by Griff Hosker
I turned to look down the hill and saw that my companions had finished off the others. I took the sword and axe and trudged down the hill. There would be no time to bury the dead. We would do them no honour. They were not worthy.
“Come we must get back to Duboglassio. I fear this day is not yet over.”
When we reached the town the raiders were all dead. Butar was organising the removal of their bodies. He saw us as we approached. “They came overland which is how they surprised the guards. Had we not arrived then they would have held the town.”
“Where did they come from Prince Butar?”
“I think they came from Hibernia or else we would have seen their ships. Bjorn I want you to stay here with ten of my warriors and see to the defence of the town. I will go to Hrams-a and see to our families. The other two Jarls are anxious to sail home as well. Dragon Heart, have your man Scanlan drive the cows up to Hrams-a. We cannot be delayed by the raft.”
When we went down to the boat I saw that Scanlan had unloaded the animals from the raft. He looked pleased to see me. “I am glad you are well master. I was worried.”
“It will take more than a few pirates to kill me. Drive the cattle back to our fort Scanlan. We will go directly by sea.”
“Thank you for the trust master. I hope that I will not betray it.”
I handed him the sword and axe I had taken from the dead warrior. “Here take these in case we did not get all the raiders.” Haaken looked amazed and I said, “There is still a wager I believe.”
As we boarded the ship he said, “You were right about that one but are you sure about arming him?”
We sat at our oars as we prepared to row. “Remember the night the men from Stavanger came to raid? I was a thrall and I was armed. Had I not been, old friend, then you might not be here now.”
We rowed hard, even though we were tired. We all worried about our families. Who knew where the raiders would strike next? The first inkling we had of disaster was the pall of smoke coming from beyond the headland. We had thought the smoke was from Duboglassio but now we could see that it was not. Hrams-a had also been attacked. The fort at Hrams-a was much stronger and in a better position. We could rebuild the town and the port. We could not rebuild families.
“We will sail to Hibernia and teach these pirates a lesson.”
Even as Cnut spoke those words I thought of what Hrolf had said. I had a feeling that Tadgh was involved in this somehow. I had not seen his body; had he survived? When we rowed around the headland we saw the devastation which had been wrought. The halls and the huts were afire. The wooden quay had been destroyed and the gates of the fort lay open. Where were our families?
The Ulfheonar leapt from the boat first and ran towards the village. We all held our weapons at the ready. When I found the first body it was stone cold. These had not died today. These had been killed earlier. Where were our families? We found Bagsecg close to his beloved forge. He had been cut to pieces, quite literally. From the blood around him he had killed many of his enemies. We found all the warriors we had left and they were all dead. There appeared to be no one left alive. Butar and the rest found us. “Spread out and see if you can find where they have gone. Haaken, take the Ulfheonar up to the fort.”
We trudged up the hill. I was almost afraid to go in. If there was anyone left alive why had they not shouted to us? It was strange; there was no one left within the walls. Not a warrior remained and, as far as we could see, there had been no fighting within the walls. It was as though the gates had opened and the warriors just left. Why?
“This is a mystery, Haaken. Where are the women and children? Where are the slaves?”
“I know I can feel an icy chill. Dragon Heart and Cnut you two have the best eyes. See if you can find any clues as to what occurred here.”
We split up and began to search. Suddenly I saw a trail of blood and it was headed towards the lightning tower. “Over here!” I ran towards the ladder and saw that the blood was on the ladder itself. I dropped my shield and raced up. When I peered through the entrance I saw Bjorn Bagsecgson, the son of the smith. He was pale and his leg was bleeding. I put my hand on his neck and I could feel the beat of his heart. He lived still. I tore the hem of his tunic and tied it about the wound. Then I hefted him on my shoulder and carried him down the ladder. The others were waiting.
“He lives. Let us get him to the others. Cnut, go and get some gut. His leg needs stitching and, Haaken, we need something hot for him.”
They raced away and I carried the survivor down to the devastation of our home. I saw Butar looking at the shell of his hall and shaking his head. “Why were they not in the fort? Where are the women? Where is Myfanwy?”
“We have a survivor here but he is close to death.” The warriors made a circle around us. Cnut brought the gut and the needle. He was not as neat as my mother but he had delicate hands and he stitched the wound. Not all of the huts had burned and Sweyn found some honey which we smeared all over the wound. I loosened the tie and allowed the blood to flow again. None seeped out. Haaken had found some ale and he put it in a pot and placed it on a still burning ember of Prince Butar’s Hall. We put in a large amount of honey and swirled it around. We knew how powerful honey could be. I held the youth in my arms. When it was warm enough we spooned some into his mouth and held his nose. He swallowed but his eyes remained closed. We kept doing this until he coughed and spluttered and then opened his eyes. He stared at me, “Dragon Heart, thank the Allfather!” He began to cry.
