Swords From the North

by Henry Treece

  When the Varangers saw this, they gritted their teeth and got out their own swords, in case their captain needed help - though they hardly thought this likely. Then the hot-tempered Greeks began to shout out that this was their land and that they would die rather than let rough Outlanders have the better of them. So they got out their swords and came up the hill in anger.

  Harald was the first to see that this affair could only end in the loss of many good men. So he swallowed his pride and his sense of justice and said to Maniakes, ‘So be it. We will make a new rule to fit the occasion since you will not stick to the ancient one. We will each put our mark on a piece of tree-bark and throw them into a helmet. Then we will get one of your Greeks to draw a piece out; if he draws yours, then your army shall have the upper ground, and gladly, If he draws mine, then my Varangers shall stay where they are. Does that content you?’

  By then the general’s fury had abated a little and not to seem childish he had to nod his head and to agree.

  So Harald marked his piece of bark with a raven, wings outspread, which was his banner-sign; and Maniakes marked his with a Christian cross, and they threw the two lots into a helmet.

  Then they blindfolded the Greek lieutenant and told him to put his hand into the helmet and to take one piece out. When this man held up the lot he had drawn, Harald laughed and striding to him snatched it from his hand and threw it into the air. The night wind took it and swept it out over the cliff and down into the sea.

  Maniakes stamped with rage at this but Harald said calmly, ‘Why will you always show the men your worst side, general? There still remains one piece of bark in the helmet. Take it, look at it, and announce to us all whose it is - for that piece will decide who is to camp lower down the hill. That is as fair and just as the other way, is it not?’

  So Georgios Maniakes plunged in his hand and savagely drew out the piece of bark. Then he looked at it but did not speak. ‘Go on, general,’ said Harald slyly. ‘The men are waiting for your golden words.’

  Then Maniakes was forced to call out so that all could hear, ‘The piece that remains is marked with a cross.’

  And Harald asked smoothly, ‘And what does that mean, general?’

  Then grim-faced Maniakes said, ‘You all know well enough. It means that the Greeks camp lower down the hill.’

  So Harald said sweetly, ‘Then there is no problem, general.’ And turning to the Varangers he shouted, ‘Carry on, men. Leave the poles where they are. The general agrees to our position on the hill.’

  But the face of Maniakes became as furious as before. Under his breath he said to Harald, ‘You may think that you have bested me this time, Norseman, but watch out with both your eyes in the future for I do not take any insult lightly. Before long I shall find a way to make you eat humble pie - and to pretend that you enjoy the meal.’

  Then he stumped off down the hill to his men. Harald held up his hand to his men to stop them from laughing. It was never his custom to belittle any man more than was strictly necessary.

  14. Battle Plans

  The Byzantine army wintered on Cyprus where the climate was good. There the two leaders had many quarrels over one thing and another but they did not come to blows; and always Harald seemed to come out on top, though he made nothing of it.

  And when the spring came, after they had tarred their boats, Maniakes said to Harald, ‘It was an easy game, clearing the Greek Sea of a few miserable pirates. Now it is my wish that we take our men to a place where we shall find real work to test them.’

  Harald nodded. ‘The Varangers have never been known to turn back from anything they have set their hands to, Maniakes,’ he answered. ‘Where a Greek can go, there you will find a Northman. Where shall we try our luck next then?’

  Maniakes ground his teeth and said, ‘Into the lands stolen by the Turks, Varanger. We will land at Antioch and then make our way to Aleppo and afterwards along the Euphrates valley. So there will always be water for the men. A good captain always thinks first of his men.’

  Harald smiled, ‘I have led men long enough to have learned that lesson, Maniakes,’ he said. ‘But tell me more, shall we sack Baghdad while we are about it?’

  The general stamped about his tent and then said, ‘Are you a madman? Our emperor has a pact with the caliph. We must not touch Baghdad.’

  Harald said, ‘My question was an innocent one. I am a soldier, not a pact-maker. I am not to know whether the emperor has made pacts or has broken them.’

