Viking War

by Griff Hosker

  “Do not get angry, my son. The gods and the Norns will punish him. However you will need more warriors here. You cannot defend this against Rorik’s army.”

  “I have more warriors, father. There are many farmers in the dales around here and I have them come here once every five days so that they can practise with my men. They are happy to do so. I promised them that they can stay here in case of danger or bad weather. We have built storage huts and dried and salted much food. I can field fifty warriors now to defend my fort.”

  “It is still not enough but it is better. We will leave you the mail and the weapons we took from Rorik’s men and we will leave two horses too. That way we can have news of an attack within a short time.”

  Arturus pointed to the ridge to the west. “My men have built a signal tower in the forest. You cannot see it but we can light a beacon which Windar will be able to see.”

  “Good. Then I will tell Windar when I warn him of this new danger.” I pointed south. “We also face danger from the south now. Magnus and Ragnar will come that way. They will plan to assault us from every direction.”

  “We will be ready. I will spend the winter devising ways of slowing them down before they even get here. I have clever Wild Boars here. They will soon outshine the Ulfheonar.”

  Haaken laughed, “I admire your confidence, young Arturus but we shall see. I hope you have someone as talented as I am and then he can sing the songs of your great deeds!”

  Arturus shook his head, “And I must get the door to my hall made bigger.”

  “Why?”

  “So that you can get your big head in and out easier!” It was good to hear the confident banter. We were outnumbered but not downhearted.

  Windar liked the idea of a signal tower and he sent his men to build one immediately. “If we have enemies from the east and the south then we will all be hard pressed.”

  “Do as my son is doing. Tell the farmers that if they see the beacons lit then they must come to you and Ulf for protection. Lay in supplies. You have water but you must protect it. I will send Bolli. He is building a drekar for me. He can build one for you too. Have your men cut down trees so that you have wood for your ship and you can see further. Remember these are our people we fight. They are good at what they do. These are not a Saxon warband.”

  The normally ebullient and cheerful Windar looked sad. “This land is perfect. I would not have it spoiled by an enemy who took all that we have worked and striven for.”

  “Then we fight for it. These may be our people who come but they are not of our heart.”

  The extra days we had spent with Arturus and Windar meant that the first winds of winter began to whip across the land bringing sleet and biting rain. I was glad to get into the relative warmth of my fort. It had been ten days since we had left but Bolli had done well and the hull of the drekar was tied up close to my hall. It was undergoing the vital soaking which would make it watertight and show if there were any leaks. He and Kara greeted me. Kara’s face showed me that she had spoken with her mother’s spirit. “I will speak with you later, father. I know we both have much to tell each other.” She smiled at Bolli. “Your young shipwright has done well.”

  Bolli looked pleased at Kara’s words. She was a young woman but she had an old head upon her shoulders. “The drekar looks fine. I like the eagle prow.”

  “It is not a dragon but it seems right somehow. We will step the mast in the next few days. Have you a crew yet?”

  “We have but Rolf will need to refine his choice. When that is done you must do the same for Windar on his Mere. War is coming from the east and we need your landlocked drekar more than ever.” I gave him five of the gold pieces we had received for the holy book. “Here is payment.” He shook his head but I pressed the coins into his hand. “The gods like things to be paid for one way or another. I would prefer it in coin to men’s lives.”

  Kara was waiting for me. She poured me some ale as I told her of what I had learned. “Mother’s Spirit warned me of her brother. She is unhappy as is her mother and Prince Butar.” She pointed across the Water to the storm clouds above the Old Man. “The weather shows their anger. It will soon descend upon Mann.”

  “We need to make arrangements for the farmers to have somewhere to live within our walls. When war comes I do not want families to suffer.”

  She pointed across the water. “There is much land over there. The men have been clearing the woods to provide grazing. The cattle and the pigs are prospering. We can use the wood to build some halls. Until the people need them they can be used to provide shelter, this winter, for the animals. The more animals we have the more people we can feed. The new bull and the ram like it here and they have many fine young. You chose well.”

  I took Aiden and we visited Pasgen. It was vital that he, Siggi, Trygg and Sven knew what the dangers would be. “We now have enemies all around us and you will be amongst the first to know of them. I do not want you to risk your ships. If you cannot be safe here then sail to Thorkell’s Stead. The river there and his warriors will protect you. Pasgen you must lay in food and make this morsel too difficult for our enemies to digest. I believe that they will come for me. I am the target. Like our other outposts I would like you to build beacons in the forest. If we have a line from Úlfarrston to Cyninges-tūn then we can have warning of danger and we can come to your aid.”

  Pasgen was as loyal a man as any of my Ulfheonar. He was not of our people but he was of our heart and I could rely on him totally.

  Usually our winters were spent making small but precious objects and filling in the long nights of darkness. That winter, the Wet Winter as it became known, we worked all day in the driving rain and sleet which never seemed to abate. Ditches were dug and sown with sharpened stakes. Halls were built. Drainage channels were created. All the work moved the forest away from our walls and we were safer. When night came, we were too tired for anything other than sleep.

