The Wake (10 page)

broc he was but he cum up again and lic the fugol was abuf all men

and a cyng i cwelled and all of his cynn folc

cyngs who does yfel gifs away their coronas

it is the small folc moste tac them

for the great men is weac with gold and fafor

lysten i is tellan thu now the tale of weland the smith and i will tell it as my grandfather telt it to me by the fyr in the great hus to me and to my sistor aelfgifu yonge we was our hands held together as they wolde again many times o my sistor

luf is pure luf is triewe luf is all that is triewe and when thu has one thu lufs thu is a man gifen sige by the gods. weland was cnawan all through his lands as the greatest smith what has efer been and men cum from far parts to beg with him to mac them sweords for feohtan or rings for luf. weland lifd with his two brothors by a great mere in a place cnawan as wulfdale by a great holt called myrcwud. one daeg these three men they seen three fugols passan ofer from the holt three fugols of great wundor swans they was and they cum down by the three men and they becum wifmen for these was swan maedens of the eald times and in them was a great wicce craft

well these three maedens they was wed to these men and weland toc as his the wifman called allwise and for seofon years they lifd in wulfdale in bliss but in the eighth year these maedens they was gripped with a lust to go baec to their hams and while the brothors was slepan baec they gan on their fethras still lic the mona. when weland and his brothors woc in the daeg and seen their lufs had gan they was broc and bitter lic all light had gan from the world for efer. welands brothors they gan out for myrcwud to find their lufs but weland he stopped in wulfdale and he stood ofer the gold ring he had macd for allwise what she had left him and he called for her to cum baec

well she nefer cum but others cum to this eornost smith who worcced his strength and his craft on his fyrs in the wud and one of them was a cyng of great yfel who lusted after gold lic a cilde after hunig. nithad cyng he had hierde of the craft of weland and he sent men with speres to bring him from wulfdale with all he had macd and these deorc men they toc weland while he slept and all his gold. they toc him to nithad cyng and when nithad seen all weland colde mac he was full of graed. weland smith he saes to this poor man now thu will be smith only for nithad thy cyng and thu will mac what i tells thu and for me alone. and nithad cyng he toc welands sweord for his own and he toc the gold ring what weland still cept for his luf allwise and he gaf it to his dohtor bodwild. and then this yfel cyng he bid that weland be toc to an eolond and the strengs in his scancs be cut so that he colde not go no other place but moste worc only for the cyng for lic all cyngs he was a thief who worcced not but toc from eornost men

weland he worcced for sum time on this eolond with his broc scancs and his broc heorte but all this time he was thincan of his wyrd and of the fyr he wolde put under this cyng for he wolde haf again his sweord and he wolde haf again the ring that sceolde be worn only by his luf. to this ealond only the cyng colde cum and all others was cept away but so great was weland that many wanted to go to him to see his worc. two who did was the cyngs sons who was in graed and gold lust lic their father and cene to see the hoard what wolde be theirs one daeg. they cum to weland as he worcced and ascd to see the gold and the things he had macd of the gold and here weland cnawan the gods had gifen him a gift. with his great hamor he stracc them down and then with his fyr he begun to worc and through the night the fyrs colde be seen from all strands of the blaec mere

when daeg cum weland called the men of the cyng to him and he gaf them gifts what he had macd for nithad and his cwen and his dohtor bodwild. to the cyng he sent two great cuppes set in seolfor and gold and to the cwen he gaf gems and to bodwild he sent two breost plates of sum wundor. sean them bodwild was tacan with their beuty and was mofd to see the man who colde mac succ things so lic her brothors she gan to the eolond when none was locan and lic her brothors then she was toc for the yfel her father had done. for weland then he toc her maeden head as he had toc her brothors lifs and he cnawan then he was done with this place for his wergild was gifen him

the great smith then he rose into the heofon lic his swan wif had done so long baec he rose on fethras he had macd of gold in the scap of a swans fethras and to the cyng he spac from the heofon one last time

