Viking Voices (9 page)

The trading in metal goods with the Angles allows me to earn a good living but is always dependant on buying the ore from them to make new metal. So we often find ourselves venturing into the nearby Anglian city of Ceaster. It is a regular trip every month and, of course, Aud loves to accompany me on these trips.

The Angles regard Ceaster as the far edge of Mercia, the wildest and most hostile place, including our home in the Wirral. They see us as a potential threat but we are certainly thought of as civilised and sensible people in comparison with the Britons, who the Anglo-Saxons call Welsc, the foreigners. They have good reason to fear the Welsc as every one of them detests Angles and Saxons alike, even more than they hate the Norse. King Alfred, known as the Great, had brought them under control and had a pact with Gwynedd but now he is gone they are unlikely to respect that pact and are always looking for the chance to kill Angles and Saxons.

The town of Ceaster, sitting in a bend of the River Dee, is very impressive as it has many stone buildings, the first we have ever seen. They are a source of amazement to us and we admire them greatly. I know from the conversations we have with the people of Ceaster that these buildings were built by the Romans many, many centuries before any of us were born. What amazing people they must have been to build like this. The Angles do have masons but no one has those skills any more. It is still a great defensive position, better than any other I know. Even Ottar's castle with its great cliffs is not so formidable! It is not just a fort but a huge area of construction that encloses a whole town.

It is not too difficult to converse with the Angles. Although they do not speak our language there are so many of their words that I can understand. They sound very similar to Norse. Both we and the Mercian Angles have learnt something of the other's languages and a good level of communication is possible. Everyone knows enough for us to learn a little of what we see around us, and to make bargains. In fact, we find that many of the merchants here are not Angle at all, but often Danir and Norse. There are even a few of our fellow migrants who fled Dyflinn at the same time as we did, or even earlier, who have already arrived here by travelling independently away from the main groups.

The stone buildings are the creations of the Romans, an ancient people who brought great knowledge and sophistication here long ago. Now most of their knowledge has been lost, though there are a few who can still work in stone and these artisans are being used to rebuild the ancient castles and even to build new walls. I can see that this will become a very fine city and a great fortress. If only we could have built Dyflinn like this we could have defended it and would still be in possession of it.

The city has seen regeneration in recent times and it was the response to Danir aggression that has caused it. After the Dane Halfdan came here some years ago and occupied the city for a short time the Angles have taken a great interest in rebuilding it. The rebuilding of the walls is entirely designed to keep out aggressive Vikings. They have also created a secure place where it is safe to trade and the city has therefore become a flourishing market town.

The river banks here remind me very much of Dyflinn with a large number of boats drawn up on the banks. Many are Viking boats but there are also many built by both the Irskr and the Angles. Both of those people are building their boats in imitation of our boats which were once so much better than theirs. By imitating our designs they are now enjoying the same ability to trade that we have.

Many of these boats are involved in trading between the Irskr and the Angle. This trade has increased since we left Dyflinn as the Angles have taken over a great deal of the trade which was once done between with us and the Irskr. I pause, as I think of this, to wonder what fate befell the tradespeople we set on the shore at Dalkey Island. They had to take their chances in walking back to their homes and becoming subjects of the King of Leinster. No one knows whether they are still alive or dead.

As we enter the city through a stone gate we can see that there is an armed guard and we are recognised as Norse people. They are not greatly hostile to us but there is clearly some level of distrust and so a check is made to ensure we do not bring in any weapons. As we do not have any we are permitted to pass, the Mercian Angles are suspicious but they know the value of trade as well as we do! As we pass we are aware that that the guards are looking very carefully at us. Anyone who has been here before and been accused of fraudulent or dishonest trading will be refused entry. The Angles are trying to impose honest dealings, at least on any foreigner they allow in. An Angle or Saxon who is accused of cheating a foreigner is much more likely to be allowed to continue to trade but no Norseman would be permitted that level of tolerance.

Once inside the city I seek out the market place and try to find any merchants who have iron to sell, mostly it is in the form of ore but some have bars of iron itself already smelted. I prefer that form but, of course, it is more expensive. I have to barter with the merchants to exchange my iron goods with them. I must always have a surplus to sell for some silver pennies that are so often used here as a means of exchange.

Although silver was sometimes used in Dyflinn to assist trade most deals were done by direct barter, and exchange of goods. Here it is much more common to use silver coins as a medium of exchange and it makes trading much more flexible. It is a great deal easier to buy the exact things that you want since everyone will accept the silver coins as an exchange.

Aud loves having some silver coins in her hand, knowing the power that it gives her to obtain any goods that she wants. It's a peculiar delight that takes her when she can wander from merchant to merchant viewing all of their goods before she finally decides on something to buy. It is always something quite unnecessary such as fabrics or jewellery but it gives her so much pleasure to buy these things that I cannot find it in me to stop her. We have everything we need, why should she not buy a few things we do not need but love to have?

When you look down the side streets you can watch the way that the money is made. There are smoky buildings full of fire there, in which there are artisans making the coins, often with the head of their king on them. These buildings are quite distinct in their architecture.

The buildings are very sturdily built, with very thick walls and massive doors. There are few windows and these are small, high and heavily barred. It looks like a building capable of sustaining a heavy and prolonged assault. The coin makers must have to work in near darkness. Above these buildings is the accommodation for the owners who prefer to be always able to keep an eye on how their business is being conducted.

Like most houses they are long and narrow and inside the buildings there are benches along which the workers are passing their product through several stages before it emerges at the end as money. The place is busy and noisy with the sounds of fires and especially the constant striking of hammers.

