The Wake: Man Booker Prize 2014 Longlist Edition

by Paul Kingsnorth

  at this i saed naht what colde i sae

  i got to the ham saes annis still locan at the fyr i got to the ham thincan to call men to cum for odelyn but there was mor of these folcs in the ham and mor beornan and then i cnawan what had cum and what colde i do what colde i do

  grimcell then he puts his hand on her sculdor though he saes naht

  thu ran then i saes. annis locs at me her eages deorc

  i ran she saes lic thu ran. lic all who wolde lif run from the frenc lic the hara from the hund. i ran to the holt i ran to folcs i cnawan and here we is now here we is under the treows of angland

  and all hunds i saes

  and all lifan saes grimcell

  and we will feoht saes tofe we will cwell these hunds lic we has cwelled many in this place

  that night we slept in the small holt by my hus me and my men that is tofe aelfgar siward and godric. grimcell i wolde not let him stay with us not to sleep he was not triewe and he did not want to stay he wanted to go in to the ham to see his eald place and if there was any mor folcs there. of course there wolde not be i telt him all was gan but he wolde go and i was glad for he was an esol who colde not see my triewth

  but annis staed and she slept with us around the fyr by my eald beorned hus not far from the grassed graef of my wifman and it was this that macd my ire rise lic that fyr had done. this gebur had let my odelyn die when she colde haf cept her alyf. if she had not been in the barn with the fuccan cus it colde be the ingengas wolde haf fuccd and cwelled her and not my wifman or she colde haf gan to the ham and raised sum men to cum well i does not cnaw but she was lifan while odelyn was gan and this was not right. she was here again walcan about and talcan wifman scit and locan at me lic sum wyrm and my odelyn in her graef

  what is a man to do in these times what was a man to do with all this scit. now i seen why harald cyng had been fucced by ingengas anglisc folcs they was not triewe not straight always they was plegen games. none was right none was triewe and i was feelan lic i wolde run from this from these men this wifman all these ingengas from all these lytel folc what wolde not hiere me run into the fenn and lif there on aels and all the world colde go to fuccan hel

  i slept thincan these things and i did not dream no mor of my dead sistor and of this i was blithe. when i woc in the mergen all the others was waecened. it was cuman to the end of sumor and in the heofon colde be felt the first sign of the cold that was to cum. the fyr was up and i colde hiere muttran as i woc and i stood and gan ofer to see what this muttran was for i feart they was talcan of me

  well they did not efen loc up so cene was they to hiere what this fatt gebur annis had to sae. she was sat by the fyr and tofe aelfgar and godric was satt round her locan at the ground. only siward was not sittan there he was at the ecg of the fyr drincan from a cuppe locan ofer at them and not locan blithe

  annis was talcan to aelfgar as i cum up to them. on the ground around her was small twigges of berc and on eacc was carfan scapes and when i seen them i cnawan what she was doan and i did not efer cnaw when she was in my hus that she colde do this

  no annis is saen to aelfgar this thing can not be done thu sees this rune here it is called ea it is the rune of death of the graef it saes that if thu tacs that path it will be the end

  then what saes aelfgar

  then we moste throw again saes annis and we will see what it is that thu is called to do. and she gathers up the twigs to throw again on the ground

  what is this i saes runes what is a gebur doan with runes

  annis locs up at me there is naht in her eages. i was gifen the runes by my mothor she saes it has always been with my folcs

  these is the runes of the eald gods i saes of the eald hus these things is from before the crist

  and the crist is agan them saes siward who is not with them but sittan awaeg. the crist is agan them the preost and the circe is agan them i has telt them these is deorc things

  well thu is talcan scit then i saes these is eald triewe things but they is not things for geburs

  well i is no gebur now saes annis locan up at me then in sum ire i is no gebur of thine buccmaster of holland i is a free wif now and i will throw my runes where i will. i was gifen this by my cynn and i does not need to asc thu if i may do my worc no mor. then to aelfgar she saes we will stop this now we needs the stillness of the land for it

