The Wake (2 page)

it can wait long

the hafoc not the ox

but we colde not wait long we colde wait no mor

an unfree land breeds an unfree folc

and i moste go baec now baec before the storm baec to when things was still lic the springmere

go baec yes

go baec

see i had cnawan yfel was cuman when i seen this fugol glidan ofer

a great blaec fugol it was not of these lands it flown slow ofer the ham one daeg at the time of first ploughan. its necc was long its eages afyr and on the end of its fethra was a mans fingors all this i seen clere this was a fugol of deofuls. in stillness it cum and slow so none may miss it or what it had for us. this was eosturmonth in the year when all was broc

what is this fugol i saes to my wifman

i cnaw naht of fugols she saes why does thu asc me of these things

wifman i saes lysten this is sum scucca glidan ofer us what does thu mac of this

naht she nefer saes naht

i tell thu sum thing is cuman

sum thing is cuman she saes lic specan my words will scut the mouth they cum from. sum times this wif she needed laws though there was many wimman things she was learned in. it is not a mans job to spec of the loom nor the water pael nor to asc of brewan nor of reapan all these things my wif done well and in stillness. many was called to beat their wifs mor than i many there was whose cildren ran wilder sum whose wifmen was drifan nacod from their hus for the fuccan of their neighbours behind the raecs at haerfest but this wif of mine most times she was a good wif only she did not lysten

it is no good to spec to thu i saes these is not wifman things i will spec to sum other

what thu wysc my husbond she saes

so what i done i gan to the ham. my land and my hus was apart from the ham as is right for a socman this land was good land good ground it was the land of my father i will not spec of my father to thu

i was no i is a socman of holland a part of the scir of lincylene where the ground was blaec and good and deop. our ham was an ealond in the fenns on all sides the wilde on all sides the dabcic the water wulf the lesch and the deorc waters. our folc cnawan this place lic we cnawan our wifmen and our cildren. we cnawan fiscan and fowlan the gathran of the lesch the ploughan and the pannan of the salt we cnawan the paths through the fenns the ways with the ael and the alor mastors we was of the blaec lands

so i will go to the ham i saes to my wifman and i will asc what the gerefa macs of this fugol. she was wefan on her great loom in my great hus as i left this hus was sum thing to see. raised of ac timber it was the roof laid with secg from the fenn all carfan on the door frames wyrms and the runes of the eald times. treen we had and sum seolfor things a great crocc greater than many in the ham many men was lustan after my hus

three oxgangs of good land i had and two geburs to worc for me on it and four oxen of my own for the plough this was mor than any other man in this ham. baerlic i had and rye sceap and hors also i had swine pasture holt my own water aeppels on many good treows

a great man i was in my ham all cnawan me a seat i had on the wapentac and free i was from the worc of other men. this was my land it was my fathers land i will not spec of my father. geld wolde i gif but only to the cyng not to the thegn. sum lytel worc wolde i do for the thegn for this was how things was but no man was ofer me no man will be ofer me

socmen was free men socmen is free men still. in other parts of angland men was thralls in thrall to the thegn their land their lifs gifen to ealdors and higher men and now to the frenc men but not in holland not in lincylene not in the east. free men we was in the fenns free on our land free men we is still naht will mof us not the frenc

i was specan of this fugol i will not spec yet of the frenc

i gan through my lands i gan along the path to the ham where there was six hus six cynns most not free men with land but with micel owed to the thegn. when i was seen these men was always in awe

buccmaster they all saes gretans to thu buccmaster

sum times i wolde sae naht to this for i was a socman with my own lands with three oxgangs and they was thralls but this daeg this fugol was in my thincan

what of this fugol i saes what of this fugol thu has seen this yes

fugol they saes fugol. dumb lic hunds was these men

this fugol i saes this great blaec fugol cuman ofer

fugol

oft i lost my mynd with them

the heofon is full of eorcas this daeg has thu men seen naht

well saes one jalf was his name sum gebur he was sum esol not free. well saes this jalf there is many fugols here of course buccmaster it is odd thu sceolde spec of one when all is the same to mine eages

fewer of these fugols wolde be better saes sum other they eats my beans

there is noddan at this. fewer fugols saes all these esols

has thu no eages thu nithings blind thu moste all be blind

of course they saes naht to this only locs at their feet

thu wasts my time thu geburs where is ecceard find me ecceard

ecceard was the gerefa of this ham in sum ways a man to tac care around. he colde tac geld or spec of thu to the thegn micel colde he do to harry thu if he ceos. but ecceard was also a plough owner of sum greatness ecceard wolde cnaw about this fugol

ecceard was in his hus doan naht drincan ealu only sittan. his hus was smaller than my hus though he was gerefa his floor all straw not clene his windows smaller his fyr smaller though his ealu was well brewed

it is a good lif as gerefa yes ecceard

buccmaster thu is well cum here it is always good to see an eornost man

has thu not worc ecceard sum geburs to harry sum hors to loc at sum geld to tac from sum eornost man

has thu cum here to tell me my worc buccmaster

i jocs i saes and i laughs. no i has cum here to spec with thu of this fugol

the great buccmaster cums to spec to me of fugols well this is an odd daeg

now lysten i saes i is sic of this ham. lysten i was standan in my feld and abuf me passed this great blaec fugol this was a scort time baec. this fugol its eages were afyr it had arms lic any man it spac to me lysten. this fugol i seen it it was glidan ofer the ham there is sum thing cuman

