by Griff Hosker
He made for me. A warrior should never try to evade another. It always ends in disaster. I might have been wounded but I would fight on. If this was my day to die, then I would be dying amongst great company. If I did die I knew that my men would win. It made it much easier to face death.
“Come, my fine beast! Let us show these Franks that we are as one!” My words seemed to have an effect for the grey moved a little faster and we drew away from Gurth and Ragnvald.
The warrior with the yellow shield shouted, “Come to your death barbarian! I will take your head and piss in your skull!”
It does not please the gods to boast of a victory before you have struck a blow. He was overconfident and, like many Franks that day, he had little control over his spear. It was not couched. He held it overhand. He was not thinking of his horse and how he could control it. He was just wondering how he would kill me. I waited until the last possible moment and then jerked my horse’s head to the left. The spear gouged a red line along my horse’s shoulder. The colouring made it look worse than it was. I then pulled back my arm and rammed Heart of Ice between the ears of the Frank’s horse. His shield could not block the blow and my sword plunged deep into his chest. I leaned into the blow and he fell over the rear of his saddle. His falling body released my sword.
Ahead of me I saw the grinning face of Jarl Thorbolt as he swung his sword to take the two hind legs from a Frank. As the horse collapsed the rider fell at Thorbolt’s feet. The jarl took his head in one blow. He had the blood lust upon him and he lifted the head and threw it high in the air.
Just then I heard a shout, “Father look out!”
I turned and saw the skeggox wielded by a huge Saxon come towards me. I could not move. It smashed into my helmet. I tried to stay upright but I felt myself falling. My head was filled with the brightest of lights. I heard the voice of Ulf Big Nose as he shouted, “Keep your wits about you!”
Suddenly I saw Siggi White Hair appear from a pile of dead bodies. He was shaking his head. I had failed them both. Then all went black.
Epilogue
I was riding Dream Strider. I was on Raven Wing Island and Nipper was racing close by. It was dark of night. I heard a voice, it seemed to be within me. I could not make out what it was saying. Then I saw a light ahead. The light grew and the air became warmer. I recognised where I was. It was the cliff over my bay. I tried to stop Dream Strider but I could not. I began to tumble over and over. I fell down and down. The bottom seemed to go on forever. I kept falling and I did not reach the bottom.
Then the voice became clearer, “Father Michael, I am certain I saw some movement.”
I heard the voice of my wife but it seemed to be so far away and I could see nothing. I opened my eyes and still saw nothing. Was I a spirit? Was this how spirits saw the world?
“My child, it has been seven days. The blow cracked open his skull. It is a miracle that he has lasted this long. His breathing is so shallow that I am not certain he is alive at all. It is time to lay the sword in his hand. It is what he would have wanted.”
Then I heard my son, “He is not dead. He will rise. I know it. My father has the heart of a dragon. He cannot be easily killed. He fought on with two wounds in his leg and he still slew all around him. He will live. We just have to believe. I am the next jarl and I say I will decide when he is dead!”
Then I heard Rurik One Ear’s voice, “I think you are right, Ragnvald Hrolfsson. Too many of our old comrades fell in that battle. Arne Four Toes, Harold Haroldsson, Sven Siggison and Beorn Beornsson. So many of the Raven Wing Clan fell that the survivors of the original crew can be counted on the fingers of one hand. The jarl lives. I feel it in my bones.” I felt his rough hand touch my head. “Priest, let us take this bandage off. If you say he is going to die anyway how can this help?”
“Take it off. I have done all that I can.”
How could I hear them and not see them?
A hand was placed under my neck and my head lifted up. The bandage was unwound. The reason I could not see was because I had a bandage over my eyes. I was alive! I tried to speak but all that came out was a sort of squeaky cough.
“He lives! Give him ale. He cannot speak!”
The bandage was removed and the light was so bright that I had to close my eyes. Ale was poured down my throat. I opened my eyes again and it seemed not as bright. I saw Mary and she was weeping. She held her cross. She leaned over me and sobbed into my chest, “We thought you were dead. Your body was so cold. I thank God that he has saved you.”
