by Griff Hosker
I turned to Olaf Leather Neck, “If you were the Saxons would you attack at night?”
“With archers on the walls? Aye.”
“Then we must make them fear an attack. Beorn, I want you to lead the ones who are not Ulfheonar. There is some high ground a couple of miles east of the stad. Hold them there and when you hear the howl of the wolf then have your men bang their shields and chant. If the Saxons come then withdraw. You have done this before I think.”
He grinned, “Aye, Jarl Dragonheart. I have missed this.”
“Lars Larsson wait here for the stragglers. Gather them together and march towards the sound of the chanting.”
“Aye jarl.”
Haaken nodded, “And we will howl and attack them.”
“No, Haaken, there are too few of us these days. We howl and draw them to us. The Ulfheonar have a reputation. Let us use it. I just want to delay the Saxon attack until we have more men.”
While Beorn led the bulk of my warband to the east we urged our horses due north. All of us knew this land well. The warrior who had built it, Thorkell, had been an Ulfheonar. We knew where every dell and tree lay. We stopped at the small copse which was close to the boggy area which had been recently flooded. It would guard our horses. We left our shields on our saddles and took off our helmets. We needed stealth and we needed silence until we were close. We drew our swords. Olaf carried his mighty axe over his shoulder.
The Northumbrian’s were noisy. They had no need for silence. They had surrounded the stad. They outnumbered the defenders and whoever led them would assume that no help was forthcoming. The nearest Vikings were at Pennryhd and Cyninges-tūn. We spread out in a line with Cnut Cnutson behind us. He had a lame leg. He would not be able to move as quickly as the rest of us. We crept close to their camp. They had fires and we could hear them speaking. It soon became obvious that they were planning a night attack. It made sense. Our archers could not see as far in the dark. The Saxons would attack well away from their fires. I had chosen the perfect place to appear. Their camp was half a mile from the walls and diches. If we drew them out then we might forestall an attack until morning.
We were hidden by the undergrowth. It was uneven ground. I looked around to see my escape route. The others did the same. I stood behind a low elderberry branch which jutted and twisted out from the base of a tree. A warrior racing to get at me would not see it. I raised my sword. My men, in turn, raised their swords. As the last sword rose I lowered mine and howled like a wolf. The other five emulated me and the howl seemed to roll to the east. Looking into the Saxon camp I saw white faces turn to the woods. The younger ones looked up to the sky. After a few heartbeats we stopped and there was an eerie silence.
Then a Saxon voice shouted, “It is a trick.! I have seen this before! They are men dressed as wolves. There is nothing to fear.”
I howled again and this time my men joined in almost immediately. I saw men recoil. The Saxon voice shouted, “Get them!”
Just as they started to move I heard banging from the east and a chant. It was Beorn.
Ulfheonar, warriors strong
Ulfheonar, warriors brave
Ulfheonar, fierce as the wolf
Ulfheonar, hides in plain sight
Ulfheonar, Dragon Heart's wolves
Ulfheonar, serving the sword
Ulfheonar, Dragon Heart's wolves
Ulfheonar, serving the sword
Ulfheonar, warriors strong
Ulfheonar, warriors brave
Ulfheonar, fierce as the wolf
Ulfheonar, hides in plain sight
Ulfheonar, Dragon Heart's wolves
Ulfheonar, serving the sword
Ulfheonar, Dragon Heart's wolves
Ulfheonar, serving the sword
That really made them stop. The cries were from their front and yet the chanting came from further away to the north and east. All thoughts of an attack faded. We could have left then but that was not our way. We had drawn swords and they needed to taste blood. As the chanting rolled on we howled again.
The Saxons grabbed swords and spears. They raised shields. I could not hear their words but I saw two thegns, recognisable by their byrnies and fine full-face helmets, organize two bands of Saxons. It was not the whole army. I estimated there to be no more than forty in each group but it meant they could not attack the walls. Just then I heard another chant. This time it came from within the Stad on the Eden.
