The Dragon and the Raven; Or, The Days of King Alfred

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER XII: FOUR YEARS OF PEACE

  Seven weeks afterwards Guthorn, accompanied by thirty of his noblestwarriors, entered Alfred's camp, which was pitched at Aller, a placenot far from Athelney. An altar was erected and a solemn serviceperformed, and Guthorn and his companions were all baptized, Alfredhimself becoming sponsor for Guthorn, whose name was changed toAthelstan. The Danes remained for twelve days in the Saxon camp. Forthe first eight they wore, in accordance with the custom of the times,the chrismal, a white linen cloth put on the head when the rite ofbaptism was performed; on the eighth day the solemn ceremony known asthe chrism, the loosing or removal of the cloths, took place atWedmore. This was performed by the Ealdorman Ethelnoth.

  During these twelve days many conferences were held between Alfred andAthelstan as to the future of the two kingdoms. While the Danes werestill in the camp a witenagemot or Saxon parliament was held atWedmore. At this Athelstan and many of the nobles and inhabitants ofEast Anglia were present, and the boundary of the two kingdoms wassettled. It was to commence at the mouth of the Thames, to run alongthe river Lea to its source, and at Bedford turn to the right along theOuse as far as Watling Street. According to this arrangement aconsiderable portion of the kingdom of Mercia fell to Alfred's share.

  The treaty comprehended various rules for the conduct of commerce, andcourts were instituted for the trial of disputes and crimes. The Danesdid not at once leave Mercia, but for a considerable time lay in campat Cirencester; but all who refused to become Christians were orderedto depart beyond the seas, and the Danes gradually withdrew withintheir boundary.

  Guthorn's conversion, although no doubt brought about at the moment byhis admiration of the clemency of Alfred, had probably been for sometime projected by him. Mingling as his people did in East Anglia withthe Christian Saxons there, he must have had opportunities for learningthe nature of their tenets, and of contrasting its mild and beneficentteaching with the savage worship of the pagan gods. By far the greaterproportion of his people followed their king's example; but the wilderspirits quitted the country, and under their renowned leader Hastingsailed to harry the shores of France. The departure of the moreturbulent portion of his followers rendered it more easy for the Danishking to carry his plans into effect.

  After the holding of the witan Edmund and Egbert at once left the armywith their followers, and for some months the young ealdorman devotedhimself to the work of restoring the shattered homes of his people,aiding them with loans from the plunder he had gained on the seas,Alfred having at once repaid him the sums which he had lent atAthelney. As so many of his followers had also brought home money aftertheir voyage, the work of rebuilding and restoration went on rapidly,and in a few months the marks left of the ravages by the Danes had beenwell-nigh effaced.

  Flocks and herds again grazed in the pastures, herds of swine roamed inthe woods, the fields were cultivated, and the houses rebuilt. In nopart of Wessex was prosperity so speedily re-established as in thedistrict round Sherborne governed by Edmund. The Dragon was thoroughlyoverhauled and repaired, for none could say how soon fresh fleets ofthe Northmen might make their appearance upon the southern shores ofEngland. It was not long, indeed, before the Northmen reappeared, agreat fleet sailing up the Thames at the beginning of the winter. Itascended as high as Fulham, where a great camp was formed. Seeing thatthe Saxons and East Anglians would unite against them did they advancefurther, the Danes remained quietly in their encampment during thewinter, and in the spring again took ship and sailed for France.

  For the next two years England enjoyed comparative quiet, the Danesturning their attention to France and Holland, sailing up the Maas,Scheldt, Somme, and Seine. Spreading from these rivers they carriedfire and sword over a great extent of country. The Franks resistedbravely, and in two pitched battles defeated their invaders with greatloss. The struggle going on across the Channel was watched with greatinterest by the Saxons, who at first hoped to see the Danes completelycrushed by the Franks.

  The ease, however, with which the Northmen moved from point to point intheir ships gave them such immense advantage that their defeats atHasle and Saucourt in no way checked their depredations. Appearingsuddenly off the coast, or penetrating into the interior by a river,their hordes would land, ravage the country, slay all who opposed them,and carry off the women and children captives, and would then take totheir ships again before the leaders of the Franks could assemble anarmy.

  Alfred spent this time of repose in restoring as far as possible theloss and damage which his kingdom had suffered. Many wise laws werepassed, churches were rebuilt, and order restored; great numbers of themonks and wealthier people who had fled to France in the days of theDanish supremacy now returned to England, which was for the time freerfrom danger than the land in which they had sought refuge; and manyFranks from the districts exposed to the Danish ravages came over andsettled in England.