Ragnvald put his hand on mine, “It was father’s spirit which saved him, mother. He is the clan. Our victory was due to him and him alone. It was his plan and even when the Norns spun their webs it was his charge which saved the day. Rurik is right, we lost many men that day but the Franks lost more. Henry of Carentan and Jean of Caen lie dead. Our warriors wear their mail and ride their horses. Their burned bodies make our crops grow. Already they have sent emissaries begging us to leave their lands in peace. We now have our own land. They will not attempt to take it again. Our riders have told us they are building strongholds to the south of us. They fear us and that is down to my father. He has made this a land of the Norse. He has forged a new weapon. It is something the world has never seen; it is a Viking on a horse. Soon the whole world will know of this. My father has done something which no other Viking has done before. He has made a new people.”
I raised myself up, “No, Ragnvald, we have all done that. We are Norse and Frank, Breton and Saxon. And it was not me alone who won the battle. Every warrior played his part. And now I see the Allfather’s plan. If it had not been for Einar and Flambard, Sigtrygg and Thorbolt coming into our clan we would not have won.”
My wife put her arms around my neck and kissed me. As she stepped away she smiled, “And you, my husband, will now rest. You have a son who can take much of the burden from your shoulders.”
“In time, yes. He still has much to learn.”
She nodded, “Well he has learned one thing from you. If you wish to be a great lord, then first take a Frank for a wife.”
I wondered if my wound had affected my hearing, “A wife?”
Ragnvald nodded, “Yes father, I am to marry Flambard’s daughter, Mathilde. I will do as you did.”
I lay back and closed my eyes. The Norns had been spinning. Wyrd .
The End
Norse Calendar
Gormánuður October 14 th - November 13 th
Ýlir November 14 th - December 13th
Mörsugur December 14th - January 12 th
Þorri - January 13th - February 11th
Gói - February 12th - March 13th
Einmánuður - March 14th - April 13th
Harpa April 14th - May 13th
Skerpla - May 14th - June 12th
Sólmánuður - June 13th - July 12th
Heyannir - July 13th - August 14th
Tvímánuður - August 15 th - September 14 th
Haustmánuður September 15 th -October 13 th
Glossary
Ækre -acre (Norse) The amount of land a pair of oxen could plough in one day
Addelam- Deal (Kent)
Afon Hafron- River Severn in Welsh
Alt Clut- Dumbarton Castle on the Clyde
Andecavis- Angers in Anjou
Angia- Jersey (Channel Islands)
An Oriant- Lorient, Brittany
Áth Truim- Trim, County Meath (Ireland)
Baille - a ward (an enclosed area inside a wall)
Balley Chashtal -Castleton (Isle of Man)
Bárekr’s Haven – Barfleur, Normandy
Bebbanburgh- Bamburgh Castle, Northumbria. Also, known as Din Guardi in the ancient tongue
Beck- a stream
Blót – a blood sacrifice made by a jarl
Blue Sea/Middle Sea- The Mediterranean
Bondi- Viking farmers who fight
Bourde- Bordeaux
Bjarnarøy –Great Bernera (Bear Island)
Byrnie- a mail or leather shirt reaching down to the knees
Caerlleon- Welsh for Chester
Caestir - Chester (old English)
Cantewareburh- Canterbury
Casnewydd –Newport, Wales
Cent- Kent
Cephas- Greek for Simon Peter (St. Peter)
Cetham -Chatham Kent
Chape- the tip of a scabbard
Charlemagne- Holy Roman Emperor at the end of the 8 th and beginning of the 9 th centuries
Cherestanc- Garstang (Lancashire)
Ċiriċeburh- Cherbourg
Condado Portucalense- the County of Portugal
Constrasta-Valença (Northern Portugal)
Corn Walum or Om Walum- Cornwall
Cymri- Welsh
Cymru- Wales
Cyninges-tūn – Coniston. It means the estate of the king (Cumbria)
Dùn Èideann –Edinburgh (Gaelic)
Din Guardi- Bamburgh castle
Drekar- a Dragon ship (a Viking warship)
Duboglassio –Douglas, Isle of Man
Dyrøy –Jura (Inner Hebrides)
Dyflin- Old Norse for Dublin
Ein-mánuðr- middle of March to the middle of April
Eoforwic- Saxon for York
Fáfnir - a dwarf turned into a dragon (Norse mythology)
Faro Bregancio- Corunna (Spain)
Ferneberga -Farnborough (Hampshire)
Fey- having second sight
Firkin- a barrel containing eight gallons (usually beer)
Fret-a sea mist
Frankia- France and part of Germany
Fyrd-the Saxon levy
Gaill- Irish for foreigners
Galdramenn- wizard
Glaesum –amber
Gleawecastre- Gloucester
Gói- the end of February to the middle of March
Greenway- ancient roads- they used turf rather than stone
Grenewic- Greenwich
Gyllingas - Gillingham Kent
Haesta- Hastings
Haestingaceaster -Hastings
Hamwic -Southampton
Hantone- Littlehampton
Haughs/ Haugr - small hills in Norse (As in Tarn Hows) or a hump- normally a mound of earth
Hearth-weru- Jarl's bodyguard/oathsworn
Heels- when a ship leans to one side under the pressure of the wind
Hel - Queen of Niflheim , the Norse underworld.