“Bjorn, there will be time for tears later. Tell me what happened?”
“They came before dawn. My father was awake and he raised the alarm. He sent me to tell Prince Butar’s wife. I awoke them and she told me to warn the fort. As I ran I was attacked by a warrior and he stabbed me in the leg. When I reached the fort Ulf told me to get to the tower while he and the warriors went to help your ladies. I watched it all from the tower.” He sobbed a little and I gave him some more of the honeyed ale. Butar’s face was a mask of agony. I could see that he was desperate to know what happened to my mother.
“Go on, Bjorn. You are doing well.”
“The warriors fought to reach the hall. The women and the slaves grabbed the children. Your mother tried to organise them but there were too many of them. All of our warriors were slain and they surrounded the women.” He hesitated and looked fearfully from Butar to me. I nodded and smiled encouragingly. I knew this would be hard for him. “The leader had a helmet with something on the top; a bird of some description. It was a long way away. I could not hear what they said but your mother appeared to know him. I could see her begging and she dropped to her knees.” He took a deep breath. “He killed her and then threw her body in the hall and they set fire to it.” I heard the collective intake of breath. “They took them over to the north and then I must have passed out. I am sorry I could not stop it.”
Prince Butar knelt down and took Bjorn’s hands in his. “You have done well and you obeyed your father and Ulf. You have done nothing wrong. If you had not then we would not have known what happened but now we do.” He stood.
“It was Tadgh.”
“You cannot be sure.”
“I can, Cnut, and we now know where they have taken them. They have fled to Hibernia.”
“And we will follow. I want messengers sending to the other Jarls. All of the people will go to Olaf’s town. We will meet them all there and we will take every warrior and avenge this…” He almost broke down.
The two of us wandered over to the embers of his hall. There was still heat but neither of us cared and we searched until we found what remained of my mother. The two of us carried her to the centre of the village. I looked at Prince Butar, my stepfather and the only man my mother had ever loved. “I swear to you that I will not rest until Tadgh is dead and we have my sister, my wife and my son safely back here on our island.”
“And I promise you that I will not return here until we have rescued all those who were unde
r my protection.”
Suddenly the men around us dropped to their knees. Haaken said, “I speak for all of us. We were oathsworn before but now we are blood sworn. None of us will rest until everyone is returned here to their home.”
And so we began the blood feud and the war with the Norsemen of Hibernia.
The End
Glossary
Bebbanburgh- Bamburgh Castle, Northumbria
Caerlleon- Welsh for Chester
Duboglassio –Douglas, Isle of Man
Frankia- France and part of Germany
Glaesum –amber
Gut- animal gut
Hrams-a – Ramsey, Isle of Man
Jarl- Norse earl or lord
Joro-goddess of the earth
Legacaestir- Anglo Saxon for Chester
Manau – The Isle of Man
Njoror- God of the sea
Orkneyjar-Orkney
Ran- Goddess of the sea
Rinaz –The Rhine
Seax – short sword
Skeggox – an axe with a shorter beard on one side
Sigismund- Frankish trader living in Cologne
Sif- Goddess of battle and the name of Harald’s ship
The Norns- Fate
Thrall- slave
Ullr-Norse God of Hunting
Ulfheonar-an elite warrior with a wolf skin over his armour
Wyrd- Fate
Maps
Courtesy of Wikipedia
Historical note
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 buildings were all made of wood then any evidence would have long rotted save for a few post holes. 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. 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.
The length of the swords in this period was not the same as in the later medieval period. By the year 850 they were only 76cm long and in the eighth century they were shorter still. The first sword Dragon Heart used, Ragnar’s, was probably only 60-65cm long. This would only have been slightly longer than a Roman gladius. At this time the sword, not the axe was the main weapon. The best swords came from Frankia, and were probably German in origin. A sword was considered a special weapon and a good one would be handed from father to son. A warrior with a famous blade would be sought out on the battlefield. There was little mail around at the time and warriors learned to be agile to avoid being struck. A skeggox was an axe with a shorter edge on one side. Skeggox
Honey was used as an antiseptic in both ancient and modern times.
I used the Osprey book Saxon, Norman and Viking by Terence Wise as a reference book.
Griff Hosker November 2013
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Griff Hosker
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1915 Fokker Scourge
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
The End
Glossary
Maps
Historical note
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