Viking Voices (8 page)

Again he believes that he has the support of Tyr, the one handed god of single combat who looked after him on Dalkey Island. Even if Ragnald has had Tyr on his side in the past we cannot take that support for granted. He will need to make many blood sacrifices to retain that support. All of the gods are fickle and changeable with their favours. This time he has cut the throat of his favourite hound as a first blood sacrifice, to seek Tyr's further help.

Ragnald's move will obviously create confusion for Ottar and will at least buy us time while he ponders the problem he has been set. I would hate to be the messenger that takes the challenge to the Danir king, who is certain to be very angry at this reaction to his demands. No doubt he had felt very pleased with the misfortune of the Dyflinn Vikings and had fully expected to gain a rich reward in silver at our expense. It must be clear now that he only gained a powerful rival, who will compete with him for control of this island.

We are still using the time to continue to cut down the woods and prepare timbers for the new houses, though no more are actually being constructed as permanent structures now. If necessary we could take these prepared timbers with us and assemble them quickly elsewhere if we have to move on again.

Ottar's answer does not come quickly and it is obvious that he is not at all happy with the dilemma he has been posed. Finally the reply comes back through the messenger that Ragnald sent, and the poor wretch comes back terrified and shaking. He has been held with no food and little water for several days and under the constant threat of being put to death. He has, however, been spared in order to bring back the response to us. Ottar will not fight with Ragnald; he will send his army to wipe us out if the silver is not paid within the week. He has also doubled the size of the demand as punishment for Ragnald's insolence.

Ottar has violated the Viking warrior's code of honour in declining the challenge but it is obvious he cares little or nothing for such ideas of honour. Ragnald has the same dilemma to face as before, nothing has been gained except time, and he knows that his meagre force is still probably insufficient to take on Ottar's army in an open battle.

It is at this timely moment that we gain our first news from Ingamund, who went east from Môn as we sailed north to this place on the Isle of Vannin. The messengers he sent have been searching the coast of the island for us for several days and have now finally found us. For once it contains some positive news, and so perhaps we can hope that our fortunes have finally changed for good.

Ingamund has negotiated with the Saxons and has struck a bargain with Ethelred, the king of the Anglian kingdom of Mercia, who has granted him a small area of land to make a Norse settlement. It is granted on condition that he does not attack any Angle and will also help to protect them from any attack whether it is from any other Norse, Danir, British or other group. He also has to pay tribute to King Ethelred in the form of annual payments in grain or animal meats.

While Ragnald is still not pleased with the concept of paying tributes of any form he is happy to avoid parting with his silver, and can instantly see that this is the best proposition he has available to him. It offers respite from our wanderings, safety for our families and the opportunity to rebuild our strength for future ventures. What is more it allows him to retain his precious silver hoard until he can raise his new army. These last few weeks have given him new enemies to avenge himself on as well as new grievances against his old enemies. He is especially bitter against Ottar, condemning him as a rogue, a tyrant and a coward, and will certainly be back to raid this kingdom at the earliest opportunity. The need for revenge is burning brightly inside his chest and there are now several candidates for his vengeance.

For now, it is time to pack everything we can back onto our boats and leave in good order. The trading boats are very well suited for the task of transporting our timbers, ready cut to be built into new houses. Within a day we are all packed and ready to leave, with little to show that we have ever been here.

Once more Ragnald gathers his inner group of warriors around him and we again get the awkward task of carrying the same large and very heavy wooden trunk down the beach and into Ragnald's drakken. On the other hand, it is perhaps good to know that the silver hoard is still here, safe and sound, and available when we need it to finance our invasion of Dyflinn. That still feels like a very long time off in the indefinite future.

The Danir villagers we have been living alongside are sorry to see us depart, there have been many new friendships formed here as we had all believed we were here for the long term. They are also unhappy and unimpressed by the behaviour of their King Ottar but, of course, must remain loyal to him. Unlike us they must remain here and staying in peace with their ruler is wholly necessary to them. Their lives have been enhanced by having us here and we leave them with much more of the land next to the village cleared and available and ready for farming. It was planned for our use but will now benefit them.

