The Wake: Man Booker Prize 2014 Longlist Edition

by Paul Kingsnorth

  i has seen him he is not so mad as thu

  fucc thu

  thu fears him does thu not small man with thy eald masc

  why does thu let him spec thus

  his men follow him thy men is laughan at thu

  i will not let thu spec thus biscop thu will scut thy mouth

  as thu saes

  we is anglisc men here and triewe and greater than any

  he saes naht

  he moccs thu

  does thu mocc me

  i does thy will great masccd man

  thu will call me thy cyng

  i will not

  thu will call me thy ealdor

  i will not

  spec for angland

  lysten to me biscop does thu thinc this is sum game i will slit thy fuccan throta lic a cycen

  if it be his will

  do not spec lic this here do not gif me thy scit biscop

  spec for angland spec for angland

  there is naht to spec for now naht lysten biscop lysten men i has cum from the eald gods i has been sent here we has been gifen a gift and now this biscop will gif a great wergild for the synns of his cynn and his circe for his synns agan the land and all anglisc folc

  what wergild saes tofe. efen my cilde now he specs lic he does not cnaw me none is triewe none

  i saes we will carf the blud earn on him

  blud earn saes tofe

  o thu is fuccan mad thu is craccd and broc calls grimcell who has been standan loccan on. thu is writhan lic a wounded wiht buccmaster what is this scit thu and thy sweord and thy eald masc and thy eald fuccan gods there is naht left for thu naht thu moste see this. men why is thu here with this mad man we moste go cum with me cum now

  i has telt thu cunt this is not thy feoht

  this is no mans feoht buccmaster none will follow thu in this thing

  does thu want my fuccan sweord again grimcell this time i will not let thu lif

  what is the blud earn saes tofe

  there is no blud earn saes grimcell it is a cildes tale of the eald times what buccmaster thincs he lifs in still

  it is triewe i saes it was done and will be done again here. the blud earn is the death gifen by the eald cyngs to ingenga enemis

  the blud earn is denisc saes grimcell it is an ingenga thing not anglisc thu is broc and mad buccmaster let us go

  the blud earn is the death of the eald gods i saes. thu lays down thy enemi on his nebb ties him with line weights him with stans. then thu tacs thy scramasax and thu slits his baec and thu cutts all the ban in it and thu pulls up the ban and pulls his lungs out of his baec and then he has fethras lic a great hafoc lic a great earn with a carfan beac and he will fly to the gods and woden and his hus sceal feed

  o saes tofe o this is a fearful thing fearful

  it is not a thing of these times saes grimcell

  it is not a thing of the crist saes siward

  fucc the crist i saes fucc the crist can thu men not see that the crist and the cyngs has led thu into deorcness has tacan thu from thy land from the eald ways

  we sceolde go with grimcell saes aelfgar

  thu will not go i saes this biscop moste die it is the will of the gods

  there is no gods saes grimcell but in thy deorc heorte man

  my men will stand

  we is not thy men no mor saes godric we is goan with grimcell we is goan to hereweard. enough of this buccmaster now enough

  well here it was here now was the weacness and the smallness of angland. these man is standan locan at me their cyng their great ealdor the man who had macd their werod all in helm and with sweord the man who had led them to sige and in the eald times all wolde haf gan with a man lic this and done his will but now all was weac lic wifmen. i locs around me at these men what had been mine at this land what had been angland. all was standan by the fyr locan at me annis was standan locan at me also and she saed naht lic the fuccan biscop still on his cneows locan on saen naht but with sum lytel fuccan smerc on his ingenga nebb

  all is gan

  i locs then at the cilde tofe who had cum to us with his swine wantan to feoht thincan us great. tofe who i had tacan to the hus of the eald gods who i had telt of the greatness of them who i had macd in to a man by my own strength. he is locan at the fyr he is not locan at me

  tofe cilde i saes will thu help in this thing

  tofe does not loc up but cepes locan down at the fyr what now is beornan low. he is still for sum time and when he specs it is low also

