by Hosker,Griff
We were in sombre mood as we headed east towards Ċiriċeburh. Sven took in a reef or two for we were travelling quickly. As we neared the stronghold I smell burning. Ulf Big Nose would have smelled it many miles since. I sprang to the steerboard side. I peered to the coast and saw a thin haze of buildings which had been burned and were now ash. I pointed, "It is Ċiriċeburh! It has been sacked!"
For us this was a disaster. We had counted on the grain from their harvest. Now it looked as though no one was left alive. I saw dead warriors littered before the citadel. We had not brought mail but we had brought our shields, helmets and swords.
"Let us arm ourselves and go ashore. Sven, be ready to take us out quickly."
The knarr drew more water than a drekar and we landed chest deep in the sea. Luckily we had no armour and we waded ashore. With swords drawn the five of us approached the beach. Who could have raided? The bodies we passed were the Franks. I saw that the citadel had been burned. There was little left of it. "Rurik and Arne, check the woods. Erik and Gunnar come with me and we will see if any live."
We ascended up the ramp to the burned gate. I found more bodies of dead Franks. As we made our way to the hall I saw that they had been outnumbered but fought to the end. I found Baldred by the warrior hall. He had been gutted like a fish. I could see they had done it after he had died. From the blood around him he had taken many enemies with him. I felt sad. I could have worked with Baldred and now he was gone. There was no one left alive.
We headed back to the others. I saw that they had found people. There were not many. Rurik and Arne did not speak their language and the women and children who survived looked terrified. I smiled, "Erik go and fetch food from the knarr. These will need it."
"Aye hersir."
"What happened?"
It was an older woman who spoke. I remembered her from our first visit when her steely glare defied us. "The men of Vannes came! They pretended to come as friends with warnings of Viking raiders. Baldred did not believe them but the priests said these were Christians and were to be trusted. They killed our warriors and took our women and children as slaves. We few are all that remain. We fled to the woods. They took our crops and they took our animals. There will be no food to see us through the winter. We will starve."
I shook my head. "My men will bring you food now. If I can then I will return and bring you more food. Stay here. I am certain a lord will come to your aid. If not ... I may return."
The woman, who looked old enough to be my mother, gripped my and kissed it, "I know you are a pagan and a barbarian but you are our only hope. If you do not return then I fear you will find bones."
I nodded, "You follow the White Christ. Do not give up hope."
As we left I saw Bertrand, the boy I had spared. He had hidden in the woods when we had approached. He had learned to be wary of strangers; even those who had been kind to him. He waved as we left.
We boarded the knarr. I had offered hope to the Franks but there was an air of defeat on the knarr. We had counted on the wheat we would have taken as tribute. Even as we sailed east I began to plan how to feed my family and the other families. We needed bread and the few crops of oats we grew would not keep us through the winter. We needed a Thing.
The fact that we returned so quickly and sailed so high in the water told any who watched that we had failed. Sven the Helmsman smiled, "At least we know we made a good knarr."
"She is sound. Will you begin work on the drekar?"
"I will." Sven stared south. "Perhaps we could trade for wheat."
"That looks to be the only solution."
I left Sven and Harold to fend off questions from Skutal and Sigurd as I went with Rurik and Arne up to the hall. I saw, by the water, the rest of the men as they laboured to build Bagsecg's new home and smith by the water. There was just Gilles and Einar by the hall. I waved to them and then went alone to speak with Jarl Siggi. The two slave girls were by his bed as was Mary. His eyes were closed.
"How is he?"
He opened his eyes and gave me a wan smile, "Ask me yourself. Your wife and these two little ones have the hands of a healer. I have not coughed for some time and I feel no pain."
Mary who was on the other side of him gave a slight shake of her head. I forced a smile, "Good then you shall soon be up and about and ready to lead us once more."
"Did they have the tribute ready?"
You did not lie to a dying man nor did you lie to an old friend. "The men were all dead. They were raided by the men of Vannes. The harvest was taken."
