by Hosker,Griff
The Battle For A Home
Book 3 in the
Norman Genesis Series
By
Griff Hosker
Published by Sword Books Ltd 2016
Copyright © Griff Hosker First Edition
The author has asserted their moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
All Rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the copyright holder, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
Cover by Design for Writers
Thanks to Simon Walpole for the Artwork.
Dedication
To my first grandson, Thomas Griffith Hosker. Have a good life and a long life.
Prologue
It had been almost half a year since we had returned from Dyflin where we had fought for Gunnstein Berserk Killer and defeated the High King of Hibernia. I had come back rich and with much honour amongst the warriors of my clan. I had thought that my life would have been better. In many ways it was. The slave I had freed, Mary, had become much closer to me and was now happy in my home. Gilles, the Viking slave whom I had rescued, was growing into a fine warrior and he cared for my herd of horses well. We had started with three and now the two new foals meant we had five. I also had ponies we had captured. My life should have been perfect... but it was not.
It was, in many ways, my own fault. I had fought a Hibernian champion and defeated him. Ulf Big Nose had too but he had suffered a wound in that fight. He lived, like a hermit, in the western part of the island. He rarely visited the stad. When I visited the village all the young men in the village went out of their way to try to fight me and defeat the Hibernian killer. After the third fight in as many weeks I had stopped travelling to the stad where Jarl Gunnar Thorfinnson ruled. I had defeated the young men and there had been no blood but I knew that it would only be a matter of time. My friends and fellow warriors, Siggi White Hair, Erik One Hand, Arne Four Toes and Rurik One Ear had all tried to persuade me to return but I declined. I had no need. Now that Gilles had grown he could visit to fetch more sewing for Mary and to trade for that which we needed. It was easier to stay at my home in the north and to keep conflict away.
In truth it was not difficult for me. We had the brothers Sigurd and Skutal Einarsson who lived with their families in the bay below my headland. They fished and called me Hersir. Their wives dried fish and as Mary made cheese and ale we had food a plenty. There was much game for us. Gilles and I would hunt together. We were comfortable but it annoyed me that I could not visit my friends without a fight ensuing. I was not afraid of them but the Jarl's brother had shown that if there was conflict in the clan then it could escalate and lead to tragedy. He and almost all of his crew had perished in the land of the Franks. I had rescued a handful only. That had been a harsh lesson to learn. It had changed Jarl Gunnar Thorfinnson. He had married the daughter of the jarl of Dyflin and that had changed him more. The most disappointing aspect of it all was the Jarl's attitude. He did nothing about it. He was now besotted with his wife, the daughter of Gunnstein Berserk Killer. She had given him a son and was with child for a second time. He dismissed the fights as unimportant. It was as though all that I had done for him and his family was for nought.
And so I would sit at night and look north to the land of the Franks. Could I find a home there perhaps? It was a dream. I had had the dream since I had visited the witch with Jarl Dragonheart and Aiden the galdramenn. It never left me. However I knew that if I went alone then I would die. The Franks both loathed and feared us. If I went there I would need to go with others, like myself. I would need brothers with whom I could fight and protect a new home. Why should they leave this island which was like paradise? It was a dream only and one I kept to myself. When I had enough coin and treasure then I would travel to Cyninges-tūn and have Bolli the shipwright make me a drekar. When I had my own dragon ship then I would make my home.
Chapter 1
My days were filled with my horses. Gilles and I worked hard to train them to the saddle. The ponies could be used to carry and to pull but the horses were there to be ridden. Since we had used the stiraps I had begun to work out how to fight on a horse. It would be the secret to defeating the Franks. They used their horses to control large parts of their land. They could not defeat a well organized shield wall but they could stop a war band from moving. So far I had two of us who could ride well, Gilles and me. I dreamed of a time when I would have many warriors who could ride. We could still fight in a shield wall but there were times when horses would give us an advantage. A good warrior always sought an advantage. As far as I knew I was the only Viking who thought this way. We could all ride but we never fought from the backs of horses; there was just me.
It had been some time since I had seen Ulf Big Nose. The two of us had a special bond. He had taken me under his wing and helped me to become a skilful scout. I was not as good as Ulf but then, apart from Snorri and Beorn the Scout, of the Wolf Clan, I knew of no one else who was that good. I decided to visit with him. I could talk to Ulf and perhaps his age and wisdom might give me an answer. I saddled Dream Strider. He was my stallion and had been my first horse. We understood each other.
Gilles asked, "Would you have me come with you, master?"
Despite the fact that he was free he continued to call me master. I could not shake the habit from his lips, "No, Gilles. Mary has goods she needs taking to the stad."
As I mounted Mary came out of my hall. She had her own quarters within them. She had been the daughter of a noble but she was becoming used to our cruder ways. "Here, Hrolf." She had finally taken to using my name and, if truth be told, I enjoyed the sound on her lips. It was soft and pleasant.
"Yes Mary?"
She handed me a wicker basket covered with a piece of linen. "If you are going to Ulf Big Nose I have some fresh cheese, warm bread and I pickled some fish for him. He must tire of game and wild berries."
