by Griff Hosker
The warriors came at us piecemeal and we were one line; it was a shaky line but we knew that Olaf was behind us. None would retreat. The axe, wielded by the giant before me, swung in a vicious yet ponderous arc towards my shield. Perhaps the warrior thought that I was too young to have a good shield but Ragnar had advised me well. The axe embedded itself in the deer hide and the oak. As he tried to tug it away I stabbed forwards and the sword slid into his unprotected belly. His shield protected nothing. Ragnar had taught me to twist the blade and I did so as I withdrew it. The metal came out easier but it brought with it guts and entrails. The giant collapsed in a writhing heap. I had no time for congratulation; the next warrior tried to stab Haaken as he too fought an enemy. I punched the shield forwards and the axe, which was still embedded, caught the warrior on the side and he overbalanced. I stepped forwards and stabbed downwards. My sword slit his throat and he gurgled his life away.
“We have broken them! Finish them off.”
Olaf’s voice was reassuring. None of us had the time to look and see the results of our fight but he could. We stepped forwards to finish off those who were wounded and give them a warrior’s death. I took the opportunity of removing the axe from my shield. It had a leather strap looped to it and I slung it across my back.
“Carry the wounded back to the ship!”
This time it was Butar’s voice and it shocked me. I had given no thought to my comrades who might be wounded or dead. I saw that Cnut had received a wound to his leg. I tied a leather tie from one of the dead men’s leggings around the wound and then half carried him back to the ‘Ran’. As I did so I had to step across the body of Heinrik. A sword had laid open his head. He would be in Valhalla now. I had no time to mourn and I helped Cnut over the side. Dawn was breaking now and Cnut urged me, “Go and help the others, Dragon Heart. I can look after myself.”
I ran back to the scene of the carnage. We had lost other warriors but Haaken still stood. We followed Butar through the shattered gate. There were men from the ‘Sif’ lying dead or wounded. Our leader had not had it as easy as he had thought.
Butar turned to Olaf, “Take most of the men and get these younger women on the ships. Haaken and Dragon Heart, come with me.”
We headed up to the warrior hall. I could see fighting still going on. Harald was fighting against what looked like the leader of the village. Harald’s oathsworn were watching. This was single combat and no man would interfere. I had never seen Harald fight before and he was extremely quick. The warrior he was fighting stood no chance. I am convinced that Harald could have ended it at any time but he wanted to show how good he was and he killed the warrior with many blows which struck his legs and his arms. He became weaker and weaker to the point where it was cruel to carry on and Harald then chose to finish it with a blow which took the head from the village leader. Harald’s oathsworn roared their approbation.
“Get the plunder on to the ships.” He saw Butar, “A great victory cousin!”
“It is indeed. I have started to collect the young women.”
“Good.” He saw me for the first time. “You have survived your first raid. Well done boy!” He turned away and I reddened. I had killed men; I was no boy!
Butar saw my reaction. “You have done well; now remain silent and collect the weapons and take them to the ship.”
As Haaken and I carried the swords and axes from the dead men I thought it a pity that none of the men I had killed had worn a mail shirt. All that I had gained was the axe from the first man. After I had deposited my weapons I went back to the scene of our fight. None of them had mail but the warrior with the axe did have a throwing axe tucked into his belt. That would go with his axe. I picked them up and put them in ‘Ran’.
I saw the flames licking at the warrior hall as I entered the village. Harald was sending a message to the other villages. He was letting them know the price of raiding Ulfberg. As we pushed off I noticed that the only ones he had left alive were the old and wounded. This village would be like mine in the land of the Angles; it would be a memory only. Soon the birds would feast on the dead and the fire would destroy what remained. I had seen my first raid and it was cruel and unforgiving. We could have been defeated if we had not stopped the attack on our rear and it would be our bodies feeding the crows and the gulls. The difference between success and failure was the width of blade.
As I rowed back to our village I thought of my sword and what it had done. It had seemed to move without me directing its course. I remembered that Ragnar had said it would tell me its name and it had; my sword was Quicksilver for it moved so quickly and was deadly. When we reached home I would put three warrior bands around the hilt for the men I had killed and I would name him up in the home I had shared with Ragnar.
Chapter 6
The homecoming was a glorious one despite our losses. This was not a raid on a simple Saxon settlement; we had been fighting men such as ourselves. Ten warriors had died; three of them boys on their first raid. I wondered how their mothers would feel. I was still becoming accustomed to the different ways of the people. If I had died then I know my mother would have been distraught but the mothers who took the bodies of their sons away looked to be almost proud of their death. The thralls carried the plunder ashore. Saelac made the mistake of giving me another of his hateful stares. I was a warrior now and I smacked him hard on the side of the head. “Know your place slave!”
I saw my mother frown but she said nothing. I carried my own plunder back to Butar’s Hall. He and Olaf the Toothless supervised the unloading of ‘Ran’. When I reached the hall I carefully took off the helmet to examine it. I did not think it had suffered a blow but I did not know for certain. It had escaped unscathed. I heeded Ragnar’s words and I coated it with grease and placed it by my other weapons. I was about to examine the axe when my mother entered.
