by Griff Hosker
King Egbert had gambled that a three deep line would outflank ours and we would be surrounded. He had not expected a boar’s snout. A shield wall is only effective so long as it is whole. The dying warrior allied to the two who had been wounded meant that, in front of us, the shield wall was but two men deep. I pulled my spear back and rammed it as hard as I could into the gap. This time it did not strike mail. It struck flesh. Even as two spears and a sword struck my shield the man I had hit fell and I saw daylight behind him. I pulled back my arm and thrust to the left. There was no shield there and my spear went into the side of a man. It was a mortal wound and the Saxon fell. It was Olaf’s axe which finally decided this particular encounter. There was an eorledman exhorting his men to great deeds. It was from the safety of the second rank but the deaths of those before him meant that Olaf could swing his axe and it came down to split open the eorledman’s helmet and skull.
I shouted, “Einar, signal break wedge!”
Those around me heard and my men further back saw the standard as it was raised and lowered three times. We needed to exploit the hole in the line. Behind me Ostman Mortenson and Dargh Long Stride had their warriors still protected by shields. My spears would break asunder the shield wall and enlarge the hole. We needed to fall upon the rear line. Knowing that Olaf would protect my left I turned and rammed my spear towards the Saxon to my right. He turned to present his shield. My spear shattered against it but the gleeful expression faded when Rolf plunged his spear into his left side. I drew Ragnar’ Spirit, “The sword that was touched by the gods! For the Land of the Wolf!”
My men all heard the cry and they roared, “Land of the Wolf!” It was as vicious a weapon as a good sword. The sound and the fury put fear in the Saxon hearts and that is never the frame of mind in which you fight a battle… especially not with a Viking!
I held my shield before me and punched it hard into the arm of the Saxon who was trying to turn. My metal boss must have numbed his arm for he was slow to raise his sword. I swept Ragnar’s Spirit and hacked through his mail and into his flesh. I sawed my sword back and he tumbled to the ground trying to force his entrails back inside.
“Stay with me Einar!” He was holding the standard in the same hand as his shield and his sword was ready to strike any who came at my sword side unseen.
We had broken through. I saw, above the men before us, Egbert’s standard, as it was hacked from the pole in the palace. Magnus had captured it. I knew we could expect no help from him. He had a palace to clear of the defenders but it meant that none could come to the aid of the men my warband was now butchering.
Before me four warriors locked shields and held their spears before them. Haaken One Eye and Olaf Leather Neck appeared next to me. Without a command being given we all stepped forward as one. Olaf brought his axe from far behind his head. The Saxon on the extreme right of the four raised his shield to protect himself. The axe sliced through the wood, the Saxon’s arm and into his chest. As he fell I lunged at the Saxon next to him. Bagsecg had put a point on my sword. It slid into the mail and broke the links. It carried on through his kyrtle and into his gut. Even as he tried to bring his sword over it was falling from his dying fingers. I punched my shield at the third as Haaken’s sword struck the fourth Saxon’s so hard that it bent it. Olaf swung his axe and it hacked into the back of the third Saxon. Their attempt to hold us had been futile and it had failed.
The enemy before us were fleeing. I turned and saw that Klakke was beleaguered. He was not able to move forward. King Egbert still had his housecarls. They were behind the stakes. He was waiting to see if his men could hold Klakke. I could end this battle now and end my feud with Egbert by killing him. He still had over two hundred warriors with him including a hundred housecarls. Some of my men had died but I was willing to take a chance.
“Einar, make the signal to rally!”
“Aye Jarl.”
As he made the signal I shouted, “Beorn I want you to let loose your arrows on the housecarls when we near them.”
“Aye Jarl”
I saw my son and my jarls as they reorganized their men to replace the ones who had fallen. This time I would use a double line with the archers behind. I saw that Ostman Mortenson and Dargh Long Stride had rallied their men and were heading to support Klakke Blue Cheek. I could understand that for he was a Dane and they wished to seek favour with him. It made life easier for me as I did not need to worry about the failure of men to support us. We would either defeat King Egbert or be slain on the field of Carhampton.
