Viking Weregeld Read online

  We had enough way so that we nudged into the boats which were tied to the wooden quay. The ship’s boys bravely leapt across them to tie us up to the wooden stanchions on the quay. Aðils and Beorn were on their heels to secure the quay. As I followed them I saw that there was a wooden wall and a gate. I shouted, “Olaf, take Rolf Horse Killer and Einar Hammer Arm, break into the gate. Beorn, Aðils go and watch them.”

  None said anything for that was our way. I watched Gruffyd race after them, unbidden. He had a bow in his hand. He was trying to impress me. I thought to reprimand him and then thought better of it. I had said that all eyes would be on him. He had listened. I needed to see how my son and grandson fought and led.

  “Haaken, form a shield wall, and be ready to enter the gate when we have breached it. I will wait for the others.”

  He smiled, “It is good, old friend.”

  I nodded although I was not happy about allowing others to bear the brunt of the fighting. In truth, this was not a well-made wall. I could see that it had been made by the men of Om Walum. I had no doubt that there would be a hill fort which was not far away. It would be built on rock and would be hard to take. The men of Om Walum used such refuges in times of danger. When an enemy drew close they would retreat there and laugh at their enemy’s attempts to dislodge them. We were a new phenomenon. We came by sea and so quickly that their refuges would be useless.

  I heard the axes as they hacked at the gate. Ragnar and Thorghest appeared behind me. “Thorghest, have some of your men search these ships. Some may have cargo.”

  “Aye Jarl Dragonheart. Do we empty the cargo if we find any?”

  I shook my head, “Load it on to one. Find the most seaworthy of the ships and load that one.” He turned to rattle out his orders. He was new. Asbjorn, Ketil and Raibeart would not have needed to ask.

  Ragnar said, “Let me lead my men to take their hall, Jarl Dragonheart.”

  “You are ready?”

  He smiled, “That is what this is all about is it not? To see if I am ready?”

  “Go! Show me that you are Wolf Killer’s son!”

  He drew his sword and waved his men forward. I saw that he had his own oathsworn who acted like my Ulfheonar. They needed no command. They obeyed signals. The walls of the town were now filling with men. The Angry Cubs had bows and they were making life difficult for the defenders. None, save the Welsh, used bows as well as we did. I heard Ragnar’s shout and watched as my men parted to allow the wedge through. I was proud of my grandson that day. He and his men struck the gate just as Olaf’s axe sheared the last piece from the bar. They burst in.

  I ran to join Haaken and my men. I noticed that Gruffyd had slung his bow and now hefted his spear. He stood next to Einar Fair Face. I pointed to the church tower we could see over the tops of the wall. “That is our target!” The men formed a shield wall. Olaf Leather Neck joined us. “Olaf, go and watch Ragnar. See that he is safe.”

  “He will be.”

  “Aye so watch him and then you can tell me.” My Ulfheonar slipped his shield around his back and, with his axe in two hands, ran after Ragnar and his wedge.

  We passed through the gate. I could see the bodies slain by Ragnar and his men. There were also bodies pitched from the fighting platform. Those within the walls were fleeing towards the church. I saw that it was made of stone. It was only the top of the tower that was made of wood. This would be their refuge. I saw Ragnar lead his men towards the hall. It was not a Saxon hall. It had a stone base. The men of Om Walum built differently. I turned to lead my men towards the church and the tower. There were fewer bodies there. The door to the church was barred and I saw men in the tower. They were using slings and bows. We had our shields before us. The missiles were wasted.

  When we were twenty paces from it I shouted, “Surround it but keep up your shields!” The men behind us peeled off to surround the solid looking church. Even with the noise of fighting in other parts of the town I could still hear the chants from the people inside. They were imploring their god to save them from us. They would have been better to have taken a weapon and prepare to fight us!

  It was only when the Angry Cubs and Raibeart’s men joined us that we managed to completely surround the church. Rolf Horse Killer and Einar Hammer Arm still had their axes but I saw that the door was studded with iron. Their axes would blunt before they could break in. We needed something else. I turned and saw that one of the nearby houses had two stout poles supporting the overhanging porch. “Rolf, Einar, chop down those poles they will make good battering rams.”

