The Wake (31 page)

there is mist all ofer the blaec fenns this night and from behind the mona sum thing rises. before the mona stands the ealond with the cross the ealond with the circe reaccan to the heofon and from behind the mona sum thing rises sum gathran of wihts and men and thu cilde thu they cums now for thu

we walced that mergen on the paths towards elge though we nefer seen it for it was still sum daegs awaeg. there was a mist on the land and high was my heorte to be baec in the place i had cum from and wolde always be of. the paths here was not the paths of the holt with great deorc treows all around these was fenn paths. sum times they gan through meados and past eald small hams but micel time they gan through the fenns with secg on both sides and this gladdened my heorte. the fugols that sang here was the fugols i cnawan and the heofon was the heofon of my cildehood and for a small time i felt that my heorte had cum baec to where it sceolde always be. the mist cum round the secg cold as we walced saen lytel and sounds colde be hierde that was lic the sounds of my eald lands when i was still a man

but we had not walced for long before we hierde other sounds and these was the blaec sounds of men. we was cum from a small fenn to a place where the path we was on met a straet what wolde taec us to elge. the mist was still on the land as we cum to the straet out of the wet secg of the fenn and we hierde as we cum the sound of hors cuman up from the west

well we all gan baec in to the secg as we hierde this for we was cepan awaeg from all men. there was many frenc in these parts and they cnawan of the grene men and was ired. the sound cept cuman in the mist and then out of the hwitness of it cum three scapes and in these three scapes was the end of it all for me

it was three men on hors and two of them was frenc cnihts lic we had seen at stan ford. their heafods was scafd they wore clothes of style and had sweords at their belts. but the man in the middel of them he was no cniht. this man wor clothes of deorc brun and ofer them a cape of blaec and on this cape was wofen lines of gold and a thing of beuty it was if beuty is to be found in the things of men. this man he had a nebb set lic style as all frenc do and a lytel blaec cenep but his heafod was not scafan lic the cnihts it was scafan lic a munc and around his throta on a line of gold he wore a great cross of wud

a preost i saes a frenc fuccan preost

he is no preost saes annis he is a biscop

the crist

well it had cum it was my time and nefer has i done a thing so triewe and so fast. the gods had spac to me and this had been sent and this now this was my wyrd this wolde bring the eald gods baec to angland and again we wolde rise again from our land again we wolde cum in to our selfs and be men in angland for efer

i calls tac him and i runs from the secg to the frenc men. i tacs my sweord from my belt and i strics one of the cnihts hard on the scanc and cuts him deop and he is afeart for he did not see us and he grips his hors and his scanc and begins to fall and the other cniht and the biscop they tacs their bridels and tries to stop their hors and they begins callan in their fuccan ingenga tunge and goan for their sweords

well my men is not ready i had not spoc to them of this it had all had started from naht but when they seen me go they moste go also. tofe cum first callan and grippan his scramasax and when he seen him aelfgar cum too and siward and godric and when he seen them grimcell he cum also and here again now was my werod feohtan in our fenns agan the frenc lic we always sceolde haf been

well the cniht i had struc with my sweord was off his hors now and on the ground and my men done him fast lic we had done many frenc scuccas. now the other cniht he was cuman round on his hors strican at us with his sweord and the biscop the fuccan biscop of crist he had in his hand a great clubb and he too was on his hors standan and callan and strican at the heafods of my men and efen i cnawan that the crist tells his scepe nefer to cwell no man so what was this

well my men gan for the other cniht first and they tacs him off his hors with hardly no cutts on them and to the ground he gan and is cwelled fast tofe goan in to his throta with a scramasax now lic he is cuttan a snaec a man he has becum. and then we is left only with this biscop. we is all ofer the straet so he can not go past on his hors without cuman to us and on efry side of the straet there is fenn

men i saes men do not cwell the biscop

why not calls aelfgar this is a great gift from the bastard

a great gift i saes so we will do mor than cwell him

and then the biscop specs. it is not oft that any frenc men specs to anglisc in their own tunge but this biscop he cnawan what we spoc

