Viking Voices (19 page)

It is my first attempt, but it looks perfect and I have decorated the hilt with silver and it has an amber pommel. I am very proud of it and will carry it with me everywhere I go as my personal weapon. I will be delighted to go into battle with such a fine weapon. It is the mark of a high status warrior as befits my increased standing in this community.

All of the iron working is very dirty work and I am very often covered in soot from the fire. I am sometimes ashamed to come home in such a filthy state and do not want Aud to see me like that, so I often run into the cool water of the river to wash it off. None of the other iron workers are as concerned about the affects of the soot, and Aud says it is not important to her, but I am still concerned about her opinion of me. I feel our relationship is not as warm as it once was, and wish to impress her in every way I can.

Around the village, or maybe I should call it a town now, there is a growing feeling of people being unsettled, impatient and undisciplined. It is principally the effect of the new incomers, mostly Danir, and particularly those who came to join Ragnald as warriors. They were expecting to be involved in raids and are impatient to start fighting, so at present they are inclined to fight among themselves. It is likely that they would attack the Angles in Ceaster if Ragnald would lead them. There is a lot of rowdy behaviour and drunkenness among them; understandably many of our women do not feel safe.

Increasingly it seems they are gathering around the elderly Ingamund, seeing in him a leader who thinks as they do, as he is certainly unhappy with the Angles and their treatment of us. They can see that he is spoiling for a fight as much as they are, and so believe that he offers them the better prospect of a chance to take plunder. It is a curious reversal of Ingamund's previous image as the leader most likely to lead us to a happy and settled life, in contrast to Ragnald the warlord.

Ragnald is our real king but he has, unwisely I now feel, left the management of our contract with the Saxons with Ingamund. It has some logic and justice as Ingamund made the original agreement. The Saxons have continued to ask for payment in silver and Ingamund continues to refuse and remains angered by this.

By now even he knows that Ragnald has, and always has had, great amounts of silver but he sees no reason why this should involve the Angles. He certainly knows that the king will allocate none of the silver towards paying off the Angles. He is much more prepared to go to war with them, and thus get rid of any requirement to pay tribute. The growing numbers of men gathering around him has increased his confidence, although we are only just back to our number before the war in Fortriu. We need time to rest and recover. Our reputation as fighters is, however, massively enhanced as is our own belief in our military capability.

Ragnald is not yet ready to go to war as his own family is not yet complete, it is expected that Thora will give birth in just a few days time. Since Ingamund and the Danir are so impatient to fight Ragnald agrees that they can attack the Angles in Ceaster. It seems a very foolish idea to me and I strongly advise him against it. For once he fails to accept my guidance, preferring to back Ingamund's opinion. I think he has been worn down by the constant harassment from both the Jarl, and the impatient newcomers.

If they succeed then Ragnald will find that Ingamund emerges as a rival king, with a strong force around him. If he fails then he may well draw down the wrath of the Angles on us. That latter possibility has, however, been much reduced by the long illness of their King Ethelred and, although his wife Lady Aethelflaed has emerged as a capable deputy, the Anglian kingdom of Mercia is certainly weakened by indecision. Ceaster is the town which interests Aethelflaed the least; she has much greater problems hanging onto her territories in the east which are constantly threatened by the kings of Northumberland from their base in Jorvik.

There are also stories that Aethelflaed's brother Edward the Elder, King of Wessex, has his eyes on taking their land along the southern border of Mercia. In these circumstances the Mercian Angles may well have lost interest in us. Perhaps Ingamund has chosen his time well, but I have no wish to be involved in this adventure, and know that, for once, Ragnald will not require me to participate.

So he calls his trusted advisers together for a debate on the situation. Naturally we are gathered to discuss just one issue: Ingamund's plan for action, he intends to take the group of Danir warriors to attack Ceaster. I think this the height of foolishness, not only is he attacking a strong adversary but he is going straight to their strongest point. It is likely to bring trouble to us, even if he succeeds in overcoming them.

It is certainly an end to our harmonious relations with the Angles but that has some advantages, it ends the demand for tributes with its increasingly troublesome requests for payment in silver. There will be no more payments, the truce is gone. It also aligns us firmly with the great enemy of the Angles, the Viking kingdom of Danelaw, with which we are carefully developing our alliances. They are our only hope of the reinforcements we will need in our ultimate plan to attack the Irskrs.