The Dragonheart and Haaken Brave
A Viking warrior and a Saxon slave
The Dragonheart and Haaken Brave
A Viking warrior and a Saxon slave
The Dragonheart and Haaken Brave
A Viking warrior and a Saxon slave
The Dragonheart and Haaken Brave
A Viking warrior and a Saxon slave
It was Jarl Ráðulfr Ulfsson. The remaining Saxons formed a shield wall. They were expecting an attack. I heard a priest began to chant. I saw him by the firelight. He was holding a large cross. The Saxons began to move towards us. We were standing in the dark and we could not be seen. I knew that so long as we remained still we were invisible. We stopped howling. I held my sword behind me. A Northumbrian moved towards me. The elder branch was a man’s body length from me. The Saxon did not see it for he was peering into the foliage to try to see me. He fell forward and the two men behind laughed. As he scrambled to his feet my hand darted forward and Ragnar’s Spirit entered his throat. I stepped back. One of the Saxons said, “Egbert! Are shadows tripping you?”
I was back into the foliage when they stepped on his body. The Saxon sounded surprised when he found his comrades bloody body. “He is dead!”
Just then there was a strangled scream from my right as another died. Then the Saxon leader shouted, “Kill them!”
They could not see us but it made no difference. They ran into the woods. I stood behind a tree and as the first Saxon passed me I swung my sword and ripped into his stomach. The man behind looked down and did not see the blade which split his skull. I turned and ran. My wolf cloak hid me. I trusted my men to do the same. When we had run thirty paces I stopped. Ahead of me I saw Cnut Cnutson. He pointed to a piece of rope he had laid between trees. I nodded to him and stepped back into the bole of a large elm tree. Cnut nodded.
Behind me I heard the Saxons as they clattered and crashed through the undergrowth. Some fell and tripped over obstacles. It would just make them angrier. I could hear the sound of men charging all through the woods. This suited the Ulfheonar. They were at home in the dark and the night. Cnut put his hands together and howled. It had the desired effect. The Saxons ran to him. He had his sword and seax drawn and that was all that they saw. As they tumbled over the rope and lay sprawling on the ground I stepped out. Using the sword with two hands I hacked into the back of one Saxon before ripping it up into the chest of another. I whirled and brought my sword into the neck of a third. Cnut had butchered the four men who had fallen over the rope and the other three fled. A Saxon horn sounded three times. I heard the Northumbrians running back towards the safety of the camp. I howled. Cnut howled. I heard four more howls. My Ulfheonar were safe.
Cnut began searching the bodies whilst I kept watch. It soon became obvious that the Saxons had decided that they had lost enough men. Cnut had swords and purses. I pointed to the horses. “Go back to the horses. Send any warriors here to remove the helmets and mail from the dead. The Ulfheonar will watch.”
“Jarl, I am Ulfheonar.”
“Then you know better than to disobey me.”
He nodded and headed back. Cnut Cnutson had done enough. When the dawn came and he guarded my standard he would do far more good than searching bodies. I took out my seax as well as my sword as I headed back to the Saxon camp. I needed to reassure myself that they were doing exactly what I thought they were doing. My caution was well placed as a sword flashed from the woods. Any mail other than that made by Bagsecg and I would have been wounded. The sword slid along the oiled links. As
it was my body reacted without me knowing. The seax slashed across the Saxon’s throat. His hands went to the wound as he tried to stem the flow of blood. His eyes glazed over and he sank at my feet.
I moved closer to the hubbub that was the Northumbrian camp. There were wounded men and there were injured men. They were being tended to. I saw the two thegns with their heads together. They barked out orders but they were too indistinct for me to make out. Their meaning became clear as a line of sentries with shields and spears faced the woods. There would be no attack on the stad until morning. By then I would have enough men to make an attack.
