The Wake (28 page)

i loccd around the fyr then at these men who is locan at me now still and it seems they is cene to hiere these words from me and blithe that i is leadan them for a hund wolde always be led. tofe and aelfgar and siward and godric that is all now they is not many men but they is mine

men i saes we is not many but we is strong. we has stayed in this holt now for enough time we has macd us a place that we can cum to when we is needan to cepe safe if again we is needan to run. grimcell that hund who is gan thu has hierde him moccan thy gods and thy land well he may mocc but the treows the holt the ground itself here has macd us strong

again i stops talcan and locs only at my men and they is still still loccan on

men i saes this daeg we is goan

goan saes tofe where. he locs blithe and the others also seems to waecen when i saes these words as i cnawan they wolde lic hunds is men walcan at the right words

we is goan to the fenns i saes baec to the fenns from where i is cum for it is there that we will stand it is there we is needed. this i has been gifen this i has been telt the holt is not our place we must cum to water and there we will see what is gifen to us and what we moste do. tac thy waepens tac foda tac all things that we will need

well i cnawan no mor i cnawan lytel of what i colde do or where we sceolde walc. all i cnawan was that my men was weac and agan me and wolde not stay and so we moste go. i cnawan this fuccan preost had macd them thinc there was other ways to feoht and they was thincan all the time of the north and the eorls and i moste gif them other things other ways

but it was not only this that macd me go for i colde feel sum thing in the heofon that wolde tac me baec to the fenns. in my sleep in these times i had been dreaman of the fenns of the meres and pools of my eald hus of the gods of my cynn and my folc and the great deorc holt of the brunnesweald in these daegs seemed to be a place of ingengas and deorcness. there was eald wicce craft in this holt and aelfs and scuccas it was not my land

i was a man of the water not the wud the fenns was callan me. i had always seen things felt things no other colde and again now we moste go to the water lands for there was no other place triewe in this world

and there is light now light under the mere. and so flat in the daegs beginnan and deorc all ofer until so lytel so lytel but so strong a fyr can be seen a fyr deop under the water a fyr in the treows hard and lytel lic a candel fyr but growan lic a treow to the light

we gan through the holt for four daegs to get to the blaec fenns always cepan to the treows cepan off the paths and the roads. sum times we hierde others in small hams or on roads sum times we seen them but nefer near not now none colde be trusted. it was three daegs walcan before the brunnesweald gan baec and the land becum small farms and hus and hams felds and paths. we gan through stillness and in another daeg the eorth teorned blaec the meres began the secg was seen and in the heofon was the eald feel of my lif and of my folc

tofe seemed to cum alyf as we cum near to the fenns. lic me he was a man of these parts and sum times i wolde loc at him and see the cilde becuman man. it had been sum time since he had been to his ham and i also and we had becum other whilst we was in other places for man tacs on the ways of the place he is in and the holt had cum in to us without us cnawan

it is good to be here saes tofe i has missed the fenns

it is thy place cilde lic it is mine

it is not lic no other it is not lic the wuds or these hylls that is in the wealsc lands or these great tuns lic stan ford. it is the triewest place in angland

it is

in the holt all is deorc and it is aelfs and wihts what is ealdors there. in the tuns all is so great and blaec and there is so micel sound that no man can be free or triewe but in the fenns

in the fenns

there was not no need to sae mor

it was lic i was tacan it was lic weland or sum other mofd me as weland had mofd my sweord when i had cwelled the esol gerefa. i did not thinc where we wolde go when we got to the fenns but only walcdd without stoppan without thincan and it was midday in late sumor when i cum to where i did not cnaw i was goan

what is this place saes aelfgar

it is my ham i saes

i had cum to the ham that i had left two winters before. i had gan with ecceard who was dead now in his graef in the holt and with grimcell the esol cottar who had now gan north to be cwelled in frenc fyr and he wolde see he wolde see who was wise. i had stood here in the deop winter locan at all the hus smocan locan at the folcs cwelled and dyan on the ground after the ingengas had cum through. now in sumor cuman to haerfest i stood again locan and things was not the same

