Paul Kingsnorth - The Wake

and this yonge boys father i saes well he toc on these frenc hunds with scramasax as any triewe man wolde and sum other men of this ham they done so also and they cwelled many but they was cut down too then they was gelded alyf and hanged before all the folcs of the ham as a warnan to all anglisc folcs of who was their mastors now. well tofe now he locs small but the folcs of this ham they is triewely ired to hiere this

well now gerefa i saes it seems thy folcs is not so in luf with these fuccan ingenga hunds as thu is. colde it be that thu is tacan frenc gold colde it be that lic all gerefas in all hams thu is a fuccan little hund who tacs what he is gifen by his mastors as long as it cums also with gold

well at this there is sum smercan from sum folc behind the gerefa who is locan ired with me mor

tac thy flocc of wud wihts and leaf this ham he saes for by bean here thu is bringan all these folcs to hearm. does thu thinc i does not cnaw this we has all hierde the tales but we is cepan to our ways and doan our worc and gifan our geld and this way all men has wifs and all wifs husbonds and all cildren has fathers and mothors. if thu wolde tac thy one sweord agan all of the frenc then do this but no men of this ham will cum to thu

thu is a hund saes grimcell that is all a hund

it colde be that i is a hund saes the gerefa but my folcs is alyf and free as efer they was

i locs around but no men cums to us well what can we do there is naht else

cum men i saes to my werod there is no free folcs here only thralls

thralls saes tofe and him and grimcell and the gleoman who has saed naht only locd on they cums with me out of the barn in to the light

well when we got baec in to the treows i sat down by the aesc of the fyr and the others sat with me

these men saes grimcell is all esols. i has not seen grimcell ired and specan lic this before and it is good

esols saes tofe yes esols and dumb hunds. my men i thincs they is men now for sure they is men of my fyrd of my werod it is good to see it macs me strong

gleoman i saes thu has saed naht tell us thy thoughts on this

well saes the gleoman they is men and they wolde lif that is all. many hams there is all ofer angland lic this they has been spared spere and fyr why wolde they asc it in

esols saes tofe again

afeart saes the gleoman that is all afeart and hidan from the storm

then the storm will tac us all down i saes

a storm saes the gleoman cums from heofon it cannot be feoht only lifd through

this storm can be feoht

by thu

by us by others

well saes the gleoman there is many who wolde thinc these great words

well this is sum thing

thu

what will thu bring now

bring

what will thu bring to this ham what has moccd thu

they is afeart

thu is afeart

nefer

anglisc folcs who wolde be frenc what is they worth

naht

their barn is full of baerlic and thu eats leafs

they moccd us

moccd the gods

they is not anglisc

all angland sleeps while thy lif is dreaned

men i saes we is goan baec

baec saes tofe

baec to this ham i saes these folcs they moccd us moccd the grene men moccd the holt moccd angland. they is worse than frenc these folcs and if they will not feoht they will gif us geld for our worc

this is good saes tofe

geld saes grimcell

foda i saes foda ealu waepens things we need. if they will not feoht with us they will gif us means to feoht and lif it is only right we feohts for them all

well saes grimcell it colde be

i will stay here i thincs saes the gleoman for this feoht is not mine

it is the feoht of all folcs in angland i saes to him in ire and he bows his heafod sum small way and saes o yes buccmaster this is of course triewe but i is not a feohtan man and so i will stay here and tend this fyr for when thu cums baec

well i does not need this esol with his smercan and his stillness so tofe and grimcell and i we gan baec in to creatas tun where the barn is still loud with song and the sunne is still scinan in the heofon and in to the barn we gan again and as before stillness cums down as we is seen

folcs of creatas tun i saes and i saes it strong. we has ascd thu to cum with us to feoht with us to feoht for angland and all thy folcs and thu has saed naht thu has staed here steppan and singan and drincan while anglisc men lies in their blud rottan in felds and in holts. well if thu is esols and small folcs this is well for we does not want thu feohtan with us but thu can at least feed thy fyrd. we is needan foda and ealu and boots and line and fyr stans and thu can gif these things to us if thu will not gif thy arms and sweords

well for a small time there is no sound but then the gerefa he cums from the folcs and this time not alone this time he has three men with him big men of the ham and he is ired again and he cums to us cwic. well i tacs my sweord from my belt cwic and i mofs it about so that the light of the sunne what cums through slits and through the door of the barn is tacan by the blaed and sent in to the eages of folcs and there is sum gaspan at sean my sweord with runes and wyrms and the carfans of the eald times upon its blaed and this is good this feels good and now i seen it i seen it

this is welands sweord i calls macd for me and my cynn by the eald smith of the beorgs so that we may feoht for angland in deorcest times. the gerefa and his freonds then they stops before us and i seen that tofe and grimcell has scramasaxes in their hands and that these men from the ham they does also

i has telt thu go from here saes the gerefa go

thu will gif us geld i saes for thu is a scucca and angland is in need

thu is not angland i will tell thu again go or we will send thu away

will thu send this sweord away gerefa will thu send weland away

i will asc thu again it is the last time go

gif us geld

well things mofd cwic then and i can not sae now how things was for i was not thincan not doan and weland it seemed weland toc my sweord from me then and done with it what sceolde be done. the men from the ham cum to us with scramasax to mof us from the barn and tofe and grimcell they gan for them and weland he gan for the gerefa and a roar there was in the barn succ as there had nefer been and the gerefa fell with the sweord in his heorte and he did not mac a sound only fell and was still then for efer. and sean this the other men of the ham they ran baec and i seen tofe was hearmd his arm bledan and his nebb hwit but these folcs they was small folcs and when they seen what my great sweord done they was hwit also and they gan baec from us

i telt thu i calls i telt thu what wolde cum of moccan the grene men now thy esol gerefa is cwelled by welands sweord by anglands sweord for thy fear and thy greotan. o they was wepan now and fearan they sceolde haf lystened to us to me

gif us foda i saes gif us loafs and mete gif us boots and fyr stans and line and we will leaf thu to thy singan and thu may thinc on what thu has cum to

well we was baec in the holt with the gleoman soon enough and with us we brought mete and loafs and fyr stans and a line and also sum ealu in flascs and i had been gifen boots what had been this gerefas. two men had tacan us around the ham and gifen us these things in stillness my sweord still out and still wet and we had tacan them and this was right for now we had what we was needan to feoht and feoht we must. tofe he was cut on his arm but the cut was small and we had clened it in water and put cloth on it and now he loccd not hwit but strong with pryde

the gleoman he is only sittan on the ground there is no fyr he is sittan by a treow eages scut

ulf saes grimcell waec mac a fyr we will eat