Saxon Fall

by Griff Hosker

  The fyrd were caught in two minds. Did they do as they had been ordered and come towards us or retreat because their plan had failed? They panicked and looked for instructions. I brought Saxon Slayer around in a wide arc and decapitated the first warrior. I punched a second with my shield and, stepping forward stabbed down on his middle. We had to get as close to the shield wall as possible. The farmers who faced us stood no chance and they did what any sensible man would do in that situation, they ran. They hurtled towards the shield wall which was advancing towards us. Oswald and Oswiu’s men would not let them through. To do so would invite us to close with them. They all knew how good my equites were. Some of the fyrd perished at the hands of their own countrymen. They began to tear their way through the shield wall to reach the safety of the river.

  It was not as though the river was any safer either for Daffydd and his archers could not be reached and already I could see the rear ranks of the shield wall turning their shields to protect themselves from the new danger.

  Pol, Lann Aelle and Llenlleog were with me and Pelas guarded my back. The five of us headed directly for the large housecarl of Oswald who hacked down one of his own men trying to get past him. I brought my sword from behind my head. It came down so fast that it was a blur. The warrior held up his shield for protection but my blade ripped through the wood and carried on down to slice through the metal of the helmet as though it was the skin of an apple. He sank to the ground and I punched with my shield to get inside the shield wall.

  A spear head darted at my face and I turned my head slightly so that the edge slid down my helmet. I brought Saxon Slayer up and watched warrior’s horrified face as the sharp tip entered his body and ripped upwards. He screamed as he tried to catch his intestines and I pushed him backwards. He was a big warrior and his tumbling, writhing body knocked two more warriors to the ground. I stamped on one and stabbed the other. The shield wall was broken and my warriors were laying about them. Pol was using his mace to great effect. I shouted, “Saxon Slayer!” for the joy of battle was upon me and the Northumbrians closest to me fell backwards.

  I had breathing space at last. I spied Oswald and Oswiu. I pointed my sword at them and began to run towards them. Pol, Lann Aelle and Gawan followed me. My wolf shield was covered in the blood of my enemies. My helmet and mail were similarly draped with the remains of men. I knew how terrifying I looked. The Northumbrians of Oswald and Oswiu ran. They hurtled towards Edwin and the standard of Northumbria. Daffydd moved his archers even closer to the edge of the river and the arrows no longer rained, they were aimed with purpose. At less than forty paces the arrows were deadly. The helmets of the Saxons and the mail could not stop them. The retreat became a rout and even Oswald and Oswiu joined their brother to run south. Behind me I heard the hooves of Dai ap Dai who had brought his equites and our squires into the fray. The sight of reinforcements had been too much.

  “Reform! Wedge!”

  King Penda and King Cadwallon were pushing hard at Eadfrith and the Hibernians but they were holding their own against the attack. The battle was in the balance. In my head I heard my father’s voice urging me to get to Edwin. If he fell then the battle would be over.

  I turned to my men. I could see that we had lost some but more than sixty equites were with me. “We end this war today. We go for Edwin. Are you with me?”

  I could see the light of battle shone in their eyes and they all yelled, “Aye Warlord!” It was so loud that I saw warriors on the other side of the battlefield stop and look. I sheathed Saxon Slayer and picked up a Saxon spear. I was the point of the arrow. We began to march. The men banged their shields and chanted as we marched, “Saxon Slayer! Saxon Slayer! Saxon Slayer! Saxon Slayer!” It was not only terrifying it helped us to march in time. I saw Edwin organising his shield wall to take us. His sons Osfrith and Eadfrith stood before their father and the banner.

  As we drew closer the men chanted faster as we picked up speed. The last few paces would be at a run. It took skill to run and strike at the same time but we were well trained and they knew me.

  I watched the Northumbrians brace themselves for the shock. I pulled back my right arm and punched as we were one pace from the shield wall. My spear went through Osfrith’s head and emerged out of the back. As he fell the head broke from the spear and I whipped it sideways into Eadfrith’s helmet. As I punched with my shield I drew Saxon Slayer and stabbed blindly ahead of me. I felt Lann Aelle’s presence as he swung his mace at Eadfrith who, already stunned, fell unconscious at our feet.