He closed his eyes, "I am a failure then. I had thought to leave a legacy for my people. I have never had children but I thought to be as a kind father who leaves his children hope when he has gone."
"You are not a failure." I took a deep breath. "Jarl Siggi, the Franks who are left in Ċiriċeburh look to us for help. That is your legacy. I would hold a Thing. I have it in my mind to move the clan to the haugr where first we raided."
He opened his eyes. "There is a monastery on the island. Would their King allow it?"
"We are Vikings still. I think we could hold the haugr even if assailed but I also think we could live at peace with our neighbours. It was what Jarl Gunnar and you tried here with the men of Vannes. Perhaps this time it will hold. Do I have your permission to speak with the men this night?"
"Aye you have." He closed his eyes.
Mary said, "But you will need to send Gilles for Ulf. He left for his home again. He was an angry man when he left."
"We thought to buy grain."
He nodded, although his eyes remained closed, "That is good. I cannot fight and I cannot even rise but I can use my gold. I give my gold to the clan. Use it to buy grain. I fear I shall never spend it more."
"I thank you for the clan. I will leave you now Jarl. Know that I will do all in my power to hold the clan together until you are well again."
"I know. It is wyrd."
Mary followed me out. "He is still dying. Morag knew of a distillation which stops pain. It does not cure. She used the nightshade."
"But that is a poison!"
"She gave a very mild dose but it appears to work. Beneath the furs he is bones. The slaves told me he has not been eating of late but he drank a great deal. That is another sign of the coughing sickness. The Jarl may not last more than three days."
I suddenly remembered the baby. "Will this harm our child?"
She smiled, "It is a good thing for Christ will bless us for our kindness. Our child is fine. This will pass and he will grow."
"He?"
"I know not for certain but in my dreams of late I only see a boy."
"But you are a Christian."
"And a Christian can dream too. Our priest told us a story from the Bible where a holy man dreamed for the King of Egypt. If it is in the Bible then it is good."
I nodded. There was still a little of the pagan in my wife. Once outside I shouted, "Gilles, go and fetch Ulf. We must hold a Thing. Take a horse with you. And be careful. Watch out for the others. I fear they are our enemies. Tell Ulf the Franks were destroyed by the men of Vannes. There is no grain."
Our men laboured until after dark and then made their weary way up the hill. I used the horn to summon those who were not at my hall. The space we used was the one before the old farmhouse, now the quarters for the slaves. Mary had used the Jarl's slaves to help her make bread. It used up more of our precious store of wheat and oats but the people needed feeding. Seara and Anya brought dried fish and the families ate while we spoke.
Gilles and Ulf had not arrived. I felt that we had to begin. With the jarl unable to leave his bed it was my duty as Hersir to begin.
"Jarl Siggi is still too ill to leave his bed but he has given me permission to hold this Thing. The men of Vannes have destroyed the Frankish burgh. We have no grain." Murmurings began and so I stepped from the middle inviting someone else to speak.
Beorn Beornsson stepped forward, "We have granaries at the old stad. Why do we not go and fetch
them?"
Bagsecg shook his head as he stepped forward, "We would have to fight for them and men would die. I am happy to die for the clan but who would fed my family if I died?"
Harold Fast Sailing looked at me and I nodded, "We could buy grain. We have gold and what good is gold if you are starving?"
"Jarl Siggi told me to spend his gold on grain."
That brought nods and smiles. The women looked relieved. They could not speak at a Thing but they could use their ears. Just then we heard the sound of hooves and we looked up to see Ulf and Gilles. They dismounted and, dropping the reins came to join us.
I told them what we had just decided. Ulf nodded and stepped forward, "I have spent the night and the day thinking of our problem. There are not many of us left from the crew which first left Ljoðhús all those years ago. Jarl Siggi and I are the oldest of them. We were younger men when we left. We travelled to the Land of the Wolf and it was good. Jarl Gunnar sought greener grass and we found Raven Wing Island and this has been good. I thought to end my days here. I like my hall and my solitude and I like the company of the people here." He gave a rare smile, "When I choose to have company."
