The Wake (15 page)

i woc early with this dream still in me and i lay on the ground in the deorc for the daeg had not yet cum up and i thought then of the last time i seen my grandfather. i was a yonge man as yonge as my dunstan had been when he was tacan by the frenc and my grandfather he was eald he was ealder than any man in the fenns and there was those saed this was due to his wicce craft for he was not with the crist and that he wolde go on his death to hel. this is the scit what folcs specs if they is left to them selfs and it is why they sceolde be loccd ofer by greater men

well my grandfather when i was a cilde he had been a great strong man but now he was weac and colde not hardly efen walc without stics and efen then not long. his cenep was thynne and he was small but still in his eages there was a great fyr and efen my father wolde not spec ill to him if he colde be in sum other place. it was in the sumor that my grandfather died on a daeg that was high and clene lic his great sawol had been

sum daegs before this my sistor aelfgifu and i had been sittan with him in the sunne by the great hus what later becum my hus and then was gan in frenc fyr. he was sittan on a stool what he had macd many years before and my sistor and i was sittan by him on the ground for he licd to be abuf us when he was specan. he was specan now but his words was not always clere and his heafod was mofan around lic it was mofan itself

i will be gan soon he saes gan to eorth and erce

i saes this is not so

bury me in a scip he saes

i saes what

a scip a boat bury me beorn me in fyr put me in my boat with welands sweord send me baec to the eald folc. they was buried in their scips he saes in their scips and sum of them was beorned in them

of who is thu specan grandfather saes aelfgifu. she was a girl of great beuty her haer gold her bodig thynne and scapd well and her words was soft lic her heorte when she locd at me

in their scips he saes the eald cyngs deop in the ground

what scips is these i saes. i was sad to hiere my grandfather spec lic this for it seemed he spoc lic a cilde

cilde he saes i had thought i had telt thu of the eald times does thu cnawan naht after efry thing i has done. not so far from here cilde in the land of the eald folc of the east there is a wide feld cilde and this feld is full of hylls and eacc of them macd not by erce but by man. they is great hylls cilde i has seen them erce breathes through these hylls there is great strength in the land at this place. under these hylls is buried many great scips and in eacc of these scips is a great cyng buried with gold with sweords of great craft with helms of seolfor and with hors. there is great halls under these hylls laid out with foda and cuppes and plates of gold and whole scips cilde scips of the eald times scips of the cuman. this is what we is cilde these is our folcs the eald cyngs cilde the eald gods beneath now all beneath and waitan

cyngs is blud i saes grandfather thu saed this

sum cyngs is blud sum cyngs is good the eald cyngs was great men. it is cyngs now what is low lic wyrms

i does not trust cyngs i saes

this is a good thought cilde a good thought but there was times when cyngs was gods

cyngs is men

triewe anglisc cyngs cilde is of wodens blud i has telt thu these cyngs we has now they is men only their blud is not triewe we moste go baec cilde go baec

has thu seen these great scips grandfather these great hylls

i has seen the hylls cilde i seen them when i was yonge lic thu but what is under them no man lifan has seen. only i lic others has heard the tales and tales succ as these they is not lies. ah i wolde be buried in my boat in my lytel boat only or laid on the fenn in it and set afyr to drift on these waters to my cynn folc who is waitan waitan

aelfgifu she locs at me then for grandfather is mofan bacc and forth and locan at the heofon and he seems so old so old

cilde he saes when i go cilde thu moste spec to the land for i no longer can

the land grandfather

cilde i has telt thu how the land specs and thu has seen in this ham how folcs has teorned from it to the hwit crist and this has been the brecan of angland cilde. it is not in the words cilde it is not in bocs thu moste go to the holt to the fenn sleep by the waters cilde in the wuds in the regn do not spec and thu will waec one daeg and the land will be in thu and thu in it and thu will feel as it feels and all that it has will be in thu cilde and in this way the eald gods will return cilde they will return in thu

grandfather saes aelfgifu gently wolde thu lic mead or wolde thu maybe lic to sleep in the hus

fecc me mead girl saes my grandfather and though i is eald i is not a dumb esol i will sleep when the gods calls me and then i will sleep long