  Those two blows seemed to enrage the oathsworn of King Edwin. A knot of them suddenly lurched at us. I was already tired; I was not used to fighting on foot. My wound was now aching and two warriors came at me at once. Lann Aelle was fending off an attack from my right and, although I took the two blows on my shield and my sword I was forced to my knees. I saw the look of triumph on the faces of the two warriors. I felt like a fish stranded on a beach. I could barely get my breath. As the swords were raised to end my days Gawan thrust his shield in the way of one blow. I managed to protect myself with my shield but the warrior facing Gawan was a mighty one and he punched Gawan in the face with his own shield. My brother fell next to me.

  Perhaps that was the spur I needed for I found new energy. I brought my right hand back and punched up as hard as I could. The tip of Saxon Slayer peered out from the neck of the surprised warrior. As I stood I pushed my shield and he tumbled from my blade. The huge warrior had his sword raised to strike the recumbent Gawan. I leapt at him with my shield and my whole body weight behind it. We crashed to the ground. Had I been on the bottom I fear I would never have risen but it was he who had the wind knocked from him. We were too close for a blow with the blade of Saxon Slayer and so I raised my hand and brought down the jewelled pommel into his eye. I kept punching until his face was a bloody mess and he moved no more.

  I was aware of Llenlleog, Pelas, Lann Aelle and Pol standing around the bodies of my brother and myself. I raised myself to my knees and lifted Gawan’s helmet. His eyes opened. “Thank the Allfather you are alive!”

  He gave a pained smile, “And you, brother.”

  I stood. We had broken the charge of the oathsworn but the banner still stood. I could see that Eanfrith and the Hibernians were holding against Penda and Cadwallon. I knew that the battle could turn in an instant. We had to get to Edwin. Once his banner fell then the heart would go from the enemy.

  The Northumbrians were also tired but they stood in steel ring around their king. My men looked anxiously over their shoulders at me. Pol inclined his head and I said, “I am ready, Pol, one last push. We take the banner and the king.” They nodded and took their places around me. Gawan got to his feet although he was somewhat unsteady. “Pelas, watch my brother!” I raised my sword, “Saxon Slayer!”

  The brief rest had given my legs and arm some respite and we ran at the ring of shields. The spears had been shattered and it was sword against sword. Perhaps we had already slain their best warriors but the four of us fell upon the shield wall like furies. Bors, Kay and Osgar followed the sword and all along the Northumbrian line my equites crashed into the Saxon shields.

  I stabbed forward with Saxon Slayer and the blade went towards the head of a warrior who moved his head out of the way. The warrior behind did not see the sword which ripped into his shoulder. He was no longer pushing and supporting the warrior before me. Gawan and Pelas pushed my back and the warrior was forced to step back. The warrior behind had sunk to his knees and my opponent tumbled to the ground. He could not avoid the sword which pinned him to the swampy earth.

  There was no one between me and Edwin. “Surrender Northumbrian, for you have lost!”

  “I will never surrender to a pagan and a devil worshipper. God is on my side this day and you will die.”

  I swung my sword high behind me and brought it down towards Edwin’s head. He brought his shield up. I was the first man he had fought this day. He did not brace himself for the blow. He r
ecoiled and struggled to keep his feet. I too was tiring but I knew that he was mine for the taking I brought the sword around in an arc to my right and King Edwin struggled to lower his shield in time. He was pushed back again. The ground was slippery with mud, blood and bodies. I could see that his face was now filled with fear. He managed to stab forward with his sword but it was a weak blow and I deflected it easily. It opened him up and I stabbed forward. Had this been the start of the battle then it would have ended there but my sword was not as sharp as it had been. It tore through a few of the links and scraped a tear in the leather byrnie but he lived still.

  I heard a roar behind me as the banner fell when the bearer was killed. The cheer went up along our lines. “Surrender! You have lost!”

  “Jesus will not abandon me. I will overcome you, heathen!”

  He was a brave man for he was facing a warrior who was at the peak of his powers. I feinted with the sword; aiming at his helmet. He brought the shield up and I punched mine at the same time. He tumbled to the ground and made the cardinal mistake of breaking his fall with his arms. He lay like a beached fish on the ground at my feet. As I stuck my sword through his throat I thought it ironical that he died in the same pose as the cross which hung around his neck.