Herkumbl- a mark on the front of a helmet denoting the clan of a Viking warrior
Here Wic- Harwich
Hetaereiarch – Byzantine general
Hí- Iona (Gaelic)
Hjáp - Shap- Cumbria (Norse for stone circle)
Hoggs or Hogging- when the pressure of the wind causes the stern or the bow to droop
Hrams-a – Ramsey, Isle of Man
Hrofecester-Rochester Kent
Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog- King of Gwynedd 814-825
Icaunis- British river god
Ishbiliyya- Seville
Issicauna- Gaulish for the lower Seine
Itouna- River Eden Cumbria
Jarl- Norse earl or lord
Joro-goddess of the earth
Jǫtun n - Norse god or goddess
Kjerringa - Old Woman- the solid block in which the mast rested
Knarr- a merchant ship or a coastal vessel
Kyrtle-woven top
Laugardagr-Saturday (Norse for washing day)
Leathes Water- Thirlmere
Ljoðhús- Lewis
Legacaestir- Anglo Saxon for Chester
Liger- Loire
Lochlannach – Irish for Northerners (Vikings)
Lothuwistoft- Lowestoft
Louis the Pious- King of the Franks and son of Charlemagne
Lundenwic - London
Maen hir – standing stone (menhir)
Maeresea- River Mersey
Mammceaster- Manchester
Manau/Mann – The Isle of Man(n) (Saxon)
Marcia Hispanic- Spanish Marches (the land around Barcelona)
Mast fish- two large racks on a ship for the mast
Melita- Malta
Midden - a place where they dumped human waste
Miklagård - Constantinople
Leudes- Imperial officer (a local leader in the Carolingian Empire. They became Counts a century after this.)
Njoror- God of the sea
Nithing- A man without honour (Saxon)
Odin - The "All Father" God of war, also associated with wisdom, poetry, and magic (The ruler of the gods).
Olissipo- Lisbon
Orkneyjar-Orkney
Portucale- Porto
Portesmūða -Portsmouth
Penrhudd – Penrith Cumbria
Pillars of Hercules- Straits of Gibraltar
Qādis- Cadiz
Ran- Goddess of the sea
Roof rock- slate
Rinaz –The Rhine
Sabrina- Latin and Celtic for the River Severn. Also, the name of a female Celtic deity
Saami- the people who live in what is now Northern Norway/Sweden
Sarnia- Guernsey (Channel Islands)
St. Cybi- Holyhead
Sampiere -samphire (sea asparagus)
Scree- loose rocks in a glacial valley
Seax – short sword
Sheerstrake- the uppermost strake in the hull
Sheet- a rope fastened to the lower corner of a sail
Shroud- a rope from the masthead to the hull amidships
Skeggox – an axe with a shorter beard on one side of the blade
South Folk- Suffolk
Stad- Norse settlement
Stays- ropes running from the mast-head to the bow
Stirap- stirrup
Strake- the wood on the side of a drekar
Suthriganaworc - Southwark (London)
Syllingar- Scilly Isles
Syllingar Insula- Scilly Isles
Tarn- small lake (Norse)
Temese- River Thames (also called the Tamese)
The Norns- The three sisters who weave webs of intrigue for men
Thing-Norse for a parliament or a debate (Tynwald)
Thor’s day- Thursday
Threttanessa- a drekar with 13 oars on each side.