I stepped back into the woods a little and then shouted, in Saxon, “I am Jarl Dragonheart of the Land of the Wolf. I wield the sword that was touched by the gods. Leave now and you might live. If you stay then the wolves will come. We will slaughter you and devour your flesh. Your White Christ and his whey faced priests will not help you!” There was a brief moment of silence and then four howls sounded almost immediately behind me. I turned and headed back. My Ulfheonar ghosted from the woods. All of them were grinning.
As we walked back Haaken said, “I am sure that one of them shat himself before he fled. It was either that or one of Olaf’s farts.”
Olaf snorted, “If it had been one of mine you would have been blinded!”
They were in high spirits and we had achieved all that we could. We had delayed the attack. Victory depended upon my son and grandson arriving. Their voyage was in the hands of the gods and their precocious winds.
Chapter 6
We all managed some sleep but we were hardly rested. All of the men we had brought and the stragglers gathered close by the boggy ground. I was one of the first awake and I went around to see if we had lost men. We had not. Beorn told me that the Saxons had advanced towards them but he had kept the warband moving backwards away from them. The Saxon horns had drawn them back. I counted fifty-eight men. Of those I had seven who were Ulfheonar. A handful, perhaps eight, had never raided and never fought. I would not risk those in the front rank. They could guard the horses. I had sent Asbjorn to Ketil. The only help would come up the Eden and that would depend not only on the wind but the tide for the Eden was not the widest of rivers.
The Ulfheonar sat around me. We ate the last of our rations. Olaf emptied his ale skin into his horn, “You have a plan, Jarl Dragonheart?”
I nodded. “We make a wedge and we advance towards the Saxons.”
Haaken One Eye nodded, “A bold plan and one which should ensure that we all have a glorious death.”
“I did not say it was a good plan. You asked if I had one and I have.”
Cnut Cnutson shook his head, “You do not plan to engage them, do you Jarl Dragonheart?”
“No, Cnut. I want them to face us and prepare a shield wall to stop us.” I waved a hand to the north. “The boggy ground to the south protects us there and the river is north of us. Ragnar will bring our drekar along the river. From this little island of high ground, we can see the river. When the Saxons see us halt they will take it for weakness and they will advance. We meet them spear to spear and hope that three drekar appear in the river. When they do then we will have the Saxons surrounded. They will have fallen into my trap.”
They were all silent until Beorn said, “And if your son and grandson do not arrive on time? We know that the sea, the tides and the winds follow few rules.”
“Before I came away I asked Aiden and Kara a question.” I was aware that all of the warriors, not just the Ulfheonar, were listening. “I asked if they had dreamed my death and they said they had not. Of course, that does not mean I might not fall in this battle and become a prisoner but I have faith in Kara and Aiden.”
I saw that all of them, Ulfheonar included were clutching their dragon, wolf or hammer of Thor.
Haaken One Eye laughed, “Then I am satisfied. The few hairs I have now are white and that was the result of meeting with a witch. Kara is a witch that I trust. I will stay as close as I can to the Dragonheart!”
I then gave instructions for the formation of the wedge. With the Ulfheonar forming the first three ranks, the fourth would be those others who had mail. The rest had, at best, leather. The final ranks were the ones without helmets. When we were ready and the horse holders assigned we formed the wedge. We would not be travelling through the woods. We would march due north to the Roman Road and then along it until we were in sight of the stad and the camp. The road passed through the small piece of high ground. Once there we would taunt the Saxons until they attacked us. They could not afford to have a warband in their rear. Whoever led them would know that he had to rid himself of our threat.
We were hidden from the camp and the fort by the slightly domed section of road. It was Roman and had a good surface. While we walked along the road we would not be a true wedge. As the first seven rows would be able to march in a wedge formation then I was not worried. When I saw the smoke spiralling from the camp I said, “Haaken, let us have a chant to help us and to tell the Stad that we are coming?”
“Of course!” He sang the song of the death of Eystein the Rock. It was appropriate because it sang of the arrival of ships. It would give hope to those inside the stad.