Soon the whole fleet is on the sea again and we are all rowing vigorously out into the swell until we can raise our sails and set off to our next home. We all hope that this time we have the opportunity to set up a permanent settlement, and have some security in our lives again. It seems we are bound for a small piece of land called the Wirral granted to us by the Mercian Angles, between the Rivers Mersam and Dee, which is now uninhabited, unfarmed and undeveloped. It sounds like a desolate, lonely place.

They have promised that it is a good place with a lot of fertile land, good for raising cattle and with the prospect of growing grain, and if it is we will be very content there. It is surrounded by the sea on one side and there are rivers on two other sides, so we only need worry about defending one. In addition, the river estuaries have lots of fish, and shellfish are especially plentiful, which will help feed our people. The Angles are content for us to settle there as none of them live there and they have no use for it.

The voyage progresses well, as it is generally easier go eastwards, and to run before the prevailing west wind. We make fast progress, and the sea seems much smoother than in our previous voyage, so this time only a few are sea sick. Those few are already swearing that they will never set foot in a boat ever again.

As we get closer it is more of a challenge to navigate and there are many sand banks here to make sailing more difficult, especially in a strong breeze. The position of these banks is sometimes visible even when they are underwater; they are shown by a line of white water as the swell breaks on the shallow areas. Naturally we have to turn the boats to avoid those sand banks.

We are heading into a corner of the sea where the coast forms a right angle and a wide river enters the sea. We are told that we must stay on the north shore of this estuary as that is the area granted to us, to land on the south shore might cause conflict. Other people hold that land. Just for today we will do all we can to avoid conflict, get our kinfolk safely ashore and form our settlement in peace.

It is certainly a wide estuary with hills to the south and high flat land to the north. We pass several miles up the river from the entrance to get good shelter and to be more secure away from any sea raiders. We know that this is a waterway for many traders heading to the port of Ceaster. Finally we select an area of the bank with a gentle wooded slope behind it. Here we can build and farm.

Now we pull the boats up onto the sandy beaches before taking our women and children up the strand and onto this new land which has been promised to us. There we find Ingamund and his community, who are expecting us and they welcome us with lots of hot food and drink which is very welcome after the long, cold voyage. It seems that here we have finally found the safety we craved, at last we have our refuge and our wanderings are over!

We can see immediately that place they call the Wirral is a rich fertile land. Although heavily wooded at present it can be developed to make good farms; perhaps the small farm that Aud and I longed for in the Dyflinnskari will finally be available to us here. We have been told that the Angles have kept the better land to themselves but we are happy with what we have here, at least for the present. Aud and I certainly hope that we can live a happy peaceful life here, just as we planned it before, although we are in a different place far from our home. We have good cause for optimism arriving here.

Once again we have the ritual of hauling Ragnald's silver out of the boat and up the beach, waiting until nightfall to unload it and doing what we can to remain unobserved. All of us are horribly aware of the attention this chest is receiving once more, and I fear that the gossip is likely to spread again and bring unwelcome strangers to our small community. If Ottar could have heard of it then many other hostile people will also get to know about it. We might well find ourselves under attack by those foreigners who come to know of it and want to enrich themselves on Ragnald's treasure. There are very many greedy and dangerous men who will think like this.

Once Ragnald's silver is out of the boat we are directed to carry it up the beach, and into the forest beyond where we leave it to be buried later. Now only Ragnald knows exactly where it will go next. It seems that even we, the inner group of friends, are not trusted enough to know its final place. Thora is still there so she will be his only confidante in this matter.

For now though, we have happier issues to concentrate on and can lead our families to their third new home in a matter of weeks. This time there is an important difference: we have the permission and agreement of the people who rule this land to live here. That gives us a much better chance of remaining undisturbed to build and farm.

