Tag Archives: Holmbyggjar

DAS Chronicle

DAS Chronicles – Into The 880s!

Since 2014, DAS has been following the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the 870s, year-by-year, trying to see how our units would have fitted in to the wars and treacheries of that time. It’s been lots of fun, and we’d like to continue it into the 880s…

But first, a reminder of what’s already happened, as the 870s saw sweeping changes across Britain, with the Vikings and Saxons both suffering terrible losses and celebrating great victories.
In 872 London was sacked by the Vikings, and the Viking units of DAS fell upon the refugees being escorted to safety by the Saxon units.
In 874, a series of events finally saw King Burhred of Mercia driven from his lands, with King Ceolwulf taking his place and inviting Vikings to settle there – an expensively bought peace! However, Ivar Ragnarsson of the Vikings died in the battle winning the peace, leaving the Vikings without a clear leader…
In 875 the Vikings quarrelled over who should rule them. Meanwhile, King Alfred of Wessex stepped up to claim he was the natural leader of all free Englisc, harrying the sea-raiders and looting the looters.
In 876, King Harald Finehair of Norway sought to gain control of the Isles and Northumbria – but was driven out of Northumbria at least by Vikings united under Halfdan Ragnarsson, with the Westmen seizing the Raven Banner of Finehair’s forces. Halfdan said the Vikings should secure the north before pushing to take Wessex; but Guthrum said they should take Wessex whilst they had momentum. The Oestvikinga and Holmbyggjar followed Guthrum to war, whilst the Westmen followed Halfdan north – where they got caught up in some very complex politics and all sorts of treacheries between Britons, Scots, and Picts. Meanwhile, the Cilternsaete fled Ceolwulf’s Mercia and took refuge in Wessex, where they aided Anir Thane’s Sumorsaete in defending Alfred’s borders. Guthrum’s forces took Wareham but were trapped there – and the Saxons took Vikings as hostages in exchange for peace.
In 877 the hostages broke free, and fled with the rest of Guthrum’s forces across Wessex, seeking to join up with a naval force sent to Exeter… But the naval force was destroyed, and the Englisc scattered the fractured Vikings.
In 878 news came of the deaths of the last two Ragnarssons, Ubbe and Halfdan. Guthrum unified the Viking forces, proudly bearing at least one Raven Banner, and pressed Wessex hard. But the Englisc managed to get word from Alfred, who was sheltering in a swamp, and rose up in great fury. Guthrum was defeated, forced to be baptised and become Athelstan. The whole of what is today England was divided into Danelaw and Wessex.
And so, in 879, a great peace fell upon the land. There were occasional border disputes, and trouble makers sometimes sought to re-ignite old wars (although Hauk of the Oestvikingae’s attempt to steal a Saxon Thegn’s helmet to stir up trouble came to naught), but the two forces had time to rebuild and settle.

But no peace lasts forever, and we’re now entering the 880s. Of course, the pandemic has slightly disrupted our plans! But luckily 880 and 881 are both fairly quiet, in England at least:
A.D. 880. This year went the army from Cirencester into East-Anglia, where they settled, and divided the land. The same year went the army over sea, that before sat at Fulham, to Ghent in Frankland, and sat there a year.
A.D. 881. This year went the army higher up into Frankland, and the Franks fought with them; and there was the army horsed after the battle.

As we haven’t had any fighting events for a while, and it might be a while before we get any, it is worth thinking what your character is up to in this time!

Vikings, are you settling and dividing the land of East Anglia (this is probably the time that the Holmbyggjar get settled into Osea Island)? Or are you heading up to Northumbria or the Isles, and looking after lands there (off to Canna, or Mann)? Or are you off pillaging France?

For the Saxons, this is probably the time that Alfred really builds up the network of fortified burhs to defend his borders, the Burghal Hidage. They were possibly started in the late 870s, but this was a chance to turn them into permanent and significant fortifications. It was also quite possibly a time he built up his own fleet of ships – 882 features a Wessex naval victory against the Vikings. How might your characters fit into this time of preparation, what are they doing to help Alfred?

One big storyline that we’re keen to play through once we’re all back together is the fate of Mercia. It is in the late 870s or early 880s that Viking-appeasing King Ceolwulf of Mercia is replaced by Æthelred of Mercia – although Wessex always regards Æthelred as an ealdorman under Alfred, not a king in his own right (and Æthelred only holds West Mercia, as the Vikings keep control of the East). One of Æthelred’s first actions (possibly once he is in charge, or possibly under Ceolwulf) is an invasion of Wales, but he is roundly beaten at the Battle of Conwy in 881. Hauk and Herewulf both have plans for events that could be themed around this storyline and the shifting sands in Mercia, which they’d hoped to run this year but look forward to running when we can.

Looking further forward, the 880s are also characterised by Alfred going on the attack: fighting in London, Rochester, Stourmouth… Plus treachery from the Vikings in East Anglia, and no doubt plenty of border skirmishes! But there are fewer large sweeping changes in political leaders, so it should be a good time to focus more on our personal stories and rivalries and less on “wait, who is king now?”

DAS Chronicle

Smash and Grab, 877 A.D. (Cadbury, June 2017)

Earlier in the year the Vikings had fled from Wareham to Exeter. However morale was low amongst them, after having to exchange hostages and with Thorhelm and Fritha of the Oestvikingae away sworn to the service of the Cilternsaete. Tensions were running high inside the town, and the heathen hoard was fracturing… To alleviate some of this and keep their followers busy, the Viking leaders sent raiding parties to gather valuables from the surrounding countryside.

One such party fell upon a church and took it’s wealth, but they then fell on each other in an argument about which of them should get the loot. The Westmen fractured, Wulf and Hallgerd fighting against Grimkell and Waro’ch and anyone else they found. Hauk of the Oestvikingae, with Thorhelm and Fritha sworn to Cilternsaetae service, fell into a bleak rage and hunted all he could find in the woods, no matter their allegiance. Hrothgar of the Holmbyggja, seeing the falling morale of the Vikings, decided he would have a better chance to gain wealth selling his services to Cynric as a mercenary. And even Alf of the Holmbyggja, normally a calm and restful soul, was driven to take up arms and fight alongside Ingibjorg.

When Anir of the Sumorsaete, a strong Thegn of Alfred, arrived with Beorcsciringas allies in the form of Cuthwin and Elgiva, they found the fragmented raiders an easy force to fight. They soon bested every set of raiders they could find, but could not find the church’s wealth – it seems that whichever Viking had grabbed the church’s relics fled before the in-fighting erupted! However, one new relic was found during the fighting: a stone with a shell inside it, found at the top of a great hill, which was surely proof of the tale of Noah.

That evening a great banquet was held just outside Exeter, in a hall of Anir Thegn. The food was provided and prepared by the mighty Visna, in order to show the Englisc that the Danes inside Exeter were well-stocked for an extended siege. She lay on a truely astonishing quantity of fine food, far more than any who had gathered there could cope with, with which she taunted the Englisc hosts until Anir exclaimed “Fuck off Visna, I’m full”!

DAS Chronicle

Captives and Feuds, 877 A.D. (Earleywood 2017)

An Englisc viewpoint

At Wareham peace was sworn by solemn oaths from the Danes upon their holy ring, and hostages were given to Alfred the king: but the heathen proved forsworn, and fled towards Exeter. So Alfred sent for the hostages to be brought to him for hanging – for what other use is there for a hostage if oaths are not kept?