She turned me to face her. “Before Butar comes I must have a word with you.” She looked very serious. “I do not like you speaking to others as you did.”
I could not think what she meant and then I recalled, Saelac. “But he is a slave!”
“As you were and as I was. It does not excuse you showing them no respect.”
“But he gives me insulting looks.”
“Then you do right to beat him but do not insult him as well.” She pierced me with her sharp eyes. She seemed to be able to see into your heart and your soul. “It is petty to try to get your own back on those who bullied you. You are now a warrior; are you a man? Or are you still a petulant child with a sword and a shield?”
I was stung by her words for they rang true and I reddened. “I am sorry and you are right. I think I was just over excited after the raid.”
She softened and smiled, “I know and that is why I spoke to you alone. I would not belittle you in front of your comrades or your step father. I will not always be there to direct you. You need to think for yourself and behave like a true warrior. Be like your grandfather and treat all men the same, slave and free, friend and enemy. Men will think better of you.”
When Butar came in he ignored me at first and picked my mother up, almost crushing her in his bear like arms. When he put her down he wrapped an arm around her and faced me, “This Dragon Heart is well named, my sweet. The warrior he killed today was Eric the Bear. He had slain five champions in single combat before the battle and your son killed him with one blow. The others can talk of nothing else.”
I shrugged, “Then it was luck for had I known he was a champion I would have frozen and it would be me who died.”
Mother gave me a shrewd look, I think she was seeing inside me again, “And when you faced him whose voice did you hear?”
I started, this was frightening, “Ragnar’s.”
It was Butar’s turn to look surprised. “Exactly,” said my mother triumphantly, “your teacher. Listen to the voices in your head, my son. They will make you a better warrior.” She stood back, “And now the two of you go and wash. There is the smell of blood and
death about you. You need to get cleaned up for the feast tonight.”
I did drink too much at the feast but that was because of Cnut and Haaken who could not stop talking about my combat with a champion. I kept telling them that I had been lucky but they would have none of it. Eventually I conceded that the stout manufacture of the shield had helped and I gave them Ragnar’s secrets. I promised them that I would help them to make their own. Just before I passed out I realised that, for the first time in my life I now had two friends. I fell happily into oblivion.
What no-one had told me about becoming drunk was that your head felt like there were trolls inside banging hammers against the inside and that you could hold no food inside your stomach. Mother smiled ruefully at me. “You have learned another lesson my son; a painful one but a necessary one.”
She was right and I did not drink as much ever again. I did take some comfort from the fact that my two friends were as bad as I was and we deferred our shield making until the following day. I did repair my shield for the axe had ripped a hole in the deer hide. I knew that soon I would have to replace the deer hide which meant I needed to hunt again.
I took my two companions up to Ragnar’s home. There was still an oak there and we could make the shields out of sight of prying eyes. I placed my axe, sword and seax on the table. I intended to do some work for myself too. I explained how to cut the oak and how to make the planks. “This task will take a number of days so let us not hurry. The more care we take now the better the shields will be.”
While they cut the logs and the planks, an easier task for there were two of them, I made the three warrior bands for the hilt. I had the thin strips of metal which I had traded from the blacksmith as well as the liquid which would change their colour. My mother’s eyes were green and I wanted three green bands for my first bands. If I managed to be successful again then I would change the colour. It would remind me of the combats and look dramatic. By the time my companions had brought the planks back I had finished and I was proud of my handiwork.
It needed three of us to work on the shields and we only got as far as making the rough shapes. We left them on the table and trudged down to the village. We had an appetite and ate well. It took three days to finish their shields and then they painted their designs on the deer hide. Haaken used an eye, which seemed appropriate and Cnut chose a dragon. “For I fought next to Dragon Heart and I would be the Dragon Warrior.”
No one mocked another warrior when he chose names. We all knew how magical that process was. When the shields were finished I had to admit that they looked better than mine. Haaken saw my look and said, “Yours has honourable scars of battle. Ours are still virgins. When they look like yours I will be happy.”
Harald One Eye was a little put out that his battle with the village chief had been put in the shade by my defeat of Eric the Bear and so he decided to go on another raid but this time he left Butar and ‘Ran’ at Ulfberg. Haaken and Cnut were more disappointed than either Butar or me. We had had good news. My mother was with child and their prayers had been answered. Mother was convinced that Ragnar had had something to do with it but, for the life of me, I could not see how. Still, he was now in the Otherworld and who knew what power was there?
Harald was intent on raiding the lands of the Angles again. The plunder we had secured from our last raid was poor and the slaves also of inferior quality. He wanted thralls from a land where they were better fed and in better condition. It was not just my mother who was with child, all of the other women and girls of child bearing age were expecting children. The people from across the waters were fecund. The only women who were yet to bear children were Aethelfrith, his wife, and her companion. He blamed it on witchcraft but mother thought the two young women might be doing something themselves to stop themselves become pregnant. Now that I was considered a man I sat with Butar and my mother and was included in their conversations.