  The general swung on him in fury and said, ‘His Most Serene Majesty never breaks a pact. Are you a traitor to suggest such a thing? If you had said that to me in Byzantium, before witnesses, I would have had you punished.’

  Harald nodded and answered, ‘Aye, little one, you would have had your Bulgars throw me into a cow-pen - and would then have regretted it later.’

  From this meeting they did not part the best of friends.

  At sundown Georgios Maniakes called all his lieutenants to him in private and told them: ‘These Varangers are getting to be a thorn in my flesh. I cannot stand their insolence much longer. Now look, we are about to embark on a most dangerous enterprise and many who are alive and laughing today will lie stark in the deserts with carrion-birds about them before we turn our faces back towards the Holy City. For my own part I would rather the vultures picked at Northmen than at Greeks. So in all our battle plans from now on I shall regard it as my duty to the emperor to place these Varangers where they stand the best chance of feeding the birds. Is that understood?’

  The lieutenants nodded solemnly. All of them wanted promotion so there was nothing else they could do but agree with their general.

  Gyric of Lichfield was passing the back of Maniakes’ tent when this was arranged and though he lacked an eye there was nothing wrong with his ears. He went to Harald and told what he had heard. The Varanger smiled and clapped him on the back. ‘Forewarned is forearmed, friend,’ he said. ‘So we must see to it that these crafty Greeks do not make eagle-fodder out of us. I for one would like to see Trondheim again. I have recently had the desire to build a church there; the one they have is a tumbledown old wooden thing and now that I have seen a few churches in Byzantium I have a good idea how we could improve on ours up north.’

  Gyric said, ‘I am not one for churches. That is your affair, Harald. I am concerned about battles.’

  Harald laughed and said, ‘Aye, Mercian, and so am I. Leave this to me and I will see that these Greeks do not feed us to the Turks. This general must be taught that Northmen fight their own sort of battle and not one that is thrust upon them. From this time, thanks to your timely warning, our plan will be to give value to the emperor in Byzantium - whatever we think of him - but to come scot-free from all battles. And if we have to leave a few Greeks behind, well, that is their bad luck.’

  Gyric smiled and said, ‘I could not have put it better myself, Harald.’

  And Harald. said, ‘You deceive yourself, Englishman - you could not have put it half so well!’

  Then they both laughed and put their great arms round one another in a warrior’s grip - which resembled the hugging of bears more than anything else.

  15. The Turcopoles

  On the third day out from Aleppo, the army with its requisitioned horses and baggage-wagons, got in lease with the ships in security, came to a small green valley that led down to the Euphrates. And here they stayed to eat and drink. Camp kitchens were set up and horse-lines laid out. The two regiments positioned themselves separately.

  And when they were in the middle of their feeding, a cloud of dust suddenly rose on the hill above them and a hundred lancemen in white robes and turbans came bearing down towards them. Most of the Varangers and all of the Greeks had their body-armour off, since the weather had turned warm and sultry. Harald shouted to his folk, ‘Only the helmet! Only the helmet! There is not time for anything else. Form what sort of hedge you can, in three ranks. All the best axe-men in the first rank. And you others, watch w
here you strike with your long-swords; there might be a comrade under it. Only hit the darkfaced ones. ‘

  Then he looked round and smiled broadly. ‘Have we any Arabs among us?’ he said. The flax-haired Varangers laughed back at this and ran to get into triple rank. One of them, a tall thin beanpole of a man from Shetland, whose hair was as white as snow although he was only nineteen, yelled back, ‘Aye, Hardrada, I am an Arab. Didn’t you know?’

  Harald heard this and shouted, ‘Right, Muslim. Come to my tent later and I will pay you double-fee for marching with these Norse rogues.’

  Then the horsemen slithered to a halt, spurting up so much dust that they could hardly be seen; and their emir got off his mount and came striding down in his great flapping cloak, laughing. ‘By the Virgin,’ he said, ‘but we thought you were Egyptians, the way you sit down with never a care, to eat and drink in the bad lands.’

  Harald was first to him, leaving Maniakes far behind, and said to the leader, ‘Then who, by the White Christ, are you?’