It fell to the Cilternsaete to escort two captives to the king – a man called Thorhelm and a woman called Fritha. We were also joined by Eadwulf, a Northumbrian who, like us, had come south to seek safety.

It was not long into the journey that we saw that there were small groups of Vikings abroad, seeking to free the hostages. The man Thorhelm used his weasel tongue to befriend young Wulfgar, and promised him great reward for his freedom – a gold arm-ring. So the boy, unwise, let him free, and he fled.

The Danes sought to waylay us, but as they had split into small bands could not stand before us, and we forced a passage along the road. There were several such skirmishes, and although Fritha was lost – freed or slain, I cannot say – we gained other captives, who would decorate a gallows just as well.

Later, we pursued the Viking stragglers as they headed to Exeter, harrying them, but unable to prevent them form seizing the burh.

That evening, a truce was called and Thorhelm offered his ransom to Wulfgar – an arm-ring indeed, bit of brass, not gold. Yet further proof that the heathen cannot be trusted.

This Thorhelm also showed that whilst he might fool a young boy, his tongue could get him into trouble, and not out of it. Drunk, no doubt, he called Guthwald thegn a lowly peasant – which brought the promise of a blood-feud with the Cilternsaete. Thorhelm wriggled and writhed, but was caught like an eel in a fish-trap. At length, realising his folly, and helped by those of greater wisdom, he agreed to buy himself free of the feud by serving as a mercenary (but without pay) for the Cilterseate on two future campaigns, when called upon by Guthwald to do so.

Later, a man entered the hall, wet and unkempt from the sea. He gave his name as Herjolf, Halfdan’s man, and brought news that the Danish fleet had been wrecked. Surely, this was the wrath of God upon the heathen for breaking their oaths.

– Herewulf Thegn

A Dane’s viewpoint

The Englisc were much impressed with Thorhelm’s generosity to their man Wulfgar and during the banquet gave him a large, ornate yet strangely ugly dish made of silver that is spoken of as one of their most sacred treasures, the very Chalice of St Botolph. Unfortunately, greed overcame some of our folk and the dish was first stolen, then broken into parts and some of them hidden. Grimkell of the Westmen agreed that the dish should be brought together again but had great difficulty finding where he had hidden one of the pieces of silver in his drunken state. He claimed somebody else must have moved it .

Later in the evening, Halfdan’s man Herjolf arrived unexpectedly, worn from hard travel and bearing news that the fleet at Swanwich was wrecked. Bosi, Hersir of the Holmbyggjar, welcomed Herjolf and thanked him for bringing his news with all possible speed, dire though that news was. Bosi gave Herjolf drink and bade him rest at the back of the hall.

There was much debate about the meaning of these tidings, and it was felt that Njord must have turned his face against the warriors of the sea-steed. Some spoke of making a sacrifice to Njord to regain his favour, others of sacrificing to a more powerful god such as the Allfather or Thor, to overcome Njord and bring us better fortune. It was suggested that the large silver chalice would make an excellent sacrifice. The wise man Styrkar asked that bones be cast to test the truth of Herjolf’s tidings. Ingibjorg supplied knuckle bones and Fritha and Styrkar read their meaning, concluding that only half the fleet had been lost. This led to much debate as to whether Herjolf was mistaken or whether he had deliberately tried to cause panic. Indeed when we learned that he had disappeared from his resting place, it was felt he might have been a naughty god in disguise, seeking to cause mischief.

Somehow the Chalice ended up back with the Englisc, who clearly repented of their generosity, being mean-spirited people who do not understand true gift-giving. They refused to return it and took great offence at some trivial remark of Thorhelm’s, threatening him with death and blood-feud, and only relenting when under great duress he agreed to fight for them for two campaigns. Still, the Oestvikingae are known to be mercenaries, so perhaps their leader, my father’s son Hauk, will be able to turn this twist of fate to his advantage.

– Ingibjorg Ragnarsdottir

DAS Chronicle

Oaths and Hostages, 876 A.D. (Flaunden, November 2016)

First, a quote from a surviving fragment of the Chronicle of St Albans (sadly lost at the dissolution of the monasteries…)

“AD 874. Here the Great Army came into Mercia and took winter quarters at Repton. And King Burhred lead his fyrd against them, and men from the Abbey lands with them. But Burhred thought himself accursed, and was driven from his kingdom to seek sanctuary in the bosom of our Lord in Rome. And the Danes gave the kingdom to Ceolwulf, who swore oaths to them and gave them hostages. Alas for the times that we live in!
AD 875. Here the Great Army left Repton. Some went with Healfdene to Northumbria and other with Guthrum, Oscytel and Anwend to Cambridge.
AD 876. Here after harvest Abbot Wulfnoth learned that King Ceolwulf sought to do harm to some of his sworn men, for they had been loyal to King Burhred, and so he thought them his enemies. But the Abbot sent word to them secretly, and they fled to seek safety among the West Saxons. And the Abbot sent with them a letter saying that he held their lands for them, for they held bookland from the Abbey, and so King Ceolwulf had no claim on it. Angry as he was, King Ceolwulf could not afford to make an enemy of Holy Mother Church, for fear that ot would make the folk rise against him. But Ceolwulf sent Danes to seek their death. Woe that Christian men should sink so low!”

Late in AD 876, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that “the army stole into Wareham, a fortress of the West Saxons. The king afterwards made peace with them; and they gave him as hostages those who were worthiest in the armt; and swore with oaths on the holy bracelet, which they would not before to any nation, that they would readily go out of his kingdom.”

Now, in most cases “made peace” seems to be an Anglo-Saxon euphemism for “paid them to go away”. But this seems to have been different.

My interpretation of events is that the Danes took control of the burh at Wareham before Alfred could bring up his fyrd, giving rise to a stand-off: the Anglo-Saxons could not get in without heavy losses, but the Danes could not get out- hence their offer to make peace. One of the things we wanted to explore was the giving of hostages and swearing of oaths.
To give us a reason to fight, I also assumed that some Viking stragglers would be harried by the locals before the main fyrd arrived.
The Sumorsaete wanted to drive out the Danes, and see how reliable their new neighbours, the Cilternsaete, would be: the Cilternsaete wanted to demonstrate their reliability to their hosts; the Westmen had been promised much silver by Ceolwulf to find and kill the Cilternsaete; the Holmbyggja envied those with Halfdan who were taking land to settle, and wanted to foil the Westmen to make them less trusted by the leaders of the Great Army: and the Oestvikingae wanted much the same, although their desire was to go on looting and raiding.

Despite the preceding fine autumn weather, the day when the Anglo-Saxons harried the Viking stragglers was miserably wet. Even so, there were many clashes between armed bands, and later in the day, when the confusion of battle had caused normal unit organisation to break down (or, the weedy did not go back out after lunch…) there was a series of ambushes by the Anglo-Saxon hunters and the Viking rearguard- including one spectacularly successful ambush when the Anglo-Saxons sprang from hiding, taking the Danes completely by surprise and slaughtering them all.

Eventually, the remaining Vikings gained the safety of the burh- not before time, for King Alfred shortly after arrived with his fyrd. The Anglo-Saxons did not wish to risk storming the fortress; the Vikings could not get out. So the leaders of the Great Army decided to seek peace, and offer hostages and oaths. They also decided that the Westmen, Holmbyggja, and Oestvikingae should offer hostages- one in three of their number- but could choose who they should be. They also advised them to look for cunning words so that they could swear an oath and keep to the letter of it, while breaking it in spirit.

