Viking Voices (15 page)

The commander is initially very glad to see me as he assumes that I can take him straight to Ragnald, so the combined force can begin its raiding. He is confused and a little frustrated to learn that I do not know where Ragnald is. I also have to explain how I got detached from Ragnald, which is a little awkward, and I invent a story, telling them that I had to return to take back Ragnald's concubine after she had got pregnant. It is not uncommon for the leader to take his woman with him on an expedition, but a pregnant woman would obviously struggle in the conditions of an expedition, and need to return. So the story of returning her to our settlement is accepted without any further discussion.

He dismisses the story quickly as he has real little interest in the reasons we cannot find our comrades, and I am not sure he is even listening. He is much more serious when he suggests to me that it is my responsibility to find them. Naturally I was looking for them anyway and as I do have the horses it is quite possible for me to divide our horsemen into two groups the next day and to send them to search in different directions. I think it sensible for all the Danir to stay here where they have plentiful water and can obtain food.

On the first day I take ten men and ride north from here, with another group of ten going south, each of us takes a Brythonic translator supplied by the Danes. Now we can communicate with the Britons, always a dangerous action but potentially a very valuable source of information. I can find no trace of my king or his army and return late in the day to the Danish camp.

My other riders have returned too, and although they have not found Ragnald they have come across some of the Britons who have reported seeing a Viking army marching through their territory. Perhaps this is Ragnald and his army but it could also be a late report of the Danir force that we are now
among.

So the next day both groups of riders head eastwards, I to the north east and my comrades to the south east, in order to cover as much ground as possible. Around midday I finally find them.

First we see a small group of warriors carrying out a reconnaissance just like us, and fortunately we recognise each other. There could have a disaster if we had not and started to fight each other. They quickly take us to the main group, and there is Ragnald himself, looking healthier and quite a bit slimmer than when I last saw him, but he has a huge smile across his face and he is laughing with relief and very happy to see me; maybe a little surprised too.

We have a lot to discuss. He is very pleased to hear the news of Thora's baby and hopes that it will be a boy to become his heir and successor. He is extremely happy that I can show him the way to join the Danir of Jorvik, as he has been looking for them for many days and feared that they had not actually sent any men to join him in the north. He is very much less pleased to hear of the Angles interest in our settlement. The worst news of all, as far as he is concerned, is that I have returned with just twenty of the hundred men he gave me. I can reassure him that the loss of these men to the expedition has achieved a very necessary reinforcement of the guards left both at our own settlement, looking after our families, and also looking after our boats and both increase the overall safety of our community.

After a lengthy discussion I can give him a small taste of the drink taken from the Britons and that certainly seems to make him happier. Given a little time for thought he will accept my logic in the various uses of my one hundred men. Now I leave him, so as to ride back to the Danes, judging it better to keep them informed. I can tell them that Ragnald and his men are nearby and have already left their camp and are moving west to meet them.

They do not appear that evening but the Danir now strike their camp too and move east, the direction from which our Lochlain army is approaching them, and soon the forces do meet. Greeting each other with wild shouts and exchanging much abuse and “light hearted” banter. There is a general release of tension, as we all know that we are all safer together and now we can finally combine into a great Scandinavian army. The meeting takes place beside a great black rock, which stands prominently at the centre of the wide, flat valley of the river. We have now been following the river for some time and found each other beside this truly dramatic piece of scenery. It must be a holy place of great significance.

The leaders now get together for a meeting, and the Dane acknowledges that he has orders to defer to Ragnald as the overall leader. I hear this with a great sense of relief. The first problems have been overcome, and we are indeed going to be one united army. Viking leaders are prone to forgetting their agreements and fighting among themselves for control, but this time it will go well. We will be one strong army under one strong and very determined leader.

A plan of action is made between us. Naturally Ragnald is anxious to drive his whole army north immediately but listens when I suggest that we use the horse riders to go ahead, perhaps for two days and report on what is in front of us, perhaps to find the centres of Pict wealth so we can target our attacks. In the four days before they return to report the main army can send out groups to gather food and build up a stock for our march north. We can then re-evaluate our route and take the fight to the place we are most likely to find the greatest plunder. Once the main army is moving it is best to get it into position as quickly as possible and to attempt to take the enemy while they are least prepared.

The Danes readily agree to action this scheme, but Ragnald is more impatient and suggests that the main army moves on the morning of the fourth day, before the scouts return, going towards them and so saving a day. This may also reduce the time given to the Picts to respond to the approach of our force, although it is likely that they already know where we are and may well guess our objective is to attack their main centres. In the morning the horse riders are instructed to go forward in two independent groups and to glean as much information as they can about the land and the people of Fortriu.

On the morning of the fourth day the main army leaves in line with Ragnald's amendment to the plan, and marches north along a side valley in a state of high excitement and in anticipation of great glory and huge riches. There are reputations to be made for every man in this force.

Moving an army of nearly two thousand men is difficult and they are likely to get spread out over a considerable distance. That would make us vulnerable to the small splinter groups being attacked when they become isolated. As I am the only one left with a horse among the main army I take it on myself to move between the front movers, often slowing them down, and chiding the stragglers, urging them to speed up rejoin the main group. It proves to be a permanent role, as soon as one group rejoins the army another strays off. Holding up the faster movers is more successful, but is not popular with the impatient Ragnald who is always up at the front. Even he knows that it is worthwhile to keep the army as tightly packed as we can, but it goes against his instinct. The result is slow progress, which is frustrating for everyone.

