by Griff Hosker
The road was flat but it was not Roman and, in places, it was uneven. However we made good time and in the middle of the afternoon we saw the wooden walls less than a mile away. I could see a river but it guarded the stronghold from the north and not from the south. It was obvious we had been seen for we saw people fleeing towards the open gates. We stopped a mile from the walls while we prepared. We drank first and then we prepared for battle. We tightened straps and adjusted helmets. We slid swords in and out of scabbards. We waited for the orders to advance. Compared with the strongholds in the land of the Saxons and the Franks this was little better than a pig pen. There would be little preamble. The plan was simple. We would march up to the gate and batter it and the wall down. Many of Jarl Gunnstein Berserk Killer's men had axes and they were angry that their comrades had been slain at their gate. They also felt that they had let down their guests, us.
There was no discussion and no offer of peace. Then we marched again. Ulf and I did not go in the front rank. We took our bows and halted two hundred paces from the wall. While the double shield wall marched towards the gate and the shallow ditch we released arrow after arrow at the walls. Until we had hit eight men they discounted the effect we would have. After that we had no targets. I handed my bow and my arrows to Ulf. "You can ride to the gates but I must march."
He nodded, "May the Allfather be with you."
I brought my shield around and drew my sword. The movement sent paroxysms of pain coursing through my body. I gritted my teeth. I could not let pain stop me. Already I could hear the axes as they pounded on the gate and the walls. Those within had not had time to prepare and there were few stones and rocks to hurl at the attackers. The few they sent were easily blocked by our shields. Even so a few lucky javelins had got through and I saw some of Jarl Gunnstein Berserk Killer's men being dragged away from the walls. It was the wooden walls which fell first. Had we been more rested we could have climbed them but the twenty five mile march had taken its toll after the battle the previous day. I reached the line just as Rurik's axe smashed through the wall. He hit it again and again to widen the gap and we entered the town.
The wild men who had survived the day before threw themselves at us as we made our way through the hole Rurik had made. We did not enter as a band but in groups and Rurik, Arne and Gunnstein Gunnarson had to fend off a furious attack until others reached them. The Eriksson brothers made up for their poor attitude before the last battle and they launched themselves at those trying to get at Rurik and the others. The ferocity of their attack and their mail and weapons cleared a space and allowed the rest of us through. The Jarl and the hearth-weru followed Jarl Gunnstein through the gateway further to our right. I heard Jarl Gunnstein Berserk Killer shout, "Kill every man and boy! Let none live!"
I followed Rurik and Arne as they ran towards the wooden hall in the centre of the town. It was on top of a small hill and their warriors were retreating towards it. The women and children fled behind a wall of screaming warriors. They shouted at us; I had no doubt they were curses. They called, no doubt, on their One God to save them and still we advanced. One man, obviously determined to die heroically, hurled himself from the ranks of the retreating warriors to attack Vermund and the Jarl. He threw himself high in the air and brought his sword down to try to split the Jarl in two. Vermund and the Jarl both put their shields up at the same time. The Jarl brought his sword across. It bit deeply into the side of the warrior who, even while dying, still cursed and howled at us. His sword slid off the two shields. There was no possibility that these men would die easily. They might be Christians but that was but skin deep. Beneath their skin beat the hearts and spirits of barbarian warriors.
We moved in two lines and I was in the second behind Arne Four Toes. We moved relentlessly forward. Part of that was tiredness and part a desire to ensure that no one escaped. Jarl Gunnstein was showing the local tribes that he ruled here and not the High King. We stopped just thirty paces from them. Most of them did not use shields and could not make a shield wall but there were two men who looked like minor chiefs. They held shields. Their eight oathsworn had small wooden shields. If they used them then they would be kindling!
One of the chiefs steeped forward. He ranted, raved and shouted. Then he stopped. Thorgeir translated. "He says that the Cenél Lóegairi are an ancient people and this land is theirs. You have killed their nobles and they have had revenge and the killers now lie dead. Soon we will lie with them. Their god will give them victory over pagans!"