The Holmbyggja nobly offered their kinfolk among the Oestvikimngae, Thorhelm and Fritha, as their hostages (which for some unfathomable reason they agreed to!). The Westmen offerd Hallgerd: Grimkell seemed very keen to marry her off (perhaps to save himself?) but none of the Cilternsaete were keen to marry a pagan. Wulfruna wisely suggested a marriage between hostages- Hallgerd and Thorkhelm- but neither Thorhelm nor his wife Fritha thought that a good idea! An alternative hostage was suggested, but eventually a copromise was reached- for Hallgerd to marry Wulfgar when he comes of age.
Dubious oaths were also sworn, giving the Danes enough wriggle-room to preserve some semblance of honour when they are broken (as the surely will be….). Of course, that will mean that the hostages will be hanged, so it looks as if Wulfgar is off the hook!
The astute will notice that 3 hostages from 18 Vikings is not one in three- clearly the Vikings are not very good at arithmetic….

So after glory in battle, glee in the hall. Food was eaten, mead drunk, songs sung, and riddles told. Men must revel when they may; for wyrd is wondrous fickle. Who can say what next year may bring?

– Herewulf Thegn

DAS Chronicle

Border Skirmishes, 876 A.D. (Cadbury, October 2016)

Lord Anir was away at the borders of his land putting down unrest leaving his hall lightly defended. Into the area comes a number of Viking and Saxon warbands each fighting each other and making occasional alliances along the lines of culture, Saxon or Viking. Purses of money were fought for. Groups included the Sumorsaete, led by Wulfstan, Cilternsaete led by Herewulf, Holmbyggjar led by Finn and the Westmen lad by Grimkell, the latter turning out in force with new warriors pledged to them. Most bands were very light on numbers and fighting was patchy and there was much running and avoiding battle, light skirmishes etc. Lord Anir’s churl Cynric led us a merry dance and was surprisingly fearless and outspoken, yelling at the heavily armed Finn and telling him to be gone from Lord Anir’s land whilst waving his staff furiously at Finn. He was eventually taken captive when he realised that he was in fear of his life and became very cooperative and stayed with the Holmbyggjar for protection for some time helping them so long as they did not tell the Lord Anir who was rumoured to be returning to his lands that very evening for the banquet. The Holmbyggjar did not have the heart to kill him due to his bravery. Finn was hard pressed but fought with great bravery.

Lord Anir did indeed return for the banquet and was able to welcome all to his hall and peace was sworn. Visna put on a glorious banquet and there was much quantity and variety of fine foods. Much ale and wine was consumed. Visna entertained all early on with a stirring song.

– Hrolf

Anir was on his way back from a pilgrimage, vikings were trying to capture his war hound and steal his gold.
At the banquet, the Westmen tried to buy the war hound from Anir using money that they had taken from Anir’s men.
I still can’t believe that Anir sold his dog to the Westmen.

– Alf Silversmith

DAS Chronicle

The Raven Banner Falls, 876 A.D. (Earleywood, March 2016)

In 875 news arrived that King Harald Finehair of Norway’s fearsome warlord Jarl Rognvald had conquered the islands off the north coast of Britain, from the Orkneys to the Hebrides to Mann: the lands that many of the Westmen call home. His army had also landed in Northumbria, attempting to bring all the Vikings in Britain under his rule. Meanwhile, the Northumbrians had risen up, wanting freedom from any foreign ruler.

The Westmen, Oestvikingae, and Holmbyggjar weren’t having that, and so marched North to fight King Harald off, under Halfdan Ragnarsson’s leadership. Sadly, due to being shipwrecked and then ambushed, they arrived too late for the big battle: by the time they arrived, Halfdan’s men had broken the invading Norwegian army. The Vikings of DAS were sent to look for Jarl Rognvald’s son, Ivar, who rumour had it had been killed in a Northumbrian ambush. With him had fallen his standard, the Raven Banner.

Looking for the Raven Banner, many warbands descended on the area where Ivar was rumoured to have died. The Vikings wanted to get it to rally all of the raiders in England to their cause and to demoralise Rognvald and Halfdan; the Englisc wanted to stop any of the foreign kings achieving pre-eminence, to keep the Vikings fighting each other; and some dangerous elite lone wolves from the Norwegian army were hoping to grab the banner and take it back to their forces. After an initially fruitless search, the banner was uncovered by Thorhelm of the Oestvikingae. The Oestvikingae were then attacked by a Norwegian, who was being aided by a Saxon mercanary, Athelstan of the Sumorsaete. As they fled, they ran into the Holmbyggjar, who smashed aside both groups to take the banner for themselves. Halla then took the banner and went into hiding, protecting it to return it to King Guthrum.

A lone Norwegian

Everyone in the area began searching for Halla, who utilised all of her skills to remain unseen. Finally the Holmbyggjar found her, and teamed up with the Oestvikingae to break out past the encircling forces: a Norwegian, Athelstan, and the Cilternsaete refugees who had fled from Mercia into Northumbria. The Englisc won, only for Athelstan to turn on the Norwegian, stabbing him in the back and proudly winning the banner…

The chase

After a break for lunch, the hunt for the banner continued. With the Norwegians driven out of the area, the Vikings turned on the Englisc in earnest. The Westmen soon overpowered them and captured the banner. Then the Oestvikingae stole the banner from their hiding place, and the chase was on! The woods descended into madness as people fought for the banner, desperate chases down paths with ended in bogs and holly bushes. At the end of the day, despite a particularly successful stint by Wulfgar of the Cilternsaete as the banner bearer, the Westmen were triumphant and proudly bore the banner out of the woods.

The victors

That evening, the Holmbyggjar held a great feast. Two mysterious visitors joined the hall. One was from Jarl Rognvald and King Harald Finehair. He said that King Harald acknowledged the victory against him, was retreating to Norway with Jarl Rognvald, and that they revoked all claim to the Kingdom of Northumbria: at which the hall rejoiced. However, he then added that Jarl Rognvald’s brother, Jarl Sigurd, would remain in control of the Kingdom of the Isles, from Mann to the Hebrides to the Orkneys. This distressed the hall, particularly those of the Westmen who called those isles their home. The second visitor was Herjolf Asgrimsson, huskarlar of King Halfdan Ragnarsson. He passed on messages from Halfdan. To the Westmen, successful bearers of the Raven Banner, he said that he entirely supported their claim to the isles which they called home. He would not allow any of his followers to take the isles from them, and would support them in reclaiming the isles from the Norwegian Sigurd. To the Oestvikingae and the Holmbyggjar he offered land. He said that attacking Wessex before we have properly secured our conquests is rash, and that we must completely subdue the North before marching South.

The Holmbyggjar disagreed, saying that they followed King Guthrum not Halfdan, King Guthrum who had offered them (and all who supported him in taking Wessex) land in East Anglia. The time to consolidate our victories is once they are complete, once there is no free Englisc kingdom. And to do that, Wessex must fall.

The Oestvikingae were torn. They wanted to attack fresh lands, lands rich in money. But they had previously been loyal to the Ragnarssons, and switching allegiance to Guthrum felt like a betrayal.