  The wail from his men seemed to spread along and down the river. His men fled. The ones without armour hurled themselves into the river while many others ran north through my exhausted warriors who could not catch them. I pushed my helmet back and turned. My equites had taken losses but my captains, brother, cousin and squire lived still. They began to bang their shields and to chant, “Warlord! Warlord!” King Edwin was dead and Northumbria was no more. We had won. Wyrd!

  Epilogue

  The pursuit of the survivors of the battle of Hatfield was left to King Cadwallon and his men. Perhaps that was why the books they wrote spoke of it as King Cadwallon’s victory. The warriors who were there knew that it was my victory. I had lost over thirty of my equites but we had slain King Edwin’s oathsworn. King Penda asked me for Eadfrith as a hostage for the sons of Aethelfrith had caused Penda great loss. As it was Oswald and Oswiu whom I sought, I concurred. The pyre from the burning Northumbrians was so large that it burned for three days. They say that the ground was blackened for a generation. The priests of the White Christ took the manner of the death of their king as a sign from their God and he was made into a saint. I have no idea what a saint is; perhaps it was to commemorate that he fought as a warrior and died with a sword in his hand. I wondered if that meant he would be in the Otherworld.

  Two days after the battle we mounted our horses and headed north. King Cadwallon seemed to enjoy the adulation of being a hero. It was at that time that he began to believe that he had won the battle. King Penda was less than complimentary about him saying that he had ridden behind his oathsworn and let them do the fighting. I could understand that; he was merely a king but I was Warlord.

  We reached the old Roman fort of Eboracum. Autumn was upon us and we could travel no further. While King Cadwallon continued to rampage through the north the warriors I had led from Mona and the Clwyd valley wintered in the fortress. The Northumbrians had largely fled and left only the slaves. I freed them and they stayed to be our servants.

  As we walked the old Roman paths and marvelled at the buildings I was reminded of Civitas Carvetiorum. We had left that town many years ago. We had fought in the wilderness and the wilds of Wales for many years but now we were within touching distance of a final victory. King Penda went back to Mercia and the warriors of Rheged rested before we would finally rid our old land of the Northumbrian stain. We had felled the Saxon and the Warlord had won. The Kingdom of Northumbria was ended.

  The End

  Glossary

  Name-Explanation

  Abbatis Villa- Abbeville –Northern France

  Aengus Finn mac Fergus Dubdétach-Irish mercenary

  Aelfere-Northallerton

  Aelle-Monca’s son and Hogan Lann’s uncle

  Aileen- Fergus’ sister, a mystic

  Alavna-Maryport

  Artorius-King Arthur

  Banna-Birdoswald

  Belatu-Cadros -God of war

  Belerion-Land’s End (Cornwall)

  Bilhaugh Forest –Sherwood Forest

  Bone fire- the burning of the waste material after the slaughter of the animals at the end of October. (Bonfire night)

  Bors- son of Mungo

  Bro Waroc'h- one of the Brythionic tribes who settled in Brittany

  Byrnie – mail shirt

  Caedwalestate-Cadishead near Salford

  Caer Daun- Doncaster

  Caergybi-Holyhead

  Cadwallon ap Cadfan- King of Gwynedd

  Caldarium- the hot room in a Roman bathhouse

  Civitas Carvetiorum-Carlisle

  Constantinopolis-Constantinople (modern Istanbul)

  Cymri-Wales

  Cynfarch Oer-Descendant of Coel Hen (King Cole)

  Daffydd ap Gwynfor-Lann’s chief sea captain

  Daffydd ap Miach-Miach’s son

  Dai ap Gruffyd-King Cadfan’s squire

  Delbchaem Lann-Lann’s daughter

  Din Guardi-Bamburgh Castle

  Dunum-River Tees

  Dux Britannica-The Roman British leader after the Romans left (King Arthur?)

