The Wake (32 page)

and what becum

none cnawan for none was there but the three of them buccmaster and his father and his sistor there was no others. it was a daeg of ys in geola when he cum baec. we seen the smoc risan to the heofons from the ham

smoc saes tofe for efen he efen he is lystnan to the scit from this fuccan fatt wifmans mouth

they was beorned in the barn saes annis the lyan esol. the barn was beorned and in it was his sistor and his father. men did not find them until sum time later and none cnawan what cum to them. i spoc to sum men in the ham saed buccmaster was seen later that daeg in his boat on the fen druncen lic a hors on aeppels at haerfest specan to the wind lic he was gan in the heafod

i has spac to men also saes grimcell who found him after for he wandrd in the holts near his fathers land and when men cum to him he wolde sae out laws had cum from the holt and cwelled his folcs and beorned the barn.

well this colde be triewe saes tofe why wolde thu thinc it not. he is a good cilde a triewe cilde aways he has been triewe and now he is bold for he is growan

why sceolde we lysten to thy tales of him saes tofe now to annis. buccmaster sum times is odd but thu is saen he cwelled his own cynn that he is mad and yfel but we cnawan naht of thu annis wif. he is not here to spec his triewth and this only is why thu specs we does not cnaw why thu might sae these things or who thu is or why thu wolde spec agan him

many in the ham belyfd these tales saes grimcell and now that i cnaw buccmaster i is thincan them triewe also

thu may saes tofe for thu and buccmaster is both strong men and has been feohtan but these is words only and we has had naht to tell us if there is any triewth in them

annis them she sits still for a time and then she locs at tofe and specs slow so i can hardly hiere.

cilde she saes i did not want to thinc of buccmaster of holland efer again. nefer to spec of him nefer to see him and i does not want to be here in this place neither but thu sceolde cnaw who leads thu. ah of course he wolde lead thu for always he moste lead always he moste haf men loccan up at him lic sum ealdor when in triewth he is cilde only. i tell thu this man is of the cynd what moste be tied down always lic a hund moste be tied by the law by the eages of other men. all ties is gan now broc by the frenc and with no bridel on him a man lic this can do any thing for all the world is his enemi all the world

tell me what thu thincs of this fuccan scit tell me

i thincs lic thu

the fatt hore moste die

all is agan thu

all sceolde die all of them

my sweord was gifen to thu

all has been agan me since i was a cilde what colde i do

what colde thu do

my father was agan me my own father my wifman my sons

all agan thu

aelfgifu she who i lufd when a cilde my sistor

thy sistor

she gan agan me when i cum baec

all of them all of them

i did not mean to tac her that way

thu had thy right

she was my sistor

she lufd thu

it was my right

any man wolde do the same

it was my land

thy land

all is broc

what will thu do

i will rise smith i will rise

loc up buccmaster of holland

up

gan to the secg loc up to the heofon

the secg the heofon why

do it now

well i gan out of the holt then to the ecg of the fenn where the yeolo secg met the land and the efen was cuman in across the low waters. fugols was callan and climban up and cuman down again and the sunne was startan to fall down to eorth and with it cum its yeolo light across the flat lands of my folcs

now see how the word is cept

and i seen them i seen them cuman then and always will this stay with me until i is in the ground under a beorg or in a great beornan scip lic all anglisc ealdors sceolde be. ofer the fenn from the place where the hus of the eald gods lay ofer the secg ofer the heofon i seen the eald hunters. i colde not tell all of the riders who was mofan with them there was so many and they mofd in a way that colde not be loccd at for micel time by men. all was deop blaec and there was no sound to be hierde