"I do not think he gives it much thought but I know he enjoys your cheese and your fish. This was thoughtful."
She smiled, "Ulf is one of the few who was kind to me. I can count on the fingers of one hand those who like me."
"But the ones who do like you hold you in great esteem! The ones who do not... they are nithing!" I whistled, "Come Nipper." Nipper was my dog and a close companion of my horse. The two enjoyed running together. He was also the best ratter on the island and few of our stores were lost to those sneaky rodents.
I had not ridden Dream Strider for some days as we had been working with the two foals. I gave him his head. It was as much for me as for him. I rode due west knowing it would take me past Ulf's home. I would enjoy the ride. The sea, to the north, was grey and uninviting. It was still Gói and it would be some time before the sea became gentler. The Jarl had shown no signs of wanting to go A-Viking. We had returned from war both rich and better armed. That was another reason the younger men had taken to challenging me. Until the Jarl took a ship raiding then they would have no opportunity to either prove themselves or improve their weapons.
When Dream Strider began to sweat heavily I slowed down and turned around to find Ulf's hall. Hall was the wrong word for Ulf's home. We had recovered one of the hulls of the Frankish ships which had raided us and been sunk. We had carried it to Ulf's home where he had used six
timbers to support it and then used sods to build up the walls. With just one door it was both dark and gloomy but it was warm and Ulf seemed to enjoy the stygian darkness. As he once told me he only used it for sleeping or when the weather was too bad to sleep outdoors.
I smelled the smoke from his hall as I neared it. He would have both smelled and heard me long ago. His nose and hearing were legendary. I reined in and dismounted to allow Dream Strider to cool down. Nipper raced off. Ulf always had some treat for him.
By the time I arrived Nipper was gnawing on a bone and Ulf was adding wood to the fire. He grinned when he saw me. "I smelled the bread some time ago. Tell me you have cheese and you are doubly welcome."
"I have bread, cheese and Mary's pickled fish."
"With dill?"
"With dill."
"Then I am a happy man. Come and sit. I have a brew here you might like."
I took off Dream Strider's saddle and allowed him to wander and graze in the lush grass close to Ulf's hall. As he went into it I saw that his limp was as bad as just after the fight. He would never move as quickly as he might wish.
He returned with a jug. It was a crudely made clay one and I suspected he had made it himself. He handed me a horn and poured some. It was a dark red liquid. "Wine?"
He shook his head, "Where would I get grapes? I used the brambles and elderberries. I found that if you leave them for three moons and then strain off the liquid it is a warm and pleasant drink. I put the berries on my land and it helps the plants to grow. Taste it and tell me your thoughts."
It was more than warming, it almost burned as it went down but it was not an unpleasant taste. "This is an unusual taste. I like it."
He was pleased. I saw it in his eyes for his mouth rarely smiled. "Good and what brings you to visit this old man? You did not think to bring me cheese and bread. That was Mary."
"I have not seen you in some time."
"You have seen few save your own people for some time. Siggi White Hair came early in Þorri. He said you shun the stad."
I nodded. "Every young warrior wished to fight me."
"It came with your victory. You have a name."
"Dragonheart did not have young men trying to challenge him."
"Oh, you win one fight and you are a new Dragonheart!"
"I did not mean that but he won many battles. Why did no one challenge him?"
"They may have done when he was young, I do not know. We only sailed with him for a couple of seasons. You will hide away forever?"
"I do not know."
He topped up my horn. "You still dream of a land amongst the Franks?"
Was he reading my mind? Then I remembered that when we had scouted in the land of the Franks there had been no secrets. He knew of my hopes. "I do but I cannot see how I would manage to do so."
"You are oathsworn."
"I know and the warriors I would wish to take with me are oathsworn too. I cannot see how my dream will come true."
Ulf looked up at the sky and raised his horn. "That is out of our hands. The Gods and the Norns decide that." He looked away to the north as though remembering something from his past. "We all have dreams. Sometimes they are shattered and sometimes they come true. You need to see what the Norns have spun." He smiled, "The Jarl made us both hersir. The difference is I am hersir of this but you have the Einarsson brothers and their families. They are your people. Perhaps you are being tested to see if you can lead. You can learn to give commands. I know it does not sit well with you but if you are to have a home on the mainland then you will need men to do your bidding. You must learn to command."
Ulf was wise. I had not used my mind. I had been bemoaning my lot and that was not how I had grown up. I had dreamed of freedom and Jarl Dragonheart had given that to me. I dreamed of a home on the mainland where I could raise horses. I had to believe that I could attain that too. But Ulf was right, I needed to be ready.
"Do you have all that you need here?"
"I am comfortable. I was always the scout and always alone. You were the only one I could tolerate when I scouted. The day that you and I fought the Hibernians I knew that the Weird Sisters had twisted our threads together. When we raid again then you and I will scout. Until then I stay here and I carve bone."
I knew that he enjoyed the skill of carving. "What have you made?"
