The Wake (4 page)

of angland he saes now what is angland

do not be dumb i saes i is a socman of these parts i is not sum gebur to be mocced with raedels tell us what tidans of angland now that we has seen such things in this land

of angland he saes i can tell thu naht. i colde tell thu of hams in wessex in the land of the golden wyrm and of the hwit clifs in the south where they locs ofer the sea in fear and i colde tell thu of the holtmen of the andredesweald who belyfs they is safe beneath the great ac treows. i colde tell thu of the great blaec duns what macs a line betweon mierce and the wealsc and i colde tell thu also of where the tees runs a deop deorc ea what foams ofer the fells of the north where the hams of the folc is cold beneath. i colde tell thu of west wealas where the folc specs a tunge spoc by no anglisc and where blaec folcs in scips from hot lands tacs their men efry daeg to be thralls far from this ground in their land of dust. but i colde not tell thu of angland for this word is too lytel for all the folc of this land to lif within

these gleomen they thincs they is great men

lysten gleoman i saes i is ascan thu of angland and its wyrd. tell us what others macs of this haeric star in other lands tell us if sum thing is cuman

what of the cyng saes ecceard and sum geburs they locs at him then lic this is not a thing to sae

tell us without thy raedels i saes

it is not wise to mocc raedels saes this gleoman locan at ecceard and i raedels is what thu is macd from. but if thu wolde haf sum tidans then tidans i sceal bring to thu for i see why thu is ascan

what of the cyng saes ecceard again

well saes this gleoman smercan sum well i has not spoc with the cyng this daeg but harald of wessex is still cyng as efer he was but his eages locs to all strands in north and south and his men locs for scips for lic eald aethelraed this cyng has those wolde haf his corona and this haeric star is their light

tell us saes sum gebur

what can i sae that men does not cnaw by now saes this gleoman. two men they thincs to be cyng of angland they thincs to tac harald cyng to hel and wear his corona. one is the duc of the frenc geeyome he is called a man of sum deorcness a bastard he is a strong man in his land but his land is lytel and his folc is thralls and weac from his strength. he may cum it is saed he may cum with sum scips from the south but he is too lytel to haf this cyngdom he is a duc only who wants mor than he may haf. he wolde do well to thinc on what harald cyng done to the wealsc

and what of the other saes ecceard

ecceard saes this gleoman ecceard of holland thu is gerefa of this moste great ham now what can i tell thu that thu cnawan not. this other man he is the cyng to be afeart he is the man what harald cyng waits for. he builds his fyrd and he waits on his scips cuman from the cold blaec sea to the gold strands of angland he is the landwaster

the landwaster calls jalf the gebur who is this landwaster. this is all scit this is sum game efry man in angland cnawan of who the gleoman specs but when a gleoman cums there is things men will do for they thincs it is what is done and all of us moste stand and lysten

ah the landwaster saes the gleoman and now he is all lic it is sum raedel again or sum tale of the eald times not lic the tidans what i was ascan him for. loc now he is bendan his cneows and raisan his arms and locan from lyft to right around all the men of the ham lic he is around a fyr in sum dim holt talcan of wyrms and the gold of the geets.

harald landwaster he saes cyng of the denes he who dwells in high blaec fjords lord he is of those cold lands. he is ten foot high born sum saes of a wyrm and with the strength of one and with an ax what cuts through three men with one swing and cuman he is cuman from the north with a thousand long scips to tac the corona of our harald cyng and to rule us hard lic a cold beast from the ys lands

now i has things to do this mergen there is madder to be sawan and how is i to saw madder when my geburs is pissan them selfs in the ham due to sum gleoman specan of wyrms and ys and ten foot men i is not needan this

gleoman i saes when thu has ended with thy cildes tales colde thu tell us if there is any thing thu cnaws that is not a raedel or a game for dumb men. in these parts we has seen things we has seen many fugols of the deoful they has filled the heofon and has been specan to me for i is a socman and we has seen the haeric star cuman low ofer us. now sum thing is cuman all here cnawan this and i is locan for sum wise man who can tell me of what is to cum now is thu that man