my sistor then she gan to the hus to fecc mead and loccan baec at me gaf a smerc

cilde saes my grandfather when she is gan a boar spac with me

a boar grandfather i saes and i wysces aelfgifu was still here

a boar cilde i was in the holt i was in the brunnesweald thu does not cnaw this holt yet cilde but thu will it is a great wud thu moste cross it to leaf the fenns to go to the west i was in this wud cilde and

aelfgifu cums baec here with a cuppe of mead and she puts it in my grandfathers hand what is sceacan but he does not stop specan he does not efen loc at her

i was lifan lic i has saed to thu i was a yonger man i had gan to the holt to cepe away from men to cum to the wilde and for many daegs i saed naht only lifan and etan and mofan in the holt. i seen the fugol and i mofd lic the fugol and it cum to me. i seen the fox and i mofd lic the fox and it cum to me. i seen the brocc and i mofd lic the brocc at dusc and it toc me for its brothor. and one daeg as dusc was cuman on the holt i stood in a wid part of the wud and a sound cum and cum nearer and in to the lea cum a boar

well this boar locd at me and it colde see that after so many daegs in this holt i did not loc nor seem nor smell lic no man. this boar it mofd its heafod and i mofd my heafod the same. i locd at it and i was in this boar. when it breathed i breathed when it mofd its scanc i mofd my scanc. i was boar i was the eald boar of the holt cilde

i did not say naht for i colde not

all was still cilde all still in all places and then this boar in my heafod and in the holt cilde this boar spac to me

grandfather what did it spec

it saed cepe it

cepe it

it saed cepe it. this is all cilde it saed cepe it and then this boar teorned cwic and i was man again cilde and it ran from me and i cnawan i moste go baec to the ham

cepe it saes aelfgifu

cepe what i saes but my grandfather he is dreanan his mead and he is tired tired lic the waters after the regn

well these swine of tofes they was not specan to no man only walcan and gruntan about in the holt all of the daegs. that mergen when all was wacend we broc down our lytel hus of stics and leafs so none colde see and we ciccd ofer the aesc of the fyr and we went to mof on. but we was hungered we was three men needan sum foda what was mor than leaf or root or berry and all we had was these swine. i had ate all the mete from my own swine with out tofe and grimcell sean for there was no reason for them to see this and now i was hungered also

well we had brought along this cilde and his swine and it wolde haf been a cwic thing to cwell them and mac them ready but while we colde haf coccd sum mete we colde not cocc it all. we was goan to need to cepe sum for sum daegs for a good swine macs micel mete and to let it be eatan by wihts wolde haf been a great synn. we thought about smocan it but how colde we smoc it we wolde need a great fyr and a place for hangan for sum time and we did not haf neither of these things. it seemed then that we sceolde salt the mete for though we colde not do it well lic our wifmen did at least saltan it wolde cepe it for sum small number of daegs and in this time we colde eat

but of course none of us had salt and there was no pans here for we was not near the sea. whether saltmen wolde efer cum again now after the frenc cum we did not cnaw but they was not here now. any salt there was wolde be in the hams and we thought to go to langetof before we left this holt to asc for sum. grimcell was agan this he thought we sceolde go now he thought the frenc may be in langetof after the thegn was cwelled he saed there was no tellan what folcs wolde sae of us or do. tofe saed to him that we was great men hafan cwelled this ingenga and we wolde be wel cum in the ham lic gods and this thought i licd though in triewth i was thincan it wolde not be so

well what we done we gan through the holt to langetof and we cept in the treows where we had been before where we colde see the ham. i was at first blithe to see that the ham was still standan that folcs was there that the ingengas had not beorned it for then this war it wolde haf been greater efen than it was. the ham was still here and we colde hiere anglisc folcs specan but their words seemed the words of fear and there was callan and wepan cuman from the ham at a place we colde not see

well we mofd in the holt we mofd along the ecg and soon we seen a sight not to be forgot. all folcs of the ham it seemed was gathrd in the straet and before them was the two frenc scuccas we had seen cuman after us when we cwelled the ingenga who called himself our thegn. they was on hors as i was saen frenc is all times on hors and again they was with sweord and they stood before the folcs of the ham who was on their feet callan to them for mildheortedness. the ingengas nebbs was set lic style and before them they held an eald man

this man his haer was hwit and he was eald and one of these ingengas on hors he had a line around this mans necc and was pullan him so this eald man stood on his toes only and he was gaspan and clawan at his throta and he loccd to me lic the ingenga thegn before i cwelled him