  i locs at her then and i is wundran what she is for i has nefer triewely cnawan this gebur. what was she doan in my hus was she throwan runes for my wifman was they ascan the eald gods about me was she tellan her to go agan me what was they doan while i was gan

  well i colde not thinc for then there was sounds in the treows and the esol grimcell cum in to where our fyr was. he was bade wel cum by others but not by me and again i seen this werod was broc it was weac and i moste stand again to get my men baec for i moste do the gods will

  grimcell he cums and sits straight down at the fyr and tofe gifs him a baerlic loaf and water and he begins to eat and then he specs

  so what is to be done here he saes

  done i saes

  what will thu men do he saes specan to all not only me

  what this werod does is no thing of thine cottar thu has left us

  grimcell he does not efen loc at me only cepes specan

  the fyrd in eorfic was a weac thing he saes but still men is risan all ofer the land. so many grene men is there now that the bastard cyng him self is afeart and he has brought a new law agan us

  a law saes tofe what law

  it is a geld saes grimcell for all those who cwells frenc in angland. so many frenc is bean cwelled by grene men that the cyng secs to stop this by use of gold. thu may cwell any anglisc thu lics and our cyng does not gif one scit but if thu cwells a frenc man thu moste gif gold. this fine it is called the murdrum

  murdrum saes aelfgar this is good it means we is cwellan many

  the cyng is afeart saes grimcell all saes so the bastard is afeart of the anglisc risan agan him and they is risan now in all places. here in the fenns great hereweard is risan with a fyrd and the bastard talcs of cuman at him imself so great is he now

  hereweard hereweard fuccan hereweard again

  ah i saes here we is again great hereweard this ghast who we all hears of but is nefer seen

  oh he is seen saes annis i has met those who has seen him

  many sees him now saes grimcell for he gathers a fyrd in elge and macs a castel agan the frenc and efry daeg his men gan out and cwells frenc so that they is afeart all ofer the blaec fenns

  ah i saes smercan another fuccan fyrd grimcell let us hope it is as great as the last one thu wolde tac my men to that fyrd that ran when they seen the bastard cuman ten miles away. i was hopan to ire grimcell hopan to stand agan him before my men but he wolde not rise

  tell us of hereweard tofe saes to annis and i sees he is a cilde still

  hereweard saes annis is a thegn of elge he is a great tall man and all who sees him is mofd by him. his cenep is long and yeolo and he is strong as a cyng in war

  he has led fyrds in other lands saes grimcell he has led many men

  yes i saes and he is one mile high and macd of gold and breathes fyr also thu is all esols to lysten to this

  he builds a castel saes annis not fuccan lystnan at the abbodrice of the crist in elge

  at the abbodrice of the crist

  he macs it a place for anglisc men to cum and eat and spec together and gather to feoht the bastard saes grimcell. he has a great hall where all eats together and in the castel all daeg they trains to feoht and macs waepens and sum gan out efry daeg to bring down any frenc they finds

  the abbodrice of the crist

  none can cum to him until he calls them saes annis for none cnawan the fenns around elge lic him and if the frenc cums they will be drencced in the fenns

  he sets fyrs saes grimcell fyrs all ofer

  fyrs saes tofe what fyrs

  fyrs from his great mouth of course i saes

  fyrs in the fenns s
aes annis he puts ele on the secg if there is frenc there and he lights it and the fyr gan down efen to the blaec eorth and it beorns for daegs and nights and the frenc is afeart and many is drencced

  he will beorn the bastard saes grimcell and he is callan for anglisc men to cum to him in elge and mac a great fyrd and he is not lic the northern men or the ingenga scots who is weac and afeart he is a triewe anglisc man and he will feoht

  tofe i sees is locan lic a cilde who has seen a ghast or a god

  i is goan to him saes grimcell

  what i saes. i had telt my self i wolde not spec to grimcell no mor but i colde not help this

  i is goan to hereweard saes grimcell. since i cum baec to the fenns i has hierde micel about him and i wolde be with him he is a triewe ealdor and leads a triewe werod

  well of course grimcell does not loc at me but i cnawan what he is saen and he is not now the only one who saes this