Having heard Ingamund's intentions I draw Ragnald aside to plan our strategy, and when he returns to address Ingamund he acts on my advice on dividing the warriors into two groups. The surviving Lochlain warriors who came with us from Dyflinn and took part in the subsequent adventures in Môn, Vannin and Fortriu are Ragnald's men and will stay here with him.

The king allows Ingamund to take the Danir incomers, the mercenaries who have been gathering here since our return from Fortriu. They are spoiling for a fight and are likely to become a problem to us, a threat to our own people. It is necessary to find them a real enemy to attack. This may quench their appetite for blood and might even slate their thirst for plunder for a short time. Once the harvest has been fully gathered then the attack on Ceaster can take place but only once the crop is safely on our barns.

Ingamund knows he has been given an ill-disciplined, unruly group but one who are likely to fight ferociously, maybe even recklessly. He believes that it gives him his chance for glory, and accepts the arrangement gladly. Maybe he is right about this project, but I think it more likely that it will end in disaster and end his chances of ever challenging Ragnald. Either way his fate is put into his own hands.

The harvest is now gathered with new energy and urgency by our Danish guests. They have been informed of Ragnald's conditions for the raid and are anxious to get on with their new adventure. It takes a few weeks during which the hot weather ends and the more normal grey overcast conditions signal the approach of autumn. Twice Ingamund declares the harvest to be completed only to be given more agricultural duties by Ragnald. It is not just about taking in this year's crop but also storing it securely and about preparing the land for the coming winter. Finally Ragnald declares himself satisfied, the crop has been declared officially gathered.

Ingamund leaves two days later and without any ceremony he marches directly on Ceaster, catching the Angles in the midst of harvesting and therefore completely by surprise and off guard. They are in the final stages of gathering the crop. He terrifies their people for many miles around the town, and causes them to flee in panic into the stone walls of the old Roman city. They leave many of their goods behind them and Ingamund's men already have some of the plunder they sought but not in sufficient quantity for these men who sense greater opportunity. A wise man might have left it at that but Ingamund is more ambitious and goes on to lay siege to the city.

At first it seems he has been able to succeed immediately and march his warriors straight into the city, catching the Angles with the gates still open. Soon, however, it becomes apparent that this is a trick by the citizens of Ceaster, who close the gates after a relatively small number of the Danes were inside, which then allowed them all to be easily captured and killed. This is a cunning move and a considerable early blow to Ingamund's expedition, but it seems he continues to attack the city despite this.

We hear no more about the expedition, other than these initial reports, for a considerable time. It seems obvious that the siege is now under way and although the Angles are frustrating Ingamund he is persisting in his assault. It is not a normal thing for Vikings to maintain sieges for a prolonged time, and is especially surprising for such an ill-disciplined rabble as Ingamund has at his disposal.

Now Ragnald's attention is turned away from those events as Thora gives birth to their son. He is ecstatically happy and it is touching to see how gently he handles the tiny child. He and his wife look so happy together. It is impossible looking at them now all together in this family scene to remember that he is the terrible warrior that he is. A man who has gloried in so much bloodshed and death is now celebrating one tiny new life. They have called their new son Egil, and we are all sure that in time he will become as a great warrior his father.

Not long afterwards a number of the Danir start to return, first a few then soon afterwards a steady stream of bedraggled warriors. They mostly carry some wounds and often these are of an unusual type, burns and multiple wasp stings. The story emerges that Ingamund has become impatient with the siege and so he stormed the walls of the city with crudely made hurdles or ladders. Not surprisingly the Angles were able to cast most of the ladders aside and finally flung boiling water and some carefully gathered wasp nests down onto the attackers, delivering the final indignity. At this rebuff the group broke up in chaos and most have returned here though a substantial number have been cut down by the pursuing Angles while fleeing.

There is no sign of Ingamund himself now, though no one has heard any word of his death. Either he has indeed been killed, or more likely, he has not returned here through the shame of his failure. He may well wander off into Danelaw now to find a quiet place to settle among the Danir. We do not expect to see him again; he is too proud a man to return to face the shame after such a failure.