"I make combs to trade when I need supplies but I am working on this." He opened his leather bag and took out a horse. It was Dream Strider. "When you have children then your son can have this. It is far from finished yet." He gave it to me. It was beautifully carved and he had the details of Dream Strider in perfect proportion.
I put it in my leather pouch. "Children? I do not even have a wife yet!"
He laughed, "Of course you do! The whole of the clan know it save you and perhaps the woman."
"You have lived alone too long Ulf Big Nose and lost your mind. I have no woman."
"And Mary? What is she?"
"We share a house."
"Yet she cooks for you. She cares for your animals and your stad when you are away. If you shared her bed then she would be your woman in every sense. Why have you not done so? She is fair. Most of the men in the clan would have lain with her long ago. Why have you not?"
For once I was stuck dumb. I could not think of an answer.
He smiled, "This is your riddle and you must wrestle with it."
I stayed until late afternoon. It was good to talk with someone like Ulf. He told me stories of raids before I had joined the clan of how he and Siggi White Hair had protected the Jarl. I knew that he and Siggi were close but his stories told me that they had always been not only close but the protectors of the Jarl. Perhaps that was why he hid away. Like me he had been ignored. He seemed to think that was a better time for the warriors had been fewer but they had been closer. "Sometimes I think we have grown too successful, Hrolf. It is not the same."
As I rode back to my hall I thought on his words. I knew why I had not done as he had suggested. Mary was still fragile. She was Frank and not Norse. She had been brought up differently. Her future had been to be the wife of a noble and not live in a crude hut with a barbarian. She had been so distraught that I had had to bring her back from a cliff where she had contemplated death. I did find her comely but I would do nothing about it. If the Norns wished me to then they would send me a sign.
Ulf had also given me a comb for Mary and she was overjoyed when I gave it to her. Ulf's work was always beautifully decorated. He had great skill. Mary said, "Why has he decorated it with a horse?"
"That is my sign. I am Hrolf the Horseman and I have one on my shield."
She frowned, "I thought you freed me. Is this the brand of a thrall?"
"If you think so then give it to me and I will use it!"
She shook her head and said, "No, it is a kind gift."
There was an embarrassed silence until Gilles said, "The Jarl's new drekar is ready. He has taken the knarr to go to Dyflin with his wife, his hearth weru and some of the younger warriors. There are more men who wish to join the clan in Dyflin. They are close to Jarl Gunnstein and wish to serve his daughter and her husband. They will be the crew who will sail her."
"He does not take Siggi White Hair, Sven the Helmsman or Harold Fast Sailing?"
Gilles shook his head. "They were unhappy about that. Erik One Hand said that since he took a wife he seems less interested in the warriors he once led." He shrugged, "It was only what I heard."
"What care you? We are happy enough here." Mary had regained her composure.
"He is the Jarl and I am still oathsworn to him. He is the heart of the clan and the clan hold us all together. If he loses the loyalty of his warriors then we are doomed. We are only strong so long as we stay together."
She shook her head, "I hear your words, Hrolf the Horseman, but I do not understand them. Do you Gilles?"
"I am Norse and I do. Since I came here I have felt part of something and the master is right. We must be as
one for the world hates all Vikings. We are surrounded by a sea of enemies."
The day had made my mind a maelstrom and I did not sleep well. However Ulf's words had made me think and I went to see Sigurd and Skutal early the next morning before they went to fish. Our bay was sheltered and, often, they did not need to sail to catch fish. They had made fish traps which made their lives easier. They were able to catch them on the tide. So it was that I found them outside their huts gutting fish which they would either smoke or pickle. They both had fecund wives and there were now six children helping them.
They stood when I approached, "Hersir. Do you wish for some fish?"
"No Skutal, I just came to see you and your family. We live so close and yet I rarely see you."
"We are grateful that you allow us to live so close."
I nodded, "It was wyrd." I pointed to the mainland. "Do you see much of the Franks who live yonder when you fish?"
"They rarely come close to this island, Hersir. I think the bones of their ships and the haunted farmhouse make them afraid."
"But one day they may forget their fear and return. You and your families are close to the water here. If an enemy came then you would be in danger."
"But none do come, lord."
"But they may. I would have you and your brother help me to build a wall up there, by my hall, so that if danger threatens we will have a refuge."
"You would have us do this now, lord?"
"No. Laugardagr will do. Your wives will be busy and you could have your boys help us. We would need stones from the beach. I will bring my ponies to help us haul them."
Sigurd smiled, "They will like that. They enjoy watching your horses."
"I will see you then."
As I walked back up the hill I began to look at the land around my hall as though I was someone intent on harm. When the Franks had last come they had been stopped on the shingle slope. They had slipped as they had tried to charge and a handful of men had defeated them. We had been lucky. Had they come at night we would have had no warning. I had lived among the Franks and knew how they built their defences. They used ditches and stone. As I came up the hill I saw the haunted farmhouse first. We would not touch that. It would bring bad luck. I had built my hall on a slightly higher rise with a small bank behind for shelter. My horses were in a dell to the east of my hall. I could not build a wall which would be big enough for those too. I needed to protect my people. Ulf had shown me that I needed to be a leader. A leader thought of his people first.