Paul Kingsnorth - The Wake

i gan to sleep cwic but i woc sum time later and i was beornan all ofer. i satt up from the ground where i had been slepan and i seen that the straw on the ground was mofan with fleas and they had bit me all ofer. all around me other men was still slepan in the deorc fnaerettan lic swine

i colde not sleep again with this iccan it was lic fyr so i gan up and out of the hus. the door macd a sound when it mofd but there was no other sound but for the fnaerettan in the hus. out in the road i seen the mona was great and hwit and sean it macd me fall to my cneows there in the road and loc up at her and loc and loc in stillness. when i was a yonge cilde i wolde do this to the mona i wolde loc up at her lic a wif god i does not cnaw why there was sum thing that brought me to her

the iccan toc me up again for i colde not stae still that night and i colde hiere then the sound of the ea what ran through the holt near the ham and i thought i wolde go to it and bathe my self and cool the beornan that way. i gan down the path past the hus of men and the hus of swine and cicens and no sound but ules in the holt and the small sounds of leafs and the runnan of the ea growan louder

the ea was hwit and still under the mona and i toc off my tunece and brices and gan in and satt in the water my scancs and arms in the water and it was good. the beornan soon gan but when i cum out again it cum baec so i gan in again to cool it and in this way i satt in the ea for sum time locan up at the mona not sean how cold i was until i colde not hardly feel my hands

well i felt at last the cold and i stood up in the ea and then in the treows on the other strand of the ea i seen sum thing mof

i stood there in the ea the water flowan ofer my feet and i loccd and then i seen cum out of the treows a wulf. it was great and hwit and it was locan at me and this hwit wulf it had one eage only. on a rocc then in the ea this wulf stood locan at me and me stood in the ea half nacod locan at this wulf and naht mofd in all the night. long had i been in this brunnesweald and nefer had i seen efen one wulf though at one time we had hierde sum callan in far places. but this wulf was great and strong and locan at me for sure

and then as i stood there in the ea i seen behind this wulf a man in the treows. deorc it was in the treows on the far staed the monas light did not reac there but i seen the scap of a man with long cape and wide hat and he was stood behind the wulf and he called to him and though i did not hiere no words i hierde him call. the wulf then he locs at me and he mofs his heafod clere three times as if to say no as if to say do not

and as i stands then in the ea cold and growan colder this hwit wulf he leaps from the rocc and in to the treows and is gan and the capd man he teorns and i seen his nebb then dim but triewe and he too has one eage only and it seen me and beorned in to my deop sawol. and i cnawan then who i had seen and who had seen me and i was cold then colder than all the eas in angland colder than all the ys in the seofon worlds

ah stan ford stan ford it was the last of all things

let me tell thu what i seen that daeg what was lic no other thing seen in the world. we woc in the ham sum of us with heafods what was broc apart. we ate and dranc and the gleoman telt us we sceolde go to stan ford for the castel was bean macd and soon it wolde be done and when castels was done there was no man colde tac them down. well this gleoman he seemed sore cene to get us out of the ham and to this place stan ford and it was odd as most times he cared not what we done

but i colde not thinc that mergen not after what had cum to me by the ea in the night for this was all in me and i was afeart and also thrylled. that he sceolde haf cum to me it was clere i had been ceosan and where was weland now when i was needan to spec with him. the wulf the wulf had spac to me and not any wulf but the wulf of the father of all

i colde not thinc that mergen if i colde haf thought well it colde haf been that things wolde not haf been as they was. micel things was goan on and my heafod was full and loud with what had cum to me. as we ate our foda by the mergen fyr tofe cum baec and we had not seen him since he gan to the holt in the efen with this yonge wifman and all the men sets up a roar when they sees him. he gan red and smerced a lytel as he toc loaf and ealu and all is saen to him where is the maeden cilde where did thu hide her and did thu gif it to her good tofe and how is thy litha pal cilde and run cwic now or she will haf thu wed and then it will be thu who is fuccd. tofe is locan at the ground and eatan and saen naht but he is lican it i can see

wulf cums to us then and i tells him we moste go for there is micel feohtan to be done and this daeg we is goan to tac the castel. he thancs us and he locs in to my eages then and he saes i hope our ham has gifen thu all thu needs. i is still thincan of the ea and the father of the gods it is lic i is not all here and i saes yes wulf we thancs thu for all that thu has gifen to us

the gods will go with thu he saes to me low

and with thu i saes

then louder he saes there is men from this ham wolde cum with thu and becum grene if thu wolde haf them. three men then cums to us and wulf saes this is godric siward and osbern these men is triewe and will feoht with thu. i locs at them then and they seems good men they is strong and triewe and carries scramasaxes and osbern who is a boy lic tofe he has also a good eald strong ax

thu is wel cum men i saes wel cum to the grene men we feohts for angland and agan the frenc and all who feohts with us moste be strong and triewe

we is strong and triewe saes this osbern and we will feoht all the frenc in angland and he seems to me lic tofe when he first cum yonge and cene. godric and siward they is ealdor they nods and locs at me and locan in to their eages they seems good men

well then i saes well then we moste go. this ham is a good place and triewe and the gods will cepe thu. we thancs thu wulf for thy foda and ealu and for thy litha games and now we gan to tac the castel at stan ford and angland will be free again

at this men roars and wafs as we gan in to the holt. ten of us there was now with the gleoman and we walced and loccd lic a triewe fyrd with me at its heafod buccmaster of holland its ealdor and cyng my sweord on my belt and in my heorte the hwit wulf and the great ealdor of all men locan at me with his one eage beornan in to my sawol

stan ford was half a daeg through the holt we gan baec to earninga straet and gan south. my men my werod was specan light and strong and was in high sawol after our time in the litha ham. tofe was specan blithe to this osbern it was lic they was great freonds after only one mergen. gamel and grimcell and the gleoman was specan and smercan wluncus was singan to him self and to the treows and swingan his sithe and i spac a lytel with these two men siward and godric from the ham to see if they was right and they seemed to me to be triewe anglisc men

by middaeg we had cum to the tun. we gan from the straet in to the holt for many folcs was near now and who colde cnaw who was frenc and who anglisc who triewe and who a weasul. we gan to the ecg of the treows we ten men and from the grene we loccd out at the blaec

this was a thing lic i had nefer seen. this tun was greater than any place greater than the greatest ham in the fens and the hus and the barns and the circe here was greater also. so many hus was there in stan ford that i colde not tell and so many folcs also and so micel sound. smoc was in the heofon and folcs mofd specan and wagns and hors and ox was in the straets and there was sound in all parts the sound of specan and fyrs and the sound of wheels teornan of hors mofan the sound of the smith and the ceap

it was hard to lysten so micel sound was there. the gleoman then he telt us to go with him for he cnawan where to go in the holt to see the part of the tun what we moste see. the gleoman on this mergen he was cene it was not lic him moste times he stood baec i was wary but i toc my men for he did cnaw this place and we moste see what we colde do. the gleoman toc us then through the treows around the tun and micel time it toc for it seemed so great. mor hus we cum to and then to a circe what was not lic any circe i had efer seen. the circe in bacstune was of wud and eorth and thaecc and was small and deorc smellan of folcs and of straw and of the stencan candels of the preosts. here the circe was macd of wud and of stan and had a lytel torr and on the torr a cross of wud goan up to the heofon. it was lic the crist was in the ground it self and wolde nefer be mofd