The Duke and the King

by Griff Hosker

  The midwives and the women seemed to have determined that the babe would be born in the next couple of days. How they knew that I had no idea. My son would not be present. The story of the curse of the priest, although it sounded pagan, was strong enough to deter any man from being present. My son and I got drunk. I had not done so for a long time. Not long before I had had enough and retired to bed, I was certain that I saw Mathilde watching me. I thought no more about it but the Norns were spinning. I woke feeling better than I had for a long time. I rose and was greeted by women racing around my hall like chickens without heads.

  I spied William, “It is the baby, father, it is due. It seems you were wrong. This will be a girl. You still live.”

  I laughed, “And right pleased am I for if the new granddaughter is anything like Mathilde then she will be a joy.”

  “I will go and see when the baby is due. Sprota has done this so many times that it should be quicker this time.”

  My head began to buzz. I put it down to the Norns and their webs; I walked towards the table where the food and ale were laid. I saw Mathilde looking at me. She was stood before the fire and Long Sword. Father Harold was busy in the hall, he knew that when the baby was born there would be much to do. It was as I walked towards the table that I started to lose control. First, I felt a fire in my head. I knew what that meant. Then, my legs ceased to work effectively. I tried to move them but I felt myself falling. I tried to shout but no words came out. I tried to put my hand out to break my fall but my body would not obey. Only Mathilde reacted. I saw her mouth open but I heard not a word. I crumbled to the ground. I was dying. The first attack and the subsequent ones had been nothing like this. I heard whistling in my ears and my head felt like it would erupt from the top of my body. I could see Father Harold and others rushing around but I heard nothing. I would not go to Valhalla. There was no sword in my hand and I could not reach one. Then I saw Mathilde. It looked like she was screaming. Father Thomas and Atticus reacted. They went to the fire and lifted down Long Sword. Mathilde ran to me and cradled my head in her tiny hands. Tears coursed down her cheek. She held my head and kissed my cheek. I tried to smile and to tell her that all was well but I was frozen. Father Thomas placed the sword in my hand. I could not grip but my eyes told me that he was wrapping my fingers around the hilt. My eyes pleaded with Mathilde. I wanted to tell her that I loved her. I wanted to say so much but I was dying and all that she would have to remember me would be a frozen face and dying eyes. It was not enough. I had been cheated. The last thing I felt in this world was a solitary tear splashing on my cheek.

  Mathilde and the room disappeared. I was in a dark tunnel. I was just grateful that I could move. I could walk and I could smell. I smelled ale and woodsmoke; I saw a light ahead and, happy that I was no longer frozen, I strode towards it. It was an open door. As I stepped into it, I saw Hrólfr the Horseman and my father. They embraced me.

  My grandfather said, “You have done all that was asked of you. You are a hero of Valhalla.”

  My father said, “We have awaited your arrival. Welcome.”

  Then I saw Bergil and Sven Blue Cheek, I saw Gandálfr. And I saw Jarl Rognvald Eysteinsson. They were applauding. I entered a hall and I saw Odin. He raised a horn of ale and then shouted, “Welcome, Göngu-Hrólfr Rognvaldson. We have kept your place for you. The Norns toyed with you but you have served your clan well. Join the heroes and take a seat next to Jarl Dragonheart for you two deserve much honour.” I saw the Dragonheart and knew that I truly was in Valhalla.

  I had passed to the Otherworld. My work was done but I had so many unanswered questions that I thought to ask Odin if I could return.

  My grandfather leaned in and said, “Here you can see our world. Here there are no secrets. Normandy is safe and it is in good hands.”

  Mathilde

  Epilogue

  I am the granddaughter of the Duke of Normandy. I was there when he died. I am a Christian and I believe in God but I also believe that I was born to watch over his last years. Once my father and mother moved back to Rouen, I spent every waking hour watching the Duke. I worked hard with my studies so that Atticus would allow me to sneak off and observe him. I feared for him. He would die. My father was resigned to that fact but I wanted to stop it. I was there when he spoke with Sámr and unburdened himself. I knew all. Had I not been there then he would not have died with a sword in his hand. He believed in Valhalla. I do not but I had to ensure that he had a sword in his hand. He believed in it and the father of Normandy was entitled to his beliefs. I was a young girl but my voice commanded men to obey and they did. I saw, despite the fact that he was dying, that my grandfather knew what I was doing. He was not dead when the sword was placed in his hands and I gripped his fingers more tightly around the hilt. And then he died. It was as though the world had lost something important. It felt as though it had changed. My grandfather had changed the world and now he was gone. I believed that then and I believe it now. The nunnery where I live is a place of God but deep within me, hidden from everyone else is the belief that my grandfather is in Odin’s feasting hall with the rest of his Viking brothers. When I give my last confession, I will admit as much but until then it is my last secret.

  When my father took over, the first thing he did was to hunt down the Ulfheonar. My father believed that it was their acts of assassination which had accelerated my grandfather’s death. Perhaps it was true. It took half a year but the killers were found and given the blood eagle. They were not tried. They lived beyond the law. There was also something pagan about them. Men called them shape shifters. The church could not explain them but my grandfather, before he died, had done so. They were to do with the old religion. The days of the Vikings were numbered but that did not mean that all that they believed in was false.

