by Griff Hosker
Thorkell and his men were waiting anxiously at the river. He looked behind me after we had crossed. “Where are the men of Dál Riata?”
“They fell or they fled. Their chief is dead. I daresay they will appoint another but I am also sure that they will find much easier targets in the future. I do not think they will bother you for some time.” I looked at the land around me. “This would make a good farm. We will leave you some of the animals. Why not have a tower built here.” I pointed to the Roman wall in the distance. “Use some of that stone to make a good base and deepen the ditch. If you did that you would have cattle that would produce both milk and meat in great quantities. The tower would give you warning of an attack and provide a refuge from danger.” I turned Thorkell so that he could see his own fort in the distance. “If you built another tower on your citadel then they would be able to signal back and forth.”
He nodded. “You are ever the thinker, Jarl Dragon Heart and you make me feel foolish for not having thought of that.”
“Let us say I have been doing this for a long time and Prince Butar was a good teacher. Some of your people wish to come south to Cyninges-tūn.”
He nodded. He was a wise and thoughtful jarl. “I understand. Ulla the wife of Arne No Thumb has spoken to me. He was a fine warrior and his sons will be too.”
I nodded, and we headed back to Thorkell’s Stead. “We have a new bull and a ram. Tell your farmers that when their animals come into season they can bring them to Cyninges-tūn. I would that we could create better, hardier animals. That way we increase our wealth and the prosperity of our people.”
We knew that we could not hurry south as quickly as we had come north. We had some families who wished to live either at Windar’s Mere or Cyninges-tūn. More importantly we had many animals to move. It would not do to risk such valuable beasts. It happened that we reached the col which lead to the Grassy Mere and the Rye Dale in the late afternoon. We headed for the Mere and the stead of Harald Skullsplitter. He had been a mighty warrior but when he had married, his wife, who was as small as he was huge had persuaded him to take up a stead on the Grassy Mere. It was, as we discovered, one of the most beautiful spots in the whole land. As we watched the sun go down we saw the high mountains reflected in the red water. I thought that Cyninges-tūn was the idyllic home but this one was almost as good.
“Well Jarl Dragon Heart, I see that you have had a successful raid.”
“Aye Harald and I hope that the Dál Riata stay north of the river.” As I drank the well brewed ale I looked at the cluster of huts and halls which ringed Harald’s stead. “How many warriors can you muster if we need an army?”
He gave me a sharp look. He understood war for he had fought with Prince Butar and stood with me in a shield wall. “War is coming?” I told him of the prophesies and Kara’s words. “We have twenty men here.” He smiled, “My two sons take after their father but they have no mail yet. Then we have four other warriors who are, like me, old.”
I patted him on his enormous shoulder, “Let us say veterans and warriors with experience.”
He nodded, “It sounds better but it does not mean that we could fight all day as we once did; then there are four others who can use a sword. As for the rest,” he shrugged, “they can use bows and slings well.”
“Good. Keep them well trained. I will try to get you some mail for your warriors. At the very least all shall have a helmet.” When our new animals have bred we shall have a source of leather which will make fine armour.”
“We are at your command, my jarl.” He spread his hand around. “When I lived in Norway I dreamed of a place like this but I called it Valhalla. Now we have found a Valhalla here on earth. We would not live in paradise but for you and Prince Butar.”
“And he watches us even now Harald. He would be pleased that we had achieved all that we have.”
I sent the animals and families to Cyninges-tūn with the Ulfheonar and I went with Haaken to visit Windar. He and Ulf, in the next valley, were vital to my plans and they needed to know what was in my mind.
Windar was no warrior; he had fought alongside me but he made a much better leader of men in peace than a warlord. Consequently he looked more like Einar Belly Shaker or Gram the Fat. He greeted me warmly. As we went into his hall by the Mere he said, “Is this a new fashion, Jarl; the trimmed beard and hair? I almost did not recognise you. And Haaken too.”
“We stayed in the east and there the people dress differently. We just adopted the style.”
“It must take a lot of care.”
“It does but we are warriors and we have the time.” I had to smile at Haaken who appeared to have taken some offence at Windar’s words.
“Come Jarl, I have some fine ale for you to taste.”
Haaken sniped, “I can see that you have partaken of more than your fair share.”
If Haaken though he had offended our host he was wrong. Windar laughed and said, “It would be churlish of me to give poor ale to a guest and I have to try it all.”
Haaken finally smiled. Haaken was a difficult man to dislike.
“Windar, war is coming.”
“The Northumbrians?”
“I think not but in truth I do not know. We have received word from the spirit world and it warned of an enemy from the east. I know that you thrive here on farming and fishing but I want you to increase your vigilance over the winter. I hope this will not be a wolf winter but whatever the Allfather sends our way I want to know of any movements on our borders. ” I pointed to the two rivers which ran into the mere. “Use the two rivers as defensive ditches. Keep them clear and deepen them. If you have small portable bridges you and your people can come and go but you will deter an enemy. Make sure your defences do not fall into disrepair and train your warriors.”