The Westmen, however, were clear. Following Guthrum and taking Wessex seemed like the best choice, the most strategic. But the Westment never followed the sensible option. And so they would be marching North, to retake their homes, before returning South.

Meanwhile, the Englisc sat and listened, biding their time and preparing to carry word of the plans south to Alfred, the last free Englisc king. Whatever was coming, he would prepared… Herewulf Thegn proudly told the story of how Athelstan tricked the lone Norwegian wolf to claim the Raven Banner by pretending to be a mercenary, and his implication was clear: Alfred of Wessex was cleverer than any Viking king, and the Englisc would outfox any invaders just like Athelstan had.

Historical Note – The Raven Banner
The Raven Banner is one of those things that much has been written about, a lot of it rubbish. Historically the first appearance of it is in 878, 2 years after our current period, when Ubbe Ragnarsson invades Wessex and took with him “the war-flag (guðfani), which they called Raven”. Later it is also used by the Kings of Northumbria and Norse-occupied Ireland, the Jarls of Orkney, King Knut, King Haraldr at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, and banners with ravens on appear in the Bayeaux Tapestry. In several sources it is magical or cursed: the army that carry it always wins but the banner bearer always dies, or the image changes depending on if they’re going to win or lose, or so on.

The only Viking source that depicts something that might be the Raven banner is the coins minted by the last descendant of the Ragnarssons to rule Northumbria, in the 940s. Two of his coins depict banners or ravens, and Hauk combined them to make our version. If you want to read more, the Viking Answer Lady has a very good article.

RavenBanner

 

DAS Chronicle

Looting the Looters, 875 A.D. (Flaunden, November 2015)

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The Vikings, laden down by loot from Medhamstead Abbey and fleeing the forces of Wessex, pushed into East Anglia to meet up with King Guthrum’s forces who were busy putting down the uprisings there. However, they found themselves slowed by their riches, harried by Englisc and also by those Vikings without treasure. In the ensuing clashes much treasure changed hands, including the Oestvikingae loosing the holy sheep’s shoulder blade which they stole from Cadbury.

Confrontation

One particularly mighty piece of loot was the Chalice of St. Botolph (an East Anglian abbot and saint of great repute). This chalice was said to have worked many miracles in the hands of the Englisc, turning aside sword-blows to save its bearer. It changed hands many times this day. The Westmen lost it to the lone wandering scop Cynric of the Sumersaete. Shortly afterwards, the marauding Oestvikingae sprung upon him and wrestled it from his grasp, and they then took their axes to it and chopped it to a more manageable size. They then tried to hide the majority of it, but they kept being disturbed by the Cilternsaete and Holmbyggjar. The Holmbyggjar soon cut down Hauk, stole most of the Chalice, and fled far to the East pursued by Thorhelm, leaving everyone else looking for them in vain.

Grimkell

In the evening, the local Englisc hosted a feast for the Vikings, under the rules of King Ceolwulf of Mercia. Much eating and drinking followed, including toasts to numerous Gods and Saints. There was a lot of talk of current affairs: of King Ceolwulf’s rule, of King Harald Fairhair’s raids on the Islands, of how the gathered company would act if they were a King. There were also many songs, from rousing and bawdy sing-alongs to the scop Cynric performing hauntingly beautiful tunes.

There was also much talk of the Chalice of St. Botolph. There was speculation that it might be cursed, so many times had it changed hands that day: that any who held it would lose their fights, and not hold it for long. Thus the Holmbyggjar divided its pieces up, between the Oestvikingae and the Westmen. The Oestvikingae and the Westmen then challenged Cynric to an arm wrestle for control of it, and he confidently and consecutively defeated five men to gain control of the entire Chalice and restore it. However, then the curse of the Chalice struck, and he was defeated at the hands of Hallgerd, who in turn was rapidly defeated by Guthwald. After that demonstration and confirmation of the terrible curse, none challenged Guthwald, as none wished to bear such an unlucky relic…

DAS Chronicle

Shipwrecked, 875 A.D. (Cadbury, October 2015)

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This summer King Alfred went out to sea with an armed fleet, and fought with seven ship-rovers, one of whom he took, and dispersed the others.

With the Vikings leaderless and facing rebellions in their holdings in Northumbria and East Anglia, King Alfred of Wessex spent 875 building up his forces. This included developing a navy, creating a force that could protect Wessex’s long sea-coast. They zealously patrolled the English Channel, and soon found success, managing to defeat a Viking fleet of seven longships.

With the Viking fleet dispersed and part-destroyed, a small group of Viking raiders found themselves washed up on the coast of Dorset. They struck north, trying to get to Viking-controlled Mercia. However, Anir Thane of the Sumersaete heard rumours of these armed troops crossing Wessex and decided to hunt them down, with aid from the visiting Cilternsaete. Pushing north from Sherborne, they saw smoke rising from raided farmsteads. Knowing that the Vikings would be looking for a defensive position to break their journey in, they advanced rapidly to occupy the great hillfort of Cadbury, said to have once been the seat of King Arthur.

The Viking forces were bitterly arguing among themselves, clashing over which direction they should be heading and whose fault it was that their ship was ruined. The Holmbyggjar had raided a church, and fetched a precious relic: the shoulder blade of a holy sheep, once owned by a local saint. They planned to use it to buy safe passage, if cornered by the Englisc.

Ambush
The Oestvikingae had got their own plan for buying their way to freedom: taking a prominent local hostage. They were chasing one suitable person, a rich but unarmed man named Ælf, who headed into the hillfort of Cadbury. The Vikings followed, little realising that Anir Thane’s forces were waiting there for them… But Ælf was too fast, and the Oestvikingae were slowed by injuries from their recent fights. They chased him over the top of the hillfort, only to find that he had vanished, to be replaced by the Englisc forces. The Oestvikingae tried to negotiate, promising to flee straight out of Wessex, but the Englisc had come to fight not talk, and charged down the slope. Thorhelm and Visna fell wounded, and Hauk fled. He managed to meet up with the Westmen, but the Englisc fell on them again, and defeated them again.

Holmbyggjar vs Englisc
The victorious Englisc pushed on, seeking more Vikings to kill. They came across the Holmbyggjar, who attempted to use cunning to escape with their lives: “We’re not Vikings! We’re members of Alfred’s navy, chasing those naughty Vikings.” “What’s your favourite cheese?” “Jarlsburg – no, I mean Cheddar!” With their disguise penetrated, the Englisc attacked the Holmbyggjar, overcoming them and rescuing the holy sheep’s shoulder blade. The Englisc then continued to patrol the area, driving off or destroying all the Vikings they could find.

Arguing
Meanwhile the Westmen regrouped, and “helped save Ælf from falling off the ramparts”. With the hostage secured, they moved to escape the hillfort… Only to be set upon first by the Holmbyggjar (who they defeated) and then by the Englisc (who defeated them, before crushing the Oestvikingae as well as they tried to slip past).

Feast
Later, the Englisc met with the remaining defeated Vikings seeking to negotiate their passage. The Holmbyggjar provided a magnificent feast, booze flowed freely, and every unit providing entertainment: poems, songs, and tales of past glories. The Englisc were triumphant but also magnanimous: boasting of their successes to make it clear that any Vikings who stood against them or raided the area would face destruction, but granting the Vikings their lives, and passage out of Wessex.

Herewulf’s Boast
The wise man boasts of what he has done, not what he dreams of doing. What did we three do?