a fugol of the deoful then saes ecceard well these is sum tidans indeed

this is no cristian fugol

there is no cristian fugols ofer thy land buccmaster

do not joc with me ecceard this is a graef thing

none wolde dare joc with thu buccmaster of holland my wise freond. well sceal we send to the preost to ring the bell or sceal we call to the thegn to cum and hiere us spec of fugols or sceal we call a moot of the wapentac to thinc on this. it may be we colde mac this fugol gif geld for its misdeeds

does thu mocc me ecceard

buccmaster i moccs thu only with mildness

this fugol was an yfel thing

well i has seen no fugol none here has seen such a fugol buccmaster or i wolde haf hierde of it. men in this ham thu cnawan them sum hara passan through their baerlic at night they tacs as a word from crist their cildren coughs and it is the deoful specan. a specan bird with eages of fyr if this had cum here i colde not cepe down the madness across all this scir

it was a word but not from the crist

then what sceolde i do buccmaster about this thing what wolde thu haf me do

sum thing is cuman ecceard

what wolde thu haf me do tell me what is cuman

this is what i want to cnaw

then go buccmaster and loc to the heofon again and it may be thy fugol will tell thu

well ecceard was no help these geburs they was no help the smith the fuccan preost the cottars none seen this fugol. this is why i is a man of greatness while others still lifs off water snaecs from the fenn these men has no eages in their fuccan heafods. o fugol they saes o buccmaster has thu hierde he talcs of sum fugol o

next month it was

next fuccan month they cums to me and now there is no smerc on their nebbs

not three wices after the fugol and now buccmaster is sum wis man

next fuccan month we seen the star

a grene treow will be heawan in two and one half of this treow will be tacan awaeg three furlongs and there planted deop in anglisc ground. and not until this treow is hol again and bers aeppels again with no help from man will angland be hol also for thy god has ceosan this folc to feel his wrath

synn is upon this grene land biscops moccs the word of god earls fucc in the sight of the crist ceorls drincs ealu and is druncen. there is deop synn all through this land and thu will be strac down o angland for what thu has done

i see in the heofon a haeric star this star will beorn for eight daegs and nine nights gods hand is upon thu the word of his wrath is upon thu. and in my bed my death bed now two capd men of the crist i sees and they specs to me

o edweard cyng they saes o ealdor of angland thy folc is in thrall to the eald deorc deoful they has wandred from the path and now the lord will stric them down. soon thy sawol will be tacan o edweard cyng and thu will be gifted the cyngdom of heofon for thy worc but on thy folc there will cum a great fear. the sea will teorn to blud and braec upon thy southern strand and thy cyngdom will be gifan into the hands of the deoful for this be his will

o what can be done i saes to them what can be done for my poor folc and they saes there is naht to be done edweard cyng that thu has not done by now through thy triewe cristian luf. the treow will be heawan it is the will of the crist and time alone and death will bring it together. lie in thy bed o cyng of men and cum now to the end that will bring thu to the wide felds of heofon and thy folc to the open gaets of hel

when we was in the brunnesweald nebbs all blaec hydan in the grene holt lic the afeart bucc oft i was thincan of my grandfather. a great man he was strong in all he wolde weep to see what angland has becum. efen he strong man that he was wolde weep lic a cilde to see us hidan there runnan from ingengas in our own land that is no longer our own land

tales he wolde tell me of many things. of the great scips he seen cuman in from the sea with the wilde denes all afyr callan for the blud of their gods. of eald aethelred cyng he who broc us of the great death at maldon the sea druncen with anglisc blud. of cnut who was denisc then becum anglisc and other tales from farther baec of the time of his grandfather of great aelfred and of aethelstan of the eald wundors of angland

of this haeric star i was specan but my grandfather a great tall man he was hwit beard hwit haer his own sweord all on the beam of his hus what becum my hus. he wolde spec micel of the eald daegs of the anglisc of our folcs cuman here to these grene lands from across the wid sea. and those daegs he wolde always sae those daegs was best for our folc for we was as one agan the ingenga and we was free. no thegns there was then no preosts no crist no cyng of angland but free men alone in the wilde tacan the land men in freodom not in thrall. marc this he saes this is how angland moste always be gif no geld lysten to no law if thu can run from it for always they will cum to tac from thu what is thine always the gerefa the thegn the wapentac the eorl the cyng always this thought is in them what can i get from these free men how can i tac from them and cepe them down. mor years of this saes my grandfather mor years of this and we will be thralls lic the wealsc tac heed

thu will see why i tells thu these things but lysten now the haeric star

o but why sceolde i spec now of these things why sceolde i tell thu all is gan now all is too laet. what can cum now by specan of these things at efry teorn the gods was agan us

for so long i felt sum thing was cuman try to lif thy lif when sum thing is cuman when ahead of thu on the path is sum deorcness. try to lif lic this none can lif lic this the deorcness waitan for thu i will not tell thu mor i can not

no i will go on i will tell it i moste

it is early in the mergen it is gan eostur now when the land waecens from winter all the land is cuman open all is grene and waecnan. water crows is callan in the fenn the alor treow is grene haras is in the felds fugols in the water and the heofon there is micel goodness here beyond what man has macd. my folc was in the fenns before the crist cum to angland this ground is in our bodigs deop

two geburs i had to worc for me on my land these geburs was bound first to my father they did not loc up to him none did but they locd up to me for what i done. they was bound to me two daegs in efry wice and three daegs at haerfest

this mergen early with the sunne high in the heofon the wind clene a wundor it is to be in the fenns in these times a wundor it was before the beornan cum. this mergen i was on my land i was sean to my geburs they was sawan flax. one man he was called gamel i had put him to haro the blaec ground with blaec thorn twigges the other he was called asger he was sawan the seed after. this asger i moste tac care of always for he was an esol of a man. bound to me he was but it wolde be better sum times for my swine to do this worc so dumb was he