then thu is hereweards men he saes and this is thy wel cum to me. thu will be wel cum to hel before this daeg is done by the will of thy cyng geeyome

he is not our cyng i saes he is a fuccan frenc ingenga scucca and we is anglisc men and thu now is ours

if thu wants me he saes still on his hors grippan his clubb then thu moste tac me anglisc man

well he is harder than the cnihts this one and mor than one of us tacs a beatan from his fuccan clubb befor we can tac it from him and throw it in the secg. but we is six and he is one and though he tries to cicc his hors for it to tac him awaeg we gets him down from it and we gets him to the ground and tofe and aelfgar sitts on him while the othors tacs the sweords of the cnihts and gathrs their hors and ciccs their bodigs in to the deorc waters where the bodigs of all frenc sceolde be

thu has done well

this is my time

done well for thy land and thy cynn

risan again we is risan again

and now

now the gods will feed

ah to loc down and see this great frenc biscop lyan on an anglisc straet with two grene men sittan on him oh it macd me laugh out and this macd the others laugh out also and on the nebb of this biscop colde be seen an ire so great it macd him red lic the sunne on a winter mergen

who has line men i saes. grimcell it seems carries sum and so i tells him to tie the hands of the biscop and get him to his feet and grimcell does this with aelfgar and tofe. i is blithe to see grimcell worcan with us in this for though he is a scucca he is an anglisc one

so we has this biscop tied with line his blaec and gold cape all eorthd now and his nebb set hard locan at us with eages of fyr but saen naht. as before i cnawan what to do in this place and i spoc to my men lic the cyng i was now lic the ealdor i had becum lic the ceosan man of the eald gods buccmaster buccmaster ham at last

tac him baec to my land men i saes it is not far. we will tac the hors also we moste be slow with them on the fenn paths but they can be tacan that way. tofe and i will lead the hors aelfgar and siward thu will tac the frenc sweords and lead the biscop and if there is any scit from him thu may cutt him a lytel for i cnawan thu is wantan to

well they colde see what i was now and none saed naht only cum with me baec again to my eald lands. annis who had been in the secg all this time she cum also and lic the biscop she nefer saed naht only loccd on and what was in her eages i did not cnaw

baec to the eald hus

the eald hus the triewe hus

thu tacs the preost

he is a biscop he is mine

and what will thu do there

no mor words now weland smith no mor words

so my men tacs him baec to my land and in doan this they is my men again triewe. i has them tie the two hors to a treow near where my aeppels grew and we lit a small fyr by the eald fyr where my hus had been. the biscop we macd to sitt on the ground still tied with the line and he satt and he loccd slow at us and saed nuthan

it was noon time and my men was weary. eat men i saes and drinc and soon thu will cnaw what will be

well my men locs at me lic they is wundran what is cuman but they does what i ascs. i puts tofe and aelfgar to loc ofer the biscop as they is my moste trusted men if any men can efer be trusted on this eorth and then i calls ofer annis to me. i does not lic to do this i does not lic efen to haf her with us and i can see she is only here to loc ofer the other men and to see what will happen to the esol biscop. well soon i wolde gif her a sight but first i moste cnaw what i needs

buccmaster saes annis befor i can spec lic a fuccan fugol she is in talcan buccmaster what will thu and thy men do with this biscop

this thu will see i saes thu will see this night. but i wolde haf thu tell me how thu cnawan he is a biscop and what mor thu cnaws for thu has been in these fenns for sum time now while i has been gan

she locs up at me for she is scort this wifman scort and fatt. there is nefer naht in her fuccan eages

he is turold biscop she saes and he is a freond of the frenc cyng

he is not a cyng

well he is frenc and this is a frenc biscop and he has been gifen the abbodrice of petersburh as his. this was not one month ago and all of the fenns is specan of it for when hereweard hierde that the abbodrice was to go to a frenc biscop he gan in and he threw out all the muncs and toc all the gold and all things from the abbodrice to say to the frenc that this place can nefer be theirs