  It was the day of my grandfather’s death which gave me belief and knowledge. On that same day, my mother gave birth to Richard who would become Richard the Fearless. He would be the warrior who continued my grandfather’s work. My father, treacherously murdered by Count Arnulf, would not. I saw then an order which I could not see in the work of Christ and the church. Added to that was the fact that King Charles also died on the same day as my grandfather then the world as I knew it changed. I could never marry. If I was to marry then I needed it to be a man like my grandfather and such a giant would never walk this earth again. If I could not have that which I wanted then I would have a life I chose. With a brother, my grandfather did not need me to wield a sword and lead Normandy. There was little left for a woman save the church. I became a nun and dedicated myself to gaining power so that I could help my little brother and fulfil my grandfather’s dream.

  When we laid him in the tomb in Rouen cathedral, I was not the only one who wept. His oar brothers, Sámr, Mauger and Robert all became unmanned. Father Harold and his priest clerks mourned the man who had changed the face of Frankia. It was a sombre day. I just regretted that I had not said more to this man who was a giant both literally and metaphorically. I was a child but I was a clever child. I should have said something. I regretted that decision to the end of my days. I felt I had let him down somehow. Yet, even now, when I am old and grey, I still hear his voice in the night. I have felt his presence close by me my whole life. I take comfort that when I die our spirits might be reunited. I am proud that I was the daughter of one of the greatest warriors to have ever lived. Hrólfr, Rollo, Göngu-Hrólfr Rognvaldson, Robert of Normandy, all were the same man but to me, he was just grandfather and writing these words on the parchment brings tears to my eyes once more. I did not know him long enough and that is my curse.

  The End

  Norse Calendar

  Gormánuður October 14th - November 13th

  Ýlir November 14th - December 13th

  Mörsugur December 14th - January 12th

  Þorri - January 13th - February 11th

  Gói - February 12th - March 13th

  Einmánuður - March 14th - April 13th

&n
bsp; Harpa April 14th - May 13th

  Skerpla - May 14th - June 12th

  Sólmánuður - June 13th - July 12th

  Heyannir - July 13th - August 14th

  Tvímánuður - August 15th - September 14th

  Haustmánuður September 15th-October 13th

  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

  Aldarennaöy – Alderney (Channel Islands)

  Alt Clut- Dumbarton Castle on the Clyde

  Anmyen -Amiens

  Andecavis- Angers in Anjou

  Angia- Jersey (Channel Islands)

  An Lysardh -The Lizard (Cornwall)

  An Oriant- Lorient, Brittany

  Æscesdūn – Ashdown (Berkshire)

  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

  Bexelei – Bexhill on sea

  Bieuvais-Beauvais

  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

  Brvggas -Bruges

  Caerlleon- Welsh for Chester

  Caestir - Chester (old English)

  Cantwareburh- 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)

  Cippanhamm -Chippenham

  Ċiriċeburh- Cherbourg

  Condado Portucalense- the County of Portugal

  Constrasta-Valença (Northern Portugal)

  Corn Walum or Om Walum- Cornwall

  Cissa-caestre -Chichester

  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)

  Drokensford – Droxford

  Duboglassio –Douglas, Isle of Man

  Djupr -Dieppe

  Dwfr- Dover

  Dyrøy –Jura (Inner Hebrides)

  Dyflin- Old Norse for Dublin

  Ein-mánuðr- middle of March to the middle of April

  Eopwinesfleot -Ebbsfleet

  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-Pevensey

  Hastingas-Hastings

  Hamafunta -Havant

  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, 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

  Hrīs Wearp – Ruswarp (North Yorkshire)

  Hrofecester-Rochester Kent

  Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog- King of Gwynedd 814-825

  Icaunis- a 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

  Jǫtunn -Norse god or goddess

  Kartreidh -Carteret in Normandy

  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

  Lincylene -Lincoln

  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.)

  Njörðr- 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

  Readingum -Reading Berks

  Remisgat Ramsgate

  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

  Saint Maclou- St Malo (France)

  Sandwic- Sandwich (Kent)

  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

  Sondwic-Sandwich

  South Folk- Suffolk

  Stad- Norse settlement

  Stays- ropes running from the mast-head to the bow

  Streanæshalc -Whitby

  Stirap- stirrup

  Strake- the wood on the side of a drekar

  Suthriganaworc - Southwark (London)

  S
vearike -Sweden

  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

  Tintaieol- Tintagel (Cornwall)

  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

  Uuluuich- Dulwich

  Valauna- Valognes (Normandy)

  Vectis- The Isle of Wight

  Veðrafjǫrðr -Waterford (Ireland)

  Veisafjǫrðr- Wexford (Ireland)

  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-Caestre -Winchester

  Wihtwara- Isle of White

  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

  The Norman dynastyCourtesy of Wikipedia.

  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 copied from the settlement of Leif Leifsson in Newfoundland.