at the head of the hunt was eald woden who i had seen at the deorc ea that night his cenep long and hwit his one eage locan at me specan to the blaec hunds what ran before him in the heofon their eages great and scinan and with the hunds was the great hwit wulf i had seen by the ea the wulf what had loccd at me. great woden rode a great blaec hors but many of the hunters was on goats with eages of fyr and was blowan horns though no sound was macd by them. sum loccd lic eald cyngs with helms and sweords but others was ealdor than cyngs ealdor efen than angland they did not loc lic men they was lic eald wihts lic the treows them selfs blaec and carfan into scaps not of this world. they had cum up from the treows cum up from the mere cum up into the heofon they had cum baec for angland lic my grand father had telt me. they had cum for me cum for me and i cnawan now that it was time and i cnawan what i moste do

i gan down to my cneows then in the secg and i felt them go ofer me and i felt great weland locan ofer as he gaf them sige and i cnawan again who i was what i was what i had cum here for

i is buccmaster of holland and the eald gods has ridden for me

i colde feel the efen cuman in stronger now and the deorcness cuman down on the land. ofer in the treows where my men sat i colde see a fyr beginnan to rise. i stood up then and i gan ofer again to the graef of my wifman odelyn and i stood locan down at the grene beorg for sum time and i saed naht for naht was there now to sae

then i gan from the graef i gan baec in to the holt and i found where i had left what i was locan for. i found where i had put in a scealo graef the things i had toc from the fyrs aesc two years befor and i had cnawan one daeg i wolde cum for when i needed. things what my grand father had gifan to me before he gan eald things what my father had nefer cnawan about. these was things of the eald times my grand father had saed these is the things of feohtan men of eald angland and when the feohtan cums again when thu moste cepe thy land and thy freodom agan ingengas and cyngs thu moste tac welands sweord and tac these things and then cilde thu moste stand agan all

thy cyngs was weac

harald cyng edgar cyng all of the ealdors

angland was weac

angland moste haf new cyngs

great men

all in bright helm and with great sweord

all in gold and the luf of the eald ways

strong and blithe in the dyan light

stand cyng

stand

stronger was i then stronger than efer again in anglands dyan light. great in what i was gifan great in what i had toc. i gripped welands sweord in my hand as i walced through the holt in to the light

when i cum to the fyr all my men loccd at me in wundor. i stood before them in the eald war helm of my grand father all macd ofer with boars with seolfor and gold in the eald carfans of the eald cyngs. i has welands great sweord in my hand and my grene cape on my baec an eald sigil on my sculdor all of me scinan scinan brighter than the crist brighter than the bastard cyng and all his deorc cynn

what is this saes godric standan from the fyr

buccmaster saes grimcell and he stands also and gan baec locan waery at me but i has no time for these men now i has time only for one

i walcs slow to the biscop who is sittan his hands tied behind him i walcs to him all in helm and with sweord in the light of the fyr with wodens hunters at my baec gifan me sige

this is thy death biscop i saes

the biscop locs up at me. my men is standan now all around the fyr locan on but none specs

thu has cum from the sea to cwell what we is and here thu sitts afeart on anglisc ground thy frenc hands tied

the scucca saes naht

there is ways to see this world i saes. there is the way of the boc and the way of the wilde there is the god of the boc and the gods of the mere there is the way of the crist and the eald ways of this land. i is cum from the mere i specs for the wilde for the eald gods under the blaec waters in the drencced treows. i is the lands law ofer mens i is eorth not heofon leaf of treow not leaf of boc

still he saes naht

i is raedwald i is raedwulf i is beowulf i is harald cyng last of the anglisc i sceal be

buccmaster saes aelfgar but i will not spec with him

turold biscop then he locs at me slow and locs at the holt and at my men and at all he fears and he specs

then this is why we cum he saes. this is why the fathor of rome in his triewth has gifen his flag to thy cyng geeyome for in the deorc holts of angland eald satan is lifan still

there is no satan here i saes

in the deorc holts of angland the yfel engels our god cast from his heofon pleges games for dumb esols saes this fatt frenc cunt. here in the treows and in the meos and the water and in the deop ground is the eald yfel one and his fyrd and here is anglisc men callan the yfel one their god. for thy god threw satan from his heofon and he macd his ham in the wilde world in the water and the holt. he is in the call of the crow the rind of the treow the sound of the fox. he is deop in thy eald duns he hangs lic the bat from thy ac treow. in all that thu calls thy gods in the grass and in the wind in all things wilde and grene is the deorcness of the yfel one