so he is the crists man in these parts

he is the cyngs man at petersburh and he is a strong man it is saed mor of a cniht than a preost thu has seen him with his clubb. it is saed the bastard sent him here for there is many grene men in these parts and also hereweard in elge and so a feohtan man is needed

so this is turold

this is turold biscop buccmaster and now thu has him and efen hereweard who so many specs of has not done a thing lic this

efen great fuccan hereweard no no he has not i saes and i gan ofer to my men around the fyr and to the biscop who sits by them stillness his arms behind him tied with line

men i saes we has here not sum lytel preost but great turold biscop of petersburh freond of the bastard and enemi of hereweard. i locs at the biscop who locs at me and saes naht

i is telt thu and hereweard has been feohtan lic cildren i saes to him but it seems efen great hereweard who so many lufs has not tacan thu lic i has done

then thu is not hereweards men saes the biscop

i is no other mans i saes. i is buccmaster of holland a man of these parts i is a socman with three oxgangs this is my anglisc werod and thu is our frenc mete. men does thu hiere we has done greater than hereweard i has done greater now see what we has in this gift

this is good saes tofe and he smercs with his mouth full of loaf but the other men they locs only at me and at the biscop

what will thu do with him saes grimcell

thu will see grimcell i saes thu will see this night. but now thu most cepe him for i has things i moste do

i left my men by the fyr and i gan ofer my eald meados and down to the fenn. it was late in to the daeg now and sumor was endan. ofer the yealo secg i colde see lines of fugols high in the heofon goan south lic they does when efry sumor ends. it is saed that these fugols fleages all year all ofer the seas and all the lands of man and does not go down to land until they cums baec to the fenns in spring. i locs up then at these fugols small and blaec in the heofon. they does not cnaw of the bastard or the biscop or of what men suffers in this land they does not cnaw naht but what is gifen to them by the winds

weland smith i saes where is thu

i is here

thu cums at my call

thu has done a great thing

a great thing

now thu is strong

strong lic the heofon

strong lic the land

stronger than hereweard

what will thu do my freond

i will show thu smith i will show all

standan locan out ofer the secg i hieres a sound then and i sees a hraga rise from the water and feoht to rise up to the heofon lic it is feohtan to lif. we all is feohtan to lif i saes to this hraga all wihts men and others all is feohtan to lif in this deorc world. and now i moste stric

i teorns then and i mofs baec through the fenn on a path that only i cnawan and i gan baec to the small holt near where the men was cepan the biscop. here i colde loc through the treows and see them sittan eatan and drincan and talcan and i colde see the biscop sittan also his hands still tied with line saen naht. i is stillness lic the hara lic the fox none can see me on my land on the land what i cnawan best of all folcs in angland

and here it is lic i had cnawan it wolde be they is talcan of me for i is not there

fatt annis scort fatt fuccan lytel wifman annis she is talcan of me and the others is lystnan. all is lystnan as they eats and drincs and none is saen no it is not triewe and none is walcan awaeg cuman to find me. efen the fuccan frenc biscop can hiere all that is saed about buccmaster of holland

where is he gan tofe is saen

to the fenn saes grimcell

what does he do there

who cnawan what he efer does

and what will he do with this biscop does thu thinc saes godric

all locs ofer then to turold who locs baec not smercan not specan

tell us then of what he done after his father sent him out saes godric

oh the fuccers she is talcan of my cynn

well none cnawan what becum of him saes annis. it was spac about in the ham micel for folcs thought the buccmasters was always odd folcs and so this cept them specan for months. well i was a yonge wifman then and not lifan with them so i did not see it but he was gan for sum years and none cnawan where. sum saed he went to the holts and lifd with out laws and others that he was a beorner of col. i was telt by a gleoman that he gan ofer the seas for sum time

buccmaster gan ofer the seas saes grimcell and he laughs

well it was a tale saes annis and i can not sae if there is triewth in it

and then saes godric

and then saes annis he cum baec

and

he cum for his father who had sent him out. his father had saed he wolde nefer see him again but buccmaster he wolde cum baec. he wolde haf his place and his land and his sistor