Paul Kingsnorth - The Wake

for a time these two men loccd at us saen naht. one was a tall man his haer and cenep red lic a dene his nebb thynne the other was scort and had lytel haer though he was yonger. after a time the man with red haer spoc

we does not want blud he saes we has seen enough. i is aelfgar this is gamel we is free men of creatas tun. we has buried our gerefa today whose blud is on thy sweord

welands sweord saes tofe

this sweord lufs blud i saes

well we does not luf blud saes this aelfgar and his words is strong but when blud cums to us we will stand agan it

stand then i saes fuccan stand

not agan thu saes gamel but with thu

thu called for men saes aelfgar we is men

too many sings while frenc cwells their folcs saes gamel we has long thought so we will not sing lic our gerefa

we has been waitan for thu saes aelfgar

well for sum time there is naht saed. in triewth the ealu has slowed my tunge a lytel though of course i is still cwic. it is grimcell who specs first

gif us thy scramasaxes he saes let us see that thu has no mor waepens we will not sitt by the fyr with thu and be tacan from behind

thu will not saes aelfgar thu may tac them and he and this gamel they puts their scramasaxes on to the ground before us. grimcell he gan to them to see they has no other things but it seems they does not

well i saes well if thu is triewe thu is wel cum and if thu is not triewe thu is dead

at this aelfgar he seems ired

thu wolde cnaw if we is triewe he saes well let me asc thu man how many frenc thu has feoht

we has cwelled one saes tofe cwic before i can spec and he was a thegn

one saes this aelfgar thu has cwelled one. well thu sceolde cnaw that gamel and me we has cwelled mor frenc than there is in angland for on sanlac in the south lands we feoht with harald cyng agan the bastard

well this was sum thing and when we hierde this we telt these men to sitt by the fyr with us and drinc ealu and tell us of this great thing for these was men who moste be loccd at as men

sanlac saes tofe sanlac then thu is great men

great men saes grimcell

we is not saes gamel we is men only and we is lifan when many is gan

tell us i saes

aelfgar then he sighs and he saes i has spoc so micel of sanlac that i feels i was not efen born before this daeg. loc i can not tell of it all again at this time not here to spec of it cwells my heorte

this is triewe specan saes the gleoman for micel has i hierde of the sorness of this daeg

i will sae only that it colde haf been ours that daeg saes aelfgar. these frenc thu hieres them sae that the daeg was theirs for they is great folcs with great hors well this is scit they was almost gan. we feoht when the sunne cum up in the mergen and all daeg we stood our ground on the hyll and soon it wolde haf been night and if we had held we wolde haf drifen the bastard baec to the sea in the deorc. we was almost there we colde see the deorc cuman ofer the waters but then the cyng fell and all was gan

we colde haf toc them early also saes gamel for in the mergen we stood on the hyll the fyrd all along the rycg and behind us the huscarls with great axes and behind them the cyng and his brothors and his flag of the golden wyrm on the wind oh it was a sight. the frenc they cum up to the foot of the hyll in the mergen but they stopped for sum time afeart of us for we was callan and singan wafan sweords and axes and sithes we was castan roccs down at them and scotan straels and callan out out out out and they was afeart and they wolde not cum up

afeart they was saes aelfgar and then our harald cyng he cum up to the front of us all on his hwit hors in his golden scirt and with his flag of the golden wyrm and on his heafod the most cyngly helm thu has seen with boars ofer his eages and the raefn and wulf on his nebb and he riden down the line with sweord in hand callan us to feoht for great angland agan the ingenga and then he stood before the line and he loccd down to these frenc who had cum to his cyngdom and he called to them

what did he call saes tofe what

he saed cum then bastard and do thy will and thu will brec on the strands of angland lic the weacest waef in the sea

these is sum words i saes

harald was sum man saes aelfgar a great man a great cyng the greatest since aethelstan and had he lifd now all wolde be sweet in this land all wolde be well for our folcs

but now we is thralls saes grimcell thralls

and we colde haf toc them early saes gamel and not been thralls for the frenc begun to cum up the dun they sent men to scot straels at us and then they sent these cnihts on hors for the frenc they feohts on hors lic wifmen not on foot lic men well they sent these cnihts on hors with speres thincan they wolde mac us run but we held the line and we toc many of these hors down with speres and axes all the time callan out out out and they fell baec the hors fell baec for they was afeart

it is triewe they was afeart saes aelfgar we seen it for we stood together in that fyrd and we seen their eages

and they ran saes gamel they ran these hors half the frenc fyrd they teorned and we ran also we gan down the dun after them we gan down to run them in to the sea and we wolde haf done so but for the cyng

it was not the cyng saes aelfgar scarp

he sceolde haf sent all his men saes gamel all of us then down the hyll we wolde haf run them all in to the sea

we wolde all haf been cut down saes aelfgar lic so many was

who was cut down saes grimcell

half the fyrd saes gamel we ran down after the frenc and many fell and we was thincan all the men and harald cyng was cuman too but they stood on the hyll

and then we seen him saes aelfgar we seen him call them to stand

seen who i saes

the bastard saes gamel the bastard on his hors

the cyng saes tofe

he is no fuccan cyng

how does he loc saes tofe how does he seem

he seems lic a deoful saes gamel. he is a great man tall and wide and he wears a helm lic that of harald cyng but when he seen his men flee lic wifmen he tacs off his helm and he calls to them he calls in his frenc tunge so i can not sae what his words was but they was yfel words i seen his nebb

thu seen his nebb

set lic style it is with no haer on it he is a strong man there is no luf in him

and what gan on

what gan on saes gamel well all cnawan what gan on the frenc hors they cum baec at his words they teorned and they cut us down. i was cut and i laid there my scancs was half gan now i can not run nor walc with ease

sum of us ran baec to the ricg saes aelfgar but most was cut down and that was half of the fyrd gan and the frenc now they seemed lic they had found their heorte

we colde haf tacan them if the cyng had mofd saes gamel locan in to the fyr

do not spec this way of the cyng

we colde haf cwelled the bastard then and all of his deofuls and we did not and now we will be thralls for efer

not for efer i saes we will drif them from our land

all then locs at the fyr and there is no mor words for sum time. grimcell tacs the scramasaxes of these men and gifs them ofer and with no words they tacs them and puts them in their belts

on a great dun a hwit stag runs the dun is high higher than all things abuf it only heofon under it all the clouds that stands abuf the eorth and all around it the sound of great hwit eas foaman ofer clifs that falls down down into the blaec of the world

on the dun the hwit stag stands and a cilde cums to this stag at the top of this dun and he locs in to its eages and the stag locs in to his

then the cilde he reacces out and he tacs the stag by its horns what is macd of gold and its heafod mofs in a small way and he specs the cilde he specs to the stag on the great high dun by the clouds and the hwit ea what is fallan down for efer into the blaec places of the eorth