  Thorkell visited us before midwinter. The rain made travelling uncomfortable. Had it been snow and ice then it would have been impossible. He told us that he had more men now for many settlers were fleeing from the wars in the islands. The young king there was fighting for his life against the King Of Norway and the men of Dál Riata. Our attack had shifted the eyes of those warriors to the north and not the south. We had visited there at just the right time. Thorkell lived too far away for beacons to serve and so I gave him two of the better horses so that he could send us a message if danger threatened from the north.

  The one luxury we enjoyed was the new sweat hut of Aiden. We could seat ten warriors in there and it became something we did each day. As we sat sweating it seemed to clear our minds as well as our bodies. I noticed that when warriors left the hut they were happier. There were more jokes and we had far less fights. Warriors are filled with aggression. The sweat hut released it. When war came my warriors would be ready to face whatever treachery our foes threw at us.

  Chapter 16

  I spent the winter becoming stronger. I worked on my weakened shoulder. The sweat hut helped. I also enjoyed the feeling of clean skin. Kara took to trimming my hair and beard. I liked the way it made me feel and when I looked in the Waters I liked the way I looked. Kara had learned to make oils and lotions from herbs so that I smelled as I had in Constantinopolis. I had worried what other warriors would think but now I cared not. I was Jarl Dragon Heart. I looked different and I ruled differently. I was a mixture of the old people and the Saxons and I had been raised by the Norse. There was no one like me.

  Rolf and Aiden worked all winter to improve the defences of our two settlements. I visited Pasgen to see how his work went. Our new drekar, ‘Eagle’ was crewed by the men who worked in the two settlements. She would only be needed in times of war. Until then she had two boys and old Einar Salt Hair as a crew. They were more than capable of sailing her up and down the Water. There was rarely a need to hurry and our well designed ships could almost sail against the wind. The skills which Ei
nar passed on to the boys would be invaluable. Einar had sailed with Olaf and Prince Butar when he had been a young man and he missed sailing. The two boys wanted to sail on ‘Heart’ and were keen to learn from Einar. More often than not they had a crew of eight or ten for there was little else to do in winter. In the summer the experience would be invaluable.

  Bolli had laid down the hull of the ship on Windar’s Mere but the rains had slowed down the work. They guaranteed we would not be surprised. Every low lying piece of ground was turned into a quagmire or a new pool. The ditches which defended us became small rivers. We had to build causeways to enable people to move around. But we were safer. The gods smiled on us and the spirits protected us still.

  Haaken became a father again and Cnut’s wife had twins. It was taken as a good omen and the Ulfheonar celebrated for two days at the midwinter solstice. In the days following the celebration they did not drink as much as normal; we knew that after the winter war would come to our land and we had to be ready. The four of us spent time working out the numbers of warriors we had and how they would be used.

  “Arturus needs more men. They do not need to be mailed warriors but he needs archers and slingers. He needs men who can stand on his walls.”

  Aiden had a piece of parchment. On it were the names of every man who could hold a weapon. “He has the men from the local farms but there are some warriors who have been training here with Rolf; six warriors and four archers. They came as four families last year, Jarl and they have neither land nor animals.” He pointed to the southern end of our Water. “There is good land some seven miles inland from our Water. It is on the other side of Grize’s Dale. Crost could farm there and become part of the garrison in times of need. Rolf says he is a good warrior.”

  “When we have finished then take me to him and I will give him some animals.” Haaken looked at me as though surprised. “If he is willing to fight for us then I am willing to give him some of my animals.”

  “We do not have enough men if they all attack at the same time, Jarl. There are just not enough warriors.”

  “How many horses and ponies do we have Aiden?”

  “We have more ponies than horses but I would say we have thirty animals. Some are needed for messengers, of course.”

  “Then we keep twenty five Ulfheonar as relief for wherever gets attacked.”

  “We cannot fight on horseback.”

  I laughed, “And we do not need to. Windar’s Mere and Cherchebi are between two hours and a half days away on foot. By horse we can reach any of those places in an hour. If the beacons work we could arrive there at the same time as the enemy.” They all nodded for it made sense to them. “The weak spot is Cherchebi, for we have a drekar on the Mere and the Water which can watch for the enemy. Arturus could be attacked from two directions.”

  “But he has the fort which is easiest to defend.”

  “And that is why I want more men for him. I will visit with Crost.”

  The raids to Thorkell’s land had resulted in many families coming south where they thought it was safer and, I suspect, to be closer to me, Kara and the Ulfheonar. Crost was one such warrior. He was not young. He had fought alongside Prince Butar, but his sons were strong warriors. He and his family were in one of the huts Kara had had built in the western village. Crost and his sons were fletching and the women were spinning when I visited them. They stood as I entered. “No, carry on with your tasks I just need to speak with Crost.”

  “Have I offended you Jarl?”

  “No, Crost, but you can help me out.”

  “Whatever I can do, I will.”

  “My son commands the fort twenty miles from here.” He nodded. “He has just fifty men he can call upon to defend his fort. I have it in my mind to give you a parcel of land a few miles from his fort and some animals. You and your family would have the safety of the fort should danger come and my son would have the benefit of fine warriors to defend it. What say you?”