  Edwin-King of Bernicia, Deira and Northumbria

  Erecura-Goddess of the earth

  Fanum Cocidii-Bewcastle

  Fiachnae mac Báetáin- King of Strathclyde

  Fiachnae mac Demmáin King of the Dál Fiatach

  Freja-Saxon captive and Aelle’s wife

  Gareth-Harbour master Caergybi

  Gallóglaigh-Irish mercenary

  Gawan Lann-Lann’s son

  Glanibanta- Ambleside

  Gwynfor-Headman at Caergybi

  Gwyr-The land close to Swansea

  Halvelyn- Helvellyn

  Haordine-Hawarden Cheshire

  Hen Ogledd-Northern England and Southern Scotland

  Hogan Lann-Lann’s son and Warlord

  Icaunus-River god

  King Ywain Rheged-Eldest son of King Urien

  Lann- First Warlord of Rheged and Dux Britannica

  Llenlleog- ‘Leaping one’ (Lancelot)

  Loge-God of trickery

  Loidis-Leeds

  Maeresea-River Mersey

  Mare Nostrum-Mediterranean Sea

  Metcauld- Lindisfarne)

  Myfanwy-the Warlord’s stepmother

  Myrddyn-Welsh wizard fighting for Rheged

  Nanna Lann-Lann’s daughter, wife to King Cadwallon

  Namentwihc –Nantwich, Cheshire

  Nithing-A man without honour

  Nodens-God of hunting

  Oppidum- hill fort

  Oswald-Priest

  Paulinus of Eboracum- The Pope’s representative in Britannia

  Penrhyd- Penrith,Cumbria

  Penrhyn Llŷn- Llŷn Peninsula

  pharos- lighthouse

  Pol-Equite and strategos

  Prestune-Preston Lancashire

  Roman Bridge-Piercebridge (Durham)

  Roman Soldiers- the mountains around Scafell Pike

  Scillonia Insula-Scilly Isles

  Solar-West facing room in a castle

  Spæwīfe- Old English for witch

  Sucellos-God of love and time

  Táin Bó- Irish for cattle raid

  Tatenhale-Tattenhall near Chester

  Tepidarium- the warm room in a Roman Bath house

  The Narrows-The Menaii Straits

  Treffynnon-Holywell (North Wales)

  Tuanthal-Leader of the Warlord’s horse warriors

  Vectis-Isle of Wight

  Vindonnus-God of hunting

  Wachanglen-Wakefield

  Wrecsam- Wrexham

  wapentake- Muster of an army

  Wide Water-Windermere

  Wyddfa-Snowdon

  Wyrd-Fate

  Y Fflint-Flint (North Wales)

  Ynys Enll
i-Bardsey Island

  Yr Wyddgrug-Mold (North Wales)

  Zatrikion- an early form of Greek chess

  Maps

  The Frankish Empire (Frankia)

  Map courtesy of Wikipedia

  Brittany in the 6th-8th centuries

  Courtesy of Wikipedia

  Historical note

  There is evidence that the Saxons withdrew from Rheged in the early years of the seventh century and never dominated that land again. It seems that warriors from Wales reclaimed that land. I have used Lord Lann as that instrument. King Edwin did usurp Aethelfrith. Edwin was allied to both Mercia and East Anglia.

  There is a cave in North Yorkshire called Mother Shipton’s cave. It has a petrifying well within. Objects left there become covered, over time, with a stone exterior. In the seventeenth century a witch was reputed to live there. I created an earlier witch to allow the Roman sword to be discovered and to create a link with my earlier Roman series.

  The Saxons and Britons all valued swords and cherished them. They were passed from father to son. The use of rings on the hilts of great swords was a common practice and showed the prowess of the warrior in battle. I do not subscribe to Brian Sykes’ theory that the Saxons merely assimilated into the existing people. One only has to look at the place names and listen to the language of the north and north western part of England. You can still hear anomalies. Perhaps that is because I come from the north but all of my reading leads me to believe that the Anglo-Saxons were intent upon conquest. The Norse invaders were different and they did assimilate but the Saxons were fighting for their lives and it did not pay to be kind. The people of Rheged were the last survivors of Roman Britain and I have given them all of the characteristics they would have had. They were educated and ingenious. The Dark Ages was the time when much knowledge was lost and would not reappear until Constantinople fell. This period was also the time when the old ways changed and Britain became Christian. This was a source of conflict as well as growth.