They have cast the silver into sheets and are cutting the coins out of the sheets using a punch to produces a blank disc. Boxes hold the blank discs before they are passed on to be made into money, cast with the head of their king on it along with a few words. It takes great skill to make the iron dies that they use and few blacksmiths would have the talent to make them. All over Europe Anglo-Saxon coin is known as the truest coin, the weight is considered reliable and the silver is always pure. Their king has agents who check the coins in circulation and there are heavy penalties for any coin maker who acts dishonestly.

We can see how helpful these methods of trading are, especially the use of money. Aud is very keen to take their ideas and exploit them to our advantage. Just as they have copied our boat making, we can copy their ability to make money.

On our return to our home she outlines her plan. Next time we are in Ceaster, she intends to buy silver ingots instead of iron. Then she wants me to make iron dies from which we can press the head of Ragnald onto a coin, we will then get Brodir to smelt the silver and cast silver pennies. It is a bold plan but I am not completely convinced as it takes Brodir away from the iron making tasks that I have in mind for him.

For now the bold plan is forgotten, as at last Aud has gone into labour, and we are all excited about this event. That excitement does not last long though and is replaced by a great anxiety as her labour lasts for two days. I am terrified by the screams as I fear that I might lose her as we all know that many women die in childbirth. Nothing I have endured so far could be worse than the loss of my wife.

Eventually it all turns out well, and we have our first child, a daughter, who is immediately the apple of her grandmothers' eyes. They think she is the image of her mother but to me she just looks like a small bundle of skin. Of course, the most wonderful bundle that there ever was, my beautiful little daughter.

Her mother is wonderful too, pale and exhausted but happily recovering fast from her ordeal, though very glad that it is over and swearing never to do it again. She is delighted to be suckling her infant, as though it is the most wonderful thing that ever happened to her. We have decided to call our new daughter Astrithr.

During this wonderful idyll I have heard little or nothing from Ragnald for several weeks. It is as though he does not want to see my normal life, the way I am delighting in my family and my every day occupation. He is very dismissive of these things, almost angry about them, saying they are not the life of a warrior. It is all a bit eccentric and tells me that his own home life is not going as well as he wished.

All of this time he is with Thora, who was Ivarr's queen, so his reaction makes me wonder if all is going well between them. I can imagine that being Ragnald's concubine may be stressful for any woman, and I am sure she wants to have her title as queen restored to her. It seems that both of her relationships must be based on some different grounds than mine with Aud. We have no other reason to be together than we love each other and only need to be together to make each other intensely happy.

I am sure Ragnald's reaction shows that he envies us and wants to have a life like this for himself and is perhaps rather jealous since he knows it is not in his nature to be calm enough to lead such a life. He would always make an inappropriate remark or an angry one which would destroy a normal relationship. I am sure he is a very unhappy man but he is also very ambitious and that makes him a dangerous man, so I will continue to take care in all my dealings with him, and support his ambitions.

Of course, it is not long before Ragnald calls on me with a new task. In a way it is not a great surprise but I had hoped to be left alone for a longer period so as to enjoy my new trade, my new daughter, my new happiness, but perhaps that is simply not the warrior's way! It is certainly not Ragnald's way.

He invites me to meet a group of traders who have come here from Danelaw, which is not so far away. They are living just north of us across the river Mersam, and although they are Danir they speak a similar language to ours, though they do not speak it as well as we do, and it is sometimes difficult to hear them through their strange accent. They also have some strange words and many funny expressions.

It is a natural and helpful development to build a good relationship with them. It offers us great prospect of trade and also military co-operation. In terms of kinship it is a much more obvious relationship than with the Angles who are different from us. Yet ironically we have developed far greater co-operation with the Angles so far.

In this meeting the Danir are very friendly, calling us fellow Scandinavians and seeking to build the same good relationship that we want. Although it has not always been like this with the Danir; they pick and choose when we are friends or opponents, but this time it suits all of us to remember our similarities and forget our differences. They have goods to sell and look to exchange some articles from us; they seem to have access to goods that have come from very distant lands. We used to have these same expensive goods to sell when we had boats travelling regularly to Scandinavia but those routes have been closed to us since we left our home. All of our boats and efforts are now fully engaged in surviving.

More importantly they have stories to tell us, stories of great Viking successes. They tell us that the Danir kingdom is now well established in England after a period of great wars and the Angles and Saxons have recognised Danelaw with the King of Jorvik as its ruler. It is a very large and prosperous land with expansive farmlands with many of the Danir Jarls having been given land to hold as a reward for their support of the wars, making them very rich and powerful. That word “powerful” has an instant effect on Ragnald, making him sit up and listen intently. It is what he has always been looking for, and knows that he needs powerful allies who might allow him to recapture Dyflinn. We do not yet have sufficient resources to do that alone, and might always need help.

Regaining Dyflinn and gaining vengeance has become the unspoken goal, the object of Ragnald's dreams and aspirations. It hangs over us all of the time, always guiding our plans but is little spoken of. All of us are sworn to this objective as well, though there are many who would now prefer to forget it and settle down to peace here. It remains an obsession with our king. I can sympathise with the idea of settling here, even though I still feel something of that longing to return myself. Our king will certainly not change his aim though and I know it is my duty to fellow him. A duty I could not escape, even if I chose to.

I often wonder where our duty comes from. Is it always our duty to follow our Jarls in this world? Or does duty lie somewhere else, with our family perhaps? Or with a higher force, determined by Thor or Odin or Vollun or Freyja? Maybe it is better not to ask, since it is certain that the Jarls have enough power to ensure that we see our duty as following them, or else we and our families will suffer the consequences.