the frenc was here then saes aelfgar

the frenc was here i saes and i was not. all was beorned all was cwelled

why

we wolde not gif geld to them

none saes naht now only locs at what has cum to the ham. two winters only it has been but already it is lic there was no ham here. ofer the blaec deaths of the hus of the folcs grass is growan and secg is crepan in from the fenns. the paths is goan also undor grass and leafs. there is no bodigs of the folcs now it colde be sum has cum baec to put them in graefs or it colde be that wihts has ate them but undor the high grene i colde not efen see bones. stillness there was nefer in this place always the specan of wifmen and cottars and geburs i wolde not cum to this place so micel talcan scit was there but now all that colde be hierde was fugols and the wind

cum i saes to my men and i tacs them up the path where i cnawan i moste go

this path is not so high and grene it is lic folcs has been this way since the beornan though i can not see why. up we gan up the path my heorte hefig but i gan lic i was macd to go and it was not long

thy hus saes aelfgar to me. he is not a dumb man

my hus i saes

this is a hard thing saes siward a hard thing for thu

well my hus also is gan undor the high grene grass. in my eald felds there is baerlic growan and flax with micel grass in it all fallan down now no folcs to haerfest it. where my great hus was is blaec aesc and sum grass and there is lytel welig and alor treows cuman up near the eald barn. the holt is cuman baec the treows and the grass and the secg is cuman baec to tac what was theirs now their waitan is ofer

the frenc beorned thy hus saes tofe did thu feoht them

they wolde not feoht me cilde i saes i cum up to this place with welands sweord in my hand and i called on them to stand and feoht lic men but they gan on their hors and they ran when they seen me

we stood locan there for sum time it was lic i colde not mof

buccmaster saes aelfgar tell us why did thu bring us here

well as i had walced here not cnawan where i was goan now i spoc without cnawan what words wolde cum but words did cum and it was not me who spoc

this is my ham i saes this is my land my ground. in this place i was born as my father and grandfather was. when the ingengas cum i was macd to leaf here i was macd to go gathran to get men to mac a werod to leorn of the world beyond. all this we has done and now we cums baec to the fenns stronger and ready

ready saes godric for what

we is grene men i saes our place is in the sceados by the ecgs. when the enemi is seen we cums at him from the deorc and we tacs him before he can sae any words. there is mor of us now we is all ofer and when there is enough then no frenc man sceal lif in angland. those who gan north to fight in fyrds with mad wealsc men they will be cut down but we will lif lic the treows lic the secg lic the grass after the beornan

lic the grass saes tofe lic the secg

the esol grimcell i saes he wolde mocc me but he cnawan i has seen things that other men can not see he cnawan i is ceoson and this is why he is afeart. thu men is triewe to me for thu has been tested and thu has stayed. sum has gan north to fight with the eorls and sum has gan loccan for this fuccan hereweard who walcs in these parts callan anglisc men to cum to him but who is nefer seen. but thu men is triewe thu is triewe to me and now we will go huntan

what will we hunt saes aelfgar

and i saes we will hunt a man

then thu is ready

i is ready

ready for the hunt

who is the prey

he is near

always thu talcs in raedels

wolde thu haf me holde thy hand cilde

i wolde haf thu tell me what i moste do

loc to thy self loc to the land do not loc to me

thu called me

go to them buccmaster go to them

that night we stayed on my land. we lit a fyr by the holt where i had slept the night i had cum baec to find all gan and we ate and dranc. i gan and toc sum aels from the fenn and we ate foda and we dranc and we spoc and i telt my men what we wolde do

when i had ate and as my men was still drencan in the deorcness by the fyr i gan walcan. i gan walcan until i found the graef of my wifman odelyn. grassed it was now but i colde see it high lic the beorgs of the eald cyngs

odelyn i saes odelyn it is me. i has tacan wergild from many ingengas for thu

i hierde naht only my men specan around the fyr

it is not enough i saes there will be mor for thu there will always be mor

i stands and i locs at all that i was

i gan baec to the fyr then and i dranc the last of the ealu we had on the straet and when i had dranc i gan down in my cape around the fyr and i slept lic i had not nefer slept in the deorcness of the eald holt that is called the brunnesweald