We were three. We met a group of warriors. They were three, we slew them. They were the Oestvikingae.
We were three. We met a group of warriors. They were three, we slew them. They were the Westmen.
We were three. We met a group of warriors. They were three, we slew them. They were the Holmbyggjar.

At the end of the days fight, we three held both the relic and the hostage.

The Vikings vowed to leave directly, to head East or North, to deal with the uprisings in East Anglia and Northumbria and the encroaching fleet of King Harald Fair-Hair. However the next morning, as the Englisc awoke, shook off their hangovers, and saw that the Vikings had decamped, they realised that their sacred relic, the shoulder blade of the holy sheep which belonged to a saint, was missing…

DAS Chronicle

The Doom of Burhred, 874 A.D. (Flaunden, October 2014)

At which the Vikings and Englisc fought a terrible battle, King Burhred of Mercia fled, the Vikings declared Ceolwulf King of Mercia, and the Heathen Host fractured as King Ivar died and they were torn apart by arguments.

The red hand of war gripped Mercia. The Great Army seized and fortified Repton – a direct challenge to king Burhred, the place where his ancestors lay. All asked if the Mercians would offer tribute, or seek battle?

Burhred knew that he was under a heathen curse. His luck was gone. Reluctant to bring his doom upon himself, he was at first unwilling to face the Danes, but the demands of his ealdormen and thegns that he do something, and Ceolwulf’s proposal that the Mercians should buy peace, forced his hand. He summoned the fyrd, and marched on Repton.

The Mercians tried to bottle the Danes up inside the fortification, but the Vikings managed to force their way out. In the ensuing confusion both armies ended up loose and skirmishing, seeking to regroup and reform their battle lines. Then the shield walls finally clashed, and the Vikings managed to break the Saxon flank. Burhred, knowing that he is doomed, lost his nerve, broke and ran. The Vikings pursued him into the woods, and a long hunt ensued with Saxons and Vikings seeking to find the missing King. At one point the Vikings captured some of his court, the captors argued amongst themselves about what to do with their prisoners, to free them, ransome them or sacrifice them? In the end the King and Queen managed to get clear of the woods, although not all the members of their court survived the encounter with the heathens, and at least one was left dangling from Odin’s tree, sacrificed by the Oestvikingae…

Some days later, once Ceolwulf claimed Mercia and made peace with the Danes, the Cilternsaete hosted a feast. Tempers ran high, and blows were narrowly averted. Both sides were divided, with Somersaete and Beorcsciringas arguing, and condemnation raining down on the Oestvikingae‘s treatment of hostages from all directions, Saxon and Viking. Mercia had lost her King, and was unsure of her future; the Viking puppet King Ceolwulf of Mercia had precious little support; the Vikings had also lost their King, as news arrived at the banquet that King Ivar the Boneless was slain, killed by his own sword, the cursed blade Kingslayer. Any unity that once existed between the Vikings under Ivar has gone, with the Holmbyggjar seeking to settle and own land under Guthrum and the Westmen returning with their riches to their island homes off Scotland’s coast. And, in Wessex, King Alfred is the last surviving independent Englisc King…

The Chilternsaetae’s View
We received a message from Abbot Wulfnoth- King Burhred had summoned the fyrd. So, true to our duty to fulfil fyrd service for the abbey of St Alban, we rode north, joining the muster before advancing on Repton. Besides Mercians, there were some West Saxons present too, sent by King Alfred to support his sister’s husband.
The heathen army had seized the royal tun, and built a fortification there, defiling the church of St Wigstan, using it as the gate. The rampart curled around to meet the river Trent at either end. So we settled down to lay siege, as at Nottingham some years before.
When we heard the king address his fyrd, his heart did not seem to be in it. I spoke with Eowa, a member of the king’s hearth-troop, and he told me that the King had been in a fey, strange mood for some while, following something that happened at his favourite hunting lodge. He seemed to me to be a man who had seen his own wyrd. If that is what it does, then God save me from foreknowledge.
Eowa also told me that Ceolwulf, who claims descent from a older line of Mercian kings, had been making much of how, if he was King, he would seek peace with the Danes. So it seems that maybe Burhred felt he had to act, whether he wished to or not.
Poor Eowa- I will never speak with him again. He fell, there at Repton. I would have fallen too, but for Godwin.
We heard that there was sickness amongst the Danes. Maybe so, and that decided them perhaps. For whatever reason, they gathered their force and sought to break out through the church. We gathered a band at the gate to hold them within, but their numbers and desperation told, and we were forced back. The Vikings streamed out, and we fell back- both sides becoming scattered in the confusion of battle. Christian and heathen alike had to re-order their troops and form a shield-wall.
After a while, the linesformed and clashed, and we fought hard on the Mercian left, but were outflanked. I heard after that our centre broke- indeed, that King Burhred himself had fled, causing a rout.
Ealdormen Aethelred called for us to form a rearguard- a good man, Aethelred: I pray that he lived through the carnage.
The rest of that day is jumbled in my memory- many small fights in the woods as those of us that lived tried to break free, many dead lying open-eyed, awaiting the wolf and the raven. Eventually we made our way clear, and headed for home.
While we recovered, we hosted some of the West Saxons who had also fought clear in our hall at Redbourn, and drank the grave-ale for those who had fallen. They were still with us some days later, when a messenger came from Ceolwulf- he now claimed the kingship, and a band of Danes were travelling around Mercia not as raiders, but as emissaries seeking peace. So we hosted them too.
So soon after we had been in battle against each other, it is not surprising that harsh words were spoken, from both sides of the hall. But the peace of the hall held- not least because others, on both sides, spoke for calm to prevail.
It seems that Burhred has fled his kingdom- no one knows where, although some say that he has gone to seek sanctuary in Rome. I do not know if that is true.
So now we Cilternsaete must choose- do we stay true to Burhred, wherever he is? Do we accept Ceolwulf as king, and peace with the Danes? Or maybe there will be some other choice. I must seek Abbot Wulfnoth’s wisdom.
We live in troubled times.
Herewulf thegn

An excerpt from Hauk Ragnarsson’s Saga
Under King Ivar ‘the Boneless’ Ragnarsson’s leadership, the Great Heathen Host erected a mighty fortified bank around their camp at Repton. When Burhred’s army arrived, they tried to pen the Vikings inside this camp. As disease began to spread in the camp, King Ivar saw the need for us to break out and fight in open group – the Oestvikingae were among the leaders of the breaching force. It was a hard fight, with the Englisc intent on not giving the Host the space to use their superior numbers, but eventually the Mercians were driven back. Hauk was greatly impressed by the courage of the fallen Mercian thegn who led the battleline, and died with his sword in his hand. Hauk took his penis as a talisman, and later Guðrún buried the body with a boar’s tusk between its legs and a Thor’s Hammer around his neck, to ensure that he went to Valhalla, and was whole there.

The Oestvikingae then fought through the streets and woods surrounding Repton, as the Host fought to get to open ground where they could reform the battleline. The vǫlva Guðrún instructed Hauk that in order to ensure the battle ahead would go well, he must sacrifice an infant, quartering them into a bloody mess, and this was done, using a young Viking boy that they encountered and brawled with. This earnt Hauk his sister Ingibjorg’s grave disapproval.