We should certainly be safe from any immediate threat of attack here, and our spirits are higher than they have been since we left our homes in Dyflinn. That seems such a long time ago now; and so much has happened and so much changed since we were there.

The most important thing is still the same. That Aud and I are together and very much in love, our adventures have had the effect of binding us closer, always supporting, comforting and encouraging each other. We were always able and inclined to discuss everything and identify the threats and possibilities. Now we can look to build a new life together, providing protection and help to our mothers, who have faced their trial with great courage. These two wonderful old ladies have, however, visibly aged under the stress of these events and they now deserve a period of peace.

Aud and I hope and expect that we are about to enter that period of peace. Not just for ourselves but for our mothers too. My own little household with its three women.

The next day we recognise that there is an enormous amount of work to do in order to create a home here. We had achieved so much in a short time in Vannin, but it has nearly all been taken away from us, and now we must start again and do it with just as much energy as before. It is hard to face setback after setback with the same energy as we met the first one, but we are Norse people and take great pride in our resilience. That inexhaustible Viking spirit will be needed yet again.

We start by unloading the timbers that were brought with us in the knarr boats from the island of Vannin, and the effort spent in preparing them is now paying off for us. The houses are almost already built and are just waiting to be assembled. We only need to spend some time levelling the land where they will be built, and have already chosen a site on the slope above the beach. It is well drained and sheltered from the worst effects of the wind and rain, and with a fine south facing view across the river to the hills beyond. We need to dig level patches out of ground from the slope to allow the houses to stand almost level, though a slight slope has an advantage; we want to keep the animals in lower ground within the house, and need their slurry to drain away out of the house and down the hill.

The land above the slope has woods which will soon be stripped away to provide pasture or fields for growing grain and vegetables next year, and provide yet more timber this year. I am sure we can buy some cattle and the seed grain we will need, or if not, we can acquire some by other means. Although we cannot raid the Angles, who are our hosts, or the Danir, our fellow Scandinavians and potential allies, there is still plenty of opportunity to raid the Britons, who are not far away along the south side of our estuary, and further west. Further away but still within reach are the Picts, and of course, our old enemy the Irskrs.

The beach allows us access to the river to fish and soon we will be using the boats to trade again. There are extensive sands exposed at low tide which allows us to gather as many shellfish as we could ever need. Whatever happens there will always be shellfish to eat here, and in such great abundance that we will quickly be sick of eating them. We can be sheltered, well fed and content here within a short time. It really does seem like the haven of peace that we have been seeking ever since we were expelled from our own city. Few people come here, there is nothing here to attract them, and so it gives us some security as well. We just need to ensure good relations with our neighbours so we can stay without threat or harassment.

The frames of our first houses have been built in just a few days and in little more than a week the whole village has taken shape, with the shapes of the twelve new houses jostling against each other up the slope. Of course, they are not fully finished but they do already afford us some shelter from the rain and the cold with temporary roofs. These houses are very crowded though, as there are so many of us now that we have rejoined Ingamund's group, and we will need to cut many more trees, trim them into shape and cut them to allow us to build further and extend the village. It is also necessary to clear the woods to create pasture so as to allow our people to be fed well throughout the year. Already we have eaten enough of the shellfish and are longing for meat.

I am learning quickly and am developing into a skilled carpenter; it is a skill that will always be useful, even to a warrior. My products remain quite crude but increasingly useful, and I have a mentor in one of the craftsmen who came with us from Dyflinn.

It is clear to all of us that Ingamund has done well in finding us this new home, and it is widely noticed that his negotiating skills have achieved much more for us than Ragnald's ferocious aggression and strength. Despite that Ragnald remains the undisputed leader as no one has yet the courage to dispute his kingship. It will be interesting for us all to observe how the power and influence moves between Ragnald and Ingamund in the future. I want to ensure that Ragnald restores his status and influence within this community, as my fortune depends on his opinion of me. I am already energetically pointing out to my neighbours that it was Ragnald that directed Ingamund to seek out new possibilities, so that he gets a share of the credit.