“I am afraid that many now use their axes to fell trees and not men but I will begin to have the men trained. We will keep you informed by boy riders.”
“If it is another wolf winter then we know that will keep enemies from our doors but if it is mild… How many men are there here and at Ulla’s Water?”
“Men? There are at least ninety. Men who can fight? That would be less than fifty. Warriors? Perhaps thirty.”
The paucity of the numbers made my heart sink. “That is not good enough. I want all ninety training to be able to fight and defend this land. They need not be able to fight in a shield wall but I want all ninety armed and trained.” He nodded. “If war comes from the east, Windar, then you will be the first to know.” I paused. “And your people will be the first to die!”
“Do not worry Jarl Dragon Heart, we will not let you down. But tonight you will stay here as my guests and I will try to get Haaken the Stick to be at least half my size!”
As we headed over the ridge to our valley I thought on the words of both Harald and Windar. They had said ‘let me down’. I was not the reason why they fought. They fought for our people and our land. I realised that the legend of Dragon Heart and Ragnar’s Spirit had masked our true motives. I would need to do something about that. I was not the important one. The people were.
When we reached our home I saw an immediate difference. Kara had worked as quickly as her mother in days past. The new families had been housed and she had the Ulfheonar building new halls for them. I could see that we would have to spend some time extending our walls or we would become too crowded. There was room at the western end of the Water but that had a tendency to flood. Our eastern hall was built on higher, rocky land and was drier.
I went to my hall and removed my armour. My daughter joined me. “It was well done father. The families you brought have suffered much and they need time to recover.” She smiled, “And here we have many warriors looking for wives. I think that the widows will soon have a warrior to watch over each of them.”
“Good. And the animals?”
“We had a large enclosure built on the other side of the Water. The grass is good and both the cattle and the sheep will benefit
. The pigs I kept here. One of the sows was about to give birth.”
My daughter had all the domestic arrangements in hand. After she had taken me on a tour of the new buildings and I had greeted all the newcomers I left her. I needed to find out about weapons. “I will go to see Bjorn. I am keen to know about the new armour.”
Bjorn had begun with one small workshop making and repairing armour. Such was his skill that he now had four such workshops by the Water. One of the smiths specialised in jewellery but the rest made armour, helmets and swords. When we needed tools for farming we made them but such was Bjorn’s skill that we were able to trade his weapons. We just made sure that we did not trade them to our enemies. Our new trading partners, the Bro Waroc'h in Gwened, would trade us both animals and pots.
The smiths both stopped working when I entered Bjorn’s smithy. He scowled at them. “The Jarl does not want to speak with you sweaty lumps! Carry on working.” He winked at me. I knew that the two smiths who had stopped working were his sons.
I clasped his arm, “Good to see you again, old friend. Did you have a chance to look at the new suit of armour I sent to you?”
“Aye, Jarl. At first I thought it was flimsy and not as good as our mail.” He shook his head. “I could not be more wrong.”
“How so?”
He took my old armour which had been sent there for repairs after our skirmish with the Dál Riata. “This is the best armour I ever made.” He held up the shoulder. “Do you see how each clump of mail is held together with an individual rivet? This took many hours of work for many smiths. I oversaw them all. It is good mail but it takes many, many days to create.”
He then took another suit of mail. “Now this is one you captured last year from the Saxons. I have yet to use it. Notice how the mail is just linked with other rings. It is lighter but, as you well know, one blow can slice through the links and render it useless. That can happen to the armour I made but it is less likely. Now let us examine this armour you brought.”
“They call it lamellar armour.”
He nodded and I saw him store the word. “It is so light that I thought that it would be useless but it is cleverly made. Each metal plate moves with the body and is secured by a piece of metal wire. The same kind we use in the mail and we manufacture. Each plate overlaps so that the most vulnerable part is the neck. There the plates should be exposed and could suffer damage. But see here, how they have fitted a metal plate across each of the shoulders and the plates which protect them. It cannot be cut by a sword, unlike the mail, even my mail. It can be bent but the armour will remain whole.” He stepped back to admire it. “And the best part is we can make it in two days if we have the metal plates ready to hand. Why even women could put it together.” He hurriedly added, “Not that we would risk the wrath of Thor by doing so.” He touched his Hammer of Thor amulet to protect himself from ill luck.
“I knew it was good. The guards of the Emperor wear it. I did not know how good it actually was.”
He pointed to the shoulders. “You will need to have more padding around the neck to avoid chafing.”
I nodded, “I remember now that the guards had a kind of scarf wrapped around their necks.”
He smiled. “You did not wear it did you, Jarl Dragon Heart? I think that you did not even examine it all in full.”
I shook my head, “No, how did you know?”
“Let me show you.” I was just wearing a tunic. He took a padded one from the chest in which we had brought the armour home. “Put this on first.” The padded tunic was much lighter than my leather one and allowed me to move easier. Bjorn smiled at my surprised looks. Now put on this.” He handed me what looked like another tunic made of cloth save that the bottom half was well made mail.