It is a sad and shambolic end to his involvement in our community where he had been regarded as a great elder but it leaves Ragnald as the unchallenged leader of the Lochlain and their new found recruits. He knows now that he cannot remain inactive now and retain the Danir mercenaries. These men must be kept active and involved, or they will become dangerous.

Our next project is therefore imminent, and it is time to recover our silver hoard, raise our great army and to liberate Dyflinn from the Irskrs. The next step is to call on our old friends and allies in Jorvik, as gaining their assistance is the only way we can realistically imagine recapturing our city and fulfilling our destiny. We are very dependent on their support, and it is time for a return visit to Jorvik and a conversation to renew our alliance with Halfdan.

The adventure at Ceaster is over. It kept our Danish mercenaries occupied for a while, dealt with the question of Ingamund's future and has ended our truce with the Angles. We can never live in harmony with them in the future, but the payment of tribute has ended too.

The side show is over and it is now time for the main event, the recapture of Dyflinn.

Once again the longboats leave before the first light of the day, to take advantage of the tidal stream as the water flows out of the Dee and carries us swiftly towards the open sea. The heavy woollen sails are pulled out and prepared while we are still in the estuary.

I leave with a very heavy heart as Aud has delivered our new son; we have called him Thorfinn, just three days ago. It is a very bad time for a new father to be leaving his family, and Aud was quite openly angry with me, which I have never seen before. I am not sure what she expects of me; she knows that I have little control over events: Ragnald is the king and has been impatient to leave for over a week now. I have only been able to persuade him to delay a while because of my pressing domestic issues, but his patience is now completely spent and he insists that we must get on with our business.

Although I am on the boat with him all my thoughts are left behind on the shore with my wife, daughter and new son. For once our friendship has been put under strain. Why could not Ragnald understand this when he has also been though this experience so recently? At least Aud still has her mother Grunhilde with her to care for her, though the old lady is not as sprightly as she once was. We are both concerned for her health too, we can both remember all too clearly and painfully the rapid decline of my mother in her last days.

As so often before we are moving along the river and eventually we feel the kick of the grey turbulent water of the sea with its white caps. That familiar motion, rising and falling, has become a part of my life. We will take the most direct route into the Ripam, skirting between the sand banks despite the dangers of stranding the boat on a falling tide, and up that long narrow estuary, taking care to stay in the centre so as to avoid the sand banks that are just below the surface all around us, unseen at mid-tide. This boat is perfectly designed for such shallow waters and so we are able to make good progress.

It is a long hard row up the estuary, mostly against the tide though eventually we are in slack water at the low tide. Now the great sand banks tower above us and we must pick our way carefully up the narrow sandy channel made by the fresh water of the river. Fortunately it is a bright dry day and we can enjoy the passage. It is heavy work rowing all the way but we have a full crew to undertake the work.

Ragnald has brought a great number of the Danir mercenaries with him, mostly because he is cautious of leaving them behind in our community. It was easy to persuade them to move as they are mostly single men, here as mercenaries and with no wish to put down roots. He has decided that they will be located here on the Ripam and will build a new settlement here, extending the existing Danir settlement at Prestune. This reflects his long expressed view that the Ripam is a better base than the Dee, with far better access to Jorvik.

The disastrous raid on Ceaster has helped him in this objective too, the Wirral settlement will be in much greater danger of attack from the Mercian Angles now, perhaps as retaliation from the attack on their town, or simply because we have failed to make the tribute payments. So moving out of their reach suddenly makes a lot more sense!

We stop besides the village, to take some refreshments and much of this new army will stay here indefinitely and undertake the task of building new longhouses to house themselves. The whole group stops here and the work of finding timber and clearing land for new houses is organised and begins. It is a very good thing to keep these men fully occupied. The next issue to be tackled is the preparation of farming land to grow crops to feed them.

The work having begun Ragnald and I move beyond Prestune and towards the ford point, which is also the highest navigable point of the river beyond Prestune. This time the tide is much lower and we need to carry the boat for the final stretch. I am left carefully looking for those two oak trees. It is a relief when we reach the place and find the two trees, indicating the site of the buried hoard. Ragnald is briefly interested in hearing about the location of the hoard but is content with a brief description, never a man for great detail, and we leave it there.