  The Arab said smiling, ‘We are the emperor’s Turcopoles, Englishman. We are foraging for what we can find out here, although we are supposed to stay round the port to keep it clear. But who can blame a soldier for looking beside the way for a little profit?’

  Harald answered, ‘Not I, for one, but I must blame you for calling me an Englishman. I have nothing against that folk, but let it be known I am a Norwegian.’

  The Arab smiled with white teeth and said, ‘To us, you all look the same. Moreover you sound the same. But if you choose to call yourself by another name, that is your right.’

  Harald agreed that it was, and then asked the man if his pay was coming through well from Byzantium.

  The Arab shook his head. ‘My cavalry have not seen a Byzant for over three months,’ he said. ‘If old Zoe knows her business she will get something out to us before long, or the young ones in the squadron will start to remember Mahomet again and will go north to join the Turks.’

  Harald said, ‘I will send such a message back to the Holy City when I have the chance. In the meanwhile will you come to my pavilion and drink a cup of ale with me since you are a Christian?’

  But at that moment Maniakes caught up with them and said in fury, ‘This man is not a Greek to be offered hospitality, Varanger. He is a paid servant of the Most Serene Majesty, no more. Tell him to take his flea-bitten horsemen back to Aleppo where he should be, and to earn his pay as a soldier should.’

  The emir stood away and drew in his lips. He looked from one captain to another. Then he bowed rather too elaborately and said, ‘As you will, Greek. But let it be known that we are no servants, we Turcopoles. We are the equal of any Greek. And our Christianity is as sound, if not sounder. Let it also be known that we have paraded out here in the desert for over three months, living on what we could find, like jackals, and with never a single coin from the Holy City to put food into our mouths.’

  Maniakes cried out, ‘Complain in the proper quarters, Turcopole. It is no business of mine. Now get back to your patrol.’

  The emir saluted in a casual way, almost insolently. Then he turned and went back to his waiting horsemen and mounted. Soon he called down into the valley, ‘I will take your advice, Greek. I will complain in the proper quarters since you Byzantines are so set on your own destruction. But if those quarters happen to look towards Mecca and not Constantine’s old village, don’t blame me, you whey-faced donkey.’

  The Varangers thought this a good description and lost no time in laughing at it and in cheering the brave emir. For his part, he bowed from the high saddle with a grave face towards them, then slowly turned and cantered back to his glowering men.

  Harald said, ‘You have made a needless enemy there, Maniakes.’

  The general flared out at him: ‘Who asked you? Get back to your own folk, too. You are no better.’

  Harald stood a while, wondering whether to strike the man between the two hosts. Then he shrugged his shoulders. ‘Little Georgios,’ he said, ‘whoever sent you out with all these men under your command did ill. They should have kept you back in the imperial palace there, with a black wand in your hand, guiding visitors in to see old Theodora. At least you know the way to that black crow’s cell.’

  Then he turned his back on the general and walked steadily towards his people. Maniakes started to tug at his swords, then stopped, wiped his streaming face, and swung away to his Greeks, cursing the day he had ever agreed to come out on an expedition with Norsemen.

  16. Harald’s Pact

  That night almost as soon as the moon went down there was a great thrumming of hooves, a terrible thundering of kettledrums, a deep hollow whirring of hornbow strings; and the camp in the green valley was in a desperate condition.

  Wulf ran outside his tent and straightway found himself floundering among the wild lavender with a short bolt through his thigh. When he tried to get it out the pain from the blunt pile nearly sent him into a faint, so he called softly to Haldor to come out, on hands and knees, and to give him a hand.

  Haldor came and got his bolt in the left shoulder. He lowered himself to that hard ground and said between tight teeth,

  ‘Only an Icelander-idiot would call his friend out just now.’

  But Wulf was beyond answering and only groaned in the purple dusk.

  Harald heard all this, coming out of his deep sleep. So taking up his shield like a cautious warman, he held it over his head as he went under the tent-flap. Three bolts clanged over it before he reached his mates. He looked down at them and said, ‘If God had meant men to crawl on the earth like slugs He would not have given them legs. Come on, up with you Icelanders.’