  i will go also saes godric for it is time now to feoht. he does not loc at me neither the cunt

  and i saes siward. now all of them is agan me and this is what weland had saed this is what i had always cnawan and in sum ways this macs things good for now i cnawan i owes them no triewth. only aelfgar and tofe saes naht i seen them locan at me but i cnawan what they is thincan and i cnawan also what i moste do

  well this is good i saes for this is what i had cum to tell thu all this mergen. i is goan to tac thu to hereweard

  to the castel of the crist

  thu saes grimcell and i is blithe to see i has fryhted him into specan with me

  i leads this werod cottar i saes and i has telt thu all we is goan huntan well now we gan we will go to elge

  huntan what saes annis

  this is worc for my werod i saes not for wifmen nor geburs. now men we is goan to elge for i wolde spec to hereweard angland needs great ealdors now who leads great werods and he will see what i has to bring him

  he will saes godric who is already standan

  well i saes then cum men tac thy things for we is goan to elge

  thu gan to him

  thu will see what i will do

  thu gan to gif thy weac small self to great hereweard

  thu will see what i will do weland smith and no mor will thu spec lic this

  is this so

  this is so

  well there is sum thing new in thu this daeg cilde

  i is no cilde

  then what is thu

  i is buccmaster of holland thu will see what i will do

  i did not cnaw where the path wolde lead that daeg but i cnawan it was the right path. i felt that daeg sum new thing had cum in to me and weland he seen it too. as we ciccd ofer the fyr on my eald land by the graef of my cwen odelyn by the hus of my grandfather and all his cynn as we macd ready to leaf i seen in my heafod again the fugol what had cum to me that daeg two sumors ago and i was thincan again of the words i saed then. sum thing is cuman i had saed sum thing is cuman i had felt it then and i felt it now. in the eald holt of the brunnesweald i had lost the way for i is a man of the water not the wood but here in the blaec fenns here where i was grown from here now again i was cum in to my self

  and so we gan for elge all of us aelfgar siward godric tofe and grimcell and this annis also. they had thought to leaf me but they wolde not leaf me now and together we all walced down the fenn ways

  well i cnawan the gods wolde gif me a gift this daeg and i will tell thu now what it was and how it ended. lif is gan from angland now and from all this deorc world so why not spec why not tell there is naht left in this dead land for any good man to lose

  there is mist all ofer the blaec fenns this night and from behind the mona sum thing rises. before the mona stands the ealond with the cross the ealond with the circe reaccan to the heofon and from behind the mona sum thing rises sum gathran of wihts and men and thu cilde thu they cums now for thu

  we walced that mergen on the paths towards elge though we nefer seen it for it was still sum daegs awaeg. there was a mist on the land and high was my heorte to be baec in the place i had cum from and wolde always be of. the paths here was not the paths of the holt with great deorc treows all around these was fenn paths. sum times they gan through meados and past eald small hams but micel time they gan through the fenns with secg on both sides and this gladdened my heorte. the fugols that sang here was the fugols i cnawan and the heofon was the heofon of my cildehood and for a small time i felt that my heorte had cum baec to where it sceolde always be. the mist cum round the secg cold as we walced saen lytel and sounds colde be hierde that was lic the sounds of my eald lands when i was still a man

  but we had not walced for long before we hierde other sounds and these was the blaec sounds of men. we was cum from a small fenn to a place where the path we was on met a straet what wolde taec us to elge. the mist was still on the land as we cum to the straet out of the wet secg of the fenn and we hierde as we cum the sound of hors cuman up from the west

  well we all gan baec in to the secg as we hierde this for we was cepan awaeg from all men. there was many frenc in these parts and they cnawan of the grene men and was ired. the sound cept cuman in the mist and then out of the hwitness of it cum three scapes and in these three scapes was the end of it all for me