  “We moved here, Jarl, because I did not want to put my family in danger.”

  “Where I have in mind is between here and Cherchebi. It should be safer. You will have a fort on either side of you and the land there is good farmland.” I saw the doubts upon his face. “Will you ride with me tomorrow and look at the land?”

  “And if I say no?”

  I smiled, “You know me Crost; I am the jarl who asks. I do not command. If you stay here then I will be happy for you will defend my walls and I will ask another to farm the land.”

  “Then I will come with you, Jarl Dragon Heart.”

  Haaken came with us and we rode three of the new horses. As soon as he saw the land Crost was impressed. There was a fine stream which ran through it but it was neither boggy nor rocky. When we found the spring with the ancient altar and the standing stones he was convinced. “This is wyrd, Jarl Dragon Heart for my family has always made offerings to the god Icaunus and this spring is dedicated to his memory.”

  “Then when the weather improves we will return here and build a hall for you. This waite shall be Crost’s Waite.”

  He shook his head. “The ground is not frozen. I shall bring my brothers and my sons. We will have a hall here within the month.”

  He was as good as his word and the extra warriors made me that much happier about Arturus’ isolation. Haaken and I carried on to Cherchebi. I would visit with my son. He had grown even more during the short days of winter. He now had an assured confidence about him. His warriors also looked to have grown up too. They were not the callow youths we had taken to Hrossey. They reminded me of me and my Ulfheonar for Haaken, Cnut and I had begun the cult when we were even younger than Arturus was. I envied my son and the Wild Boars their time together.

  “You are happy here, Arturus?”

  “Yes Jarl. I feel I belong amongst these warriors.” We were standing in one of his towers looking south. He had a view which, on a clear day, took in the sea and the treacherous sands that lay there. He gave me a shy smile, “Some of the decisions I have to make do not sit well.”

  “You cannot have favourites amongst your oathsworn. You owe all of them the same duty.”

  “But you favour Haaken and Cnut.”

  “How?”

  “You choose those two for the most difficult of tasks and put them in the most dangerous places in battle.”

  I nodded. “They are the most experienced. They are the only two who are left from the original seven Ulfheonar. I also use Sigtrygg when I need a stalwart Ulfheonar who will hold the line. I use Snorri and Beorn to scout because no-one is better than they are.” I smiled at him. “Much as I used you as a third scout when I could. That is not playing favourites, that is good leadership, using the skills of all of my men. It is why Rolf now guards my home. He cannot fight in a shield wall but he is as loyal and brave as any and I know that Kara and my people will be safe.”

  He nodded and stroked his beard. Like me he kept it neatly trimmed. “Now I see the error of my ways.”

  “You are young and you will make mistakes. I did too but your men will forgive mistakes now for they matter not. When our enemies come then you cannot make mistakes. They will cost your oathsworn their lives. I feel the loss of every oathsworn as though I had lost a brother.”

  “They will come here, will they not?”

  “Aye. Aiden and I have looked at the maps.” I pointed south. “The sands in the bay to the south are deadly. If the enemy land there then they will never reach here.” I pointed to the south east. “Magnus and Ragnar will come from that direction.” Shifting my finger a little more to the east I said, “Rorik, and he will be the most dangerous, will come from there. Sihtric and Erik will come from the west. They could come from the direction of Úlfarrston or Itunocelum. The beacons are vital. I am mounting my Ulfheonar; it is not to fight it is to get here quickly. Crost and the other new fighters must be summoned, with their families to this fort. You have to wait behind its wooden walls.”

  “I do not fight?”


  “No, you defend.” I saw the disappointment on his face. “You see yourself leading your warriors into battle and defeating Rorik.” The sudden look of surprise told me that I had guessed correctly. “If these were Saxons, the men of Eanred, then you might be correct. Few of them have mail and they are not the warriors we command. The three kings who come here, Rorik, Magnus and Ragnar are all like us. They have smaller armies but they are all armoured and well trained. It will be like fighting your own men.”

  “But our men are better!”

  “I know but we will be outnumbered.” I pointed to the marshy ground and the then the ridge rising away to the south and the east. “The gods have chosen this for you to defend. There is game yonder?”

  “Aye, some.”

  “Enough to feed an army?”

  He shook his head. “There is enough for us or we go to the forests of Grizes’s Dale.” He pointed to the north west.

  “Then either the enemy bring their own food or they starve. If you have the farmers in here with their animals then they will starve. They may well leave you while they move further towards our homes.” I laughed. “If they do then we will have won. We know the trails and the paths. We can ambush them and whittle down their numbers. That is my intent. I will wear them down until I can bring together all of our forces and defeat them.”

  Understanding filled his face and then he frowned. “But you will be attacked by Sihtric and Erik.”

  “And that is why you must hold here and keep the men watching ready to light the beacons. Rorik and the others think they have devised a cunning plan but they will find great difficulty in launching their attacks at exactly the same time. When they do attack I will summon reinforcements from Thorkell and Windar. So now you can see why you must hold. You are the dam which will hold back the flood.”

  “I will not let you down.”