There is no point in digging up the hoard now with all the attendant risk, just to have the task of carrying its weight to Jorvik, which is a den of thieves anyway. It will be much better to recover it when we get our army to this point, ready to embark for the invasion.

He tells me that he has little need to remember the exact site as that is my job. If I was not able to find it when he needs it, he would devote the treasure as a sacrifice to Thor, and bury my flayed body beside it as an additional gift to the god.

Once again we travel the familiar route to Jorvik, up the valley and over the lush green hills for three days before we see Jorvik in the middle distance across the plain. The town looks even larger and more prosperous now than we remember it just a year or so earlier. The smoke and the stench seem to have grown as well.

It is easy to find lodgings and we eat very well here, though the cost is a few more ounces of Ragnald's silver which, as always, he gives up with great reluctance. This time he pays with the silver coins made by Brodir under Aud's guidance. They bear Ragnald's own image, which he is very proud of. The innkeeper insults Ragnald by nicking the coins with a knife to test them to ensure that they are made from pure silver and not just a coating on the outside. There are often fake coins made which are of impure metal which is often harder and can also be detected by the point of a knife. Despite Ragnald's bad temper over the issue the innkeeper has good reason to check that the unfamiliar coins are truly pure silver. Eventually, though with extreme bad grace, he does accept them. Only just in time to save himself from being throttled by Ragnald.

Next morning we seek out the house of the rulers of this great kingdom of Northumberland, which now stretches from the borders of Fortriu down to the southern edge of East Anglia in the south. Our conversation in the taverns allows us to hear of the way Danelaw has strengthened its grip on this country. The East Angles, though nominally independent, are very much under the dominance of the Danir, as is most of eastern Mercia, though Wessex remains as the great seat of Saxon strength. They in turn have taken control of Cent and of southern Mercia. The Welsc remain in control of the west so the country has divided into three great power blocs, which eye each other relentlessly looking for weakness. Each is endlessly plotting to take power, wealth and land from the other.

Ragnald has sent a messenger to Thora's cousin Halfdan who is one of the three kings who jointly rule Danelaw from this their capital city. The others are Eowils and Ivarr, but it seems they expect Halfdan to represent them, and we have never met the other two.

Once at the palace, which is built in the remains of an old Roman fort, we are left to await an audience with Halfdan. We are made to hand in our weapons before entering the palace and Ragnald does not like that, though it is normal protocol in such a place. He has little option but to agree though as he needs to get to see the kings of Northumberland. All of our plans depend on their co-operation.

The hall in which we are seated is hung with impressive tapestries in brilliant colours, reds, blues and greens, the like of which we have not seen before. They are obviously expensive goods imported from faraway places and depict foreign people who are dressed in elegant clothes quite unlike those of our own people. This place is designed to show the wealth, power and extensive influence of the Northumberland kings. We are offered drinks, including wine imported from far off foreign lands, which Ragnald drinks with relish. We all impressed with these luxuries and enjoy the wine, an unusual treat.

In an hour we are escorted into see the king. Unfortunately our conversation with Halfdan does not go as well as we hope; he is clearly not as impressed by Ragnald's campaign in Fortriu as Ragnald himself was. The loss of so many men obviously weighed heavily with him, despite the rich haul of silver. No doubt it has limited his ability to undertake other military adventures in the south. Perhaps this is the reason why he did not take the time to attend Ragnald's wedding, when he married Halfdan's cousin, as an expression of his displeasure.

Ragnald tells Halfdan to honour his pledge to assist in the invasion of Dyflinn, made before we made the venture into Pictland. That expedition was principally to protect Jorvik's northern border from the Picts, and succeeded in doing that as they are massively depleted now. It also demonstrated how a combined army could perform under Ragnald's control. Now we expect him to support us in our objective, which is to move the Irskrs out of our city of Dyflinn. Halfdan has other ideas for this army though.

It seems the priority for him now is to counter the threat from King Edward of Wessex, who is the son of the Danirs' former great foe, Alfred, now deceased. It seems his power lives on with his son, as their towns remain fortified and his army constantly ready for action. Halfdan proposes the formation of a combined army, along the lines of our army that went into Fortriu, to raid deep into Anglo-Saxon territory. Although Mercia is weak it looks like Wessex which was once on the verge of yielding to the Danir, has successfully reinvented itself. Maybe an expedition, once successful in Mercia, might venture even into Wessex itself, to attack the core of their strength. We have already done that with the Picts, and therefore we might establish Viking dominance of the whole of the island of Alba.