  Soon I heard their axes as they began to hack through the wood. I knew that the door would have a lock of some description and a bar. However, it also had to have hinges. They were the weak points. The defenders had ceased to waste their missiles. None of my men had even been hurt by them. We were an enemy they had little experience of fighting. I heard the crash as the two poles were felled and the roof of the house collapsed.

  Gruffyd said, “Jarl Dragonheart, let me carry a ram!”

  As much as I did not want to, for it was dangerous to do so, I could not deny him. I nodded. Others picked up the rams. Men stood alternatively and their shields were slung over their exposed arms. “Hit the hinges!”

  Erik Ironshirt and his men had their bows and they picked off those who tried to lean out and throw a stone or a javelin at the men with the rams. Soon the men with the rams got into a rhythm. One hit the top hinge and the other hit the bottom. It sounded like a death knell. I readied myself with Haaken, Rolf, and Rollo. With Olaf watching my grandson the four of us would force the breach. There was a sudden crack and the door moved slightly. The hinges were broken.

  “Now, together! In the middle!”

  Haaken and I locked our shields and stood behind Rolf and Rollo. Aðils and Beorn were behind us with their bows at the ready. The twelve men with the two rams hit the door together and it burst asunder. Rolf and Rollo ran in and Haaken and I had our shields in the middle of their backs. Haaken and I had our swords drawn but it was the weight of four heavy mailed warriors and their shields which was the most potent weapon. The defenders who had stood behind the door could not stand against us. Punched by our shields and cut by our blades, they fell. I stamped down at the Saxon’s face beneath my seal skin boot. Rolf brought his axe over his head to smash into the skull of the eorledman in the mail byrnie who blocked our way to the church.

  “Erik, take your men up into the tower!”

  “Aye Jarl.”

  With no one to bar our way Haaken flung open the door. The church was packed with men women and children. The warriors were in the tower and there were but six with weapons.

  “Lower your weapons and drop to your knees. I am Jarl Dragonheart and you shall be spared if you surrender. Fight and you die!”

  One warrior lunged at me with his sword. Cnut Cnutson appeared from nowhere and brought his own sword to sweep into his back. The man was almost cut in two.

  “Drop to your knees!”

  One by one they began to drop. In the silence, we heard the cries from the tower as Erik and his Angry Cubs slaughtered the defenders. The tower had been a refuge. Now it was a death trap. I turned to Asbjorn, “Take charge here. Find the best slaves and search the church.”

  “Aye Jarl. We have had tougher battles.”

  “I am long past wishing for glory, Asbjorn. No deaths and as much treasure as we can carry are all that I crave now.”

  I left and, with my Ulfheonar, headed to the citadel. When we reached it, I saw that it was over. Ragnar and his men had slain all those who had tried to defend the hall. I saw that Raibeart and his men had supported Ragnar. That was as it should be. Their wives were close and they lived hard by each other. Olaf Leather Neck had blood on his blade and his mail was spattered with gore. He was not one who could just watch. He pointed to the north gate, “Some fled, Jarl.”

  I nodded and waited for Ragnar to join me. “Well?”

  He grinned, “The town is our
s.”

  “So, what will we do now?”

  He frowned for he knew I was testing his decision making and then he said, “Secure the gate and send raiding parties out for animals and anything which may lie just beyond the burgh. Then search for treasure.”

  I nodded, “Aye, you are almost ready. Give the order then!”

  While he did that I said, “And let us see what lies in the hall.”

  We clambered over the bodies which had not yet been dragged away to be stripped of mail and weapons. Inside it was dark. The fire glowed in the middle. I spied a chest by the two large chairs. They looked like thrones. The huge chest had a lock on it. I nodded to Olaf who swung his axe and sheared off the lock. Inside there were four smaller chests. Haaken lifted out one and opened it. There were bones wrapped in a cloth. They were obviously a saint or a relic of a dead king. They might have value. A second one contained writing. To most Vikings it was something with which to light a fire but Aiden found such writings valuable. We would take that home. Finally, we opened the last two chests. One contained coins. Most had the image of King Egbert but some had the face of a king I did not recognize. The last chest contained jewels, torcs and bracelets.