  Gradually the greater part of England acknowledged the rule of Alfred.The kingdom of Kent was again united to that of Wessex; while Mercia,which extended across the centre of England from Anglia to Wales, wasgoverned for Alfred by Ethelred the Ealdorman, who was the head of thepowerful family of the Hwiccas, and had received the hand of Alfred'sdaughter Ethelfleda. He ruled Mercia according to its own laws andcustoms, which differed materially from those of the West Saxons, andwhich prevented a more perfect union of the two kingdoms until Williamthe Conqueror welded the whole country into a single whole. ButEthelred acknowledged the supremacy of Alfred, consulted him upon alloccasions of importance, and issued all his edicts and orders in theking's name. He was ably assisted by Werfrith, the Bishop of Worcester.The energy and activity of these leaders enabled Mercia to keep abreastof Wessex in the onward progress which Alfred laboured so indefatigablyto promote.

  Edmund, when not occupied with the affairs of his earldom, spent muchof his time with the king, who saw in him a spirit of intelligence andactivity which resembled his own. Edmund was, however, of a lessstudious disposition than his royal master; and though he so farimproved his education as to be able to read and write well, Alfredcould not persuade him to undertake the study of Latin, being, as hesaid, well content to master some of the learning of that people bymeans of the king's translations.

  At the end of another two years of peace Edmund was again called uponto take up arms. Although the Danes attempted no fresh invasion some oftheir ships hung around the English coast, capturing vessels,interfering with trade, and committing other acts of piracy.

  Great complaints were made by the inhabitants of the seaports toAlfred. The king at once begged Edmund to fit out the Dragon, andcollecting a few other smaller ships he took his place on Edmund's shipand sailed in search of the Danes. After some search they came upon thefour large ships of the Northmen which had been a scourge to the coast.

  The Saxons at once engaged them, and a desperate fight took place. TheDragon was laid alongside the largest of the Danish vessels; and theking, with Edmund and Egbert by his side, leapt on to the deck of theDanish vessel, followed by the crew of the Dragon. The Danish ship wascrowded with men who fought desperately, but the discipline even morethan the courage of Edmund's crew secured for them the victory. For atime each fought for himself; and although inspired by the presence ofthe king they were able to gain no advantage, being much out-numberedby the Northmen.

  Edmund, seeing this, sounded on his horn the signal with which inbattle he ordered the men to form their wedge. The signal was instantlyobeyed. The Saxons were all fighting with boarding-pikes against theNorthmen's swords and axes, for they had become used to these weaponsand preferred them to any other.

  The instant Edmund's horn was heard, each man desisted from fightingand rushed to their leader, around whom they instantly formed in theiraccustomed order. The Danes, astonished at the sudden cessation of thebattle, and understanding nothing of the meaning of the signal or ofthe swift movement of the Saxons, for a minute lowered their weapons insurprise.

  Before they again rushed
forward the formation was complete, and in aclose body with levelled spears the Saxons advanced, Egbert as usualleading the way, with Edmund and the king in the centre.

  In vain the Danes strove to resist the onset; in spite of theirsuperior numbers they were driven back step by step until crowded in aclose mass at one end.

  Still the Saxon line of spears pressed on. Many of the Danes leapt intothe sea, others were pushed over or run through, and in a few minutesnot a Northman remained alive in the captured vessel.

  In the meantime the battle was raging in other parts. Two of the smallvessels were engaged with one of the Danes at close quarters, while theother ships hung around the remaining Danish vessels and kept upvolleys of arrows and javelins upon them.

  The Dragon at once went to the assistance of the two Saxon ships, whosecrews were almost overpowered by the Northmen. Laying the shipalongside, Edmund boarded the Danes. The Northmen rushed back from thedecks of the Saxon ship to defend their own vessel; and the Saxons,regaining courage, at once rallied and followed them. The combat wasshort but desperate. Attacked on three sides, the Danes were speedilyovercome and were slaughtered to a man.

  An attack was next made upon the two remaining vessels. These resistedfor some time, but they were overwhelmed by the missiles from the Saxonflotilla; and the greater portion of their crews being killed orwounded, their commanders prayed for mercy, which was granted them byAlfred; and with the four captured vessels the fleet returned toEngland.