The Great Heathen Host succeeded in getting through to clear ground, fighting past many Englisc and suffering some terrible losses in the process. They then reformed the shieldwall, and charged Burhred’s forces, seeking to capture and kill the King. As his battleline broke, Burhred fled, and hid in the nearby woods. The Vikings split up to search for him, clashing with Mercians seeking to find and protect their lord.

The Oestvikingae succeeded in capturing several ladies of Burhred’s court, and Hauk sought to threaten them to draw out Burhred and talk to him. In order to do this, Hauk sent one of their hostages to get Burhred and told her to return within a certain count or else the others would die. This strategy drew the ire of other Vikings, with Guðrún and Thorhelm the Cruel not wanting to set a captive free, the Holmbyggjar saying that slaying unarmed women was cowardly and wrong, whilst the Westmen wanted to continue the pursuit not engage in politics. As the count was completed, Burhred had not emerged – either because he was too cowardly to come forward to save his people, or because he was too far away to hear the demands – and so the Oestvikingae killed their captive, impaling her on Odin’s Tree.

The search for Burhred continued, and the Oestvikingae clashed with Englisc and Viking alike as they continued to carve a bloody path through any hostages they caught. However the search proved inconclusive, and the Oestvikingae returned to Repton to bury the dead.

A while later, they feasted at a hall of the Cilternsaete. There much news was shared: King Burhred was missing, presumed fled; Ceolwulf had declared himself King of Mercia; and King Ivar ‘the Boneless’ Ragnarsson, the man who held the Great Summer Army and the Great Heathen Host together, was dead. Tempers were high, and Englisc and Viking alike turned their ire on the Oestvikingae for the sacrifices they had performed, especially the killing of the unarmed hostages. Hauk remained defiant: the sacrifices were neccessary in order to gain the victory, and the threat to the hostages could have been averted by Burhred if he was a true king and cared about his people, if he had just stepped forwards. With King Ivar dead, there was no leader to bind the Vikings together, and deep fractures appeared between the groups… The peace held, but only just.

The Death of Ivar
After the Battle of Repton, Hauk wrote this song about King Ivar’s death:

The saddest song, I shall now sing;
Of how the Kingslayer, killed a king.
Ivar the Boneless, big and brave;
Reaved British lands, for Ragnar’s revenge.

His Heathen Host, harried the Englisc,
Kings were killed, and kingdoms vanquished.
When fighting Wessex, we suffered woe,
King Bagsecg killed, by Kingslayer’s blow.

The sword was saved, stored in Christ’s house,
Symbol of our slain, giving Saxons strength.
So we were sent, to steal sword for seiðr,
As witches wove words, wyrd’s web drew near:

Kingslaying blade will betray its bearer,
Defeat’s disgrace will be drowned in blood.

Monks were mauled, monastery attacked,
To get the king-slayer, seiðr for spá-wives.
A nithing-pole erected, a night for norns,
King Burhred cursed, with deep-cut runes.

The blade was brought, to Ivar the Boneless,
King Ivar cursed Burhred, Kingslayer would kill.
At Repton’s battle, Burhred was beaten,
Shield-wall smashed, and fyrdsmen slain.

As Burhred’s battleline, began to flee,
Ivar sprang forward, shouting his glee.
The Viking king, drew Kingslaying blade,
Predicted by witches, who prophecies made:

Kingslaying blade will betray its bearer,
Defeat’s disgrace will be drowned in blood.

From Englisc flight a thegn stepped forth,
Boldly blocked Boneless, to save Burhred his lord.
Both rained blows, blood flowed bright,
Ivar’s blade bounced; bit him, took life.

The battle was won, Burhred’s battleline fled,
But the Viking king, was cut, killed, dead.
Where to now, will the wanderers Vike?
The heathen host, has lost it’s head.

The witches’ words, were twisted and wicked,
The bearer betrayed, was Boneless not Burhred.
Mercia retreats, but Ragnarsson is rift,
Saxons gain strength, as Ivar is slain.

Kingslaying blade betrayed its bearer,
Defeat’s disgrace was drowned in blood.

Historical Note – Human Sacrifice & Odd Burials from Repton

Did the Vikings really do human sacrifice? Probably…

The Arab travellers, Ibn Fadlan and Ibn Rustah, both describe women being buried with the dead in Rus funerals. Sacrifice to the gods is also attested by Adam of Bremen, writing about Old Uppsala in Sweden:

There is a festival at Uppsala every nine years […] The sacrifice is as follows; of every kind of male creature, nine victims are offered. By the blood of these creatures it is the custom to appease the gods. Their bodies, moreover, are hanged in a grove which is adjacent to the temple. This grove is so sacred to the people that the separate trees in it are believed to be holy because of the death or putrefaction of the sacrificial victims. There even dogs and horses hang beside human beings.

Which is also echoed in the Gutsaga:

Men believed in holt and howe (grove and grave-mound), sanctuaries and sacred sites, and in the heathen gods. They made offerings of their sons and daughters and cattle, with food and ale. They did that in their error. The chief sacrifice was the one for the whole land, with people; otherwise each Third had its own sacrifice. The smaller assemblies had lesser sacrifices with cattle, food and ale. They were called suth-nautar (Brethren of the Boiling, Cooking Companions), because they cooked [the sacrificial feast] together.
Gutasaga

And then there’s the Saga of Ragnar’s Sons, where Ivar the Boneless kills Aelle of York using the Blood Eagle (hacking open his back, pulling his ribs open, and waving the lungs about). Although that’s possibly not so much a sacrifice as just a brutal murder…

Of course, those accounts are Muslims & Christians writing about their pagan neighbours/ancestors, and the human sacrifice could have been added to make it more obvious that Islam/Christianity was a better religion. So archeological evidence is better, if less clear.

Several of the Danish peat bog bodies were hung, which is suggestive of sacrifice mirroring Odin hanging on Yggdrasil? But it could have been capital punishment instead.

In Repton, we find several possible sacrifices. There is a burial mound containing 264 skeletons (with no obvious wounds) arrayed around a stone crypt/coffin that originally contained a giant skeleton. Possibly Ivar the Boneless is the central skeleton, whilst the chaps around the outside could be bodies dug up from the graveyard and then reburied; or Vikings who’d died of disease whilst overwintering at Repton; or sacrifices along the lines of those described by Ibn Fadlan and Ibn Rustah?

There are also quartered corpses of children from Repton. These are hard to read as capital punishment, and so human sacrifice does seem a likely interpretation. Children seem to be popular sacrificial victims, as 4 children found in wells at Trelleborg that have also been interpreted as sacrifices.

Finally there are several bodies, in their own personal graves, who had battle-wounds. One, Grave 511, was clearly quite a hero. He suffered a head-wound, was killed by a blow to his left femur (cutting his penis off?), and was buried with a silver Thor’s hammer & two glass beads, a leather belt with a decorated copper-alloy buckle, and an iron sword in a fleece-lined wooden scabbard covered with leather. He also had two knives, an iron key, the tusk of a wild boar between his thighs, and lower down, perhaps originally in a bag or box, the humerus of a jackdaw. He might not have been a sacrifice, but he was certainly killed and buried in a very ritualised way – in our story he became the Mercian battle leader, killed by Hauk cutting off his penis and then buried by the vǫlva Guðrún.