who saes one of these ingengas to the folcs of the ham

o none they all calls it was none of us we has telt thu we telt thu yesterdaeg do not tac another of our men it was not us it was ingengas what done it

ingengas i saes to tofe ingengas they saes

who saes the frenc man again to them and he pulls on the line again so this eald man he is almost off his feet now and the other ingenga he raises a sweord

at this the ham folcs calls efen louder and they mofs to go to the frenc but the sweord man he wafs his blaed and they dares not. father cries sum man in the crowd o father o cepe him he is an eald man and good

it was not us saes a wifman o great thegns it was not us we nefer seen it we wolde not we is good folcs o spare us. well the sound is great by now but these ingengas they seems not to lysten or i thinc to cnaw the anglisc words

who cwell thegn saes the ingenga with the line and he is mor ired now efen than before. gif or we cwells

no cries the folcs in the ham again no it was not us it was ingengas

well maybe it was the word ingenga what these frenc hierde and thought was an meant for them or maybe they was ired or maybe they did noy belyf but it seemed they had seen and hierde enough now for the man with the line he lifts this eald anglisc man as high as he colde ofer his hors and the other ingenga he brings down his sweord scearp and strong and he cuts his throta so deop that his heafod near cum off and blud gan all ofer the ingenga hors and there is a great roar from the folcs and the ingengas then they lets the man fall to the ground and all runs to him and a man tacs his bledan heafod in his hands and saes father father but his father is hearan naht no mor and will nefer

tomergen saes the first ingenga to the folcs as they teorns their hors away. tomergen one mor. efry daeg not tell one mor. he specs anglisc lic a cilde but they cnawan what he saes. then they spurs their hors and gan down the straet leafan the folcs of langetof wepan all in blud and water

i locs at tofe who is hwit and grimcell who is saen naht only locan on and locan grim

well i saes i thincs these folcs will not haf salt for us. grimcell he locs at me lic he is both sad and in ire

this was our doan he saes it is lic we cwelled this man

that is scit i saes scit frenc ingengas cwelled this man lic they has cwelled all our folcs

these folcs is bean cwelled for what we done saes grimcell it is wrong

then go and gif thyself to ingenga sweords i saes go and walc in the straet with thy heafod down while ingengas fuccs thy folc and thy land. there is no way to be without blud now grimcell we is all in blud now we can only asc whose blud is on us anglisc or frenc

this is anglisc blud saes grimcell that is on us

they is scuccas saes tofe now and he locs lic he will weep scuccas all they lufs is cwellan o who has sent them

our bastard cyng i saes our bastard ingenga cyng

we moste go saes grimcell

where saes tofe

to a place where there is no ingengas saes grimcell to a place in angland they has not cum to a place where there is stillness

thu is an esol i saes there is no succ place. ingengas is in all places they has tacan efry aecer of angland for their own there is nowhere free of them

the holt is free of them saes tofe

yes the holt is ours i saes the holt is the place of eald gods and eald wihts and free folcs but they will cum for the holt also in time. we cannot hide now thu has seen we can only feoht

for efry ingenga we cwells saes grimcell they cwells a ham. we digs our graefs

i wolde sooner dig my graef i saes than haf sum ingenga dig it. at this tofe smercs a lytel lic he has been made strong by my words

yes buccmaster he saes thu is right we moste fight them for they has tacan all things from us is this not so grimcell. grimcell locs at him and then ofer towards the ham and then up at the treows

they has tacan all things he saes soft all things. he locs down then and saes naht mor

this cilde this cilde tofe at this time if i is bean triewe i wolde sae he helpd me to lif. for this cilde he loccd up to me as a great man and this i needed at this time for there was sum daegs i loccd on my self as a lytel man. great weland he spoc to me at this time and he telt me to feoht he cum to me from the ealdors with words and he cum to me from my grandfather. great weland he telt me my grandfather was with him locan down at me and this macd me feel a lytel man in triewth for if he was locan then all my folcs was locan all anglisc folcs of the eald times was locan and what wolde they thinc of me. i was a small man in the holt with an eald sweord not swung i was eatan leafs and slepan on the ground runnan from ingengas in my own land a small man a weac man