The Anglo-Saxon territories will be better defended though, having large populations, but they are also very rich. Any army venturing into Angle or Saxon land will be quite certain to make itself wealthy from the plunder, if it succeeded. There would, of course, be significant risk that it would not survive the assault but that possibility is rarely part of Ragnald's reasoning. He always expects to triumph, and up to now, he always has.

The proposal is, however, not what Ragnald wants to hear now. He is currently focussed on retrieving his own kingdom in Dyflinn and feels that he is being asked to start all over again, having already earned support for his own mission. It is very much the same deal as he was previously offered with the Picts, except that now the Danes have proved themselves unreliable allies who do not keep their word. He has the use of Danir warriors but only to fight their wars and the price is that he has to share the plunder with them.

Ragnald is also very uncomfortable with the proposed expedition into Mercia, he knows the Saxons are both more numerous and better armed and organised than the Picts. They are a formidable, numerous and ingenious foe, as Ingamund found at Ceaster, and victory over them can never be taken for granted. The deal will obviously appeal to Halfdan; he is only risking the lives of his men in a battle that he will certainly have to fight at some time regardless of Ragnald's involvement. He will himself probably stay safe in his capital in Jorvik, well away from the dangers of battle.

We are being asked to risk our own lives in another adventure which is not relevant to our own strategic aim in return for just some plunder and the possibility that some day Halfdan might keep his pledge to assist us. It is certainly a poor deal but there are no other allies who might even possibly aid our cause. We retire to ponder our position overnight, collecting our weapons as we leave the palace. It is an uncomfortable dilemma.

Having pondered on it I feel that I should advise Ragnald not to accept the mission, or at least not until Dyflinn has been recovered. He might make Halfdan a counter proposal to take on Edward and the other Saxons, but only after he has had the help of a Danish army to recover his own kingdom. That way Halfdan would have to trust that Ragnald will not go back on his commitment rather than Ragnald needing to worry about Halfdan keeping his word. The Dane has already gone back on his word following our war with the Picts and so he cannot be trusted any further. He is also making it clear to Ragnald that Halfdan regards him as an inferior, a subservient party who should accept Halfdan's demands.

Any disagreement is, however, a huge blow to our hopes for the recovery of our homeland. We have always believed that we need the co-operation and support of these Danir people, our distant kinfolk, so now we have to find another way to raise an army.

Perhaps it is time to rethink our entire strategy as we now have to consider what new courses of action are open to us. It is time to think the unthinkable and find a genuinely imaginative new course of action. It must be something that we have not previously thought of, or something we have not imagined possible before. After a while pondering other possibilities we can see a small number of other opportunities which we can consider.

We might try to raise an army of Danir mercenaries, either by putting the word out here in Jorvik, or by waiting in our own town for disillusioned Danish warriors to come to us. Having developed the new site at Prestune, inside Danelaw, and within relatively easy reach of Jorvik this has a stronger possibility to succeed. Of course, this has already happened to some extent without our actively promoting it. Although Ingamund's ill-fated sally towards Ceaster might indicate reduced confidence in the quality of these men we know they are true fighting men. Ingamund's inability to plan a proper attack was the largest problem.

Perhaps we might find less likely partners such as the King of Gwynedd or even Ottar of Vannin, but past relationships with these parties does not suggest we could easily negotiate an alliance with them. If we are considering these parties then maybe we might even form a pact with the Angles against the Danes. Had that been suggested before Ceaster it might have seemed very plausible, but that relationship has been permanently soured by Ingamund and it is simply not possible now.

Perhaps our best chance would be to search the borders of our sea in order to find our brother Lochlain groups, especially Sihtric and Guthfrith, Ragnald's cousins, who would probably share our desire to make Dyflinn Norse again. They too were party to the oath committing them to regain our city at the Althing on Dalkey all that time ago, immediately after we lost our home. We can start by seeking out all the gossip in the taverns of Jorvik. Any information that exists on their whereabouts is most likely to have reached this city.