to make our own gate eh? At least we shall have some warning. What they do with their entrances is their own business.”
We went into the forest with his huge axe and my small one and the two of us began to fell trees. He chopped them down and I removed the side branches. My two brothers took the small branches back for firewood. We were soon warm and I wondered at the indolence of the other men. It was abut that time that I began to discern differences in men. Until then they had all been grown ups and I was a boy but, as the first wispy hairs sprouted on my chin and upper lip I began to see differences. Men like my father and King Urien made the world a better place by working hard. Others, like the men in the stronghold, just existed and accepted what life brought them. I suppose that is why I am the last of the Britons for the Angles and the Saxons were also men who shaped the world to suit them.
When we had enough long logs we hauled them back to our hut. Although my smaller axe was not as powerful as my father’s the two of us were able to work together to make the logs the same length. Two of them were kept long for they would be the gate posts. By the end of the day we were exhausted but Radha and Monca who had watched us work while casting evil glances at the other men who sat around their fires observing us, had made a stew with an old sheep which would not see out the winter. All day long it had bubbled and boiled; cooked with the autumn berries and wild herbs. After a hard day’s work we were all ready for the fine feast they had prepared; the food tasted much better because of our efforts.
That night I fell asleep quickly but when I awoke I ached all over and my muscles seemed to scream as I tried to move. My father laughed. “Now you are becoming a man. Those pains will go and then you too will have arms like this.” He flexed his muscles and they rose like mountains. I went out feeling no pain for when I was as strong as my father then no Angle would dare to face us.
The next morning brought a damp day which suited us for the ground was soft and we were able to dig the two post holes easily. It took all of us, except for my sisters to raise them and hole them while their base was packed with stones. We stood back and admired our work. Now it looked formidable, even without the gate between it. With my brothers’ help my father and I soon made the two gates and we used the leather hinges mother and Monca had made. The final part, the bar and the locking mechanism, took the longest time and it was dark before we finished. I was even more tired than the day before but I felt a sense of achievement. My only regret, as I slipped away to sleep was that I had not had the chance to practise with my bow but I now knew that I would have time.
When we viewed the gate in daylight we were even more proud of our achievement. The other men came to admire it too. Perhaps they thought that building one gate was all that was needed for they praised us and then went back to drinking their beer and telling tales. My father shook his head. “We have done our part. Now it is up to them. Come boys we will hunt.” With the sheep penned we had the opportunity to increase our food stock for the winter. We would kill more than we needed and dry the rest. When the long dark days of winter came we would still eat, the meat would be chewy but it would help us survive until spring brought new life.
We only managed to hunt for one day before a sudden cold snap descended upon us. The snows came early and fell for a week. The whole of the land was locked in ice and even the wild animals struggled. It was one night when it was so cold that even the furs we had did not seem to keep us warm that the wolves came. The pack must have been starving in the forests and came to the hill fort for easier pickings. They came silently and, as we had a gate, entered at the far side, over fifteen hundred paces from ours. We heard nothing but the family who lived by the open gate did. It was a new, young family who had just built a hut there. Aed was a little older than me and his wife the same age. They had a young baby and the first we heard was the screams of the young couple as the pack broke through their flimsily constructed door. Thinking it was the Angles my father and I grabbed our weapons and raced out. He shouted to my brothers. “You two, guard the women!”
With my bow notched we ran to the noise. Others had left their huts and were hurtling towards the howling, screaming cacophony. The snow was being whipped by the wind and it was difficult to see where the commotion originated but we went unerringly towards the gate. As soon as my father saw the first wolf he yelled, “Lann! Loose!”
While he ran towards the hut I loosed an arrow which buried itself in the flank of a wolf. Next to me I heard a growling and saw my dog, Wolf with teeth bared. It reassured me but I did not want him to take on these half starved beasts. “Stay!” I commanded.
My father was hacking his way through the wolves aided by two of the men who had had the wit to bring spears. I saw the leader crouch and prepare to launch himself at my father’s unprotected back. I pulled back the bow and the arrow caught him in mid flight, crushing through his skull to kill him instantly. My father turned and saw the wolf and waved his free hand at me. The death of the leader made the others flee. I loosed two more precious arrows but I heard no yelp and I assumed that I had missed. My father stood at the entrance of the hut with his head bowed. Before he could stop me I peered in. The baby was not there but the two dismembered bodies of the couple were. The man had fought bravely and a dead wolf testified to his heroism but the missing limbs told us that the wolves would have food in the cold winter.
The men of the fort buried the bodies before the night was over. None of them wanted the women and children to see the devastation which had been wrought. I, for one, would be having many sleepless nights with the mutilated mangled bodies haunting my dreams. It was backbreaking work to dig in the frozen ground but we owed it to the couple to bury them deeply and we placed a layer of stones to prevent the wolves returning to dig up their decaying corpses.
After we had said the words of the dead my father gave an accusing look at the shamefaced men who surrounded us. “Now do you see why I asked you to work on the entrances? There are three lives which have been lost because you were too idle to build a barrier!” He pointed through the darkness to the gate we had built. Although it could barely be seen against the snow it was visible. “See what my sons and I did in two days. All you need to do is block a hole! Think on that!”
