The Wake (24 page)

thu has seen my sweord i saes we can send them baec to the sea

ah we can not saes grimcell who is druncen

what is this saes gamel then why feoht why not stay in thy hus

i has no hus the frenc beorned it

as they beorned mine i saes so we will beorn them

i will beorn them saes grimcell specan slow beorn and hang and gutt them lic fisc i will do this all my lif but we will not mac them leaf now their grip is too tight on anglands throta

we will cut their fuccan arms off then saes gamel and sum men from the ham roars to hiere this

we sees no frenc here saes wulf but the tales cum with this gleoman and with others and they gifs us micel sadness of heorte. but what can we do so small agan this

i thinc we moste wait for the crist saes another man from the ham he has thrown us down for our synn he will raise us up when we is triewe. i is drincan ealu at this point and nearly spits it all ofer this esol

feohtan saes gamel and he sounds strong feohtan is all there is now there is naht else. they cums to bring war to us we moste gif them war this is the way of things. i will not lie down and be fucced lic a wifman

yes i saes gamel is right all of the world is blud this is the way of things it is the way of the holt the way of the hafoc and the craw the way of all wihts and of men. gif blud or tac blud there is naht else

for sum time then there is naht saed. we all locs on in to the fyr locan at the sceaps in the flames hearan the spittan the breathan and eatan in the blaec what ringed us around the light

i fear for angland saes wulf then. this daeg i was locan on at our litha games and i was thincan that we may be the last of our folcs. i was thincan that it colde be a folc is lic a weddan. there is a cuman together what is triewe and deop there is sum time what is good and strong when all worcs well and all seems it will worc well for efer and then there is a fallan awaeg and an endan. things is fast and cene then they is slow and dull and then they is broc and no man or wifman can do naht for this is the way of things in this world. well it colde be it is the way of things for folcs to do this also and it colde be it is the time for anglisc folc to fall awaeg and if it is the will of erce then what can man do

thu specs of erce i saes. wulf then locs a lytel small

i specs with ealu in me he saes

no man i saes no thu is right to sae this thu is right to spec of erce for if mor men did so the frenc wolde not haf cum. i has hierde all these folcs saen the crist has sent these frenc hunds for not lufan him triewe but i thincs what if the bastard has been sent by others for lufan the crist too triewe

again there is a small stillness and then wulf specs again

thu is specan of the eald hus he saes

yes i saes yes man

well he saes there is not so many folcs lic thu in angland no mor. i locs about the fyr and i sees sum men of the ham locan at me sum lic in fear others in wundor others only locan with no cnawan what they is thincan

buccmasters eald gods saes grimcell lifs under a mere well when is they cuman up this is what i wolde cnaw

they is not cuman up as men i saes but in men

in men

in other men

in thu saes grimcell

in me in thu if thu wolde haf it but thu smercs and talcs druncen scit grimcell when thu sceolde be triewe to the gods of this land and this place and thy folc

the eald gods saes wulf i was telt a lytel of them when a cilde by my mothor. she wolde spec sum times of erce who was the ground and the holt and the heofon and she wolde spec also of frigg who loccd ofer wifmen at all times. my mothor cnawan all things what grow in the holt she colde spec to the wihts she was a wifman of the wicce craft. but she wolde gif it only to them who cum to her ascan for she cnawan that the preost and the thegn wolde not haf it spoc out

ah it is sceomu i saes sceomu upon angland that the eald ways is moccd. this man wulf i colde see that he was not dumb and to spec of the eald ways with an other was sweet for i had not hardly done so since my grand father was toc from me

men wolde laugh at my mothor saes wulf or mocc her in the ham but then they wolde cum to her in stillness at night to asc for her help. she wolde bind senep seeds and rue to their heafods to stop their pain or if they had hrifteung she wolde coc pic in milc and they wolde drinc it and all wolde be well. if a wyrm had bit them she wolde tac an egg and sum ealu and sum scit from a sceop and mac them drinc it though she wolde not tell them about the scit before they dranc. once i dranc sum of this and i was sicc for a wice