“This protects my legs and yet it is light.”
“Now this.” He wrapped a silk scarf around my neck. I could barely feel it.
“This will not stop a blow.”
“It does not need to. Lift your arms and I will put on the, what did you call it? Lamellar armour.” He slipped it over my arms and fastened it tightly at the side. He then began to fit the shoulder guards and the arm protectors. “This is the difficult part. You cannot do this alone. You need another to help you.” He dropped to his knees and fitted the greaves. “Now walk around and lift your arms.”
“It feels as though I am not wearing armour.”
“I know. I tried it on first.” He saw my smile and shrugged, “How else will I be able to make them for your warriors?” I laughed and he then said, “Turn around.” He placed the metal hood made of mail over my head. At first I could not see but then the eye holes fell into place and I could see easily. “Either your helmet or the one they gave you fits on the top. Yours will give even more protection but I fear you would be hot. Come to the water and see your reflection.”
I went outside and saw, in the bright autumn sun, a warrior who was totally armoured from head to foot. You could not even recognise that it was me. I took off the mail hood. “This is excellent. And you say that you can make them?”
He smiled and led me inside. Like Aiden when he is demonstrating new skill he took a cloak from his bench and there was one set of armour already made. “There. It took just two days. I will have the boys making the plates and we should be able to get it down to one day to put it together. I did not bother with the skirt of mail for I thought the body and arm protection was more important. And the mail mask has not been made yet.”
“And you are right about the bodies and the arms. What about the iron that you need?”
“The metal from the captured byrnies is good enough. It does not matter if it bends so long as it is not cut. We have enough metal for twenty sets of this armour.”
“Good, then make it and we will pay for them in gold. They will be worth it.” I was about to leave when I had a thought. “Would it be possible to make the plates in black and, perhaps copper?”
“Aye, but why?”
“We could have a wolf on each front if we used the different colours. When Aiden returns I will ask him to design one.”
Bjorn liked it and he grinned. “Of course. I should have thought of that.” He rubbed his hands together. “Right boys; we have some armour to make.”
I also spent whole days with Rolf and with Scanlan. Scanlan had been a slave we had freed but now he ran the farms and saw to the day to day organisation of my stead. He lived in the western settlement and was the unofficial headman. Rolf had been my oathsworn until he was seriously wounded and now he commanded the defences of Cyninges-tūn. I felt secure with him watching over my people. He lived in the eastern halls. I had two reliable deputies when I was away.
“We need a larger enclosure for the new settlers, Rolf. We should take down the old one and make a new one a hundred paces further out.”
Rolf shook his head, “With respect, Jarl Dragon Heart ,that is not necessary. We just make another enclosure further out. The people will be just as secure but we will have two gates through which an enemy must come. If we take up the old walls and rebuild them it is a waste of time. Let us start with new wood and a new ditch. The old ditch can be used for drainage.”
He was right, of course. He lived in the settlement more than I did and he understood its needs. “Good idea. I want the protection in place before veturnætur. There is something symbolic about the onset of winter. I would not wish a Wolf Winter on my people again.” I turned to Scanlan. “When Aiden returns I will put him in charge of the breeding of the new animals but you are to see to their distribution. The animals are for the people. Make sure that the most deserving are given the first offspring. We need to work out rates for the services of our bull and our ram. That will be your task. Have Maewe organise the women to produce woollen garments for us to trade. It will bring in much gold.”
They both went away happily and I felt content for I was in command again. My people were all working together and I hoped that Nature would be in balance once more.
&
nbsp; Chapter 5
Aiden and Arturus returned four weeks after veturnætur. I had missed both of them. They brought with them more heifers and another ram. This one was smaller but I was assured by Aiden that the wool it produced would be even finer. Josephus came with them. I determined to make his life as pleasant as possible. I had promised him a life away from the sea and in comfort. I saw, in him, parts of both Ragnar and Olaf the Toothless. Both men had looked after me and I would pay them back.
Kara divined my thoughts for she fussed over the old man like a mother hen. She chastised Aiden and Arturus for making him walk for Úlfarrston. It was funny to see the huge warrior Arturus was becoming recoiling before his sister’s scolding tongue.
They were both pleased to come with me to the Water where they could tell me all that had transpired during their voyage. Kara made sure that Josephus was warm, fed and had a chair by the fire. We left him dozing comfortably.
“The men of Gwened are keen to get hold of more of our weapons. They offered to trade us horses for they have good horses there.”
I shook my head. “It would be an unnecessary expense. The ponies we capture in the hills are more than adequate for our needs. And what of Rorik? Did you see him?”
“Not a sign, although Caradog did say that the northern coasts of their land had been raided by men dressed much like us.”
That I did not like. I did not want us to get associated with the likes of Rorik. “We need a standard so that people know who we are.”
“I think, father, that people know exactly who we are.”