Thrall- slave
Tinea- Tyne
Trenail- a round wooden peg used to secure strakes
Tude- Tui in Northern Spain
Tynwald- the Parliament on the Isle of Man
Úlfarrberg- Helvellyn
Úlfarrland- Cumbria
Úlfarr- Wolf Warrior
Úlfarrston- Ulverston
Ullr-Norse God of Hunting
Ulfheonar-an elite Norse warrior who wore a wolf skin over his armour
Valauna- Valognes (Normandy)
Vectis- The Isle of Wight
Volva- a witch or healing woman in Norse culture
Waeclinga Straet- Watling Street (A5)
Windlesore-Windsor
Waite- a Viking word for farm
Werham -Wareham (Dorset)
Wintan-ceastre -Winchester
Withy- the mechanism connecting the steering board to the ship
Woden’s day- Wednesday
Wyddfa-Snowdon
Wyrd- Fate
Yard- a timber from which the sail is suspended on a drekar
Ynys Môn-Anglesey
Maps and Illustrations
Griff Hosker 2016
Map courtesy of Wikipedia
The island the Raven Clan use. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
Charlemagne's Empire
Courtesy of Wikipedia –Public Domain
Historical note
My research encompasses not only books and the Internet but also TV. Time Team was a great source of information. I wish they would bring it back! I saw the wooden compass which my sailors use on the Dan Snow programme about the Vikings. Apparently, it was used in modern times to sail from Denmark to Edinburgh and was only a couple of points out. Similarly, the construction of the temporary hall was cop
ied from the settlement of Leif Eriksson in Newfoundland.
Stirrups began to be introduced in Europe during the 7th and 8th Centuries. By Charlemagne's time they were widely used but only by nobles. It is said this was the true beginning of feudalism. It was the Vikings who introduced them to England. It was only in the time of Canute the Great that they became widespread. The use of stirrups enabled a rider to strike someone on the ground from the back of a horse and facilitated the use of spears and later, lances.
The Vikings may seem cruel to us now. They enslaved women and children. Many of the women became their wives. The DNA of the people of Iceland shows that it was made up of a mixture of Norse and Danish males and Celtic females. These were the people who settled Iceland, Greenland and Vinland. They did the same in England and, as we shall see, Normandy. Their influence was widespread. Genghis Khan and his Mongols did the same in the 13th century. It is said that a high proportion of European males have Mongol blood in them. The Romans did it with the Sabine tribe. They were different times and it would be wrong to judge them with our politically correct twenty first century eyes. This sort of behaviour still goes on in the world but with less justification.
At this time, there were no Viking kings. There were clans. Each clan had a hersir or Jarl. Clans were loyal to each other. A hersir was more of a landlocked Viking or a farmer while a Jarl usually had ship(s) at his command. A hersir would command bondi. They were the Norse equivalent of the fyrd although they were much better warriors. They would all have a helmet shield and a sword. Most would also have a spear. Hearth weru were the oathsworn or bodyguards for a jarl or, much later on, a king. Kings like Canute and Harald Hadrada were rare and they only emerged at the beginning of tenth century.
Harald Black Teeth is made up but the practice of filing marks in teeth to allow them to blacken and to make the warrior more frightening was common in Viking times.
The wolf and the raven were both held in high esteem by the Vikings. Odin is often depicted with a wolf and a raven at his side.
Hamwic (Southampton) was raided by the Vikings so many times that it was almost abandoned by the middle of the Ninth Century. Egbert's successor did not suffer from as many Viking raids as King Egbert. He did have an alliance with the Frankish King.
The Vikings began to raid the Loire and the Seine from the middle of the 9th century. They were able to raid as far as Tours. Tours, Saumur and the monastery at Marmoutier were all raided and destroyed. As a result of the raids and the destruction castles were built there during the latter part of the 9th century. There are many islands in the Loire and many tributaries. The Maine, which runs through Angers, is also a wide waterway. The lands seemed made for Viking raiders. They did not settle in Aquitaine but they did in Austrasia. The Vikings began to settle in Normandy and the surrounding islands from the 820s. Many place names in Normandy are Viking in origin. Sometimes, as in Vinland, the settlements were destroyed by the Franks but some survived. So long as a Viking had a river for his drekar he could raid at will.