Through the stormy Saxon Seas
The Ulfheonar they sailed
Fresh from killing faithless Danes
Their glory was assured
Heart of Dragon
Gift of a king
Two fine drekar
Flying o'er foreign seas
Then Saxons came out of the night
An ambush by their Isle of Wight
Vikings fight they do not run
The Jarl turned away from the rising sun
Heart of Dragon
Gift of a king
Two fine drekar
Flying o'er foreign seas
The galdramenn burned Dragon Fire
And the seas they burned bright red
Aboard 'The Gift' Asbjorn the Strong
And the rock Eystein
Rallied their men to board their foes
And face them beard to beard
Heart of Dragon
Gift of a king
Two fine drekar
Flying o'er foreign seas
Against great odds and back to back
The heroes fought as one
Their swords were red with Saxon blood
And the decks with bodies slain
Surrounded on all sides was he
But Eystein faltered not
He slew first one and then another
But the last one did for him
Even though he fought as a walking dead
He killed right to the end
Heart of Dragon
Gift of a king
Two fine drekar
Flying o'er foreign seas
As I crested the rise and saw the camp the fifty odd voices were in full song. Our singing had alerted the Saxons and they were facing us although they were not in any kind of order. I stopped just a little way over the top of the rise. From where the Saxons were camped they would have no idea how many men were behind me. They would see the tip of a wedge. When it was unfurled they would see my wolf banner and know that the Dragonheart was here. The voices had suggested more than I actually had. I held up my sword and we all stopped. Every voice stopped at the same moment. Haaken often spoke of the power of voices singing and chanting together. This was the power of silence.
Olaf Leather Neck said, loudly, “Now we will see what these Saxons have in them.”
There were five thegns now. The other three must have been in a different part of the camp. The fact that they gathered together to speak told me that Rædwulf was not with them. I felt a chill down my neck. He would be at Pennryhd. I put that thought from my mind. Before me were over one hundred and eighty Saxons. We had slain more than fifteen the night before but now they could see us. We had no surprises left. The ground fell away from the sides of the road below us. It was not a steep ascen
t but if they tried to come in one long line then those on the sides would have rocks, bushes and trees to contend with. They made the decision to come in a column. With ten men wide and ten men deep, they hoped that they would overwhelm our wedge. It was then I saw that I had underestimated their numbers. More men came from the western side of the Stad on the Eden. That meant they had abandoned their plans to take it until they had beaten us. Now was the time for our drekar to sail up the Eden. Then I saw that it was low tide. There would be no ships for a while. We had to hang on and take whatever they threw at us.
“Cnut, let them see that the banner flies!”
The wolf banner was unfurled and raised and my men cheered. From inside the stad I heard another cheer. The banner was worth twenty men. If the banner flew then I lived and we had hope. The Saxons were not well practised in this and it took longer to form up. They had a wall of shields at the front and then the others were held over their heads. They feared our arrows. We had none but they did not know that. They had spears. A horn sounded and they began to make their way up the road. The front rank had at least four men with mail. The front third all had helmets. The priests, I saw that there were five of them, followed the column with their cross. Two carried a box. I had no doubt that it contained bones. As they were from Northumbria I guessed they would be St. Cuthbert’s. I had seen at least four feet and hands of St. Cuthbert for sale. I wondered if the priests just dug up any bones that they could find.
When they were fifty paces from us Olaf Leather Neck, standing on my right shouted, “Shields!” Unlike the Saxons we did not put our shields over our heads. There was no point. The Saxons had no archers. And, as they would be below us when they struck, we needed to be able to swing overhand.
The thegn who led them roared, “Charge!” when they were ten paces from us. They were not in step and so they lost some of their cohesion.
I was the target for their spears along with Haaken One Eye and Olaf Leather Neck. We were in the centre. I had my shield before me. My eyes peered over the top. I was more than happy for them to thrust their spears at me. A spear was unsteady when held in one hand. The head wavered. These men had marched four hundred paces holding the spears out. I watched the spear heads rising and falling with every step.