The Wake (11 page)

blaec heortes

and what they done well thu cnawan for they done it all ofer angland they done this and now we is lytel hores in their beds lytel cildren used they fuccs us smercan they saes we is thy gods we has the flag thu will lie down it is his will loc at this anglisc gold it is a wundor bend before me cilde i is thy fuccan cyng

well all the ham was beorned efry hus was gan in fyr and many still beornan and in sum hus colde be seen folc blaec also twisted and becum mete beorned on the fyr for the hunger of the bastard. in the gathran place on the straet was two wifmen on the ground cut and fuccd all blud and rags sum geburs wimman one dead the other mofan in sum small way and wepan and bledan and it wolde not be long befor she was tacan by craws and hafocs and this a good thing for her eages was gan it was lic sum great hund had cwelled his hunger in her

there was naht here no mor naht to see no hus and no folc naht but this great blaecness this great stincan in the heofon and this on a daeg what had been colde and clene and full of micel beuty in the beginnan. the fugol cum i saed the fugol cum to mac us see but we did not see so the star cum and still we did not see and now it is done and all is gan but buccmaster of holland for he is ceosan yes ceosan for angland ceosan for what is yet to be gifen to him

so sum was cwelled and beorned and sum was gan i cnawan not where into the holts and fenns i was thincan to cepe clere of these frenc scuccas to cepe their lifs and in the ham there was no sound but the beornan. i gan ofer to ecceards hus to see if the frenc had been good to their little hund but i saw cwic he was fuccd as bad as all for his hus too was blaec aesc and stincan smoc. i was standan locan into the aesc locan for ecceard to see how beorned he was when i seen a man cuman from the holt what led out on to the fenn. this man he called to me and on my belt was a scramasax and i tacs this in my hand

do not cum here i saes

buccmaster thu moste cum

so he is not frenc i thincs and as he cums to me i seen he is sum cottar from the ham. i has seen him but not spoc to him for i is a socman with three oxgangs

i is called grimcell he saes i is with ecceard thu moste cum

ecceard lifs

ecceard wolde spec with thu he is in the holt we moste cepe from the ham now cum

sum cottar tells me cum and most times i wolde beat him but these is hard times and i gan with this grimcell who is a strong man man i gan with him into the holt and sum way baec to where the ham can be seen but none from there can see into the treows. sittan on the ground leanan on a stocc of berc is ecceard and if before he was locan lic a ghast now he is locan lic he has cum from the graef still with blud and eorth on his cold bodig to call out the synns of his lif

he locs up at me and he saes buccmaster and i only locs at him he is a hund and a weosul this is triewe but he has been gifen blud for these things now. he has cloth ofer his heafod and there is all blud on the cloth it is on his nebb and his scyrte and efen on the treow and still cuman and from his eages water is cuman also

they has tacan my eares buccmaster he saes they cut them and threw them on the fyr that was my hus

my wifman is gan he saes and he can not spec well now my wifman is gan my godgifu she was dear to me and my hus gan all is gan now

and my hus gan i saes and my wifman my odelyn i has not seen her is she beorned is she fuccd has she gan to the holt i does not cnaw ecceard it is not only thu

they is eorcas he saes i telt thu buccmaster eorcas thu cannot feoht them they cums on the wind lic the fenn feofor

they may cum again saes this grimcell we sceolde go from the ham

why wolde they cum again i saes they has fuccd and beorned all in this world there is naht left for them to tac

they has their own ways

i will not go from my land i saes where is odelyn where is my sweord there is worc to do

there is naht to do saes ecceard thu is gan from thy land now thu moste find other places other folcs where the beornan has not cum they will let none lif here. he stands then slow and he grips the treow

grimcell and me we is goan in to the holt he saes we is goan from here we is not esols. grimcell helps him stand and he locs at me then

thu sceolde cum he saes there is few anglisc and many frenc now to lif thu moste stay in the holt

well i was not goan with them for where was all of my world where was my wif i had things i moste find. baec to my hus i gan and to all the land around it and i was callan odelyn odelyn where is thu. she may haf gan to the holt or be hidan but there was no sound no sign from her nor from annis her gebur whose hus was also gan. in the aesc i was locan but the aesc was hot and smocan and i colde not go there and so there i was standan locan at all my cwelled lif all things gan in fyr and none to hold down for this none to answer to me only these frenc ghasts who has cum and is gan