drincan scit well that is bad saes aelfgar laughan

yes but she was wise saes wulf and folcs wolde cum to her. she colde do other things also blaecer things but only at night and with no words saed. i seen her mac lytel poppets for folcs to harm their enemi she wolde put nails in them and the enemi wolde be in pain and none cnawan why. this was wrong i wolde always thinc for i had hierde of wifmen drencced or hanged for doan these things for the preosts wolde not haf it and the cyng wolde not neither

they is afeart i saes all afeart for the eald ways is stronger than their crist

men from the ham has been lystnan to this and saen naht but now one specs. i can not see his nebb well in the light of the fyr

this is blaec specan he saes we sceolde not spec lic this no mor

thu is a wyrm then i saes and no anglisc man

i is anglisc he saes as anglisc as thu but the eald ways is deorc and if the preost hears of this our ham will be deorc also

the preost has thy beallucs in his hands then i saes we feohts for angland we will spec as we wolde

but the eald ways the eald gods all of this is gan saes this man. it is all of the eald times the deorc times these is the times of the crist and we is his men. there is no need to spec lic this now

at this i stands from my benc by the fyr and all locs at me then and is stillness. the man who has spoc he locs lic he is ready for me if i cum at him but i does not cum at him i raises my hand and i points at the litha pal what is still standan by the cross and what can be seen dim and lit by the mofan light of the fyr lic the pal itself is mofan in the light

thu wolde sae the eald gods is gan i saes and thu wolde sae the eald ways is gan well loc at this pal loc at it higher than thy cross efen now. to thu it colde be this is only sum treow what is grene as the sumor is grene but this is the eald treow of the world what we anglisc folcs loccd up to before the crist cum

there is stillness then only the sound of the fyr and the mofan of fox and aelf in the holt

this pal that thu pleges around i saes it is the world treow what cepes the seofon worlds together by will of the eald gods. at one root of this treow is the world of the gods and at an other is the world of the dead and betweon is the worlds of men of the light aelfs and deorc aelfs of the ents and the dweorgs. the world treow the great aesc treow what ties all things it grows through all the worlds and its stics hangs ofer all the world of men

this pal i saes this pal what thu steps around this cums to thu from the eald gods. i has seen the eald gods they has spac with me they is ired for thy luf of this hwit crist for he is not a god of the ground of treow and leaf of mere and snow of sumor and all the grene lif in the land. he is a god of men only and he tells thu to loc up to the heofon not around at thy place in this land. he is an ingenga god from a land where there is no treows and no luf neither for any thing what is not man and for this great yfel the folcs of angland has been gifen the ire of the frenc. if thu wolde lif thu moste feoht and the eald gods will feoht with thu and if thu does not feoht thu will die for this is the way of things and the only way

i locs around me then and all men is stillness they is locan at me or at the pal or at the ground. i sits down again and tacs my cuppe and starts to drinc lic i has nefer saed naht but wulf then i seen he locs at me and he nods a lytel lic he is saen yes and then he stands and calls mete wifmen mete and it is lic sum thing is gan on the wind and the drincan begins lic all was aemty as a pond in the sumor heat

that night it was the last good night of the world. druncen i was a lytel only a lytel when i gan to sleep in a hus with my men and they was druncen too for the night had been long and the triewth of this good ham colde be felt all around. druncen i was a lytel but it was not the ealu what macd me see what i seen

i gan to sleep cwic but i woc sum time later and i was beornan all ofer. i satt up from the ground where i had been slepan and i seen that the straw on the ground was mofan with fleas and they had bit me all ofer. all around me other men was still slepan in the deorc fnaerettan lic swine

i colde not sleep again with this iccan it was lic fyr so i gan up and out of the hus. the door macd a sound when it mofd but there was no other sound but for the fnaerettan in the hus. out in the road i seen the mona was great and hwit and sean it macd me fall to my cneows there in the road and loc up at her and loc and loc in stillness. when i was a yonge cilde i wolde do this to the mona i wolde loc up at her lic a wif god i does not cnaw why there was sum thing that brought me to her

the iccan toc me up again for i colde not stae still that night and i colde hiere then the sound of the ea what ran through the holt near the ham and i thought i wolde go to it and bathe my self and cool the beornan that way. i gan down the path past the hus of men and the hus of swine and cicens and no sound but ules in the holt and the small sounds of leafs and the runnan of the ea growan louder

