Paul Kingsnorth - The Wake

what will cum now father to him

what will cum he will go to his graef son he will not stand and sing for thu

his graef in the circe

in the circe yes. here my father locs at me for he cnaws what i is thincan

father he

i will spec to thu now son of this and will not spec of it again. thy grandfather was of the eald hus and this brings great sceomu on me and on thy cynn. thu has seen how folcs locs at us in the ham and in the circe thu has hierde what is saed. my father was an esol who lifd in dreams of times gan and the deorcness and sceomu he gaf us will go to eorth with him. he will go to the circe cilde and his graef will be there and in this way we will tac baec our name

well i saed naht for what colde i sae once mor i had been brought to nuthan. now my father he loccd at me strong and i loccd at my grandfathers bodig for it was a better sight than my fathers eages

son saes my father this will end here there will be no mor of this in this hus for we is men of the wapentac men of strength in this land. there will no mor cildes tales to bring sceomu and synn upon my cynn there will be no mor. he cepes locan at me then and i cepes locan at my grandfather and i cnawan my nebb is red lic the sunne. then my father he teorns and he is gan from the hus

i is thincan of my father as i is walcan through the brunnesweald with tofe and grimcell thincan of what he saed that daeg there will be no mor of this cilde no mor. always there has been men lic my father who wolde throw out the eald thincan it is no good but not sean what the triewe good efer was. i was leadan my men south they had not ascd where we was goan or what we was doan and in triewth i did not cnaw. we was in a part of the holt now i did not cnaw and they did not cnaw so all we was doan in triewth was walcan and waitan to see what we wolde cum to

well soon enough i seen sum thing though it did not loc lic no great thing then. we cum to a path in the holt at a place where haesel wud was bean tacan for worcan so we was locan and tacan care for we did not cnaw who was here. well we hierde none but fugols callan in the treows for it was late sumor now and all treows was grene with leaf and wolde soon be teornan. but when we cum on to the path we hierde the sound of a man specan and he was specan to me

buccmaster of holland he saes and grimcell of holland well what is this we has. well we locd but we colde see no man and this was not the sound of weland specan it was the sound of a man of this eorth and an anglisc man

i had not thought to see none from thy ham again saes this man and now he cums from behind the stocc of a great ac treow and i sees that i cnawan him. this is the gleoman who cum to our ham so oft before the beornan with tidans and tales. when i last seen him he was thynne and weac and in fear for he brought tales of the great woe of angland and the cuman of the bastard but it seems now he has cum up from his low place and though an eald man he has fyr in him again

it is ulf the gleoman saes grimcell ulf the scop i had thought thu cwelled my freond. grimcell seems blithe to see this man they is both low folcs after all

ah i has the fleetness of an aelf saes this ulf smercan no frenc man can tac me before my time

where is thu cum from saes grimcell

i is cuman and goan in this holt goan from ham to ham as i does saes the gleoman and doan so cwic for it is not cnawan from one daeg to another who thu will find in this place

but i seen what cum to thy ham saes the gleoman now not smercan no mor and thu is not alone in this for i has been to many places since the cuman of the frenc cyng and there is fyr all ofer the fenns and all ofer angland in these times

i has hierde the cyng is gan saes grimcell

gan yes gan baec to his frenc lands to feoht his own folc they saes and in his place is biscops and frenc ealdors and these cnihts on hors and they is tacan what they can while their mastor is gan. but now what is thu folcs doan walcan in this holt in these daegs

we is grene men saes tofe now. he has not spoc yet but now the gleoman locs at him. tofe he saes it is tofe of bacstune is it not

we is gathran saes tofe and he does not smerc we is gathran men to feoht the ingenga

well now saes the gleoman and he locs at me well now

we will haf our wergild i saes locan at him and with my eages saen do not smerc at us gleoman

wergilds he saes wergilds well now there is many who specs lic this and yes there is grene men in these wuds and sum of them i has met and spoc with

thu has met the grene men saes tofe now lic a cilde again

well now i has met sum mor saes the gleoman yes there is worc bean done. to the west there is men risan in the hylls and in the north there is micel talc of tacan baec the land and in the holts there is grene men all about they is specan and thincan and sum times they is risan to cwell frenc folcs. perhaps as grene men then thu has hierde of this man hereweard

hereweard saes tofe yes

hereweard i saes but i saes it cold

hereweard they saes is a great man of angland saes this gleoman. i has not seen him but he is spac of in these lands now with fear and with fyr. hereweard is son of a great thegn of these parts and he was in gan in flanders for sum time but his cynn was cwelled and his land was toc and he is baec now they saes baec to lead men agan the frenc. when the bastard cum this man hereweard hierde what had cum upon angland and he cum baec to see what was becum of his folcs. well he cum to his hall what had been the hus of his father a thegn and his mothor and this hall it was all gan in fyr and all his cynn folc in it. then he gan to the hus of his brothor but folcs telt him that frenc had cwelled his brothor also and toc his hus and toc also his wifman who they now used for their games

well hereweard he is a great feohtan man he has been feohtan in fyrds all ofer in scaldemariland in flanders efen in the eastern lands where there is no night. this man he toc his great sweord and he gan to the hus of his brothor where ten frenc men was sittan eatan his brothors foda and drincan from his brothors cuppes and bean gifen mete by his brothors wifman and a sad sight this was to see. well these man was not thincan to hiere from another man of this cynn for they thought all was cwelled and soon they all was cwelled also for hereweard he gan in cwic lic lihtnan and he spared none he cut them down and their heafods he put on the hege of his brothors hus all ten of them in a grim line and this to say to frenc folc that this is what wolde becum of them in angland

hereweard then he toc his brothors wif from the hus for he cnawan what wolde becum of her if she staed and they went in to the brunnesweald and it is saed they is here now gathran folcs for the feoht for the great feoht that is cuman for the time when angland rises agan the frenc and drifs them baec to the sea

well at this of course the dumb cilde tofe is leapan around lic a frog in a fuccan croc. he teorns to me with light in his eages and he saes buccmaster this is the man i was tellan thu of that folcs spac of in our ham but we did not cnaw if it was tales only. buccmaster we moste find this man and feoht with him for together there will be no stoppan us all

who is thy fuccan ealdor cilde i saes for i is not hafan this. tofe he stops then for this is not what he was thincan to hiere from me

who is thy fuccan ealdor i saes again i sees this eald gleoman loccan at me

thu is my ealdor saes tofe his words small now his bodig still

i is thy fuccan ealdor cilde i saes that is right not this hereweard not any other man

i only

it is me tofe it is me this is my werod if thu wolde go to sum other then fuccan go cilde fuccan go now but do not cum baec to me efer

he saes naht locs at the ground

this is my werod and we has worc to do and this other man this great cyng this fuccan hereweard he may do his own fuccan worc but i will not hiere naht of him again for it is not our worc cilde it is not our worc