Paul Kingsnorth - The Wake

on this sea i seen a boat a great boat afyr in light and cuman near to me and once this boat was a small light in a deorc night but now it is here and lightan up all things and this light on my hands on my nebb and hot lic a fyr for a fyr it is

for this boat is no boat but a great scip with carfan heafod and with scields on its sides a boat of the eald times it is the scip of those who first came. and this scip it is afyr in great wafs of red afyr and yet mofan all afyr and in this fyr i sees scaps mofan scaps and these scaps now i sees triewe and i seen

we lifd in this holt near to langetof for sum daegs we macd a small hus of timber and leafs we cnawan how to lif. we was eatan roots and leafs for the winter was gan and the spring was cuman and things was lifan again. we hunted the hara and i was eatan my mete from my swine though i was doan this when grimcell and tofe was not near for this was my mete and not for them. soon we wolde cwell one of the swine what tofe had brought but it was not yet time for we wolde haf to smoc or salt the mete to cepe it long and we colde not do that in this place so for now we ate the hara and the fugol

in this time we was locan at the straet locan for this frenc man. one of us was always locan and we seen him efry daeg cum down the straet from the west on his hwit hors and then he gan baec again sum time later. sum times he did this one time and sum times he cum and gan two or efen three times in one daeg. this cilde tofe this yonge cilde of mine he had saed he cnawan this man so i was macan him tell me all he cnawan. he telt me that this man had been seen also in his ham

what was he doan there i ascs

he is our new thegn saes tofe

thegn i saes

thegn saes grimcell

he is a fuccan ingenga i saes he has a shafd heafod he specs sum ingenga tunge this man can be no thegn of angland

he telt us he was the thegn now saed tofe he telt us that wulmaers land was now his land that we was now his men and that he was mofan around the hams to see the lie of the land to cnawan the fenns what now he was a man of. he spac anglisc to us but a lytel only and in an ingenga way

thy mothor saes grimcell thy father thu saed they was cwelled by the frenc was it him

no it was not him saes tofe it was sum others and it was not my mothor in triewth i nefer has had one. my mothor died in bringan me to this world my father has cept me since that daeg

did he cepe thu well

well enough saes the cilde all was well until the frenc cum and then one daeg three frenc men on hors cum into our ham. they locd lic this man and they telt us we moste gif mor geld for our land and all was ired but when they cum for the geld in the end folcs gaf it for there had been so micel blud and it was clere who was cyngs now. but my father he wolde not gif it and sum others wolde not gif it also and so one daeg these three frenc men they cum to the ham with sweords and they tacs those who wolde not gif geld from us and they saes we moste haf laws in this land and they tacs these men away into the holt and my father with them and they nefer cums out

what becum of them saes grimcell specan soft

after sum hours when the frenc had gan saes tofe sum of us from the ham went into the holt to find them to see if they was still there. we did not go far into the treows and we found them hangan from lines all cwelled. i seen my father hangan he was mofan as the treow was mofan his face it was red lic the sunne at dusc his tunge

the cilde then he locs down at the ground and naht mor he saes and grimcell he tacs him by the sceoldor and saes i is sorry cilde they is scuccas all of them

scuccas yes i saes for i does not cnaw what mor to sae

our folc saes tofe our folc we moste haf done sum great yfel for this. we moste haf done sum great yfel agan the word of god for this to cum to us so many good men tacan away by this ire and blud what is the yfel that we has done

there is no yfel i saes these is the lies of preosts there is no yfel

tofe then he is locan down for sum time and grimcell locan at me and not saen naht and then tofe he specs

i wolde lic to cwell this frenc man he saes

cwell him i saes. i did not thinc he wolde sae a thing lic this

we is grene men saes tofe we is free men we is men of the holt now. a wergild is owed on my fathers lif and who will gif it me

many anglisc folcs is owed wergilds saes grimcell who of us is not

what wolde thu do ring gifer saes tofe to me

oh yes ring gifer saes grimcell tell us what wolde thu do

cwell him i saes cwell him yes we colde we colde

and then how many frenc will cum here saes grimcell ten twentig one hundred and all will be locan for us with line

how many frenc is here now saes tofe and how micel line

the cilde is right i saes frenc men is in all parts beornan and cwellan what wolde thu do man sitt on thy arse and loc at them

well of course i will follow thu great buccmaster saes grimcell so now tell us what sceolde we do

well i saes we will tac this ingenga and we will cut him up send him baec to the frenc lands as a warnan to those who cum to angland in fyr and blud

yes saes tofe yes and he is smercan. grimcell only locs at me lic i is mad

how he saes

why does thu not fuccan thinc about this also i saes. do not sitt there saen how and why and what but help us man help rid thy land of these things

grimcell shrugs and saes i wolde lic to see no mor death now i wolde lic only to lif

thu will see see death in all parts i saes to him efen if thy eages is scut. does thu thinc thu can go baec to thy hus what is aesc there is naht now but death

death is in all parts saes tofe. he is a good cilde i is sean a good cilde and wise

grimcell locs at us both for sum small time then he mofs his head lic a hors mofs his to cnoc away a fleoge

well he saes what wolde thu do

the thought about the line was not tofes it was mine. i sent the cilde in to the ham of langetof and i telt him to get a length of line for if line was what cwelled anglisc men then line it was what wolde cwell frenc. he cum baec sum time later with a length of strong line though he saed it had not been easy to get with folcs ascan from where he was cum and what we wolde gif for it

well i had this thought and i telt it to grimcell and tofe and both saed it was good and we slept that night in our hus in the holt and the daeg that was to cum we saed wolde be the last daeg on eorth of this man what called himself our thegn. when the light cum up we cum up from our beds on the ground and we toc the line and i toc my sweord and my scramasax and we went down the straet to the west for one or it may be two miles. we went to where the holt cums up to the straet where no men is. we went away from the ham and grimcell and i we done our worc with line and treows and then we satt in the holt and we waited

it was sum time we waited in triewth. men cum up that path with small hors and with sacs and foda and wud and cycens and in the holt we satt grimcell and tofe and me we satt locan at them and they not sean us for we was in the treows and of them. then after sum time we seen him cum

from the west he cum on his hwit hors sittan straight cuman down this straet and he was alone as we had hoped and none others on the straet at this time. here the straet was straight for a way and this frenc man he colde see maybe half a mile before the straet teorned and was lost in the wud

now at the place where the straet teorned in to the wud again a cilde stept on to the straet sum way ahead of this frenc man but where he colde be seen by him and this cilde he spoc

frenc cunt he saes frenc fuccer

this man then he locs at this cilde

frenc fuccer calls the cilde thu cwelled my father and i will cwell thu and all the hores thu calls thy folc and the bastard thu calls thy cyng. go home frenc cunt or thu will die. at this the cilde then tacs down his breces and teorns his bare arse at the thegn