When our men heard that they began to jeer and howl. Jarl Gunnstein Berserk Killer said, "Hrolf, step forward. Thorgeir tell them that this is one of the warriors who killed their noble and the other is taking his rest."
As I stepped from behind Arne they saw my distinctive shield and helmet. They had seen them on the battlefield the previous day. One young warrior, an oathsworn suddenly ran out from the barbarian line. He punched Thorgeir out of the way with his shield and raised his sword to take my head. He was fast. Luckily my shield was facing my front and my sword was out. His sword clattered into my shield with all the weight of his body behind it. I reeled slightly. Then I stepped on to my right foot as I brought my sword around in a long sweep. There was no subtlety in the stroke. I hit his shield and it splintered. My sword bit through the leather and into his arm. As I had reeled so did he but I was upon him. As he fell I raised my shield and smashed it down on his windpipe. He lay still.
I was angry. I raised my sword and shouted, "Raven Wing Clan!" I ran towards their lines and their chiefs. My brethren and the rest of Jarl Gunnstein's warriors followed. I hit two men, a chief and one of his bodyguards with my shield as I stabbed into the stomach of the chief. I tore the blade out sideways and ducked as the body guard tried to take my head. I brought my sword up into his groin. I felt it grate along bone and then I ripped it out. The two lay in widening pools of blood. I saw two young warriors with swords who jumped high in the air to kill me. One was thrown back by an arrow. I plunged my sword into the second and turned to see Ulf with his bow. He was astride the pony. He was there at the kill. He was able to see the men and boys of the village be slaughtered. None asked for mercy. They fought when they had lost arms, legs or parts of their face but inevitably their twitching bodies stopped moving and they died. Our warriors went around every body and chopped the head from them. We wanted no one to feign death.
"Bind the women and children! Search the men for treasure and then burn their bodies in the hall. This will be a blackened reminder of the folly of challenging Jarl Gunnstein Berserk Killer! Put the heads of the dead on the palisade!"
I went to the body of the chief I had killed. I took his torc. He had no cross but he too had two rings. One had a skull upon it. I took it to be the symbol of the tribe. As I had thought their Christianity covered deeper, pagan beliefs. As the bodies began to burn Thorgeir came to me. "I am sorry Hrolf the Horseman. I should have stopped that barbarian."
"It was wyrd. We began this feud with our arrows when we slew their leaders. It is right that it ends here now."
When the fire caught and the flames leapt high into the sky we turned and headed home. We marched through the late afternoon, beyond dusk and arrived back in Dyflin after dark. Extra guards were placed on the gates so that we could sleep easy in our beds. We slept aboard our drekar. We had made a Blót in the Sabrina and that along with the spirit of our drekar would keep us far safer than the Jarl's guards. I was so tired that I fell asleep in an instant and slept so soundly that I was in the same position when I woke the next day.
Jarl Gunnar went to arrange a knarr just after dawn. We had much to take back with us. Jarl Gunnstein insisted on paying for the hire of the knarr. It was not a purely generous act. He would sell the slaves we had captured in Áth Truim. He would send us our share but he would make more profit from the arrangement. Our Welsh slaves and grain were loaded on the knarr, along with our two ponies while the gold, swords and treasures we had taken from their dead were placed on
our drekar. The Hibernians did not use mail but they liked gold and silver. We were all much richer.
Three days after the battle we left the Liffey and headed out to sea. It would be a three or four day journey home for we had to travel at the speed of the knarr and we had empty benches. Those warriors who wished to leave Jarl Gunnstein Berserk Killer's service and join our clan would have to serve until Midsummer Day. The Jarl was loath to leave himself short of men but by then we would have a second drekar for we had made enough to be able to seek the services of Bolli of Cyninges-tūn. Jarl Gunnstein Berserk Killer had offered to sell us his new drekar but Jarl Gunnar knew the kind of drekar we wanted. It would accommodate more men and we would be able to defeat more enemies. Our clan was growing.