We do, however, have some news from the returning riders. It is not good news as one group has been ambushed and most of them were killed. This is the constant danger for small groups moving around in this unfriendly land. Even those with the advantages of being mounted and able to move quickly can be caught unawares. As a result they have been turned back without reaching the Picts settlements and gathered have much less information than we had hoped.

The Picts are clearly further north than we had first expected, and it will take us at least three more days of marching to reach the point where our riders had been attacked. We can certainly expect to be harassed from that point onwards, or maybe earlier. There can be no advantage of surprise now; we will simply need to fight our way through.

The land around us is always hilly and our route constantly takes us through river valleys which twist and turn. Although generally heading north we are often taken off to the east as well by following the trend of the valleys. We keep off the hills as much as we can and follow the low ground wherever possible. There are roads of a kind there but they are very rough and muddy, and we are mostly heading uphill, a very laborious task while our warriors are being driven hard to make the best time possible. There is constant and often persistent rain, they are getting drenched through and are usually very cold as a result, despite the pelts we are all wearing. The men are getting exhausted and, although there is certainly plenty of water, there is no way to scavenge any food and supplies in this wild land and the supplies we have brought are therefore running down.

The harassing attacks on us have come, though not on the scale I feared. Inevitably they target the smallest groups who, despite my urging, still get detached to the rear. There have been several raids and the most devastating come in the middle of the night, often catching our men sleeping; sometimes even the guards were asleep. It is amazing to me that they could be so complacent in such hostile territory, but they were very weary.

The increasing regularity and mounting intensity of attacks does suggest to me that we are already in the heartland of the Picts and we have come across a number of abandoned villages as we move. They seem to have been deserted just ahead of our arrival. All have been stripped clean of any goods that might be of value to us, and there is certainly no food or drink there. It is easy to find water but the lack of food is becoming a serious problem. After struggling uphill for so long we have passed through the bitterly cold air of a high, rocky mountain pass and are now moving down hill again along the path of another stream before eventually reaching a large wide river valley. At times it forms a vast fertile plain and the Picts have established many farms here. I imagine that the farmers will have been very reluctant to abandon them in the face of our advance, but they are all abandoned by the time we reach them.

The harassment is still growing in intensity as we move north and eventually we have lost around a hundred men in total, with minimal casualties to the Picts, and so the mood is very morose and unhappy. Some of the men are grumbling and even saying it is time to go back. They must know that we will not go back without reaching our target and getting the plunder that we have come for. That is just how the cowards talk.

After four days of hard marching we come to a halt for the night and it is time for the leaders to meet up again and reconsider our plan. I can see immediately that it is not going to be possible to assess the best course of action without better information; we will need the riders to go out again. The riders are not best pleased with the idea, as they know that they are surrounded by hostile people, who are intent on killing them.

I must therefore personally lead the task of taking the reluctant horsemen forward and we gallop rapidly out early in the morning before the sun rises. We have decided that the main army will stop and await our news; it will also give them a chance to rest for a short time. As we know that we outriders are vulnerable it is agreed that after a few hours a large group of two hundred men will advance towards the direction we are expected to return. This will unsettle the Picts and give us a better chance to return. The Picts will not know which route we will take but they will have seen us leave, and certainly know that we will return to the main army, so we will be most liable to attack during that approach.

In fact, we are very easily seen on horseback any way and they seek to attack us frequently, so it is necessary to constantly change route. Within a short time though, we have been forced onto higher ground above the valley floor and from here we can readily see that they have a very large settlement in the centre of the valley just a day's march ahead of our army. This is the very information that we need, it identifies our ultimate target, so I turn and get our riders back as quickly as possible. It goes well until we are in sight of the main army when we are confronted with a large group of armed men blocking our way. There is no option but to turn away and retreat, we are so heavily outnumbered that we could not hope to fight our way through them.

So we circle around our army and try to approach from another angle, but again there is the same result and we turn away again. Now we are again being forced onto the higher ground so we can easily see our own army even though we cannot reach it. We are all frightened and feel very vulnerable, but I cannot show my fear or even any concern, and put on a show of bravado to reassure the others. Now we are in the hills we have a chance to dismount and let the horses rest, they have been ridden hard today and are all sweating heavily, steaming in the cool air.

We are only safe here for a short time; the Picts will have seen our route and so they will soon follow on foot. We do, however, have the advantage of being able to see what is happening in the valley below and see that as agreed the group of two hundred warriors are advancing from the main group. As they do we can see groups of Picts rushing to attack them, no doubt they think this is the start of the main advance on their city.

I order our men to mount up and we set off again. We will not attempt to approach the advance guard but turn towards the rear of our army and rejoin them from that direction. This works well and we do get very close before we encounter a group of five of the foreigners who stand in our way. This is very foolish of them, as we are determined not to be turned away by such a small group and readily hack them down with swords from our horses. Height above the ground always gives horsemen a natural advantage, and we use it ruthlessly.

This proves to be the only obstacle in our way and so we are able rejoin the Norse army quickly. When I find Ragnald he is surprised to find me already back as he had expected the trip to take longer, our target to be further away, and he is also surprised that I had not come back through the force that had gone out to cover us, but from the rear. It is clear that group is now involved in some very heavy fighting. I suggest that Ragnald to release his main army onto the Picts to relieve the front movers, and he does so immediately. I think he is delighted to have a reason to get involved in the fighting himself, and he is soon right at the front of the attack.