now the gleoman locs at me again and now he does not smerc. well he saes well great socman of these parts here is the tidans from angland. this haeric star has been seen in efry part and all has been afeart of it. if it is tidans of war or of death what thu is ascan me for there is naht i can gif thu but this. harald cyng is raisan his flota in the south and soon he will raise the fyrd too and in this ham thu may be called. for tostig the brothor of the cyng who was sent out of angland for his synns he is cum baec with scips he harries the south strands and who cnawan if he is with the frenc duc or the landwaster or with others who cnawan but here is the the tidans for thu socman. sum thing is cuman yes it is cuman from the sea. saw thy flax plough thy ground fucc thy wifman drinc well for sum thing is cuman to thu from ofer the waters and this year will be lic no other in the lifs of all men in this land

it was odd in sum ways this gleoman he spac lic my grandfather in raedels of the eald times in tales of what is to cum and of how things sceolde be. my grandfather micel he had to sae about how things sceolde be for to him naht was right in angland. at times it seemed no man was right for him but me. i was his ceosan son for his lifan son my father was no son to him

still i will not spec of my father this is an oath his name is gan from my tunge he is naht to me i will not loc at his graef as i pass for what he done. but at the low grene graef of my grandfather i will sitt in stillness though he did not want no graef at all

i will tell thu of this time my grandfather toc me trappan the ael i was a cilde a lytel cilde but my grandfather he wolde sae that the ways of the fenns moste be taught yonge or will nefer be cnawan

there was so many aels in the fenn what cum near the ham the fenn betweon bacstune and our ham this was what has macd us who we is as folc this place for none cums here that does not cnaw it and none cnawan it lic us. writhan it was with aels long and blaec sum times thu colde almost walc on them across the water so many was they after bredan time in the sumor early. this was the time when the yonge aels was out and there was so many they wolde seem to cum from the water to thu to be eatan and this was when my grandfather toc me in his boat. a lytel boat it was macd from ac timber with two of us in it was hefig in the water and low and right for mofan through the deorc undeop waters of the fenn. with him my grandfather toc a rusc light for it was still early in the daeg and also he toc his glaif macd of ac. this glaif it had a long handle and on its end four spere points and with this the ael is tacan from the fenn only at that time yonge was i and i did not cnaw this

grandfather i saes what thing is this

it is a glaif he saes thu will see

is it for cwellan beras i saes or wulfs will a wulf cum in to our boat grandfather

no wulf will cum into our boat and there is no beras in angland not since our folc cum

is it for aelfs

there is no aelfs here neither aelfs lifs in the holt not in the water this is for the ael

and he locs at me smercan

and also he saes for any ingenga who cums here

what ingenga will cum here grandfather

none will cum if always thu has a glaif or a sweord or a scramasax he saes always thu moste be guardan we moste hold this land it is how we cum here

who cum here

anglisc folc cum here across the sea many years ago. wilde was this land wilde with ingengas with wealsc folc with aelfs and the wulf. cum we did in our scips our great carfan scips with the wyrms heafod and we macd good this land what had been weac and uncept and was thus ours by right

was thu in these scips grandfather these great scips

this was many years before i was born

was there years before thu was born

yesterdaeg i was yonge lic thu marc them they will fly lic the crane all of thy years

but this is our ground now yes

it is our ground for we has macd it ours but there is those who wolde tac it from us he saes i will teacc thu what i has cum to teacc thu loc

while talcan grandfather has been rowan through undeop deorc waters. it is early in the mergen mist is risan from the waters and on the top of the waters is mos grene lic the grenest daeg and deop below deop in the blaec water can be seen great leafs what is suncan almost from sight. all is flat all this land is flat naht stands abuf the reods. low we is and we gan slow through the green and naht is to be seen but the water and any man passan by wolde not cnaw he was any thing but alone here. on efry side the lesch and the saw secg what has leafs what cutts any man felan them. naht but lytel fugols callan naht but water runnan slow

we cums to a pool to a place carfan it seems into the secg and this is where grandfather stops paddlan and ecges the boat up to the lesch and the rusc and tacs his glaif then and lifts it abuf him. cwic he is cwiccer than i can see and he has thrust it then in to the water and pulls it out again cwiccer than the hund tacs the hara and on the ends of his glaif is six writhan aels blaec and scinan in the sunne what is risan now ofer the yeolo secg