  “Come we will take these back to the drekar and see what else we have captured.”

  By the time we reached the water I saw that Thorghest had found a ship which had the lines of a knarr but was a little larger with a higher prow and stern. His men were busy loading the booty from the other ships. He grinned when he saw our chests. “A good haul!”

  “And it is not over yet,” Rollo pointed behind us. “There is still the treasure from the church, slaves and we have yet to search all of the buildings.”

  “There is tin here, Jarl Dragonheart. There is no gold but there are sheepskins. We found a chest containing beryl and other stones. It looks like they were going to take them to market.”

  Haaken laughed, “Then we can do that for them eh, Jarl?”

  Just then the first slaves came, escorted by Erik Ironshirt. Gruffyd and Einar Fair Face followed with spears prodding the priests at the rear. They all had their hands bound and were strung together like beads on a necklace. I went aboard my drekar with my Ulfheonar and the chests.

  “Erik, store these below the decks and then I want a crew and a captain to take the ship back to Whale Island.”

  “We are not taking it with us?”

  “The goods it contains can be used by us. There is tin, jewels and sheep skins. We will take the relics and slaves along with anything else we can find, to Dorestad.”

  By the time evening came Ragnar’s raiders had returned with sheep, pigs and cows taken from the farms which lay to the north of the burgh. “Slaughter the two old animals and put the rest on the ship we captured.”

  “Jarl, Lord Ragnar said to tell you that the scouts spied a column of men heading from the north.”

  “Thorghest, Erik, leave six men to watch the slaves and then have the rest of your men join us on the wall.”

  I picked up my shield and ran with the others. It did not surprise me that there were warriors coming to the aid of the burgh. The signal fire had been lit. Of little use to the burgh it had been seen by others. Now, with the sun shining more brightly I needed to put my men on the wall. That could be the deterrent we needed to buy us time to load our ships, fire the town and escape.

  By the time I reached the north gate I could see the standards of the men who were coming to the aid of the beleaguered burgh. I was not especially worried. We had their own walls we could defend against them and they must have marched ten or more miles. This was a chance to see what Ragnar would do. I stood next to him. I noticed that Gruffyd had hurried after us and stood to my left.

  Raibeart turned to my grandson and said, “I will take my men to the eastern side of the burgh in case they have ships.”

  “Thank you, brother.”

  “Well Ragnar, son of Wolf Killer, what do we do?”

  He smiled, “Another test, grandfather?”

  “Let us say that I am interested.”

  “When they come they have two choices, attack or talk. If they talk I will tell them I have prisoners to slay. If they attack,” he waved a hand at the archers who were lining the walls, “then they die. It is as simple as that.”

  He was right, of course. The only chance the Saxons and their conquered men of Om Walum had was to catch us while we were taking the town. We had it and they were too late. I saw that the standard which approached was that of an eorledman. He would be wondering about the loyalty of the men of Om Walum. On the one hand this had been a town of Om Walum but, on the other it had been captured by Saxons. On reflection, I thought that the men of Om Walum would fight and fight hard but a price would have to be paid afterwards by the Saxons. There would be blood work.

  I said nothing to Ragnar. I would let him work it out. Thorghest and Erik Ironshirt joined us. Eventually Asbjorn made his way to the walls. We had enough experienced jarls to have each side of the burgh defended. I took off my helmet. I was hot and I could not see the enemy forcing the walls. That was not what Saxons did. I rubbed my beard. I could have done with a horn of ale about then.

  The Saxons halted just two hundred paces from the walls. It was close enough for Ragnar to order arrows to be released and I admired the fact that he did not. There was no need. Ragnar could speak Saxon as well as I could. His mother was Saxon. When the Saxon eorledman took off his helmet and approached I was confident that my grandson could handle this.

  “You are Northmen! You come here to take what is ours. Know that this is now the land of King Egbert and he will not take kindly to your actions.”