i becum it i becum it i was a man no mor. was i a wyrm a hara a broc i was sum thing that was not a man but was not lic any wiht i cnaw. i gan down a deop hol in to the ground deop and blaec and i colde feel the eorth in my haer on my nebb cold and wet. down i gan until i cum in to a great light place in the eorth and all around me i seen dweorgs worcan to dig gold from the rocc worcan with hamors and with hands. i flowan through this and i cum up abuf the eorth again i was in the heofon i was a fugol with a carfan bec and i flowan then flowan across water what nefer seemed to haf an end

i cum then to an ealond where there was great blaec treows higher than all things and ealdor than the rocc in the eorth and to the ground i gan and becum again a man. abuf me the blaec treows gan up to the heofon i colde not see the place where they ended deorc it was deorc with the sound of the water mofan on the blaec strand. and i stood and i called to the heofon called in to the treows in words i do not cnaw and then i seen her

she cum from the treows slow and small lic a graeg sceado. naht in her eages naht in her nebb she wore cloths but not lic no wifman in the world of men and her eages they loccd at me and i was scoccd when i seen them i wanted to run. they was her eages but dead and yet they loccd at me lic i was no man lic i was a ghast lic all things was cnawan about me efen deop in to my sawol

my brothor she saes

aelfgifu

thu sceolde not haf cum

thu is thynne thu is in fear

there is no fear here brothor

aelfgifu cum baec with me to the fyr we has ealu i has men we is cyngs of angland now

all cyngs is dust

do not go

why does thu cum after what thu done

aelfgifu

what thu done and will do

cum with me

angland is dead brothor do not raise the dead

aelfgifu

do not raise the dead

i wolde be with thu

thu will

for micel time the next mergen i colde not spec colde not eat for in the night this deorc dream had cum to me and i cnawan it was gifen to me. why had this cum i did not cnaw it macd me cold lic ys i ascd weland but weland wolde not spec nefer wolde he spec when he was ascd only when he ceose

this mergen i had thought to begin walcan for we moste go huntan and my men was ready. the night of the dream when i had spoc to my men it had again been lic the words was not mine. we is goan huntan i had saed to them and then i had telt them mor. to mac the frenc afeart i saed we moste stric at them in their strongest part lic we wolde cut the heafod of a snaec or spere the heorte of a bera or a great wyrm. cwellan frenc scuccas on the roads was a good thing but always there wolde be mor. to be great men to do great things we moste stric at a great man so all the world wolde see

my men was in sum gladness when they hierde this and was ascan me what will we do who will we tac. well i wolde not sae mor at that time for in triethwe the words was dry so all i saed was we will hunt a man a great man we will mac the bastard ingenga duc himself teorn his eages to us in fear. saen this then i colde not sae mor and i did not cnaw why i had saed any thing or what wolde cum from it. but by this time i had gifen my self to the gods to weland to my wyrd i was walcan paths laid down for me and when the words cum i moste spec them

but i seen on this mergen that the dream of aelfgifu ascd sum thing of me and that i moste gif a good answer. it seemed to me that i moste go to the eald hus again and it seemed then that this was why i had cum baec though i had walced here cnawan naht. i had spoc to odelyn at her graef and now to aelfgifu in the deorc world and now i most go in my lytel boat to the eald deop treows. though it is not seen by men there is a way to this world and sum times it can be seen as the sunne can be seen through cloud and then the eages for a lytel time is blind again

this colde be why i did not go alone this time this colde be why i toc tofe. i wolde nefer haf thought before to tac any other to the eald hus or to the treows but on this mergen with aelfgifu thynne and graeg still in my heorte and with my worc hefig on me i did so. to myself i saed that this cilde neded to see of what i spac for the eald gods was moccd by so many folcs now that their men moste gif their tales to the yonge so that the hus wolde not be forgot in the cuman deorc times when ingenga cyngs and biscops wolde together mac angland their poppet