“Three lines! Beorn, third line!” I turned to Einar, “Stand behind me.” I saw that he had blood on his mail and a cut on his face. He had been blooded! “You are doing well. Hold your nerve and cut down any who draws close.”
“Aye Jarl Dragonheart!”
“Forward!”
The Ulfheonar were in the centre of our line. Ragnar and Erik Ironshirt were to my right and the other jarls to my left. Immediately behind me, and next to Einar, were the men from my home. We stepped forward as one. I began banging my shield with the pommel of my sword. It was taken up by all of my clan and provided a rhythm for us to march. Egbert and his men were standing. We would fight.
The stakes would not stop us. They would break up our line but the enemy were standing five paces from the stakes. We would have time to lock shields. Most of my men had lost their spears and the housecarls still held theirs as did the other warriors. King Egbert was on a horse along with five other eorledmen. When we reached the ditch, I slowed. If we fell then they would fall upon us and slay us while we lay helpless in the bottom.
The line of Saxons suddenly became two lines and presented a wall of shields and spears. Then they took two steps forward. Egbert was trying to intimidate us. The ditch had been quickly made and was barely a pace deep. Had they had slingers left, however, they could have made life hard for us. As it was Beorn and the archers were loosing arrows over our heads. It made the Saxons tighten their lines. They were closer together. If there had been three or four lines that might have made a difference but they were in two lines and standing still.
I used one of the stakes to help pull me from the ditch and when I stood I shouted, “Form lines!”
Einar made the signal behind me. Next to me Haaken shouted, in Saxon, “Get off your horse you lazy fat bastard and come and fight a real man!”
My men all jeered and banged their shields.
One of the Saxons shouted, “Wait until you get close enough barbarian and we will gut you like a fish.”
Egbert said nothing then I heard Ragnar’s voice, “My mother is Elfrida who was your wife! She left you for a real man, my father! You must be poor john!”
My men all laughed at that too. The interchange allowed my men to form their lines.
I raised my sword, “I am Jarl Dragonheart. I wield the sword touched by the gods. I am Úlfarr and lead the Ulfheonar! King Egbert come and fight me now before your men. Let us end this blood feud as men!”
Silence seemed to fall on our part of the battlefield. I heard noises but it was as though they were in another land. I stared at Egbert. He said nothing.
“If I have to I will come and drag your festering carcass from your horse and kill you with my bare hands for you are no man!”
He turned and, with his horsemen behind, left the field. His men who remained were stunned.
Haaken shouted, “Charge!”
With no order, we forced our way through the stakes and ran at the two lines of spears. They were shaken and Beorn and his men’s arrows did not help their defence. Rolf Horse Killer had slung his shield and he ran at the shields and up them like a ladder. He was young and he was agile. Before they could react, he had brought his axe down and hewn two heads with one blow. Olaf Leather Neck swung his axe sideways and tore through a shield and a leg. There was a roar from my right and I saw a bloody Magnus Axe Hand leading his men to fall upon the flank of the Saxons. The confidence of the men of Wessex had been shattere
d by the desertion of their king and by our ferocious attack. I punched my shield at a Saxon and brought my sword to scythe through his thigh. It ground on the bone and he fell to the floor pumping his life blood away. The Saxons fought bravely or as bravely as a man deserted by his leader can fight, but Magnus’ attack meant that they had nowhere to flee and even his warriors, who had no mail, found that they could defeat King Egbert’s men.
The survivors were only saved by darkness. Even as we had been fighting the sun had been setting and, perhaps eighty or so of the men who fought us managed to escape. We were too weary to follow. I stood there and my men and Magnus’ all banged their shields and chanted, “Dragonheart, Dragonheart, Dragonheart, Dragonheart!” over and over until it echoed around the bloody battlefield.