“Why would a woman not want a child? And how could she stop it?”
“There are ways,“ my mother said darkly, “and there are potions and draughts you can take. It is evil but then other women are not as lucky as me in their choice of a man.”
The two weeks whilst Harald was away helped me to become part of the village. My stay with Ragnar had made me isolated, almost a hermit. My friendship with Haaken and Cnut meant that I had more people to speak with. My lessons with Ragnar had been well learned; I listened more than I spoke. It made me seem quiet and shy when in fact I was learning about my fellows. Haaken and Cnut were similar in outlook to each other. They were both reckless and fearless. Sometimes these were good qualities, as when we had been raided, but sometimes caution was needed. I stored that information for future use. Although we had used the shield wall, which the Saxons used all the time, it had been a rare occurrence dictated by the sudden flank attack. The tactics of Harald and his men appeared to be to close with the enemy and to kill as many as could be killed. individual. This would work against our neighbours but if the Saxons ever organised themselves then we would be in trouble. That would be when Haaken and Cnut would need caution.
The time in the village was well spent. Butar did not allow us to sit idly by drinking and arm wrestling. We had to trim the ‘Ran’ for Olaf and Butar knew that we could make her fly faster if the weight was better distributed. We were rowers short, thanks to the deaths and, until we recruited more, we would have to row with fewer men. When Butar was happy with the balance he took us on the fiord where we practised manoeuvres. Although this was tiring it helped to make us stronger. My arms were now knotted with muscles and, despite my smaller frame; I was becoming as strong as the men who were much bigger. Olaf also insisted on training the younger warriors with bows. All of us were well used to the bow but not loosing together. We respected Olaf’s words for he had fought longer than any of us and we did as he asked.
One evening ,about seven days after Harald had left, I was coming back from Ragnar’s house. I went there every couple of days ostensibly to ensure that it was not becoming infested with vermin but really so that I could be alone and think of old Ragnar. I had my bow in case there was any game but I was not hopeful. I had bagged too many animals close to the path and they avoided it. Suddenly I became aware that someone was ahead and waiting in the undergrowth. Mindful of the attack by Saelac and Tadgh I notched an arrow and slipped into the forest. I could move stealthily in this, my domain and I moved without a sound. I saw two shapes crouched close by an elder bush and I pulled back on the bow. I checked left and right to make sure that there were just two of them and then I shouted, “Show yourselves or you will die!”
There were two high pitched screams and Aethelfrith and her companion stood from behind the bush. I lowered the bow. “What are you doing here, my lady? I could have killed you.” Even as I said the words I shuddered at the implication. Had I killed the wife of the chief then I would have been exiled from the village.
The princess quickly composed herself. “We were waiting for you, Gareth.” This was the first time anyone had spoken to me in Saxon for a long time and I could not remember the last time I had heard my birth name.
“It would have been safer to wait on the path.”
Her companion, Morwenna, said, “See, I told you.”
She was rewarded by an elbow in the side and a look of hate. “Well we can speak with you now.”
I gave a slight bow, “How may I help you, my lady?” I was not sure if she was a lady or a princess now but if I had made an error she said nothing.
“You are now a hero are you not? You are no longer the thin looking waif who cowered at the prow of the ship beneath his mother when we first saw you. Now, you are a warrior.” I could not see where she was going with this and I stood there feeling foolish but remaining silent. A slight frown crossed her face and then she put her arm around Morwenna. Her companion was a little older than me with long blonde braided her. When she had first boarded the ‘Sif’ I had noticed a sweet perfumed smell about her but
now she smelled like the rest of us. “Morwenna here is young and ripe. How would you like her as your woman?” Morwenna tried to move away but she was held tightly by the older girl.
“It is an attractive offer my lady but it would have been better coming from the lady herself.”
The hint of a smile appeared on Morwenna’s face. Aethelfrith snapped, “She has no say in the matter! She is my handmaiden and will do as I order.” Aethelfrith was beautiful but there was a cruelty in her face and her manner which I did not like. Besides which they were both slaves and previous titles meant nothing.
“And what would I have to do to win this worthy prize?” Again Morwenna was pleased by my words but Aethelfrith appeared confused.
“Who says you would have to do anything?”
“The rose is a pretty flower with a beautiful scent but there is a price to pay if you get too close; you can be pricked by thorns.”
“Am I the thorn or the rose?”
“I know not yet my lady for you have not said what you wish me to do for you.”
“You are a blunt boy!”
I could see Morwenna hiding a smile behind a hand and I gave a slight bow. “I am not practised in the art of fine words my lady. I apologise.”
She took a deep breath as though she had come to a decision. “You are close to Butar and he has a boat. We would have Butar take me back to my father and he will be rewarded.”
I laughed. I laughed so hard that tears rolled down my cheeks. I know now that it was a mistake but the idea seemed so preposterous. “How dare you laugh at a princess!”
I regained my composure, “With respect, my lady, here you are not a princess but the wife of a village Jarl and I do not think that he would countenance such an act.”
She spat her next words at me. “If you speak of this to anyone I will tell my husband that you tried to take me!”