When we returned to the hut the two women watched us as we wiped the blood from our hands. We had dragged the two wolves I had killed and laid them next to the hut. We would make use of them later. My mother and Monca said not a word but my mother put her arm around me and said, “You may have no beard my son but tonight you became a warrior; you became a man and I am proud of you.”
As I lay down to try to sleep I thought on her words. I had not been afraid when I had faced the wolves and yet I had seen what they could do. I had killed when I had to. The question at the back of my mind was, would I be able to do so with a man?
Erecura the earth goddess must have decided we had been punished enough for when we woke the next daythe snow had ceased and was already melting. When we emerged from the hut we saw that the men were already filling the gateway where the wolves had entered with trees and earth. My father shook his head. “A day too late. And now son, we will skin these beasts you slew. A wolf skin makes a fine cloak and will keep out the rain and the cold.”
The Roman daggers we had were of a far better quality than any other blade and their sharp blades made short work of the skin of the wolf. Once we had them skinned and pegged out we butcher
ed the wolf. The meat was not the best but it would augment the mutton and venison we used. Wolf and the pigs would eat well. By the time we had finished the men were moving on to the second entrance. “Come boys, we will go and help them.” He grinned, “And we will show them how to do it properly eh?”
The three of us were proud of my father. I supposed all boys felt that way about the man who had sired them but to Aelle, my father was a step father and he still felt the same as we did. He now spoke our language well but we had learned enough of his to help us should we ever meet the enemies of my people.
After the work was finished I hunted down my arrows from the previous night. They were too precious to lose. Only three were damaged beyond repair but I managed to salvage the heads. The shafts were the easy part to make. We spent the rest of the winter making smaller shields for my brothers and fashioning the wolf skins into cloaks for me and my father. My mother had skilful hands and she managed to retain the head so that it fitted above mine. My father smiled when he saw it. “My grandfather told me of the Romans who used wolf skins and wore them much as you do. They had a helmet underneath.”
“I wish I had a helmet.”
“If we can get some more iron we could fabricate some but it would require more metal than we have here. Perhaps in the spring eh son?”
When spring came it as though I had suddenly spurted for I was not only as tall as my father but a little taller. When I stood at my measuring post next to the hut I saw that I was higher than the door. I seemed to tower over my siblings and, best of all, I had begun a beard. I could see that my parents were both proud of the man I had become. For my mother’s part she looked forwards to me taking a woman and siring her grandchildren. For my father it meant that we now had two men to protect the family. I had no intention of taking a woman. The prettiest had been taken by Aed and she had died with him in the winter. I was more concerned with improving my skills as a warrior.
“I will go and hunt a deer to celebrate my beard!”
My father nodded, “Yes, for Raibeart and Aelle are now the sheep herders.” I looked sadly at Wolf. “Yes son, it means Wolf passes to Aelle now.”Growing up was not all good.
I took my bow and arrows and my leather satchel. I had worked the leather from the cow which had been slaughtered in the autumn and made, not only a satchel but a belt and baldric for my sword. I had done it in secret. I had wanted to make a scabbard too but, for that, I needed the sword and I dared not risk the sword in the hut. I had also made, from the deer skin some new boots but they were, as yet unfinished for I had a plan. I would combine them with the caligae and make a much sturdier piece of footwear. I hoped that I could hide them from my father but, now that I was a man, perhaps I could face him with the truth.
My cache was still where I had left it. I had used a sheep skin to keep them dry and I examined them for rust. There was none. I slid the sword into the loop on my belt and it hung well supported by the baldric across my shoulder. I was pleased that it felt balanced. I practised taking it out and using it. I reluctantly returned it to the sheepskin and fixed the caligae to the deerskin. As I tried a few tentative steps I felt more confident about moving. They were heavy but my feet did not slip, even on the slimy leaves left from autumn. I left my hiding place and sought some game.
The harsh early winter had decimated much of the herds and it took me some time to make a kill. In the end it was the god Vindonnus who came to my aid as I stumbled across a sow. She looked as though she had been injured and could not move swiftly. It took three arrows to finish her and I had to climb a tree to await her death but it was worth it. It was a measure of my new strength that I was able to haul her on my shoulders and carry her home. Once again I felt the pride which comes with praise as I was lauded, not only by my family but the other men, for a boar kill, managed alone, was rare. I knew that I had been lucky and I made a sacrifice of the heart to Vindonnus.
The spring leading to the summer was the best and the happiest of my life. I was becoming the most accomplished archer in the stronghold and my younger brothers looked up to me as a sort of leader. They say that pride comes before a fall and so it was with me. I felt that life could not get any better and I suppose that I was right for it suddenly got much worse.