  On reaching port Alfred begged Edmund to continue for a while with theDragon, to cruise along the coasts and to stop the depredations of theDanes; and for some weeks the Dragon kept the seas. She met withconsiderable success, capturing many Danish galleys. Some of thesecontained rich spoil, which had been gathered in France, for cruisingin the seas off Dover Edmund intercepted many of the Danish vessels ontheir homeward way from raids up the Seine, Garonne, and other Frenchrivers.

  One day in the excitement of a long pursuit of a Danish galley, whichfinally succeeded in making her escape, Edmund had paid less attentionthan usual to the weather, and, on giving up the chase as hopeless,perceived that the sky had become greatly overcast, while the wind wasrising rapidly.

  "We are in for a storm from the north, Egbert," he said, "and we mustmake for the mouth of the Thames for shelter."

  The sails were lowered, and the Dragon's head turned west. Before twohours had passed the sea had risen so greatly that it was no longerpossible to row.

  "What had we best do?" Edmund asked the chief of the sailors. "Thinkyou that we can make Dover and shelter under the cliffs there?"

  "I fear that we cannot do so," the sailor replied, "for there areterrible sands and shallows off the Kentish coast between the mouth ofthe Thames and Dover, and the wind blows so strongly that we can donought but run before it."

  "Then let us do so," Edmund replied; "anything is better than beingtossed at the mercy of the waves."

  A sail was hoisted, and the Dragon flew along before the wind. Thestorm increased in fury, and for some hours the vessel ran before it.She was but a short distance from the French coast, and as the windveered round more to the west her danger became great.

  "I fear we shall be cast ashore," Edmund said to the sailor.

  "Fortunately," the man answered, "we are but a mile or two from themouth of the Seine, and there we can run in and take shelter."

  It was an anxious time until they reached the mouth of the river, forthey were continually drifting nearer and nearer to the coast. However,they cleared the point in safety, and, turning her head, ran up theriver and soon anchored under the walls of Havre. As she came to ananchor armed men were seen crowding the walls.

  "They take us for Danes," Egbert said. "We had best hoist the Dragon,and they will then know that we are a Saxon ship."

  Soon after the flag was hoisted the gates of the town were seen toopen, and an officer and some men issued out. These launched a boat androwed out to the ship. The officer mounted to the deck. He wasevidently in considerable fear, but as he saw the Saxons standing aboutunarmed he was reassured. "Is this really a Saxon ship," he asked, "asits flag testifies?"

  "It is so," Edmund replied; "it is my vessel, and I am an ealdorman ofKing Alfred. We have been chasing the Danish pirates, but this stormhaving arisen, we were blown down the French coast and forced to seekshelter here."

  "The governor bids you welcome," the officer said, "and bade me inviteyou to land."

  "That will I gladly; the more so since my ship has suffered some damagein the gale, her bulwarks having been partly shattered; and it willneed a stay of a few days here to repair her for sea. Will you tell thegovernor that in a short time I will land with my kinsman Egbert andaccept his hospitality?"

  An hour later Edmund and Egbert landed and were at once conducted tothe governor, who welcomed them cordially.

  They found there many whom they had known at the court of King Alfred.The wealthier men, the bishops and thanes, had for the most partjourneyed to Paris or to other towns in the interior to escape thedreaded Northmen; but there were many detained at Havre from want offunds to journey farther.

  "It is a sad pity," the governor said as they talked over the troubledstate of Western Europe, "that your English king and our Frankishmonarch did not make common cause against these sea robbers. They arethe enemies of mankind. Not only do they ravage all our coasts, butthey have entered the Mediterranean, and have plundered and ravaged thecoasts of Provence and Italy, laying towns under ransom, burning anddestroying."

  "I would that I could meet some of their ships on their way back fromItaly," Edmund said. "I warrant that we should obtain a rare booty,with gems of art such as would delight King Alfred, but are thrown awayon these barbarians; but I agree with you that 'tis shameful that thecoasts of all Europe should be overrun with these pirates."

  "Yes," the governor replied, "if every country in Christendom wouldunite against their common foe, and send a quota of ships and men, wewould drive the Black Raven from the seas, and might even land on theDanish shores and give them a taste of the suffering they haveinflicted elsewhere. As it is, all seem paralysed. Local efforts aremade to resist them; but their numbers are too great to be thuswithstood. I wonder that the pope does not call Christendom to armsagainst these pagan robbers, who not only destroy towns and villages,but level to the ground the holy shrines, and slay the ministers of Godon the altars."