Chapter 9
I took off my helmet. I was hot. The evening was filled with the moans of the wounded and dying. As I sheathed my sword I heard the sound of death as the wounded Saxons were saved more pain. Had we brought Aiden then some of our men who were wounded might be healed. As it was more would die than ought to. The Ulfheonar came to me and we each clasped arms. We said no words for none was necessary. We were just showing each other that we all lived. Too often, of late, old comrades had died. Leif the Banner, Karl Karlsson and Beorn Beornsson had been the last three to die in battle. We did not die in our beds!
Haaken pointed to the east. “There is a king who has lost the meaning of life for he clings on to it too desperately. How can he face his men when he deserted them? He should have faced you in combat.”
Olaf picked up a cloak from a dead housecarl and began to clean his axe head with it. “And then he would be dead. Jarl Dragonheart fought as well today as I have seen him fight.” He nodded to me. “You have more battles in you yet.”
“But next time we fight it will be on my terms and will not be to pay weregeld.”
Warriors wandered over to us from the darkening battlefield. I saw that Gruffyd walked with Erik Ironshirt. I heard his voice as he came. It was full of the joy of battle. My other jarls walked in silence. I knew that they must have lost warriors. That is where they had been, to discover who was in Valhalla.
Then I heard a Danish voice, “That was mightily done, Jarl Dragonheart. One challenge from you and King Egbert runs away. Perhaps we should have begun that way and I would have fewer empty benches when I go home.” Magnus Axe Head appeared with a handful of oathsworn. His arm was in a sling and his face covered in blood.
“Aye Magnus Axe Head but your men have great glory. Many men would have fled when the fire came.”
“They are good lads. I thought them the best. But I have now seen the Clan of the Wolf and all the stories I have heard are true. I thought they were the result of too much ale and Haaken One Eye’s imagination.”
Haaken laughed, “No, we save those stories for our children. When you follow the wolf then you need no exaggeration.” He pointed to the palace, “Do we have much treasure?”
“Not as much as Klakke Blue Cheek suggested. I have my oathsworn guarding what there is. We fought hard to get it I would hope that it is fairly shared.”
“King Egbert may have taken some with him but I would have your men search the dead. The eorledmen will carry their treasure on them as will their oathsworn.”
Ragnar said, “I will organise my men now. You and your men have done enough today, grandfather. You bore the brunt of both attacks.”
I nodded, “In truth my arms and legs feel weary. We will wait at the palace.” I smiled, “If your men will allow us in.”
Magnus laughed, “Come, I have men preparing food. We, the warriors, will eat before Klakke brings his crows.”
It was a depleted band I led back to the palace. The Ulfheonar had all survived but brave warriors from Cyninges-tūn had not. There would be chests we would be taking back to wives, mothers and fathers. The dead would receive their share of whatever we gained and swords would be taken back. The warriors might be dead but their swords would live on.
The wooden palace was well made. The lintels and roof supports had intricate carving upon them. Mythical beasts and warriors intertwined on them. Before we left the work of those skilled craftsmen would go up in flames. All that would be left of King Egbert’s palace would be the blackened stumps of its walls. The Romans built in stone. Even many generations after they had left this land their monuments remained. Egbert’s would not even outlive him. Magnus’ hearth-weru admitted us to the great hall. Inside it was just as richly decorated as outside. King Egbert had spared no expense.
One of the hearth-weru pointed to the table. “We found cured meat, bread and cheese. There is ale. It is Saxon but it is drinkable.”
“You have done well, Folki. Come Jarl Dragonheart. Let us eat before the great hero arrives.”
As we sat down I said, “From your words I gather that you do not think highly of Klakke Blue Cheek.”
“I know him from our home in Hedeby. His father was jarl and led raids. There was a time, when I first served Klakke, that I thought we would conquer the world together.” He shook his head. “He does not value those who fight alongside him or, rather, before him. He has much in common with King Egbert.”
“Yet he led today.”
He shook his head, “I saw from these walls that your snout reached the Saxons well before Klakke. He lagged behind so that you struck first. It was when you broke the line that he began to fight. The resolve of those he was fighting was weakened. I left his crew to go a-Viking on my own. Pickings have been lean. We came here to get mail and better weapons.”