  i thinc he saes that i will go to hereweard

  hereweard

  well there is naht else to do then but tac my sweord and use it as great weland had telt me to cwell them what has torn down all that we is in angland. this time grimcell is not fast enough he is not locan not thincan i wolde tac him on and no other cums betweon him and welands sweord. it gan cwic into him with a sound lic the cuttan of mete undor his sculdor and he calls out and locs at the blaed what has gan right through and cum out his baec and he wolde sae sum thing but his muth is all blud. i locs in his eages what is not agan me now not agan me no mor and i pulls out the blaed hard and he calls then lic a cilde and falls hard on to the fyr and for a sceorte moment he writhes lic an ael on the glaif and then he mofs no mor

  well then there is all callan and runnan and roaran and annis mofs lic she wolde go to him but i tacs welands great sweord what is all ofer with his blud and i saes thu

  hore

  thu also is the enemi of this land and of all men and of my wif what thu cwelled and

  the eald gods

  i mofs to go to her but she is fast and though she is scorte and fatt she is gan

  in to the treows

  before i can get by the men who is cepan her from me and callan to me buccmaster buccmaster this moste stop and gettan out their scramasaxes and annis is gan then gan in to the treows and

  the gods is callan

  i is callan and then from the treows on the path what we had cum down with the hors and the biscop we hieres a great sound what is not the sound of one wifman but is the sound of many hors and then the biscop is worcan to stand and he is callan callan in his fuccan frenc ingenga tunge and then we seen in the treows cuman ofer to us men on hors in style with

  sweords

  the frenc the frenc calls aelfgar and he tacs his scramasax

  hoi hoi calls turold biscop or sum succ ingenga words hoi hoi

  they ran they will die

  thu men i calls thu fuccan esol scuccas thu has cwelled angland thu has cwelled the eald gods. but my men does not lysten for they is standan now by the cwelled bodig of grimcell and they is grippan scramasaxes and axes and bows. tofe aelfgar gamel and siward they is standan and now cuman through the treows on all sides is frenc cnihts on hors and they cums first for the biscop and cuts his line and puts him on a hors what they has brought for him and he calls to them and then he calls to us in the holt lic he is sum mad wiht and he cepes callan thu will cum in to the light thu will cum in to the light

  cum in to the light

  and did they thinc i wolde stand did they thinc i wolde stand and die with them these esols these cwellers of angland these wifmen who has not been triewe to me

  their cyng by right

  did they thinc this why wolde tofe loc at me lic i sceolde not run run through the holt in to the yeolo secg by the path that only i cnawan before the frenc colde see me before they colde tac me why did he call

  buccmaster buccmaster

  why wolde he thinc i wolde be with him now in his death in the death of my small

  weac werod

  well he was a cilde a cilde only and i an ealdor of this land and angland beornan now and these ingengas these men of style well they was triewe men strong men and we was weac and eald and the biscop is callan callan thu will cum in to the light and my men is callan also lic catts lic cildren and there is sounds of style and i is mofan mofan down the path

  baec to the eald hus

  to the eald ways i will not st
ay with this i will not gif my self to this i is

  buccmaster of holland

  what colde i do what sceolde i do naht naht none stood with me

  they wolde not lysten wolde not see

  i will gif them naht none is triewe

  wolde not lysten wolde not cum

  brothor she saes no brothor

  what man can stand ofer me

  brothor leaf me

  trust none

  all saes no all is agan me

  beorn the hus beorn the land

  beorn them all

  cepe it cepe it

  out deoful

  all of the world is blud

  thu is my brothor no

  buccmaster

  deop in the ground deop

  they calls they calls lic cildren they calls

  where is he he has gan

  i will not cum i will not cum

  the hafoc has tacan the crow

  none is triewe none is triewe

  spec to the land cilde spec to the land

  she wolde not do what she sceolde

  beorn then beorn

  a hwit wulf a boar a fox

  beorn sistor beorn father

  this sweord i has gifen thu

  beorn my weac werod beorn

  out deoful out

  it is deorc it is late

  none cums when called

  out

  late late

  none lystens none sees

  deoful

  deoful

  deoful

  beorn angland

  beorn

  ABBODRICE – monastery

  AC – oak

  ALOR – alder

  BLOTMONTH – November (lit. ‘blood month’,

  when livestock were killed for winter)