Repton demonstates to us one other key point: Viking culture was not neccessarily uniform. The sheer diversity of Viking funerary customs displayed is amazing – the mass grave around the giant, the individual warriors in graves, and also nearby a collection of barrows containing cremations (the Heath Wood barrow cemetary). These cultural differences were expressed in our story by the differing reactions to human sacrifice by the Oestvikingae and the Holmbyggjar…

DAS Chronicle

Before the Battle, 874 A.D. (Murton Park, August 2014)

At which the Vikings and Englisc both prepared for the battle to seal the fate of Mercia, and an introspective Viking leader, Ivar the Boneless, asked the assembled forces exactly what they wanted.

Before the battle

The war season, 874. The Viking Great Army gathered at Repton in Mercia, home to the burial crypt of the Mercian kings. Meanwhile King Burhred of Mercia, having listened to Alfred’s advice, assembled his forces, called the fyrd, prepared for a counter-attack to seal his fate and the fate of his kingdom. And Ceolwulf, claiming to be the rightful king of Mercia, descendant of the King Ceolwulf who fled Mercia 50 years ago, said that if he were King he would bring peace with the Vikings by paying them to leave.

In a hall near Repton some of the Vikings gathered to prepare for the coming battle – working on their equipment in the forge, fletching arrows, repairing their tunics for possibly the last time. They were visited by envoys and friends from among the Mercians. At the start of the feast, Hersir Hauk of the Oestvikingae spoke. He said that with King Burhred of Mercia gathering his forces, there would soon be war – but for now there was peace, and we should dine well as it may be one of our last meals.

As the guests were tucking into their rich beef stew, the hall was visited by an exceptionally tall and gaunt figure: Ivar ‘the Boneless’ Ragnarsson, eldest of the sons of Ragnar, pre-eminent leader of the Great Army. He was unstable on his feet, leaning on his daneaxe and the hall’s pillars to stand. He said that he was ill, and old. He had been harrying the Englisc for 10 years, ever since his father Ragnar Loðbrók had been killed in Jorvic, leading the Great Army to seek revenge and wealth. He had killed his father’s killer, brought the Northumbrian kingdom centered on Jorvic to its knees, and also crushed the East Anglians. But now, seeing his death approaching, he wanted to make sure that he had done right according to his followers, so asked them what they wanted.

Ingibjorg of the Holmbyggjar spoke of her desire to find a land to live in. She had come to the Englisc lands in the Great Summer Army led by Guthrum, 3 years ago, seeking a quick victory of Wessex and Mercia in order to win herself a place to live. She saw the need to crush Mercia, to take and secure her land with blood, to fulfill the curse placed by the volvas on King Burhred, but ultimately wanted to settle – ideally in East Anglia, with trade-routes to Denmark.

She asked too for clarity on the succession – who would lead the Vikings if Ivar died? Ivar said that the strongest leader would rule, and whoever he nominated did not matter.

Wulf of the Westmen said that he was a mercenary, and spoke of his desire for money. He saw the best route as a bloody path, conquering the Englisc lands and forcing the Englisc to pay rent. However he agreed with Ingibjorg: the land must be won with blood.

Hallgerd of the Westmen agreed – like Wulf, she simply wanted money, won with blood. She has land on the isle of Canna off the land of the Scots, and has no interest in settling on the mainland or who rules here.

Young Cnut of the Oestvikingae, cousin of Hauk, also wanted money – and wanted to grow up a warrior, earning his money with a sword; not a farmer, living in peace.

Wulfruna of the Cilternsaete said that she, possibly unlike her lord Herewulf, ultimately desired peace. But a peace of equals, not the peace of the servant.

Wulfgar of the Cilternsaete, her son, was more direct and violent. He saw that only blood, and the sword, would decide the matter – and threatened to stab King Ivar himself!

Ivar coughed, a terrible fit. He acknowledged that since all wished it so and none could see a peaceful route, there could be no peace without war first, and that the blood must flow. He then withdrew, to visit the other halls where his followers gathered, and talk to them too before battle came. Because it was now certain that battle would come, and the fate of Mercia would be decided with blood…

Feast before we die

Ingibjorg’s lament
Ivar Ragnarsson (‘the Boneless’) asked the Viking war-leaders for their counsel – should they treat with the Englisc or fight? In reply, had she thought of them at the time, Ingibjorg Ragnarsdottir (no relation) would certainly have spoken these lines.

I do not crave the blood-speech of the battle tongues;
I would weave weapons’ woe.
I rode across Njord’s pasture,
My steed thundering over the world worm’s burrow,
In search of green pastures of my own.

My parents live in the hall of the daughter
Of the thunder-god’s companion.
My husband and my son are Freyja’s guests.
Our lands feed the milk-givers of our foes
And I have no weaving-frame to offer
To my dear daughter Dagrun.

The father-god of the shield trees
Vowed that those trees and their saplings
Would thrust their roots into the west-land valleys.

How then shall I cry craven?
No sword-swinger I – barely can I thrust a spear,
Yet if any home I have, it lies here.

Historical Note – Ivar ‘the Boneless’
Ivar the Boneless is, like many of the Viking leaders, a shadowy figure, straddling legend and history. It is possible that he might be the same figure as the King Ímar of Irish sources, founder of the Uí Ímair dynasty who ruled Dublin, parts of Scotland, and the Hebrides. It is recorded that Ímar died in 873 in Britain. Some accounts don’t say how he die, others say that it is due to an illness. In the Saga of Ragnar’s Sons, he is reported to die childless, of old age – although the Irish King Ímar, in contrast, had several children when he founded his dynasty.
It is not known what Ivar’s ‘the Boneless’ nickname refers to. Some have suggested that it might be a muscular condition meaning he couldn’t use his limbs (although that is contradicted by saga descriptions of him as tall and powerful); others that it could refer to erectile issues (hence the childlessness).
One possible solution to the riddle was uncovered by a farm labourer, Thomas Walker, in Repton in 1686. He dug up a burial mound, uncovering a stone coffin containing ‘a Skeleton of a Humane Body Nine Foot long’, buried with over 100 skeletons arrayed around him. This was clearly an important person, buried with great ritual. Could the (now lost) skeletal giant be that of Ivar ‘the Boneless’, the nick-name an ironic one much like ‘Little’ John? If so, this would tally with the Irish sources giving 873 as his year of death (as it was in 873 & 874 that the Vikings were in Repton). So that’s the theory we’ve gone with!

DAS Chronicle

To Curse A King, 874 A.D. (Chiltern Open Air Museum, May 2014)

At which the Vikings used the magic of the Kingslayer to erect a potent nithing-pole inside Burhred’s favourite hunting ground, giving him another blow to his morale and unleashing powerful spirits against him.

The Nithing Pole

The start of the war season, 874. It had been a decade since the death of Ragnar Loðbrók led to his sons assembling the Great Heathen Army and attacking Britain; three years since Guthrum joined them, leading the Great Summer Host. They had won battles in every kingdom of the Englisc, and Northumbria and East Anglia had fallen, but Mercia and Wessex still remained independent. Tensions were stirring among the Vikings – some had come to these lands expecting a rapid victory and then a chance to settle in new lands, and wanted to end the fighting; others were blood-crazed and wanted to continue raiding. Even those who wanted to settle were divided, with the followers of Halfdan Ragnarsson feeling that the followers of Guthrum had not done enough to earn themselves land yet, and many arguments about who would get which land.