“Saxon swords are good.”
Haaken said, “If you want to make your fortune Thorghest the Lucky is gathering ships at a longphort south of Dyflin. He is married to Jarl Dragonheart’s daughter.”
Magnus looked interested, “Hibernia? Is there treasure there?”
Haaken nodded, “It depends upon how you view treasure. They have holy books which you can sell. They have a great number of women that you can enslave and sell.”
Rolf Horse Killer added, “And the warriors are as brave as any but wear no mail. Even those of your warriors who do not have a byrnie will be better armed and protected than those you fight.”
Magnus looked at me, “And why do you not fight with the husband of your daughter, Jarl Dragonheart?”
“We may but, Magnus Axe Head, we have no need. We raided the south coast of Wessex. We found great treasure and many slaves there. Thorghest does not need my sword and, besides, he would be his own man. You can see that can you not?”
“Aye.”
“And, of course, we were committed to pay this weregeld.”
Just then Klakke Blue Cheek swept into the hall. The convivial atmosphere changed in an instant. His face had a scowl carved upon it. He was not pleased about something, “Is this not my army and my victory? Why do others eat before I do?”
Magnus made to rise but I restrained him and broke another piece of bread off, “Magnus Axe Head and his men took this hall. It is their right to eat here.”
“I decide who eats and who does not. You do not command here, Jarl Dragonheart.”
I turned to face him, “And you do not command me. My association with you is now ended. I have paid my weregeld. Tomorrow we take our share of the spoils and we return to the Land of the Wolf.”
His face fell, “But we have just begun. Wessex is ripe for the taking.”
Magnus said, “And we will leave too.”
Klakke ignored the Dane, “I had thought that we would sweep through this land and conquer Egbert’s kingdom.”
I laughed, “Then you delude yourself, Klakke Blue Cheek. I hate Egbert but I do not covet his land. I am happy with my corner of this island.”
His eyes narrowed, “But I need you and your men with me.”
I nodded, “I know but that does not mean that you shall have them.” I turned back to the food.
“Magnus Axe Head, where is the treasure? Have you taken any?”
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br /> Before Magnus could reply I spoke, “You speak as though you are king, Klakke Blue Cheek. This is a brave warrior who suffered wounds and lost men to take this palace. He deserves respect.”
“And I lead this band, Dragonheart, not you! Where is the treasure?”
Magnus pointed to a curtain at the far end of the hall, “There is a chapel there. My men put all the treasure inside and they are guarding it. We touched none for ourselves. We were too busy fighting.” The sarcasm was wasted on Klakke Blue Cheek. He strode off with his own hearth-weru.
I turned to Magnus, “If I were you Magnus Axe Head I would go now and strip the byrnies from the dead. That will be better treasure for you and your men than the pickings Blue Cheek will give us. If all the treasure from this palace can fit into a chapel then there will be little enough to go around. My grandson will have his men stripping the dead. Tell him I sent you.”
He stood, “I will. This food tastes like sawdust now.”
Olaf said, after Magnus and his men had left, “I like him.”
“As do I. It teaches me a lesson too. I have judged all Danes by those who have tried to hurt me and mine. I can see now that I was wrong.”
Klakke came back and he was angry, “That is a piss poor reward for our losses! I had thought that this would be a rich place. You had more treasure when you came to Dorestad.”
I nodded, “Aye but we chose a burgh with a church and merchants. We did not give months of warning that we were coming. If we had they would have moved all their treasures away. This is a hunting lodge. It is far from Wintan-ceastre. Would you leave treasure so far from home?”
He sat down and cut himself a piece of meat, “Then we will have to raid closer to Wintan-ceastre. Perhaps even Wintan-ceastre itself.”
“You will need more ships than you brought here. We have been there and they have good walls and deeper ditches. Magnus Axe Head lost many men attacking the walls. You would lose one in three of your men just to reach the gates.”
“Then we will get more men.”
“Good luck with that. I shall wait for news of your victory.”