Paul Kingsnorth - The Wake

i spac to him then but he nefer spac baec

this weland this great smith who had ceosan me he had cum when all was teornan about in blud and fyr this great ealdor of all anglisc folc lic i saes i seen why he ceosan me for i was a socman of three oxgangs i had been gifen the sight of the fugol who cum to warn us and i was of the eald hus. now angland was in need and now i had been to the hus of the lost gods so it seemed to me i would be gifen a path to tac

but no path was seen then this smith weland he spac to me when he ceose and other times he gan and was not hierde for days and nights. sum times i was thincan he saes he is weland he saes he is the great smith of wulfdale but all i has is words i does not cnaw i has not seen him it may be he is sum deoful or sum nightgenga of the holt specan to me plegan with me succ things has been hierde of. when i was a yonge cilde many tales was telt to me by other boys in the ham of eald ghasts from fenn and holt what cum to men whispran to them of gold and luf. oft when men cums to land what has been ham to aelfs they will hiere micel whispran and be telt to cum to the fenn at night for sum maeden is waitan but naht is waitan but death

so at this time i still did not cnaw what to do and sum daegs was spent wandran in the holts around the eald ham for though naht was there but aesc now i did not cnawan where to go or what to do. i locs now and i sees that i cnawan in triewth what i moste do but then i was afeart and so i cept to places i cnawan for to leaf wolde be to cum to my wyrd in full and this thing was so great it left me dreaned and small in its sceado

for in triewth i cnawan another reason weland cum to me for this was what my grandfather telt me and aelfgifu when we was yonge cildren when he was tellan us in his great hus the tale of the smith and his allwise and wulfdale and the yfels of cyngs. my yonge sistor she was in awe of my grandfather as was i but i was the first son of my father and so for my grandfather i was to be cyng of his cynn to cum and he loccd at me this way. after he telt me this tale of weland he stood and he tocc from the beam his sweord what is now my sweord and slow he toc it from its sceath and he mofd it about in the light from fyr and door and from it cum lihts of its own that swam about the hus lic fisc in the water

cilde he saes this sweord thu sees but sceal not grip till thu is man this is welands sweord. this sweord was gifen to me by my father who was called guthrum a great man and he was gifen it by his father and this sweord it was macd by weland him self in the myrcwud fyrs this sweord was born in the year angland was born and the year my grandfather was born for these was all the same. weland he cum to my grandfather at night for he was a great man my grandfather and he telt me this when i too was a cilde lic thu he telt me of when weland cum to him and of the fear he was in for this great smith he cum one night when my grandfather was cuman baec from the fenn. and locan up he seen cuman out from the holt a great gold man scinan with fyr in the cuman night

this man he cum to him and he was tall lic the treows and on him he wore clothes of gold scinan with stans and on his heafod was a great helm lic that of the eald cyngs all carfan with boars and wyrms and raefns and scinan too and all that colde be seen of his nebb was his eages what was strong lic the sunne itself

and there by the fenn in the dyan light of the daeg and in the cuman night this great man he saes i is weland smith ealdor of this land gifer of tools and waepans and to thu i has cum and why thu will nefer cnaw but thu moste tac what i gifs to thu and not asc and this will be a good wyrd for thu and thy cynn

and my grandfather he colde sae naht for he was afeart and this great ent of gold then he specs mor he saes these is new times now for all folcs in these lands is one folc and to cepe thy hus free of denes and other ingengas thu sceal be gifen this great sweord what is macd in fyr and with the blud of many in its macan. and from his baec he tacs this sweord what thu now sees and he gifs it ofer to my grandfather who was still afeart and small

and there is one other thing also saes my grandfather locan at me and also at my sistor there is one other thing weland saes to my grandfather he saes that this sweord thu moste cepe on thy land always for it is thine alone and this sweord it is for thy cynn to cepe their selfs free. and this may be free from ingenga folc from denes or it may be free from others in angland from anglisc folc who wolde mac thu small it may be from those who wolde put them selfs ofer thu who wolde call them selfs thy

well my grandfather he saes no mor for it was then that my father cum into the hus he cum through the door and i colde see he had been hearan sum of what my grandfather had saed for he cums to him and to us and he is in sum ire

thu cildren go from the hus he saes go now and we can see he is not to be pleged with here and so my sistor and i we gets to our feet and not locan at our grandfather we runs from the hus and at the door i teorns when i is goan and i sees my father tac this sweord rough lic from my grandfather who stands and locs at him also in ire but my father is a strong man and he saes to my grandfather do not i has saed to thu do not i will not haf this efer in this hus. and then my father he teorns to me with ire and i runs out into the sunne with my sistor and a hwit place it is on the land all light and free after where we has been

well what i done after sum time i gan ofer to bacstune for this ham was one i cnawan and i wolde see if what had cum to us had cum also to others in holland. bacstune was sum hours walc ofer fenn paths and through the holt and on these paths i was safe for none colde walc these places but those who was folc of them so windan was they and so hard was the fenn on those who cum from other lands. with me i toc welands sweord and the other things i had toc from the fyr and sum aels and sum mete from my dead swine what i had toc and smocd for i did not cnaw how long i wolde be mofan or where i wolde go

bacstune was not a long walc but i moste tac care for who was in the holts now i did not cnaw who was in angland i did not cnaw. in triewth though i toc care i seen naht and no man in fenn or holt until i cum near to bacstune on the path what went in to that ham and then when i cum near a man cum from the treows and it was this grimcell what had been with ecceard and he cum to me

do not go to bacstune he saes there is frenc there

now

they has been there i does not cnaw if they is gan

where is ecceard

ecceard is not long

grimcell then he is gan baec in to the treows and he is a strong man and anglisc and there is frenc in bacstune so i gan with him he tacs me sum way in to the holt and to a place where there is a fyr and a small hus macd of treows and stoccs and leafs it seems they has been here for sum daegs. i sees ecceard is lyan in this small hus and not mofan

dead i saes

he will be far faran soon saes grimcell the sicness has tacan him his ears blede grene and blaec he is cold i has put sum hunig and salt on him but i has not any wicce craft we needs sum wif to be with him with eced and senep and wyrts naht is growan it is still winter

i gan in to the lytel hus then and i locs down at ecceard who does not open his eages

i has gifen him water saes this grimcell he nedes mete has thu mete

no i saes i has no mete

ecceard then he opens his eages and locs up but what colde he see

it is thu he saes thu thu sceolde not haf cum all is blud now blud thu brings

see he is sicc saes grimcell

blud thu brings saes ecceard

well i will not lysten to this rot i will not waste mete on him he is dyan so i leafs this hus of bare treows and i gan out again and after sum time grimcell he cums out also