Nevertheless it is Ingamund who is often being acknowledged as the better leader among the gossip of this community and the Wirral is seen as his land. Ragnald is considered just a guest in his place. We will, however, see who emerges as the most powerful king in the long run, and my allegiance remains firmly with Ragnald.

Aud is much more closely attuned to all of the gossip among the women and she tells me that the views of the community are now split evenly as to who the better leader is. Ingamund is seen as the effective diplomat and has the greater respect among the women but Ragnald is seen as the greater warrior and is favoured by more of the men. Therefore in this society Ragnald is quite secure, women have no vote and little real influence except through their husbands.

Now that the first houses are built and we have shelter, food and a degree of safety, we can think about developing more trade opportunities. It will be very much more difficult here to trade in slaves, the subject of our traditional business, as we have lost the Irskric hinterland that supplied us with such rich resources. It is not possible to raid our hosts, the Angles to our south and east, or the Danir who live in Danelaw to our north, without provoking crippling retaliation. This just leaves the Britons, who are now west of us, but even they are becoming more difficult to surprise, they are well-armed and have become very wary. We must either look for different goods to trade in or look further afield.

I have decided that I will specialise my skills, not in the timber that I was cutting in the last few weeks, but in making iron goods. This fulfils a long held wish to work in iron and I see a great commercial opportunity in this trade. There are only the three others among those Ragnald persuaded to stay with us on Dalkey Island who can provide this need for iron goods in our village. Aud is delighted with my interest in this new form of trade as it will not take me away from home, and I can play the role of the perfect husband and father, always at home and ready to take on home duties. She encourages me to spend as much time as I need to acquire the skills of this trade. We are in complete harmony of thought on the issue.

I know something of this craft from earlier times in Dyflinn when I studied it from interest rather than any expectation that it would be truly of use to me. How I wish now that I had taken far greater interest, while I could have learnt under the true specialists we had there. The smoke, flames and bright red metal have always fascinated me. There are few artisans here who have this skill so if I can remember or invent ways of working then I should do well. Those artisans seem to be reluctant to teach me, seeking to keep their trade secrets to themselves, but I have some influence with Ragnald now and they will be persuaded to help me. There is a great demand for iron goods here, especially to replace farming implements, as the old ones have been left behind. There is more than enough work for all of us iron workers.

If I can truly master this art then I might eventually be able to start to make swords. They are always in demand and therefore very valuable and command a very high price, but they are also the most difficult and time consuming article to make. They must not be brittle as that would make them break in the height of battle, exposing their bearer to great danger.

Only the best iron workers will make swords, as it needs the best metal, forged in the largest fires at the greatest temperature. There is also a great amount of skill and technique in making them, and only a few have this knowledge. It requires the making of two iron bars which are then bent and intertwined while still red hot, forged again in the searing heat of the fire and then hammered long and hard to form them into one blade before being tempered and quenched. Finally the edge is hardened, polished and ground into a finely edged blade.

A few iron workers also make iron helmets which protect the head of the wearer in battle. There are very few of these helmets and most warriors wear a leather helmet which produces only a little benefit. If the head is struck full on, a blade can cut straight through them. Only those of very high status wear metal helmets, and I only know of one such helmet, which is worn by Ragnald himself.

Our king is very keen to have as much production of weapons as it is possible to organise. The provision of these new arms will prove a great asset to his men's ability to fight and raid, eventually to provide weapons for his new army which he needs to fulfil his destiny to take vengeance on the Irskrs and retake Dyflinn. He encourages me to ensure the training and development of new iron workers, not only myself, and I have his authority behind me to ensure the reluctant artisans share their knowledge and skills.

It has become much more important for me to have a stable trade to support my family, as there will be no plunder for a while. Not only do I have Aud but also our two mothers to protect and provide for. Aud has become quite sickly these last few weeks and my mother is therefore predicting that she is with child. This would be a wonderful thing for all of us, a great thing to symbolise renewal and the rebuilding of our shattered lives. I truly hope and pray that it will come true, though I am also concerned for Aud. Childbirth is always a dangerous event for the mother.

