Paul Kingsnorth - The Wake

this is what thu lics he calls thu and thy frenc men. cum and see if thu can get it cunt thu is no thegn but only a deoful

tofe has done well here and i was smercan as i stood by the straet in the treows. now he runs down the straet what gan to the ham and is lost behind treows him self. here we had hoped that this scucca wolde go after him and on this all things satt. the frenc thegn he sits it seems for a long time but in triewth it was i thinc a scort time and then he ciccs his hors and he calls to him to mof and he gan fast now down the straet to where he has seen this cilde gan

now me and grimcell we locs to our selfs. the line we had put ofer the straet was lyan down and us behind two treows on eacc side of it and when this hors cum up to us mofan fast too fast to stop i calls to grimcell and we both pulls baec around the treow and the line cums up ofer the path of the hors and the man and he sees it cuman at him and he roars out but he is mofan at succ speed that naht can be done for him and the line tacs him across the throta and baec ofer his hors and on to the ground

well this is what we had wanted and we is blithe to see how this has gan. all three of us we runs then in thryll to the straet where this man lays cluccan at his throta what is torn and gaspan and locan up at us and his eages locan through us to the heofon. here now is his great bec of a nose and his scafd heafod and his haer lic a helm and his ingenga clothes and he is writhan but we will not allow him to rise

so ingenga i saes thu saes thu is our thegn thu saes our land is thy land well loc now scucca at what thu is cum to

scucca saes tofe locan down at him. the frenc man tries to sae sum words but he can not mac his words cum

well cilde i saes well then. i locs at tofe and he locs at me also

well he saes

well i saes i is thincan on what thu saed. i wolde lic to cwell this man thu saed i wolde lic to cwell this frenc man well now then he is at thy feet.

o saes tofe and he locs lic a cilde again now. from my belt i tacs my scramasax and i gifs it to him

cwell him i saes

o saes tofe again and he locs down at the ingenga who now breathes hefig through his broc throat and locs up at us hefig too. his hors stands sum way from us locan about

folcs will cum down this straet i saes at any time they moste not find us we moste be cwic. cwell him cilde haf thy wergild for thy hanged father

at this tofe locs at me and then grimcell who is standan locan on saen naht and then down at this man on the ground with blud on his hands and his nebb

i has nefer cwelled no man he saes i does not cnawan how

does not cnawan how i saes thu has a scramasax there is his bodig thu has cwelled swine has thu not

it is not the same

it is not the same because swine has not cwelled thy father now fuccan cwell him cilde for all this was thy thought

tofe locs down at this ingenga again and now he is not talcan of cwellan and grene men and feohtan. now he is lic what he is a small cilde from a fenn ham

he may be a good man in his own land saes tofe

what is this i saes what is this scit cilde. this is not a fuccan game a good man a good fuccan man tell that to thy father to my wifman tell that to harald cyng cilde

i tacs the scramasax from him then and i gan down on one cneow and i stics it into the frenc mans throat deop and he gasps and calls then and his arms and shancs they mofs to try and cicc me away but i has my cneow on his breost and with my scramasax i saws up until his throta is cut and blaec blud then cums roaran out lic gathran wind and he claws and cocs and his eages is on on mine first wid then dim then gan

i stands and i gifs the scramasax baec to tofe all wet with blud and his sceacan hand i macs to grip it. he is hwit now this cilde and grimcell who stands there is still. along the blaed of the scramasax i runs my hand until my fingors is all in frenc blud and this blud then i smears on the nebb of this cilde tofe and though he starts he does not stop me

has thu seen the hafoc feohtan with the craw i saes. all of the world is blud cilde it is wiht agan wiht will thu be hafoc or craw will thu be fugol or wyrm will thu be anglisc or frenc will thu hang or be hanged for there is naht else now in all this world

thu has thy wergild now cilde i saes now cum we moste mof him

i had thought to mof the scucca from the straet and leaf him in the holt for the craw and the fox and to tac his hors what was a good hors. but none of this cum to be for as we gan to tac him betweon us to mof him two men on hors cum down the straet and these two men they was frenc also. it seemed to me that these men they was with the thegn for their frenc clothes and haer was lic his and they was cuman not so far behind him. well these men they seen us they seen their man on the ground all in a mere of blud and his hors standan locan and these men they calls out and spurs their hors and they cum down on us and in their hands i sees they has frenc sweords

but here is the thing about these frenc they lufs their hors. seldum does thu see a frenc man who is not on the baec of a hors sittan or walcan. they specs on hors they etes on hors it may be they sleeps on hors. i does not cnawan if this is what they does in their own lands or if they stays on hors only in angland to cepe safe from anglisc folcs but all i does cnaw is that sum times it seems frenc folcs was born on hors

this was good for us now for we seen these two men cuman down on us and we ran all three into the holt. the holt in these parts was thicc the treows old and near the ground thicc with grene and with many small treows also growan in all parts. we was men of the fenns and we cnawan how to mof in these fenn wuds but this was not ground for hors. locan baec i seen these men cum to the treows on hors and loc in and i seen them get down and tie their hors to treows and begin to cum in but it colde be seen that they wolde not cum far. they mofd slow and cept locan baec at their hors for fear of losan them and they did not cnaw what was in the holt in the deorcness. for all they cnawan there colde haf been a great fyrd of anglisc folc waitan for them and so it was not long before they teorned baec to the light on the straet and the bodig of their dead freond

we cept mofan goan south in to the holt and we did not stop until we was sum way from the straet and we had cum to a place where we colde see all around and hiere if any man cum in to the wud. a clene daeg it was and the holt was alyf all with the sounds of small things rustlan in the leafs and in these wuds in these treows a man colde sitt for micel time and breathe deop and it colde seem that angland was all still and that no great sicness was upon her

the night after that daeg i gan to sleep in the small hus in the holt with the swine and with tofe and grimcell slepan near and again i was dreaman of the fyr scip. i stood on the strand and the great scip was before me right by me and the fyr was so hot it was macan me want to go baec and scaps mofd again in the fyr and i did step baec and then from the fyr cum a man and he stood before me and this man was my grandfather

i woc early with this dream still in me and i lay on the ground in the deorc for the daeg had not yet cum up and i thought then of the last time i seen my grandfather. i was a yonge man as yonge as my dunstan had been when he was tacan by the frenc and my grandfather he was eald he was ealder than any man in the fenns and there was those saed this was due to his wicce craft for he was not with the crist and that he wolde go on his death to hel. this is the scit what folcs specs if they is left to them selfs and it is why they sceolde be loccd ofer by greater men

well my grandfather when i was a cilde he had been a great strong man but now he was weac and colde not hardly efen walc without stics and efen then not long. his cenep was thynne and he was small but still in his eages there was a great fyr and efen my father wolde not spec ill to him if he colde be in sum other place. it was in the sumor that my grandfather died on a daeg that was high and clene lic his great sawol had been