Viking Voices (14 page)

I wonder whether I should tell Thora to give it to me to remove and bury somewhere else but I know that she is most unlikely to agree. The last thing I want is a queen with a grudge against me. So I am trying to build a positive, friendly relationship with her and her children. I will, however, certainly advise Ragnald to remove it and bury it somewhere far away where only a few trustworthy people know where it is, once he returns from war. Anyone who knows its location will be carrying a very dangerous knowledge and will be in permanent danger.

I tell all of this to Aud and she sees the opportunity to suggest that I should be among those who stay here, though she really knows this is simply not possible. I must leave as soon as I can now, there are only a few days remaining of the original forty days for us to join up with the Danir army, as agreed in our visit to Jorvik. I hope and expect that Ragnald will already be there to fulfil our agreement.

She is not at all happy when asked to suspend her new business as a moneyer but reluctantly she does agree to do so. She is aware of the existence of the hoard and can see the probability that it is adding danger to our community. She can see the logic in my argument although she still feels unhappy that her great idea of creating money is to be stopped for the present. It will not be very easy to explain to the rest of the community either.

So it is necessary to say our farewells all over again, and this time it seems even more stressful to leave my family. I am worried for those left behind because of the threat that the Saxons pose, and I am especially concerned for my own little family. Aud also knows that this will be a very dangerous journey for a relatively small party of just fifty men in hostile territory, and is therefore also afraid for my safety.

My wife's instincts are sound and I am sure that she will be soon proved right; things will be very dangerous on this new adventure.

Once more we are sailing past the hostile territory of the island of Vannin, keeping a safe distance and making fast time in a strong southerly breeze and soon heading into the turbulent waters of the north channel, which marks the end of our sea and gives access to the open ocean.

This time the reduced group can all fit into just a single boat, albeit our largest and a very crowded boat too. We are very intent on the swiftest and most incident free voyage, avoiding any trouble. It is a concern to raise the sail, as rowing would make us less visible, but I prefer the speed and so bring our single square sail high into the breeze. It proves to be a successful tactic and we go past the island unobserved, or at least unmolested.

Despite the wind dropping we continue overnight by splitting the men into three crews so that two can sleep, as best they can in these conditions, while the other crew sails or rows the boat. Later another of the teams will take a turn, so all will get some rest.

As dawn breaks on the second day we are already heading into that vast and very wide estuary that leads to the heart of the British kingdom. The power of the Briton people who live here was partly broken long ago by the raids carried out by Olafr the White and the first Ivarr from Dyflinn, when our settlement there was at the height of its power. The people here have never completely recovered from that devastation and as a result have been dominated by the Picts since then. Naturally they still remain hostile to us and are very capable of inflicting destruction on our small depleted group if we allow them to. We must be very vigilant once we reach land but while we remain at sea we are very safe.

Since the Picts now have the dominance and the wealth there, this time we, and our Danir comrades, will raid them with a great army. At least, we will have a great army if we can ever join our forces together. Meeting up seems to be the greatest immediate challenge; our agreement was quite vague as to the exact location we would meet. There is the danger, or perhaps the likelihood, that both Viking armies will circle around looking for each other but continually pass each other.

The voyage up this long estuary is a pleasant one as the rain and clouds have stayed away today and we can sail over the tranquil waters in the breeze, but also enjoy the bright sunshine. The water all ahead of us remains calm a dark grey mass with just the occasion splash of white water. Behind us it turns into a great shining, silvery mass, with dazzling light gleaming off its surface.

We are passing a number of islands varying greatly in size, and situated to the left and right, some close by, some far off in this wide expanse of water. To the north of us there is a large island with towering, jagged mountains. At times it feels like being back in Norway, the land of our forefathers.

The waters here are filled with dolphins which delight in swimming around our boats, jumping in groups beside the boat and collecting to swim alongside in the bow waves. We can look over the prow of the boat and see them in the water just a very short distance away. They seem to know we are looking at them and sometimes turn to look back at us. It seems that they have just as much curiosity about us as we have about them. After several hours of playing around the boat they do eventually get bored with us and then they disappear just as suddenly as they first appeared.