  “I am Ragnar son of Wolf Killer, grandson of Jarl Dragonheart. My mother was King Egbert’s bride until she tired of his breath and his lack of manhood.” Most of my men could speak Saxon and they all laughed. “I do not care what Egbert thinks. We are Vikings and we sail where we will and take what we want. If that is all you have to say then go but, before you do, who are you?”

  “I am Eorledman Assar. I rule this land for the King.”

  “Then you are doing a piss poor job of it.”

  I saw the eorledman turn and wave a priest forward, “This is Bishop Aethelwith. He tells me that there are relics of St. Michael in his church. He would have them.”

  That was when I was the proudest of Ragnar for he did not look at me, “And how much are they worth?”

  “What?”

  “We may have found them but if they are bones then we would use them to carve. They make good chess pieces. I ask again, how much are they worth?”

  I saw the priest and the Eorledman confer. He turned, “Ten gold pieces!”

  Ragnar laughed, “I would not give you back one priest for that.”

  “Fifty.”

  “That is better. Make it eighty and you can have the bones.”

  “Eighty!!”

  “You think them valuable. It is your choice.”

  He nodded. “Eighty it is.”

  I turned, “Gruffyd, fetch the chest with the relics from the ship and tell Erik to begin loading the drekar. We leave tonight.”

  Ragnar shouted, “Then fetch your coins and you can have the bones.”

  “And what of the people?”

  “Ah so the relics are all that is important and the people are an afterthought. When we have sailed, you can have them. Make any attempt to stop us leaving and we will slaughter them all.”

  “You are heathens! You work for the devil!”

  “He appears to pay well!”

  It was dusk by the time the coins had been found and the exchange made. With the knarr heading north, we headed east to make our trade. We sang as we rowed against the wind.

  The Danes they came in dark of night

  They slew Harland without a fight

  Babies children all were slain

  Mothers and daughters split in twain

  Viking enemy, taking heads

  Viking warrior
s fighting back

  Viking enemy, taking heads

  Viking warriors fighting back

  Across the land the Ulfheonar trekked

  Finding a land by Danes' hands wrecked

  Ready to die to kill this Dane

  Dragonheart was Eggles' bane

  Viking enemy, taking heads

  Viking warriors fighting back

  Viking enemy, taking heads

  Viking warriors fighting back

  With boys as men the ships were fired

  Warriors had these heroes sired

  Then Ulfheonar fought their foe

  Slaying all in the drekar's glow

  Viking enemy, taking heads

  Viking warriors fighting back

  Viking enemy, taking heads

  Viking warriors fighting back

  When the Danes were broke, their leader fled

  Leaving his army lying dead

  He sailed away to hide and plot

  Dragonheart's fury was red hot

  Viking enemy, taking heads

  Viking warriors fighting back

  Viking enemy, taking heads

  Viking warriors fighting back

  Then sailed the men of Cyninges-tūn

  Sailing from the setting sun

  They caught the Skull upon the sea

  Beneath the church of Hwitebi

  Viking enemy, taking heads

  Viking warriors fighting back

  Viking enemy, taking heads

  Viking warriors fighting back

  Heroes all they fought the Dane

  But Finni the Dreamer, he was slain

  Then full of fury their blood it boiled

  Through blood and bodies the warriors toiled

  With one swift blow the skull was killed

  With bodies and ships the Esk was filled

  Viking enemy, taking heads

  Viking warriors fighting back

  Viking enemy, taking heads

  Viking warriors fighting back

  It was only later that I realised the singing of the song annoyed the Norns. They thought we were taunting them and they were not happy. We would pay a price. We would pay weregeld!

  Chapter 2

  It was a hard row to Frisia. I should have realised that did not bode well and turned back but I did not. If Aiden had been with us he might have warned us but he was at home. The men were in high spirits. I was also feeling more confident. My grandson had shown that he could lead. I would have done nothing differently to him. I stood at the steering board with Erik Short Toe. He was allowing one of his senior ship’s boys, Sven, to steer. Without a wind to cause problems it was an easy task.