well i cnawan then what i moste do so i gan to my boat and to the fenn i gan and i was rowan rowan hard pullan baec my arms beornan with it i was mofan lic the swealwe through the heofon through the saw secg and the grene water i gan

the holt of the eald gods was still as it was always still and there lic when i was a cilde was the treows under the water under the meos and the grene deop but there was the stoccs and the stillness and lic my grandfather i put the wet ars in the boat and i sat for a time locan only bean with the stillness of the mere and of all that is eald and triewe and then i spac

i is buccmaster of holland i saes a socman of this land

i is buccmaster son of ascetil son of leofric a man of thy ways a man of the eald times a man of thy hus

i is cum to call thu to the feoht for angland is beornan in ingenga fyr thy folcs is bledan their crist has left them lic we saed lic we always saed he wolde

i satt then lystnan and the fugols spac baec at me but from the water there was naht. i loccd down ofer the side of the boat the stoccs was the same as efer blaec and deop and still lic the graef

in the boat then i stands it is hard it mofs cwic and is undeop but i stands and to the heofon i raises my arms

woden of the duns i saes one eaged gifer of lif lord of raefn and wulf dweller in deorc beorgs ealdor of runes hung up and cut down god of war and god of the graef cum to us

thunor of the holt hamor of men ealdor of the leas and the lihtnan born in ac and fyr cum to us

frigg of the hus of the grene lif of small things and triewe of the heorte under the ban of wicce craft and all that is growan cum to us

great erce mothor of all who is grene and blaec who is wind and snow who is water and stan who is hafoc and craw and blud who is lif of the bodig and death of the bodig who is efry lifan thing in the wid fenn and the wid world cum to us

i stands i brings my arms down slow

there is naht

naht cum but the wind and the wind then it tacs me and it scufs me it scufs me lic a man or a god has scufd me ofer the boat and in to the mere

well this holds no fear for me i can mof through water as through holt or feld this was gifen when a yonge cilde. the water is colde it is eosturmonth it is hard to breathe i is ceocan breathan cwic but it seems to me i has been cast in to the mere to be sum thing after the brocn land and after the fyr

i tacs in a great breath then and i gan down

down i gan down in to the blaec but my eages is open i gan down i pulls hard down to the treows i sees them cuman up to me i sees them blaec and mofan with the water i puts out my hand and i feels them cold and hard and slimd and then the water tacs me baec up up to the boat to the heofon to the world and i cums up ceocan to breathe and now with sum thing i has nefer had that no man has efer been gifan

now thu has been there

it is lic ys

thu has been to the holt

they did not cum

they is here

i called they did not cum

does thu thinc they cums in fyr in the heofon

what then

they cums in thu

when

thine is the bodig thu ceoses the time

it is lic ys

be triewe

that night i gan to the holt where my swine was before they was cwelled by the scuccas and i made a fyr to dry myself and i satt and locd at the fyr and all was still for a long night. when the sunne cum i rose from the aesc of my small fyr and i gan ofer to the aesc of the great fyr what had been my hus and was now cold and still

into this aesc i gan and for sum time i was in it delfan and secan and i was aesc then on my nebb and in my haer and beard and on all my clothes all was aesc and i was secan

first i found my sweord my grandfathers sweord still on the beam what had cum down all blaec and i lifted the sweord and clened it and carried it from the hus and laid it down on the ground. then i gan baec and for sum time i loccd and i toc sum other things what i was needan sum things what does not beorn what is made of style and gold and i clened these things and laid them on the ground with my sweord to tac to where i moste go. then i gan baec and this last time i found odelyn

all mete she was all of her lif gan in fyr blaec and beorned lic sum hara or cicen coccd on a fyr too hot and long. her scap was not wifman was sum thing not of this world for she had gan to the other. i seen not what had been done to her and was not there for her when i was needed and this is my weacness what now i sceal lif with for it is my curse and this wifman who none sceolde efer harm who was triewe and who was lufd by me and cept lic a cwen in all things now was gan in frenc fyr and this macd me a small man small and weac and with my sweord still on the beam and my self gan for aels while my wifman was fuccd and cwelled by ingengas. and why wolde these gods spec with me why wolde they not smerc at me scun me lic a sic hund a sic man a sic weosul