Men laughed for we all knew his ways. He was like the hedgehog. His prickles kept people away.
"However if I think of the clan and not myself then I know that the clan must leave this island. We have enemies whose hearts have become black. I do not trust those who live to the south of us and if Frisians come... well we all know how treacherous they can be." He turned to me, "Hrolf the Horseman here has had a dream. He dreams of a home in Frankia. He dreams of a home where Viking warriors ride horses. I thought it was foolish until we went to the haugr and then Ċiriċeburh. If the Norns have, as I believe they have, been spinning once more then the destruction of Ċiriċeburh by the men of Vannes is a sign. I believe that the clan should go there and begin a new life."
He stepped back.
Bagsecg stepped forward, "We have just moved here! We have fled from danger and you say we fly to an unknown danger."
Ulf said nothing and I said nothing.
Skutal Einarsson stepped forward, "You may be right, Bagsecg. My brother and I brought our families here from the other bay and we have been happy here. We have our fish traps. We can live alone and yet Hrolf the Horseman and others are here to protect us should we need it. But even though I say this and I am happy here I would go to the haugr. I have told my brother that it is a better place for us to fish. We could farm the sea there and there would be a greater bounty from Ran. I would go with the hersir."
Rurik stepped forward, "And I!"
Others joined him and then Sven the Helmsman said, "We have used his name overmuch but Hrolf the Horseman has been silent when men have spoken his thoughts. I would like to hear them."
I was aware of Mary watching me carefully as I stepped forward. Everyone was listening and time seemed to have stood still. I knew that this was a propitious moment. I thought back to that cave and the witch. I heard her words to Jarl Dragonheart as though I was back in the cave. 'You have saved this child and he has a line which stretches into the future. His family will be remembered long after you are dead, Jarl Dragonheart, but they will not know that they would have been nothing without the Viking slave who changed the world. Your time with him is coming to an end.' I remembered my dream. None of this was my doing. I was following the thread the Norns had spun for me. It is said that if you break a Norn's thread then you end your life. I had no choice.
"When I served the Dragonheart I dreamed in a witch's cave. The dream showed me living not on an island but in a land where horses could run. I believe I have seen that land. Franks live there now. When Dragonheart went to the land of the Wolf there were Saxons there and the old people. Jarl Dragonheart lives amongst them. I would live in the land by the haugr. I would live in the land of the horse."
Silence followed my words and then, one by one the men nodded. The last to do so was Ulf Big Nose. "Then until Jarl Siggi is well Hrolf and I will lead the clan."
"Aye. And we will use Jarl Siggi's coin to buy wheat but we must also help Sven make the new drekar."
Bagsecg, who was no sailor, asked, "Why? What is wrong with 'Raven's Wing'?"
"She is old and she is frail. I fear she had the worm. Hrolf is right we need a new drekar."
Bagsecg nodded, "Then I see that this is wyrd. We are meant to begin anew. I thought I had ceased changing but I see that is not so."
The Thing over men stood and spoke. I turned to Ulf. "Jarl Siggi has not got long to spend in this world."
"I know. I could smell death when last I spoke with him. It is why I left. I did not want to see my brother in arms rot away. He should have died in battle."
"We need you, Ulf Big Nose!"
"For a while, perhaps, but I am here for a purpose and that purpose is to see you lead this clan to a new life. When that is done I will return to my home on the island and end my days hunting."
"But the Frisians!"
He shook his head, "We have scouted together and you know my skill. When I can no longer hide from Frisians or the likes of the Erikssons then I deserve to die. Do not fear for me."
But I did fear for him. Siggi and Ulf were like two fathers who had shown me how to grow into a man. If Siggi died and Ulf stayed on the island I would be without a guide.
I did not go to trade. I gave that task to Gilles. He could speak with the Franks and those who lived south of the Liger. Skutal and Sigurd crewed for Harold Fast Sailing and we gave them a small chest of coins. "Buy whatever grain you can. Buy as much as you can. Return quickly."