  BLUD EARN – (lit. ‘blood eagle.’) Mythical Viking

  sacrifice in which the victim’s lungs were cut from his body and pulled up through his back to resemble the wings of an eagle. Historians still argue about whether it was ever used outside the sagas

  CARUCATE – measurement of land; 8 oxgangs

  make up a carucate

  CEAP – market

  CENEP – moustache

  CICEL – cake

  CISERAEPPEL – dried fig

  COTTAR – free tenant farmer owing obligation to a

  thegn. At least one step below a sokeman on the social ladder

  CROCC – cauldron

  DANELAUGH – Danelaw; area of northern and

  eastern England under Danish settlement and law from the 9th to 11th century

  EA – river

  EARN – eagle

  ECED – vinegar

  ELE – oil

  ENT – giant

  EORCA – demon or evil spirit

  EOSTURMONTH – April (Easter month)

  ESOL – ass

  FLOTA – fleet

  FNAERETTAN – snoring

  FORHEAWAN – cut down

  FUGOL – bird

  FYRD – conscript army

  GAR – lance

  GEBUR – landless peasant farmer who owed labour

  services to a thegn or sokeman

  GELD – taxes

  GEOLA – December (Yule)

  GEREFA – local official, later known as a reeve,

  representing the king or thegn at village level

  GLAIF – three-pronged fishing tool used in the fens

  GLEOMAN – travelling storyteller, poet and news-

  bringer

  GREOTAN – crying

  HAERIC STAR – ‘hairy star’, comet

  HARA – hare

  HAFOC – hawk

  HEAFODPANNE – skull (lit. ‘headpan’)

  HRAGA – heron

  HRETHMONTH – February

  HRIFTEUNG – stomach ache

  HUSCARL – royal bodyguard and elite fighting force

  INGENGA – foreigner

  LEA – meadow, open field

  LEAC – onion

  LESCH – reeds

  LITHA – May and June

  MELU – flour

  MICEL – much

  NEBB – face

  NIGHTGENGA – demon of the night (lit. ‘night-

  traveller’)

  NITHING – outcast, villain

  OXGANG – measurement of land, equivalent to

  around 20 acres, said to be the amount a single ox could plough in a season

  PETERSILIE – parsley

  SCEOMU – shame

  SCOPMAN – similar to Gleoman, travelling news-

  bringer, storyteller. Also shortened to ‘scop’

  SCRAMASAX – dagger

  SCUCCA – demon

  SENEP – mustard

  SIGE – victory

  SIGIL – brooch

  SLEGE – slaughter

  SOCMAN – free tenant farmer. Sokemen were found

  only in the eastern counties of the Danelaw. They owed alleigance to the king rather than the thegn, owned their land, and seem to have been a high class of independent landed farmer

  SOLMONTH – January

  STOCC – trunk

  STRAEL – arrow

  STUNT – stupid or stubborn person

  SWAMM – mushroom

  SWEALWE – swallow

  THEGN – lord, squire

  THRALL – slave

  THRIMILCI – April (when cows were milked three

  times)

  TREEN – woodenware

  WAPENTAC – Wapentake, the Danelaw’s equivalent of

  a shire court, the basis of local justice in England

  WEALSC – the Old English word for both foreigner and

  slave was applied to the pre-English (‘Bryttisc’) population. It became the modern word ‘Welsh’

  WELIG – willow

  WEODMONTH – July (month of weeds)

  WERGILD – blood price. A monetary measure of a

  life, the wergild was a price put on someone’s head. If you killed them, you had to pay it. A king cost a lot more than a cottar