Eventually the fjord turns to the east and, although there are other channels to the north, our guide has sailing instructions that tell us that this is the main channel into Fortriu. I hope we are taking the same route as Ragnald, as this decision is a critical one. As we have no further information to base the decision upon we follow the guide's advice. It does make sense to follow this channel as we are now aiming both east into the hinterland and perhaps just a little further north. The river narrows considerably but continues for many miles into the hinterland, deep and easily navigable, although we now have to row rather than sail. The breeze remains strong but it is not reliably in line with the river so we need to control the direction of the boat's travel and steer clear of the rocks we can see protruding through the surface close to each shore.

We can see the occasional fort high above the river on a natural rock, but on this occasion we are not interested in them and row on past them. The natives take the opportunity to show their hostility though. Jeering and chanting loudly from their forts as we pass by them.

Eventually, on the second day of travel into this long estuary we round a turn in the river, already much narrower and shallower now, and have the reassurance of seeing all of Ragnald's boats beached high on the river bank. This is the highest navigable point of the river, and it is quite a sight as there are so many boats here. Indeed our boat does start to ground here, and so my men must jump into the water and haul it ashore to lie beside the rest of the fleet. It is safe for our men to jump over the sides of the boat into the shallow water and carry the boat out of the river. There is a guard of around fifty men stationed there, which strikes me as an extraordinarily small number to guard such a vital asset in such hostile territory. The loss of these boats would be a disaster when the expedition is over and we will need them to carry us and our plunder home again.

The group of guards is lead by a tall blond man who tells me that there is a village of the Britons quite close at hand, and he is aware that they have been sending horsemen to spy on our boats and the men who guard them. I can see that he is clearly concerned that they are increasingly tempted to attack us, and is looking to me, as the high status leader, for guidance on how to handle the situation.

When Ragnald arrived with his very large force the first reaction of these natives was to flee. It was certainly very wise of them to do so, but now Ragnald has moved on they have crept back and are certainly no longer afraid of this small rearguard. In fact, the situation has reversed as the guard are now heavily outnumbered and are very apprehensive about the presence of these Britons.

My first thought is to negotiate a treaty with them, but I have no one who can speak their language, and it is most unlikely that they will have Norse speakers. Diplomacy is not an option. It seems that our only realistic option is to frighten them away by a full scale assault on their village, and so that is what we will do.

I believe that when it is necessary to attack it is best to attack suddenly, quickly and with maximum force, catching them by surprise if possible and inflicting the maximum number of casualties in the initial confusion. The boats have already been here for a week already and the main force has moved on so the Britons seem to have come to believe that they are again safe living near the boats. They seem unaware of the arrival of my small force which came in just one boat. It changes the balance a little though, as we have doubled the number of the guards from fifty to a hundred. I also bring a different kind of thinking to the situation. My blond friend is nervous of taking the initiative, especially as he is afraid of the responsibility for losing. There is little doubt that the Britons still have more warriors and outnumber us at least two to one, but initiative, courage and particularly the element of surprise can easily reverse that advantage.

I resolve to make the assault but not today, my men must have a day to recover, to rest and to eat properly. A successful assault could also leave the guard with a good supply of food to last them for a long time. My blond comrade takes a little persuading to take what he sees as a high risk option, but the prospect of food and plunder persuades him. We are resolved to go ahead with the raid.

I walk forward together with my new assistant commander to reconnoitre the British village and identify a slope down which we will attack. The small hill allows us to get very close without being seen. So in the evening, after it is fully dark, we creep up to the edge of the village. All of the available Vikings are here so we are leaving the boats completely unguarded. This time we will not form a circle the village, we think it is to our advantage to allow as many as can to escape, that way helping to even out our numeric disadvantage.

I am not Ragnald so when I launch the attack it is with a silent gesture, a wave, I want get right into the village and to be striking down some of our opponents before they know we are there. They do have a guard of four men but they only spot us at the last moment and are only just able to let out a scream before they are struck down. It is too little warning for their friends to get much benefit, but adds to the confusion and they are soon streaming out of their shelters and running away. Many of their men are struck down as they run and they take a lot of casualties. Finally a brave few, maybe twenty, gather their weapons and turn to confront us but my men have a lot of adrenalin running through their bodies and immediately charge to attack them.

It seems they are not so brave after all, as they turn and run away. No doubt they realise they are sure to die if they confront the enraged Viking warriors, who would also greatly outnumber this small group. Several of these, the most courageous Britons, do pay for their courage with their lives. We have taken the village by surprise and completely routed them. We have just a dozen men injured and only two of them seriously injured.