what scit thu talcs thu frenc scucca i saes but he does not stop

now i sees in triewth he saes as i nefer has seen before that thy synn has been so deop angland. and for this thy triewe god he has sent thu a cyng for whom satan is an enemi true yes on the hylls of war and in the dreams of a cyng

he is a weosul

thu is a fuccan weosul i saes and these is weosuls words. behind this helm lies thy death biscop behind this masc lies the eald things thu wolde scit on but what now rises high lic a fyr agan thu. i is grim i is woden of the high duns i walcs the chalc roads mascd by the mona i has hung upon the treow i is cwelled and again cum alyf

thu is lost he saes that is all thu is lost in the deop grene deorcness. what wolde thu haf of me half mad man of the grene holt wolde thu haf me cepe thy sawol for it is too late for thu to be ascan

tell him

any sawol of mine will go to my folcs in anglisc ground i saes not to the sands with thy ingenga crist. in the high eald beorgs sceal i lie with my cynn

and the lord will stric down the heathen
saes the biscop

he locs up at me from where he is cnelan

i has seen hereweard he saes

why wolde thu sae this to me

i has seen him he is not so mad as thu

fucc thu

thu fears him does thu not small man with thy eald masc

why does thu let him spec thus

his men follow him thy men is laughan at thu

i will not let thu spec thus biscop thu will scut thy mouth

as thu saes

we is anglisc men here and triewe and greater than any

he saes naht

he moccs thu

does thu mocc me

i does thy will great masccd man

thu will call me thy cyng

i will not

thu will call me thy ealdor

i will not

spec for angland

lysten to me biscop does thu thinc this is sum game i will slit thy fuccan throta lic a cycen

if it be his will

do not spec lic this here do not gif me thy scit biscop

spec for angland spec for angland

there is naht to spec for now naht lysten biscop lysten men i has cum from the eald gods i has been sent here we has been gifen a gift and now this biscop will gif a great wergild for the synns of his cynn and his circe for his synns agan the land and all anglisc folc

what wergild saes tofe. efen my cilde now he specs lic he does not cnaw me none is triewe none

i saes we will carf the blud earn on him

blud earn saes tofe

o thu is fuccan mad thu is craccd and broc calls grimcell who has been standan loccan on. thu is writhan lic a wounded wiht buccmaster what is this scit thu and thy sweord and thy eald masc and thy eald fuccan gods there is naht left for thu naht thu moste see this. men why is thu here with this mad man we moste go cum with me cum now

i has telt thu cunt this is not thy feoht

this is no mans feoht buccmaster none will follow thu in this thing

does thu want my fuccan sweord again grimcell this time i will not let thu lif

what is the blud earn saes tofe

there is no blud earn saes grimcell it is a cildes tale of the eald times what buccmaster thincs he lifs in still

it is triewe i saes it was done and will be done again here. the blud earn is the death gifen by the eald cyngs to ingenga enemis

the blud earn is denisc saes grimcell it is an ingenga thing not anglisc thu is broc and mad buccmaster let us go

the blud earn is the death of the eald gods i saes. thu lays down thy enemi on his nebb ties him with line weights him with stans. then thu tacs thy scramasax and thu slits his baec and thu cutts all the ban in it and thu pulls up the ban and pulls his lungs out of his baec and then he has fethras lic a great hafoc lic a great earn with a carfan beac and he will fly to the gods and woden and his hus sceal feed

o saes tofe o this is a fearful thing fearful

it is not a thing of these times saes grimcell

it is not a thing of the crist saes siward

fucc the crist i saes fucc the crist can thu men not see that the crist and the cyngs has led thu into deorcness has tacan thu from thy land from the eald ways

we sceolde go with grimcell saes aelfgar

thu will not go i saes this biscop moste die it is the will of the gods