  WEROD – war band

  WIHT – living being, creature, animal

  WITAN – gathering of the highest men in the land –

  earls, powerful thegns and bishops. Before the Normans introduced automatic hereditary monarchy, English kings were elected by the Witan

  WITHIG – wreath

  WYRD – fate, destiny

  WYRMFLEOGE – dragonfly

  WYRT – herb

  What we now call ‘Old English’ was the language of the English people until the invasion of 1066, when it rapidly began to mutate with the arrival of Norman French, the language of the new ruling class. This novel is not written in Old English – that would be unreadable to anyone except scholars. It is written instead in what might be called a shadow tongue – a pseudo-language intended to convey the feeling of the old language by combining some of its vocabulary and syntax with the English we speak today.

  The language of this novel evolved as I wrote it over a period of three years, often seeming to do so beyond my control. Eventually, in an attempt to prevent things getting entirely out of hand, I tried to hem it in with some rules.

  The first and most important rule was that I wanted to use only words which originated in Old English. The vast majority of the vocabulary of this novel consists of words that, in one form or another, existed in English 1000 years ago. The exceptions are cases where words did not exist for what I wanted to say, or where those that did were so obscure today, or hard to pronounce or read, that they would have detracted excessively from the flow of the tale.

  The second rule was that I did not use letters which did not exist in Old English. The OE alphabet was more limited than ours. There was, for example, no letter ‘k’ – it is replaced by ‘c’, which is always pronounced like the modern ‘k’, never like the modern ‘s’. There was no ‘v’ either; ‘f’ takes its place in words like ‘seofon’ (seven). ‘J’ and ‘q’ were similarly absent.

  The matter
of spelling was more complicated. I wanted to render as many OE pronunciations as I could on the page, rather than translating them into their modern equivalents. So the OE words daeg (day), for example, or deorc (dark) – though pronounced in much the same way as they are in modern English – are offered up with their OE spellings intact. This is a rule that I found I had to break more often than I wanted to – if I had stuck to it with every word, the novel would have been ten times harder to read. I had to use my judgement as to when to use OE spellings and when to modernise them, and if so by how much.

  Choosing OE, or pseudo-OE, forms for the novel’s vocabulary means that the reader has to initially wrestle with OE pronunciation. This can be tricky to compute at first, but once grasped it becomes, I hope, second nature. So ‘sc’, for example, is pronounced ‘sh’ – as in biscop. ‘Cg’ makes a ‘dg’ sound in words like bricg (bridge). ‘G’ can be pronounced both as a hard letter, as in mergen (morning) or as a soft equivalent of ‘y’ when it appears in words like daeg. ‘Hw’ sounds like ‘w’ in words like hwit (white).

  Finally, it’s worth stressing the catholicism of my approach to the language, old and new. To achieve the sound and look I wanted on the page I have combined Old English words with modern vocabulary, mutated and hammered the shape of OE words and word endings to suit my purpose, and been wanton in combining the Wessex dialect with that of Mercia, Anglia and Northumberland – and dropping in a smattering of Old Norse when it seemed to work. The syntax used is mine, its structure often driven by the limitations placed on me by the available vocabulary.

  There was one final rule I set myself, and it was this: all of the previous rules could be overridden, if necessary, by a meta-rule, which functioned as a kind of literary thegn: do what the novel needs you to do. This, in the end, was a matter of instinct, which means that I have no-one to blame for the results but myself.

  Why bother with all this? Why make life harder for myself and for the reader? There are two answers to this question. The first is that I simply don’t get on with historical novels written in contemporary language. The way we speak is specific to our time and place. Our assumptions, our politics, our worldview, our attitudes – all are implicit in our words, and what we do with them. To put 21st-century sentences into the mouths of eleventh century characters would be the equivalent of giving them iPads and cappuccinos: just wrong.

  Which leads on to the second reason for playing with language in this way. The early English did not see the world as we do, and their language reflects this. They spoke their truth, as we speak ours. I wanted to be able to convey, not only in my descriptions of events and places but through the words of the characters, the sheer alien-ness of Old England.