  Then he bore them, groaning, back into the tent.

  There he laid them on the beds and said, ‘This is a bad business, and that whey-faced donkey Maniakes is to blame for it.’

  He fetched in the Byzantine surgeon to attend to his friends, then slid low like an adder to the tent of Georgios Maniakes. The general was fast asleep, so Harald hit him hard over the right ear, then put his hand tight over the Greek’s mouth. Maniakes woke with the thud, sat up, tried to yell, found that the breath would not leave his mouth, and began to flail his limbs.

  Harald said, ‘Do not take on so, general. It is only the Seljuks who are attacking us. A small thing to those who have been stung by Byzantine wasps!’

  When he felt sure that the general had calmed down, he took his hand away and said, ‘Two of my best men are wounded. We are in a bad position, most of us being half-asleep and all of us being completely surrounded. In future I mean to choose our camping-places, for it is no sort of sense to lie in a valley where the enemy can shoot down on to us like this.’

  Georgios Maniakes sat up in his pallet-bed and said, ‘A mistake can be made by anyone. My scouts told me that the nearest Seljuks were fifty miles away.’

  ‘Then we must thrash the scouts,’ said Harald, ‘for they ‘should also have told you that Seljuks will ride all night to catch their prey.’

  ‘Let us have done with this talk,’ answered the general, reaching for his helmet and swords, ‘and form into some sort of battle order to meet them.’

  Harald reached over and took the two swords tightly in his grasp. ‘You will not be using these tonight, Maniakes,’ he said. ‘If we try to meet them, in whatever order, they will send up flares and then pick us off as we scramble up the slopes.’

  Maniakes loathed to see his swords in another man’s hand, especially this man’s, and he shivered with fury. At last he said, ‘So you fly your true colours now, Norseman, and declare yourself to be a coward who will not fight for the pay his master gives him.’

  Harald threw the swords to the far side of the tent and said, ‘I declare myself to be a man of craft, not stupidity, Greek. Your emperor would need to pay me as much as he has in his imperial treasury before I would go charging at Seljuks by night. I have a strong wish to reach the old age of forty, and that I should never do if I went out as a warm
an now.’

  Georgios Maniakes glared at him. ‘What then are we to do, O wise Norwegian?’ he asked in mockery.

  Harald said, ‘You are to lie down again like a quiet peaceful man, and I will go up the hill in my shirt, with no war gear, to talk to these Turks. But one thing is sure, I will not have another single man of mine struck with arrows because of your foolish pride.’

  Then he went outside, running under cover of the many tents and hearing the short arrows smack into them as he went. In his own pavilion he tied a length of white cloth on to a staff and took a horn in his other hand.

  Like this he went outside, blowing the horn so that the Turks should see that he wished them to notice him, and waving the white flag like a pedlar calling the folk to his market-stall. Three arrows narrowly missed him and then he heard a stern order from the hilltop. After this all arrows ceased to whirr in the darkness. A great red and yellow flare was lit to show him where to go, so Harald went in that direction.

  And when he was at the top of the slope, he saw a band of white-clad horsemen, with stout mail under their cloaks and swords every bit as good as anything he had seen in the north. They seemed to cluster round a tall man who wore both black and white, and sat on a lithe pony with silver trappings. Harald went towards this man and said, ‘I am Harald Sigurdson, whom men call Hardrada.’

  The leader on the horse bowed his head and smiled. ‘We are aware of that,’ he said in very good camp Greek, ‘otherwise we should not have allowed you to come up here to us. I am Abu Firuz, Scourge of Aleppo as simple men call me, and I have three hundred horsemen about this valley.’

  Harald said, ‘From the noise they have been making, I thought there must be more. But we will not discuss that since it is in my mind that you would be wasting quite a number of them if you came down into the valley at close quarters and met my Varangers. And I, for my part, would be a stupid fellow if I let my brave comrades try to sink their northern fangs into your host. I will not say that the score is even for we can both see that an army caught in a valley is at a disadvantage.’