Paul Kingsnorth - The Wake

well he is harder than the cnihts this one and mor than one of us tacs a beatan from his fuccan clubb befor we can tac it from him and throw it in the secg. but we is six and he is one and though he tries to cicc his hors for it to tac him awaeg we gets him down from it and we gets him to the ground and tofe and aelfgar sitts on him while the othors tacs the sweords of the cnihts and gathrs their hors and ciccs their bodigs in to the deorc waters where the bodigs of all frenc sceolde be

thu has done well

this is my time

done well for thy land and thy cynn

risan again we is risan again

and now

now the gods will feed

ah to loc down and see this great frenc biscop lyan on an anglisc straet with two grene men sittan on him oh it macd me laugh out and this macd the others laugh out also and on the nebb of this biscop colde be seen an ire so great it macd him red lic the sunne on a winter mergen

who has line men i saes. grimcell it seems carries sum and so i tells him to tie the hands of the biscop and get him to his feet and grimcell does this with aelfgar and tofe. i is blithe to see grimcell worcan with us in this for though he is a scucca he is an anglisc one

so we has this biscop tied with line his blaec and gold cape all eorthd now and his nebb set hard locan at us with eages of fyr but saen naht. as before i cnawan what to do in this place and i spoc to my men lic the cyng i was now lic the ealdor i had becum lic the ceosan man of the eald gods buccmaster buccmaster ham at last

tac him baec to my land men i saes it is not far. we will tac the hors also we moste be slow with them on the fenn paths but they can be tacan that way. tofe and i will lead the hors aelfgar and siward thu will tac the frenc sweords and lead the biscop and if there is any scit from him thu may cutt him a lytel for i cnawan thu is wantan to

well they colde see what i was now and none saed naht only cum with me baec again to my eald lands. annis who had been in the secg all this time she cum also and lic the biscop she nefer saed naht only loccd on and what was in her eages i did not cnaw

baec to the eald hus

the eald hus the triewe hus

thu tacs the preost

he is a biscop he is mine

and what will thu do there

no mor words now weland smith no mor words

so my men tacs him baec to my land and in doan this they is my men again triewe. i has them tie the two hors to a treow near where my aeppels grew and we lit a small fyr by the eald fyr where my hus had been. the biscop we macd to sitt on the ground still tied with the line and he satt and he loccd slow at us and saed nuthan

it was noon time and my men was weary. eat men i saes and drinc and soon thu will cnaw what will be

well my men locs at me lic they is wundran what is cuman but they does what i ascs. i puts tofe and aelfgar to loc ofer the biscop as they is my moste trusted men if any men can efer be trusted on this eorth and then i calls ofer annis to me. i does not lic to do this i does not lic efen to haf her with us and i can see she is only here to loc ofer the other men and to see what will happen to the esol biscop. well soon i wolde gif her a sight but first i moste cnaw what i needs

buccmaster saes annis befor i can spec lic a fuccan fugol she is in talcan buccmaster what will thu and thy men do with this biscop

this thu will see i saes thu will see this night. but i wolde haf thu tell me how thu cnawan he is a biscop and what mor thu cnaws for thu has been in these fenns for sum time now while i has been gan

she locs up at me for she is scort this wifman scort and fatt. there is nefer naht in her fuccan eages

he is turold biscop she saes and he is a freond of the frenc cyng

he is not a cyng

well he is frenc and this is a frenc biscop and he has been gifen the abbodrice of petersburh as his. this was not one month ago and all of the fenns is specan of it for when hereweard hierde that the abbodrice was to go to a frenc biscop he gan in and he threw out all the muncs and toc all the gold and all things from the abbodrice to say to the frenc that this place can nefer be theirs

so he is the crists man in these parts

he is the cyngs man at petersburh and he is a strong man it is saed mor of a cniht than a preost thu has seen him with his clubb. it is saed the bastard sent him here for there is many grene men in these parts and also hereweard in elge and so a feohtan man is needed

so this is turold

this is turold biscop buccmaster and now thu has him and efen hereweard who so many specs of has not done a thing lic this

efen great fuccan hereweard no no he has not i saes and i gan ofer to my men around the fyr and to the biscop who sits by them stillness his arms behind him tied with line

men i saes we has here not sum lytel preost but great turold biscop of petersburh freond of the bastard and enemi of hereweard. i locs at the biscop who locs at me and saes naht

i is telt thu and hereweard has been feohtan lic cildren i saes to him but it seems efen great hereweard who so many lufs has not tacan thu lic i has done

then thu is not hereweards men saes the biscop

i is no other mans i saes. i is buccmaster of holland a man of these parts i is a socman with three oxgangs this is my anglisc werod and thu is our frenc mete. men does thu hiere we has done greater than hereweard i has done greater now see what we has in this gift

this is good saes tofe and he smercs with his mouth full of loaf but the other men they locs only at me and at the biscop

what will thu do with him saes grimcell

thu will see grimcell i saes thu will see this night. but now thu most cepe him for i has things i moste do

i left my men by the fyr and i gan ofer my eald meados and down to the fenn. it was late in to the daeg now and sumor was endan. ofer the yealo secg i colde see lines of fugols high in the heofon goan south lic they does when efry sumor ends. it is saed that these fugols fleages all year all ofer the seas and all the lands of man and does not go down to land until they cums baec to the fenns in spring. i locs up then at these fugols small and blaec in the heofon. they does not cnaw of the bastard or the biscop or of what men suffers in this land they does not cnaw naht but what is gifen to them by the winds

weland smith i saes where is thu

i is here

thu cums at my call

thu has done a great thing

a great thing

now thu is strong

strong lic the heofon

strong lic the land

stronger than hereweard

what will thu do my freond

i will show thu smith i will show all

standan locan out ofer the secg i hieres a sound then and i sees a hraga rise from the water and feoht to rise up to the heofon lic it is feohtan to lif. we all is feohtan to lif i saes to this hraga all wihts men and others all is feohtan to lif in this deorc world. and now i moste stric

i teorns then and i mofs baec through the fenn on a path that only i cnawan and i gan baec to the small holt near where the men was cepan the biscop. here i colde loc through the treows and see them sittan eatan and drincan and talcan and i colde see the biscop sittan also his hands still tied with line saen naht. i is stillness lic the hara lic the fox none can see me on my land on the land what i cnawan best of all folcs in angland

and here it is lic i had cnawan it wolde be they is talcan of me for i is not there

fatt annis scort fatt fuccan lytel wifman annis she is talcan of me and the others is lystnan. all is lystnan as they eats and drincs and none is saen no it is not triewe and none is walcan awaeg cuman to find me. efen the fuccan frenc biscop can hiere all that is saed about buccmaster of holland