the ea was hwit and still under the mona and i toc off my tunece and brices and gan in and satt in the water my scancs and arms in the water and it was good. the beornan soon gan but when i cum out again it cum baec so i gan in again to cool it and in this way i satt in the ea for sum time locan up at the mona not sean how cold i was until i colde not hardly feel my hands

well i felt at last the cold and i stood up in the ea and then in the treows on the other strand of the ea i seen sum thing mof

i stood there in the ea the water flowan ofer my feet and i loccd and then i seen cum out of the treows a wulf. it was great and hwit and it was locan at me and this hwit wulf it had one eage only. on a rocc then in the ea this wulf stood locan at me and me stood in the ea half nacod locan at this wulf and naht mofd in all the night. long had i been in this brunnesweald and nefer had i seen efen one wulf though at one time we had hierde sum callan in far places. but this wulf was great and strong and locan at me for sure

and then as i stood there in the ea i seen behind this wulf a man in the treows. deorc it was in the treows on the far staed the monas light did not reac there but i seen the scap of a man with long cape and wide hat and he was stood behind the wulf and he called to him and though i did not hiere no words i hierde him call. the wulf then he locs at me and he mofs his heafod clere three times as if to say no as if to say do not

and as i stands then in the ea cold and growan colder this hwit wulf he leaps from the rocc and in to the treows and is gan and the capd man he teorns and i seen his nebb then dim but triewe and he too has one eage only and it seen me and beorned in to my deop sawol. and i cnawan then who i had seen and who had seen me and i was cold then colder than all the eas in angland colder than all the ys in the seofon worlds

ah stan ford stan ford it was the last of all things

let me tell thu what i seen that daeg what was lic no other thing seen in the world. we woc in the ham sum of us with heafods what was broc apart. we ate and dranc and the gleoman telt us we sceolde go to stan ford for the castel was bean macd and soon it wolde be done and when castels was done there was no man colde tac them down. well this gleoman he seemed sore cene to get us out of the ham and to this place stan ford and it was odd as most times he cared not what we done

but i colde not thinc that mergen not after what had cum to me by the ea in the night for this was all in me and i was afeart and also thrylled. that he sceolde haf cum to me it was clere i had been ceosan and where was weland now when i was needan to spec with him. the wulf the wulf had spac to me and not any wulf but the wulf of the father of all

i colde not thinc that mergen if i colde haf thought well it colde haf been that things wolde not haf been as they was. micel things was goan on and my heafod was full and loud with what had cum to me. as we ate our foda by the mergen fyr tofe cum baec and we had not seen him since he gan to the holt in the efen with this yonge wifman and all the men sets up a roar when they sees him. he gan red and smerced a lytel as he toc loaf and ealu and all is saen to him where is the maeden cilde where did thu hide her and did thu gif it to her good tofe and how is thy litha pal cilde and run cwic now or she will haf thu wed and then it will be thu who is fuccd. tofe is locan at the ground and eatan and saen naht but he is lican it i can see

wulf cums to us then and i tells him we moste go for there is micel feohtan to be done and this daeg we is goan to tac the castel. he thancs us and he locs in to my eages then and he saes i hope our ham has gifen thu all thu needs. i is still thincan of the ea and the father of the gods it is lic i is not all here and i saes yes wulf we thancs thu for all that thu has gifen to us

the gods will go with thu he saes to me low

and with thu i saes

then louder he saes there is men from this ham wolde cum with thu and becum grene if thu wolde haf them. three men then cums to us and wulf saes this is godric siward and osbern these men is triewe and will feoht with thu. i locs at them then and they seems good men they is strong and triewe and carries scramasaxes and osbern who is a boy lic tofe he has also a good eald strong ax

thu is wel cum men i saes wel cum to the grene men we feohts for angland and agan the frenc and all who feohts with us moste be strong and triewe

we is strong and triewe saes this osbern and we will feoht all the frenc in angland and he seems to me lic tofe when he first cum yonge and cene. godric and siward they is ealdor they nods and locs at me and locan in to their eages they seems good men