o great cyng nithad saes weland thu has tacn my scancs from under me but not the heofon from abuf me. thu has tacn the ring i macd for my luf and the sweord i macd for my belt and for all these things i has tacn thy cynn and thy world. these cuppes thu drincs from they is the heafodpannes of thy sons and these gems of the cwens is the eages of thy sons and thy dohtor lies in my bed all bledan and on her throta the bans of her brothors teorned to gold by my fyr. thy eages will not see me again o cyng but thy yfel and thy synn will lif with thu until thu is in the ground

and gan he was then gan ofer the heofon to myrcwud to loc again for his luf and locan he is still it is saed and sum nights thu may see him on his great gold swan wings grippan his hamor still and callan her name under the mona

well i wolde not gif them geld no i wolde not gif naht to this ingenga bastard for what he done. i had naht to gif after all the wars and the fyr what had cum from him and these cyngs all feohtan ofer the right to play with small folc lic sum fuccan game and this is what i telt the fuccan weosul when he cum to me for geld

ecceard cum to my hus and i sceolde haf toc down my grandfathers sweord and gelded him and macd him eat his fuccan beallucs with hunig

thu cums here i saes to him when he cums on to my land this cold daeg and the mist here again and him cuman from it lic sum ghast. thu dares cum to me thu who has tacan my sons and my land and now wolde tac all that i still has. cuman from the mist macs all men loc lic they is from the other world but ecceard as he cum nearer he was loccan lic this for real thynne he was and with his weosul words gan it seemed

buccmaster he saes my freond do not sae these things i is gerefa i moste do what i is biddan by thegn and cyng

i moste do what i is biddan i saes macan my words lic his o yes ecceard thu moste do that for when did thu efer do any other thing. if they bid thu to get on thy cneows and bare thy arse to their frenc pintels thu wolde do this with a great anglisc smile wolde thu not

buccmaster he saes do not sae these things i moste tac the geld i moste

i moste i moste i will tell thu ecceard of holland thu moste get away from my fuccan land or find thyself in the fenn with no fuccan heafod on thy scealdors

now he cums near up to me and here is another man broc by the cuman of the frenc loc at him it is lic his flesc hangs from him

buccmaster he saes i moste haf the geld i moste haf it i moste tac it to the thegn if i does not do this there will be blud

there will be fuccan blud i saes o yes let them cum then these fuccan frenc what we has nefer efen seen let them cum to our ham and spec to us in our fuccan tunge let them cum and tac this geld let them see us let them tell us why we sceolde licc their fuccan arses but no they sends their lytel anglisc hund to do their biddan

buccmaster

i will not gif geld

thu moste

i will nefer do this ecceard and there is others in this ham will not neither

has thu been specan

many has been specan ecceard in this ham many folc has spoc who did not spec before and we will not do it ecceard of holland we will not lie in the straet and be walcd on so thu can cepe thy beallucs if thu efer has had any

then what will i do he saes and he is lic a cilde who has lost his poppet in the fenn and thincs his world is gan

go fucc thyself i saes and let thy frenc freonds do the same

he cums to me then and he tacs me by the sceaoldor and this is not sum thing he has efer done he is a man who cepes away. then he specs in a whisper lic he does not cnaw who stands beyond the mist

they is eorcas he saes they is eorcas thu does not cnaw thu has not seen them. they is eorcas cum from the sea to cwell us for what we has done thu moste see them buccmaster thu wolde not spec this way they is not men lic us their neccs is bare their heads is shafd

shafd

shafd lic moncs they has no ceneps no haer on them

all men does

not these frenc no haer and all their nebbs is set lic style all they lufs is gold and the beornan all they lufs is deorcness. worse they is than the denes for the denes has sum triewth but these frenc has only lust

then anglisc folc moste feoht

they has been feohtan buccmaster anglisc folc has been feohtan while thu was here worcan to cepe thy sons from the fyrd. they has feoht and has been cut down and who is left to feoht now. at sanlac harald cyng was cwelled also his brothors his thegns so many of the fyrd. the north still beorns from the cwellans of the landwaster what anglisc is left to do mor than bow the heafod as these scuccas cums from the sea to eat in fyr all that we has

we will stop them

thu buccmaster thu will stop them. will thu and sum eald geburs from the ham and their wifmen all ride out agan the bastard and his great fyrd