It was a day in late summer and the boys had taken the flock to the hills early and I was helping my father to make a new axe head. He had become more proficient using the communal forge and the disasters we had suffered only served to hone his skill. Radha came out with our midday meal. “Those boys were so keen to get out this morning that they forgot their meal and Wolf’s”
I laughed. “I would make them suffer but Wolf is a different matter. Here give it to me and I will take it to them.” I slung my bow for I knew not what game I might come across and waved goodbye to my family. I ran through the woodland trails to the meadows. I was feeling good and it was joyous just to run. I knew the pastures they would use and I tried each of them in turn. I found them at the second one.
“What a pair you two are. It is bad enough forgetting your own food but to forget Wolf’s? Unforgivable!” Wolf began to attack his food with his glare directed at my brothers.
Neither seemed worried by the lack of food. “We came out early to practise.” Raibeart went to the tree which stood alone at the side of the valley. He brought out my old bow which I had used a couple of years earlier. “We found this in the roof of the hut a few weeks ago and we have been using it. Watch!”
Raibeart was the younger but the bigger and the stronger of the two boys. Perhaps it was his father who had been small, I do not know but Raibeart took the bow and carefully selected an arrow. I smiled to myself. It could have been me when I was first learning. I felt suddenly guilty that neither my father nor myself had taught the boys as I had been taught. I would remedy that soon. “See the wood pigeon!” I could see, on the branch of a tree some eighty paces away a wood pigeon sunning itself. I nodded. It would be a magnificent hit to strike the bird at this distance but I said nothing.” I will hit it!”
He pulled the bow back and held his breath, slowly he released the bow and the arrow flew. He had chosen his arrow well and it struck the tree where the bird had been until it flew off. He looked disappointed. “That was well done Raibeart. Had you aimed slightly ahead of him you would have struck him. And Aelle what can you do?”
“I can hit the tree.”
It was a modest claim but he struck it square in the middle. Had it been a man he would have hit him in the chest. “You have both done well. Now if you will take some advice from me…”
The afternoon sped by as I showed them what I had learned. When I saw the sun beginning to dip below the western skyline I knew that we were late. “Come boys or your mothers will be cursing me for keeping you out.” We were a boisterous trio as we headed east to the hill fort. Wolf gave us the first warning that something was amiss; his ears went flat and he began to growl.
I trusted him implicitly. “Get your weapons ready.” I strung my bow as did Raibeart. Aelle took out his sling. “Wolf, guard the sheep!”
The sheepdog went down on all fours and watched the small flock. I raced forwards, towards the fort with my two brothers close behind. We could hear screams and the clash of weapons. There could be but one explanation; the Angles had come and, they were attacking our homes. I crouched as I crested the rise before the northern ditches. I could just see over the top and then I saw mail shirts. It was the Angles and they had breached the wall. The wolves were once again in my home.
Chapter 3
I turned to my brothers. “Our home is being attacked and we must save our family.” It says much for them that they just nodded, biting back on their lips but gripping their weapons with determination. “We must be careful. We will climb to the top of the north wall. Aelle, you will stay at the bottom.” He looked ready to argue. I held up my hand. “They will come for us when we attack them and I want you and your sling shot ready to strike every warrior who appears o
n the wall behind us.” He nodded. That was the first time I had led warriors into a fray and the skills appeared to come instinctively to me. If a warrior knows why he is doing something then he will fight better. So it was with my brothers. “I do not know what we will see,, Raibeart but you must be ready to loose and keep on loosing until I tell you to run back to Aelle.”
“I will not let you down Lann.”
“I never thought you would. Now let us go!”
We climbed the steep wall. I had steeled myself for anything but what I saw almost made me cry in anger. The Angles had killed many of those inside already. Their bodies lay in untidy heaps throughout the settlement. I could see a knot of people with my parents and some three other men fighting twenty Angles and it was clear that the Angles were winning. Monca and my mother had the shields the boys had used and were striking with our small axes while my father fought manfully against two mailed warriors. I could see that it would only be a matter of time before all was lost. “We must get closer. Aelle, stay there!”
We slid down the slope. When we were a hundred paces away I notched an arrow. “Raibeart, wait until we are closer.” I paused and loosed an arrow. It struck a warrior in the back and he fell. The rest stopped for a moment and we were suddenly twenty paces closer. I loosed again as did Raibeart and three more times we loosed; the arrows were coming as though we were not doing anything. It was hard to see whom we struck for over half of them raced towards us. There were eight of them but I had seen that they only had swords and axes. We could still outrange them. “Run like the wind, Raibeart!” We laboured up the mound but I knew that the Angles would be slower. “Turn and loose one more.”We both turned and loosed. We could not miss our targets for they were but twenty paces from us and two warriors fell with arrows sticking from their foreheads. We slid down the bank to land at the bottom of the ditch. As we scrambled to the other side the six warriors stood on the top. Aelle was accurate and his stone struck one firmly on the forehead. We reached the top of the other bank and turned. My breath was coming in short spurts but I had to concentrate. Aelle struck a second warrior and then Raibeart and I loosed two more arrows and two more warriors fell this time struck in the legs. When Aelle hit his third warrior there was but one left and he was at the bottom of the ditch. Our two arrows struck home and he fell dead.