  it was three men on hors and two of them was frenc cnihts lic we had seen at stan ford. their heafods was scafd they wore clothes of style and had sweords at their belts. but the man in the middel of them he was no cniht. this man wor clothes of deorc brun and ofer them a cape of blaec and on this cape was wofen lines of gold and a thing of beuty it was if beuty is to be found in the things of men. this man he had a nebb set lic style as all frenc do and a lytel blaec cenep but his heafod was not scafan lic the cnihts it was scafan lic a munc and around his throta on a line of gold he wore a great cross of wud

  a preost i saes a frenc fuccan preost

  he is no preost saes annis he is a biscop

  the crist

  well it had cum it was my time and nefer has i done a thing so triewe and so fast. the gods had spac to me and this had been sent and this now this was my wyrd this wolde bring the eald gods baec to angland and again we wolde rise again from our land again we wolde cum in to our selfs and be men in angland for efer

  i calls tac him and i runs from the secg to the frenc men. i tacs my sweord from my belt and i strics one of the cnihts hard on the scanc and cuts him deop and he is afeart for he did not see us and he grips his hors and his scanc and begins to fall and the other cniht and the biscop they tacs their bridels and tries to stop their hors and they begins callan in their fuccan ingenga tunge and goan for their sweords

  well my men is not ready i had not spoc to them of this it had all had started from naht but when they seen me go they moste go also. tofe cum first callan and grippan his scramasax and when he seen him aelfgar cum too and siward and godric and when he seen them grimcell he cum also and here again now was my werod feohtan in our fenns agan the frenc lic we always sceolde haf been

  well the cniht i had struc with my sweord was off his hors now and on the ground and my men done him fast lic we had done many frenc scuccas. now the other cniht he was cuman round on his hors strican at us with his sweord and the biscop the fuccan biscop of crist he had in his hand a great clubb and he too was on his hors standan and callan and strican at the heafods of my men and efen i cnawan that the crist tells his scepe nefer to cwell no man so what was this

  well my men gan for the other cniht first and they tacs him off his hors with hardly no cutts on them and to the ground he gan and is cwelled fast tofe goan in to his throta with a scramasax now lic he is cuttan a snaec a man he has becum. and then we is left only with this biscop. we is all ofer the straet so he can not go past on his hors without cuman to us and on efry side of the straet there is fenn

  men i saes men do not cwell the biscop

  why not calls aelfgar this is a great gift from the bastard

  a great gift i saes so we will do mor than cwell him

&nbs
p; and then the biscop specs. it is not oft that any frenc men specs to anglisc in their own tunge but this biscop he cnawan what we spoc

  then thu is hereweards men he saes and this is thy wel cum to me. thu will be wel cum to hel before this daeg is done by the will of thy cyng geeyome

  he is not our cyng i saes he is a fuccan frenc ingenga scucca and we is anglisc men and thu now is ours

  if thu wants me he saes still on his hors grippan his clubb then thu moste tac me anglisc man

  well he is harder than the cnihts this one and mor than one of us tacs a beatan from his fuccan clubb befor we can tac it from him and throw it in the secg. but we is six and he is one and though he tries to cicc his hors for it to tac him awaeg we gets him down from it and we gets him to the ground and tofe and aelfgar sitts on him while the othors tacs the sweords of the cnihts and gathrs their hors and ciccs their bodigs in to the deorc waters where the bodigs of all frenc sceolde be

  thu has done well

  this is my time

  done well for thy land and thy cynn

  risan again we is risan again

  and now

  now the gods will feed

  ah to loc down and see this great frenc biscop lyan on an anglisc straet with two grene men sittan on him oh it macd me laugh out and this macd the others laugh out also and on the nebb of this biscop colde be seen an ire so great it macd him red lic the sunne on a winter mergen

  who has line men i saes. grimcell it seems carries sum and so i tells him to tie the hands of the biscop and get him to his feet and grimcell does this with aelfgar and tofe. i is blithe to see grimcell worcan with us in this for though he is a scucca he is an anglisc one

  so we has this biscop tied with line his blaec and gold cape all eorthd now and his nebb set hard locan at us with eages of fyr but saen naht. as before i cnawan what to do in this place and i spoc to my men lic the cyng i was now lic the ealdor i had becum lic the ceosan man of the eald gods buccmaster buccmaster ham at last