i will not gif all to them why sceolde i do this why sceolde any man

it is too late buccmaster thu has seen this cuman thu seen the fugol and the haeric star thu lost thy sons thu moste see that the crist is not with us buccmaster. it is lic the preosts saes we has synned lic in the boc now we is brought to the ire of god

where is this synn

all around our cyng was an oath brecer the biscop of rome gifs his flag to the shafn men the crist is agan us he sends the ire of his father with the duc of the frenc

this is all scit and beallucs ecceard crist and synn and preosts we is men that is all. men with other men agan us if they stands ofer us we moste feoht them or we will die there is naht else in this world

buccmaster a fyrd was called if thu was wantan feohtan thu colde haf gan thu cannot feoht them now thu cnawan naht

and thu is a fuccan hund

how will thu feoht them will thu wait in thy hus with thy eald sweord till they cums with hors is thu sum great god agan a fyrd. it is too late for this now thu moste gif them geld or die there is naht else

thu is a fuccan nithing to sae this what is thu sum wifman in thy hus scittan in thy scirts does thu belyf we has no strength in this thing

the crist has the strength

the crist has cut thy fuccan beallucs off and the bastard will haf them ofer the fyr thu cunt scut thy mouth and get out thy fuccan sweord

i has no sweord i

then tac thy sithe or thy hoe or tac thy lytel fuccan pintel from thy breces and be a fuccan man

ecceard was a hund and a cunt but in triewth there was sum strength in what he saed to me for we was one small ham in the blaec fenns and now the frenc was here how was we to stand agan them. ecceard was a man made of fear always he wolde bow it was his first thought but the first thought of a man sceolde be to stand agan other men to cepe them out to cepe their hands from his land and his sawol men moste be free or all is lost

but we was not free now and i wolde not gif geld and others also talcan to me had saed they wolde not also though in their eages sum thing saed to me that if the frenc cum to them with their shafd heafods and their nebbs lic style these men cwic enough wolde find what was needed in their barn and their hus to cepe the eorcas from their wifmen and the fyr from their thaecc. this is men now this is men of angland weac weac weac and unfree thralls for efer in their own fryht

odelyn

i does not want to

all this beuty gan in fyr

frenc fyr ecceards fyr

the last thing a free man has

gan

tacan

from me what was mine

but all moste cnaw these things as in the star it had been spoc now in the aesc it was cum to be. lysten it was sum wices on and i was out in my boat gan to tac aels gan to the place my grandfather toc me to what was sum way from my hus. i was gan early as the sunne cum up cold it was and all the secg hwit lic cristal and odelyn when i gan she was lightan the fyr and as i gan she smerced at me ofer her sculdor and it was the last i efer seen of her

the aels was smaller than when i was a cilde harder to find there was mor folcs now and mor feohtan ofer what the land had for them and all belyfan it was their right to haf what they colde and so it toc sum time to get what i was needan and to mac my way baec to my hus. from far out on the fenn i colde see it as i cum baec fillan the heofon it had been a bright daeg but now the heofon was blaec lic the graef

the graef of the frenc

fucc the frenc loc at this loc at this loc what they done all of this all these things my grandfathers hus the land of my folc efry thing worcced for all of what i was all of me

all beorned it was. i cum out of my boat out of the fenn i cum through the secg and through the treows and my land is gan it is gan lic all had only efer been naht. all heges down all barns beorned my swine cwelled bledan in the holt my oxen slit open my sceop all blaec and cwelled their heafods off my aeppel treows cut all to the ground and then the hus

the hus my great hus all of its greatness gan up to the heofon callan for blud now callan where was thu cepan this land where was thu buccmaster tacan aels while thy lif gan into the ground. all gan it was i cum up to it and all was a great graef of smocan blaec aesc the blaecness risan lic treow stoccs lic the arms of thunor up to the heofon. i cum up near and it beorned me still the fyr was beornan hot in the aesc

in there was all the things of my lif all cum down in to this hot and deorc place. i colde see the great beams half gan colde see scaps in the fyr what i cnawan and beornan i was in my heorte also beornan and wepan. and i gan then i gan to the path through the treows and down to the ham for smoc there was too cuman from that place and risan up gifan all the blaec fens a blaec heofon