The rewards include enough food for several weeks but our best acquisition from the plunder is a group of horses, there are just twenty-one of them. So that will be the number of men I will take on the next stage of the journey. Anyone who cannot ride will be left behind to reinforce the guard on the boats and we have only just enough skilled horsemen among our hundred to take up the twenty mounts. I am always happier to exchange numbers for additional speed and flexibility, and I am also happy that it leaves a larger number to guard the boats. We definitely need these boats to be completely safe, they will be vital to the army when it comes to return home.

Overall, I am delighted with the outcome. The raid has been a great success, not only giving us a plentiful supply of food but also making it very unlikely that the Britons will be tempted to stray anywhere near our boats again. The major benefit is that I feel our boats are much more secure now, so it is time to move on searching for the main army. We are told that they have headed north from here, moving directly over the nearby hills, and so that is also the route we will take. It takes another day before I feel we are all in top condition, very well fed and mostly recovered from the effects of the drink we took from the Britons. We all had headaches the following day, which I suspect was something to do with that drink. Perhaps it was poisonous, but if so, we have all survived its effects.

As we ride north over the hills the weather changes and turns cooler and cloudier before, inevitably in this country, the rain starts to fall. We cannot afford to allow this to slow us down though, and we cover ourselves with leather hides taken during the recent raid. We trot steadily upwards for most of the day, pausing only for a short time to drink and take some food.

We reach the watershed and then follow the course of a stream as it tumbles down to the valley below where it merges with another stream and then yet another wider stream until they form a substantial brook. This brook flows ever downwards onto a crumpled plain which stretches a long way ahead of us.

We have not seen any of the hostile people that we know live here, and are making good progress towards the far hills when we suddenly reach a Briton village. Naturally our appearance there causes a lot of concern and there is a period of frenzied activity, before a heavily armed group of warriors comes out to confront us. I have no wish to attack them and try to start a discussion with them, but it is useless. They cannot understand any more Norse than I can understand Brythonic. Information about whether they have seen Ragnald's army would have been invaluable to us but we are certainly not going to get it from these people.

So we move past them and go rapidly on, as quickly as the horses can carry us, and before any danger of pursuit develops. I am very concerned that they may assault us as we are now just a very small group, and we must get as far away from them as we can. It is not well-timed for the horses which have already had a long trek across the mountains, but we need to keep going for some time to get well away from the danger. Eventually we stop to rest for the night besides a wide shallow river, at a point where it flows in a broad semi-circle around a small conical hill, with larger mountains surrounding the river valley.

The following morning we have to guess which way to go to have the best chance of finding Ragnald's army. From the valley floor there is a path which winds its way up the hillside, probably to a mountain pass. I do not think that is the most likely route they will have taken so I follow the river as it winds its way downhill. As the horses are very tired from the previous day's journey we resolve to move more slowly today and not so far. We must be very close to our comrades, but they are still out of sight.

The river moves from a valley to a great plain, with very fertile farm land and many villages. It passes through a vast lake where we can see other people are fishing and gathering food. We take care to avoid them all, we are few and want as peaceful a passage as it is possible to achieve.

Eventually we come across a camp in the middle of the plain, it is obviously a great army, just like Ragnald's but we recognise no one among the warriors. So we stop close by and dismount, hoping we have not been seen. I keep most of my men back and out of sight as I crawl up a small incline to view the assembled army. It is immediately clear that they are also Scandinavian men. Their dress, weapons and language immediately gives them away, but there is no one I recognise, so this cannot be Ragnald's force. Naturally it must be the Danir army that Ragnald is expected to meet up with, and it is also clear that he has not met them yet.

I judge that it is safe and necessary for us to show ourselves to them, and we all come forward riding our horses into the centre of the camp. It is a dramatic entrance and naturally viewed with some initial suspicion. We do, however, have the same language as these people and so it is easy to explain ourselves. I have already met the commander of this group in Jorvik, so it is not difficult to convince him that I am part of Ragnald's army. Ironically this is only a day or two beyond the fortieth day after our departure from Jorvik; I am late but have almost hit the agreed schedule coming up here late, while Ragnald and his army, which had such a start on us, are still missing.