We all seem so very happy here after the trauma and turmoil of our exit from Dyflinn and the subsequent wanderings. It is delightful to have our own place in the house and a small piece of land which we have cleared and are already using to raise geese. We already have ambitions to add pigs, sheep and perhaps cattle later as my mother Edda has the very valuable gift and craft of tending and healing sick animals.

Aud is very much interested and involved in the farm even though she is getting larger. She is enjoying being the centre of attention, not just from me, but of the two mothers. Her bump represents so many hopes and aspirations for us all, and our family suddenly has a future as well as a painful past.

Aud has always been a happy girl, with a radiant smile, but now she has really bloomed into a mature woman, a pillar of our community. Wherever she goes you can hear laughter and see people smiling, she is delighted at the imminent arrival of her first child and it always shows in her attitude. Whenever I meet her then, whatever my previous moods, I instantly feel happy. It's just the magical effect she has on me, her special gift, as she is one of nature's blessed people. Her radiant youth and glowing good health are at their very peak and she is wonderful to see. Even better, she seems to feel the same about me and we are having the very happiest period of our lives. Whenever we look back on this period of our lives we can remember only the laughter and the happiness, as though there was always sunshine and warmth all day long every day. It is Spring in every sense, the beginning of a new season of growth.

The cheerfulness is contagious too and my mother and mother-in-law catch it, and have finally overcome their previous grief and the melancholy mood which has hung over them for months. We can all see the prospect of a happy future here. The farm has started to progress well and we have already extended the area under pasture. We acquired some sheep to graze there, in addition to the geese we captured on the estuary early on. All of my women seem to have a natural talent for this kind of work, and obviously enjoy doing it.

My iron working has started tentatively and I gathered a great deal of wood from the forests which I made into charcoal. My first product was an iron hearth which contained the fire and above which I smelt the ore or bog iron into an iron I can work. I have also been able to make a pair of bellows from two planks of timber and some leather hides. Like the hearth it is very crude and would not be suitable to sell, but these basic tools have allowed me to start my trade. No doubt I will replace them with more sophisticated implements when I have the craft to improve them. Although I have had little teaching I have remembered a great deal, innovated new methods and the whole process is proving quite successful.

I have taken a young man named Brodir to assist me in my iron making and he is gaining in skills too. Now that we are two we can produce a lot more, taking different roles in which we specialise to make the goods quicker, he is always making the charcoal and feeding the fire while I get the heavy work of hammering the metal. It is a good way of co-operative working and he also earns a fair living from our trade.

The worst problem is getting hold of either iron or the ore to make it, and I can only do this by trading with the Angles, who seem able to get large amounts of it. In exchange we need to sell on the eggs from the geese, the geese themselves and occasionally even a lamb or two. The farm has become our main means of support and the efforts of my three women in maintaining it have been extremely successful. It took time, but is now yielding results. They have a vast pool of knowledge about animal husbandry, and I am very much in their debt. I help with some of the hard labour and in providing tools, and so we have developed a wonderful co-operative effort around the development of both the farm and the iron making.

Gradually my skills improve and I produce ploughs and harnesses to assist others in producing grain and growing vegetables. I have a little stock of silver myself now as a result of my trade, mostly Saxon coins showing the head of Edward the King of Wessex and also a few Danir coins from Jorvik. All of the farms here are thriving and our little community has quickly developed into a prosperous village, mostly based on farming, fishing and trade but with Ragnald and Ingamund involved there will always be an occasional raid to supplement our prosperity.

Ragnald is especially fond of raiding Vannin to spite his adversary Ottar, against whom he still holds a particular grudge. It is possible to raid there and the land of Gwynedd without upsetting our hosts or allies here. It is from one of those raids that I was able to add five sheep to our little menagerie, a very useful addition to our wealth.