fast he saes tac them fast and thu will haf as many as can feed all of us in our hus and all in the ham

slow he saes and thu will hungor till thu is wasted

i locs at these aels still on my grandfathers glaif he holds it now up to the heofon that i may see in the sunne what is cum how he has gifan me sum thing i has not had. the aels is writhan but slower now slower they is dyan and i is yonge and dumb and this seems a sad thing

grandfather i saes can thu not cwell them cwiccer they is dyan slow

they is aels he saes only aels

but still i saes it seems hard

i will tac thu he saes sum daeg i will tac thu to a holt where a blaec ea runs. many craws there is in this holt and efry efen thu may hiere them screaman lic hel itself is cum for them. by this holt there is a hafoc a great fugol with a carfan bec what can tear and efry night it cums to the holt and it cums for these craws. thu may sitt thu may sitt by the path and watch this great feoht sum times the craws they drifs off the hafoc but sum times the hafoc it tacs down sum craw and this then is the greatest thing to see. to see this hafoc and this craw to see them rise and fall to the ground to see this hafoc tear at this craw this is to see the lif of all of us and it is to asc thy self if thu is hafoc or thu is craw. or if thu is ael for sum men writhes without efen feohtan

thu moste see the hafoc tac down the craw he saes and thu will see that all of the world is blud and thy worc is not to lose thine before thy time. be the hafoc not the craw nor the ael for this is how we cum to this land and it is what we is

well i has been specan micel of my grandfather but this was not my tale it is not of what i meant to be specan. it will cum though i thincs efry daeg of what things wolde be now if it had nefer cum for i wolde still be with my glaif by the secg in the sunne. aels is the best thing to be eatan i was in the holt for so long berries i was eatan nuts leafs sum times fugols the hara it is naht to me i is naht. the ael thu tacs its heafod off and its guttas out thu cocs it in butere and petersilie it is the best thing in angland my wifman she wolde coc this so well

it is hard to thinc here sum times it is hard to spec but i will spec of these times they moste be thought of still though we is gan now. lysten i has telt thu of the spring of that year now i will tell thu of the sumor for it was in the sumor that efry thing begun to cum wrong for our folc for efer

the clouds is blaec torrs and around these torrs the lihtnan of thunor is writhan lic an otr tacan from the fenn. i hieres specan among the torrs and betweon and under the sound of the folc of angland the fear they specs

there is wundor in this fear wundor in the wepan of the folc

the blaec stoccs of cloud lic stoccs of the ac in the storm they writhes faster thunors light sends sparcs betweon them so that the heofon is light so that the wepan seems louder

now from betweon the torrs lit up hwit cums a capd man and as he cums to me he casts off his cape and his nebb is lic sum eorca sum deoful. from his mouth there cums fronds lic the sceots of blosms they wafs as he specs there is no haer upon his heafod but the hide is thicce and craccd cuman away in places and his eages is blaec lic night on the water

he specs

he saes thu cnawan me

thu cnawan me

he saes name me

i was thincan of things in these times sean things at night and sum times in the daeg and not cnawan what i was sean til later. did he cum at this time or was it after i thinc he cum to me after the beornan i thinc. it is hard i wolde asc my wifman i wolde asc odelyn but odelyn is gan

odelyn was my wifman i has talcced of her she was a good wifman to me gifan me luf and cildren and duty lic a wif sceolde. all men lusted for my odelyn thynne she was of wifly scape i will sae only that all things a wif moste do she wolde do and if she did not she wolde cnaw cwic about it. we was wed after my fathers hus becum my hus when i becum man. her father he was a socman also though of two oxgangs only he was from bacstune where we was wed in the grene felds by the ea. then i toc odelyn to my hus what had been my fathers and my grandfathers and in that hus in the mergen the sunne cum up ofer the fenn it was sumor o the sounds of the land was a wundor in the sumor. when we woc that mergen i gif her the mergen gift what was bidan by our folc i gif her three aecers of land and a part of my holt and i gif her a gebur name of annis for her needs in the hus and she was smercan wid i lics to see her this way. thu is a good husbond she saed to me we will haf many cildren buccmaster of holland my husbond. and i was thincan then that to haf a wifman lic this was good for many other men wants her and yet she is mine