Gilles had grown and he clasped my arm as warriors do, "I will not let the clan down, lord. I would live in the land of the Franks and ride behind your banner."
Ulf also stayed to help us build the drekar. The days of Haustmánuður were filled with the hammering and chopping of a whole clan trying to build its future on the water. 'Raven's Wing' watched us from our mooring in the middle of the bay. I found it sad for we were replacing her. Siggi had begun to deteriorate even more and was now barely breathing. Ulf Big Nose kept looking at the drekar and one day he said. "When my old friend dies we should give him a funeral on the drekar. Send him to sea and burn the dragon ship with him. It would be fitting."
"Until we finish the new one that would be foolish."
"This is out of our hands, Hrolf the Horseman. The Norns have spun their threads."
Siggi did not die within the three days Mary had prophesised. He seemed to fight the sickness as hard as he had fought our enemies. He clung to life. By the time the knarr returned we had the keel finished and we were working on the strakes. It was a crucial time. All the hard work could be undone if we made a mistake. We stopped work as we unloaded the knarr. We would start the strakes the next day. The arrival of the wheat, oats and barley was a cause for celebration.
Harold told us that they had sailed to Olissipo rather than the Liger. "The Moors there made us welcome. We saw ships of war on the Liger and I thought it safer to sail further south. Our Frankish gold was well received there!"
"Then perhaps you could sail soon with Bagsecg to the land of the Cymri. We need iron."
"But the drekar!"
Sven said, "It needs labour that is all. We begin to fit the strakes on the morrow and tar the wool. It is a laborious part of the building. I will begin to carve the prow."
That interested us all. None of us had yet decided what the prow would be. "What will you carve, Sven?"
"I know not Harold. I have never carved one before but I was told, when I first went to sea, that the gods used your hands to make the prow which was right. I have a fine piece of oak and I have seven days. It will take that length of time for the hull to be finished."
"Then we will sail on the morning tide."
Sven worked away from us. Siggi woke that first morning as Sven carved and called for my wife. The slaves brought him down, on his bed, to the shelter we used by the beach. She said, "He woke
bright eyed. I have not seen him so before. He drank some honeyed ale. He says he will not die without seeing the new drekar and the prow."
None of us would argue with him and his slaves made him a bed beneath the shelter where he spent most of the day with his eyes closed but he would occasionally open them and watch Sven work. Mary was concerned and she stayed with us for a while. "He should be dead. He has had no food for seven days and it is only his skin which holds in the bones yet he lives and I saw life in his eyes."
"His spirit is strong. He was always a warrior who never flagged in battle. Perhaps the drekar will cure the coughing sickness."
She shook her head, "I have never heard of such a thing but so long as he lives then I am happy." She smiled and put my hand on the small bump. "I felt our son move this morning."
"I feel nothing."
She laughed, "That is because so long as he shares my body I am the one he pleases and not his father!"
She was happy and that was my only care too.
I joined in with the others as we applied the tarred wool. It was a messy job but not a job to be rushed for it kept the drekar watertight. The work on the masts and yards had to wait until Harold returned. The figurehead could not be rushed.
Two days after Siggi had joined us I noticed that the carving now had a sort of shape. It looked half human. Sven saw me looking and smiled, "I worked without knowing what I carved. At first I thought the dragon was Fáfnir. It looked human and then the more I carved the more I realised that my hands were carving Siggi. It is wyrd."
"And do we have a name for the drekar yet?" The name was as important as the prow.
"I thought Fáfnir for that was what I carved but I am not certain."
"We will wait until the drekar is ready. Siggi and Ulf need to be consulted too."
"Will Siggi still be with us?"
I looked over to him. He looked at peace. "He seems to be waiting for something. His sword never leaves his side. Perhaps it is the birth of the new drekar."
"Perhaps, it may be a birth or a death at any rate."
Our days were so long that we were almost too weary to eat. It meant we slept well. That night it proved too well. We were woken, in the middle of the night, by Jarl Siggi White Hair's voice shouting, "The drekar! The drekar!"