all gan all was gan and so i gan i toc what i had and i gan away from my hus and land. before i gan i dug a graef for my odelyn and i laid her down with luf and with curses for those who tocc her from me and with her i left sum ac wud sum treen from the fyr a scramasax sum leafs from the holt and sum secg from the fenn and i laid down also my wyrd and i saed i will tac them for thu i will haf my wergild in frenc blud and ofer her then i swept the eorth and all was done on my lands and nefer did i thinc to see them again in this world

i spac to him then but he nefer spac baec

this weland this great smith who had ceosan me he had cum when all was teornan about in blud and fyr this great ealdor of all anglisc folc lic i saes i seen why he ceosan me for i was a socman of three oxgangs i had been gifen the sight of the fugol who cum to warn us and i was of the eald hus. now angland was in need and now i had been to the hus of the lost gods so it seemed to me i would be gifen a path to tac

but no path was seen then this smith weland he spac to me when he ceose and other times he gan and was not hierde for days and nights. sum times i was thincan he saes he is weland he saes he is the great smith of wulfdale but all i has is words i does not cnaw i has not seen him it may be he is sum deoful or sum nightgenga of the holt specan to me plegan with me succ things has been hierde of. when i was a yonge cilde many tales was telt to me by other boys in the ham of eald ghasts from fenn and holt what cum to men whispran to them of gold and luf. oft when men cums to land what has been ham to aelfs they will hiere micel whispran and be telt to cum to the fenn at night for sum maeden is waitan but naht is waitan but death

so at this time i still did not cnaw what to do and sum daegs was spent wandran in the holts around the eald ham for though naht was there but aesc now i did not cnawan where to go or what to do. i locs now and i sees that i cnawan in triewth what i moste do but then i was afeart and so i cept to places i cnawan for to leaf wolde be to cum to my wyrd in full and this thing was so great it left me dreaned and small in its sceado

for in triewth i cnawan another reason weland cum to me for this was what my grandfather telt me and aelfgifu when we was yonge cildren when he was tellan us in his great hus the tale of the smith and his allwise and wulfdale and the yfels of cyngs. my yonge sistor she was in awe of my grandfather as was i but i was the first son of my father and so for my grandfather i was to be cyng of his cynn to cum and he loccd at me this way. after he telt me this tale of weland he stood and he tocc from the beam his sweord what is now my sweord and slow he toc it from its sceath and he mofd it about in the light from fyr and door and from it cum lihts of its own that swam about the hus lic fisc in the water

cilde he saes this sweord thu sees but sceal not grip till thu is man this is welands sweord. this sweord was gifen to me by my father who was called guthrum a great man and he was gifen it by his father and this sweord it was macd by weland him self in the myrcwud fyrs this sweord was born in the year angland was born and the year my grandfather was born for these was all the same. weland he cum to my grandfather at night for he was a great man my grandfather and he telt me this when i too was a cilde lic thu he telt me of when weland cum to him and of the fear he was in for this great smith he cum one night when my grandfather was cuman baec from the fenn. and locan up he seen cuman out from the holt a great gold man scinan with fyr in the cuman night

this man he cum to him and he was tall lic the treows and on him he wore clothes of gold scinan with stans and on his heafod was a great helm lic that of the eald cyngs all carfan with boars and wyrms and raefns and scinan too and all that colde be seen of his nebb was his eages what was strong lic the sunne itself

and there by the fenn in the dyan light of the daeg and in the cuman night this great man he saes i is weland smith ealdor of this land gifer of tools and waepans and to thu i has cum and why thu will nefer cnaw but thu moste tac what i gifs to thu and not asc and this will be a good wyrd for thu and thy cynn

and my grandfather he colde sae naht for he was afeart and this great ent of gold then he specs mor he saes these is new times now for all folcs in these lands is one folc and to cepe thy hus free of denes and other ingengas thu sceal be gifen this great sweord what is macd in fyr and with the blud of many in its macan. and from his baec he tacs this sweord what thu now sees and he gifs it ofer to my grandfather who was still afeart and small