Epilogue
Our island had never looked as good as we sailed towards my cove. Hrolfstad was the obvious choice to land the knarr. The wooden quay meant that we would not lose either slaves nor livestock. While the able bodied left the drekar with me those who were still suffering from wounds, like Ulf and Siggi, sailed around to Raven Wing Bay.
Mary and Gille were there to greet me as I landed. They had seen the ships. Gille told me later that Mary had gone there twice a day to watch for me every day since I had left. He laughed as he told me that Dream Strider had told him that I would be coming in soon. This was Gille's first time watching for me. It had been Dream Strider which had made him do so. We took the slaves off first and they were herded and led across the island. Each carried something we had taken. The time they had spent in the slave pens had made them realise what their future held and they were resigned to it. They were passive as they headed south. Next we took the grain. Until carts could be fetched it would stay at my farm. Finally it was the livestock which was taken off. I took the ponies off first as the knarr rode lower in the water and it was easier. Gille was delighted and he and Mary led them up to the pen. We would have to enlarge it soon. For now its small size would help my five animals become a family.
After the livestock had been taken the hearth-weru carried the treasure which the Jarl had accrued. We each had our own treasure but, as Jarl, he had more. He had enough to buy a drekar. It would be a bigger one than 'Raven Wing' and would be built at Cyninges-tūn. As the knarr turned and set sail for Olissipo where she would trade, the Jarl walked alone with me to my home.
"You have brought much honour to the clan. I would offer you the chance to become hearth-weru if I did not know that someday you will leave me." He nodded, "The Weird Sisters have decreed it so, it is wyrd. But know you that no one on this whole island is held in more honour than you. Whatever you decide in the future and wherever you travel I will always remember what you did for us."
"I have no plans to leave yet. I am still learning. I must become a horse master and I must learn to lead. I have learned much watching others."
He looked relieved, "Good for I thought with all your gold that you be away before harvest time."
"No Jarl. I will not leave yet."
That evening I gave Mary the cross and Gille one of the skull rings. He liked it. I told them of some of the things we had done. They knew of Ulf's injury and Siggi's so it was inevitable they would know that I had been wounded too but the fact that I walked well and did not appear to be troubled made it easier. A month after our return the Jarl and Siggi left on the drekar to pick up our new men and to order the drekar. He had barely been gone two nights when Gerðr went into labour. I was grateful that Mary and Gille were there for I am not sure I would have known what to do. Gille had helped his father and Mary was a woman. She knew what to do. The young colt was healthy and golden. He shone like gold. It was the horse from my dream! We called him Copper. Mary wanted a name which was not Norse and neither Gille nor I wanted a Christian name. It seemed right. As we watched the gangly colt take its first faltering steps it seemed like a symbol of us and our lives. We were taking our first steps as a family and a clan. Where would they lead us? The gods and the Norns knew the answer. We just lived the best that we could.
The End
Glossary
Afon Hafron- River Severn in Welsh
Alt Clut- Dumbarton Castle on the Clyde
Andecavis- Angers in Anjou
An Oriant- Lorient, Brittany
Áth Truim- Trim, County Meath (Ireland)
Balley Chashtal -Castleton (Isle of Man)
Bebbanburgh- Bamburgh Castle, Northumbria. Also know 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 8th and beginning of the 9th centuries
Cherestanc- Garstang (Lancashire)
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
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
Hamwic -Southampton
Haughs- small hills in Norse (As in Tarn Hows)
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
Issicauna- Gaulish for the lower Seine
Itouna- River Eden Cumbria
Jarl- Norse earl or lord
Joro-goddess of the earth
jǫtunn -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
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
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
Condado Portucalense- the County of Portugal
Penrhudd – Penrith Cumbria
Pillars of Hercules- Straits of Gibraltar
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
St. Cybi- Holyhead
sampiere -samphire (sea asparagus)
Scree- loose rocks in a glacial valley
Seax – short sword