But Ivar ‘the Boneless’, eldest son of the slain Ragnar and the only man who could unite all the Vikings, understood that as long as any Englisc nation remained unconquered, the land would not be subdued and it was pointless to discuss dividing it and settling. And so he spoke, and the Great Heathen Army descended upon Mercia.

Ivar planned to replace the Mercian king, Burhred, with a thegn called Ceolwulf, who promised that if he were king he would make peace with the Vikings, and pay them annually without them even having to fight. To do this, King Burhred had to fall.

And so Ivar sent a group ahead of the main host, deep into the heart of Mercia, to the favoured hunting ground of King Burhred. The group included warriors from many ships (the Westmen, Holmbyggjar, and Oestvikingae), a huscarl of Halfdan called Herjólf, and also two powerful vǫlvas, Guðrún and Wulfhild, wielders of dark and powerful magics. On a dark and stormy night outside Burhred’s hunting lodge they erected a níðstang, a nithing pole, carved with runes, topped with a stag’s skull, anointed with blood poured from the Chalice of King Edwin of Northumbria, and cut with the Kingslayer. And the vǫlvas recited powerful spells and curses around it, and circled it three times, walking backwards with their heads between their legs, cackling evilly.

When Burhred next visited the woods he would find the pole, and read the runic curse:

With this Níðing Pole I Curse King Burhred, and Turn the Spirits of the Land on King Burhred
With the Skull of the King of the Forest I Curse King Burhred
With Blood from the Chalice of King Edwin I Curse King Burhred
With a Cut from the Kingslayer that Killed King Bagsecg I Curse King Burhred

His doom was coming, as the Vikings were moving on Mercia.

Herjolf Asgrimsson’s view
I am Herjolf Asgrimsson, from Ormsness in Skane before I was outlawed and came west-over-sea and joined the huskarlar of Hafdan Ragnarsson.
Halfdan bade me join a strange raid by Hauk of the Oestvikingae- not to seize silver, but to plant a curse. Halfdan wanted one of his own to see what happened.
We were a small band- a few warriors and two spaewives. We rode deep into Mercia. There, we found the hunting lodge of Burhred, king of Mercia.
It was a wild and stormy night- I could well believe that those from the other worlds were close- trolls and jotuns and svartalfar. There the volvas set up the curse-pole and worked their spells around it, and Hauk called down a curse upon Burhred. I shivered. Perhaps it was the cold wind. Perhaps.
I am glad that I am not Burhred of Mercia.

An excerpt from Hauk Ragnarsson’s Saga
Hauk took to Kingslayer to the vǫlva Guðrún, and she thought of a plan to harness its magics to make King Burhred flee Mercia, so that Ceolwulf might take his place and rule Mercia as a puppet of the Vikings. Guðrún presented her plan to Ivar Ragnarsson, and he was pleased. And so when the Great Army attacked Mercia, Guðrún went ahead of them, to the heart of that land, and she took with her Hauk and his cousin Wulfhild, who was learning the arts of seiðr from Guðrún, and other warriors. In a terrible storm Hauk erected a powerful níðstang, topped with a stag’s head, bathed in blood from the Chalice of King Edwin of Northumbria, and sliced with the Kinglayer. And the vǫlvas carved it with dark runes, and recited spells, and walked backwards around it three times with their heads between their legs, and called down the gaze of Odin on King Burhred.

The Nithing Pole

Historical Note – Níðstang & Vǫlvas
There is no evidence of nithing poles being used in England, sadly. They are used various times in the sagas though, most famously in Egil’s Saga, Ch. 60:

And when all was ready for sailing, Egil went up into the island. He took in his hand a hazel-pole, and went to a rocky eminence that looked inward to the mainland. Then he took a horse’s head and fixed it on the pole. After that, in solemn form of curse, he thus spake: ‘Here set I up a curse-pole, and this curse I turn on king Eric and queen Gunnhilda. (Here he turned the horse’s head landwards.) This curse I turn also on the guardian-spirits who dwell in this land, that they may all wander astray, nor reach or find their home till they have driven out of the land king Eric and Gunnhilda.’ This spoken, he planted the pole down in a rift of the rock, and let it stand there. The horse’s head he turned inwards to the mainland; but on the pole he cut runes, expressing the whole form of curse.

This really rang a bell with the way that Burhred was driven out of Mercia, so we couldn’t resist including one in our story! All of the Viking age poles that we know of used horse’s heads, but there is contemporary survival/revival of the practice in Iceland which other animals (like cows) have been used – see http://grapevine.is/news/2011/10/12/medieval-magic-employed-in-neighbour-dispute/ for examples. So we felt that the stag wasn’t entirely unbelievable.

Vǫlvas walking backwards with their heads between their legs is also attested several times in the sagas. For example here’s Vatnsdoela saga, Ch. 26:

‘What fiend is this coming towards us?” cried Högni. ‘ I can’t make it out!’ ‘It’s old Ljót on her way,’ Þórsteinn answered, ‘and what a tangle she’s in!’ She had cast her clothes up over her head and was walking backwards, and had thrust her head back between her legs; the look in her eyes was ugly as hell as she darted troll-like glances at them.

DAS Chronicle

The Kingslayer, early 874 a.d. (Earleywood, March 2014)

At which a small group of Vikings raided a monastery on the edge of Wessex, and stole the Kingslayer (the sword that killed the Viking King Bagsecg in one of the few battles where Englisc beat the Vikings), to weaken Mercian resolve and enable a prophecy.

Early 874. Over the previous decade, the Vikings had relentlessly pillaged the Englisc kingdoms, sacking cities (such as the sack of London in Autumn 872), burning monasteries and killing kings – King Edmund of East Anglia, and Osbriht and Aelle of Northumbria. Then reports suggested that the heathens were looking towards Mercia, the land of King Burhred.

Mercia was divided, torn. King Burhred dithered, unsure what to do, with his forces weakened by the years of fighting. A king’s thane called Ceolwulf, who claimed to be of the ancient royal line of the Iclingas, a descendant of the King Ceolwulf of Mercia who was deposed 50 years ago, said that Mercia’s best hope was to accept the Vikings, to pay them not to attack and to try and integrate with them rather than remaining in opposition. The heathens were merchants as well as fighters; why not trade with them rather than be raided by them?

But Alfred of Wessex, Burhred’s brother-in-law, believed that the Englisc should oppose the Vikings if they invade. When the Vikings invaded Wessex in 870, Alfred’s forces fought them and won several great victories (as well as some defeats, but it’s the victories that matter). Those victories became symbols of hope for many Englisc, particularly those of now-threatened Mercia.

Earleywood Monastery was founded at the site of one of those victories, and one of its greatest possessions was the Kingslayer, the sword that slew the Viking King Bagsecg at the nearby Battle of Ashdown. Once a year, on the anniversary of the battle, the sword was proudly displayed and processed around the battlefield, a great symbol of hope that stiffened the resolve of those who have to fight the heathens. If it fell into heathen hands it would be an ill omen, both because it would sow doubt amongst the Englisc by removing a powerful symbol and because the vǫlvas of the Viking had predicted that:

The Kingslaying blade will betray its bearer,
Defeat’s disgrace will be drowned in blood.

Thus, representatives of Wessex and Mercia (the Cilternsaete, Beorcsciringas and Sumorsaete) gathered to protect the procession of the Kingslayer, and managed to repulse attacks by the heathens (the Oestvikingae, Holmbyggjar and Westmen) who tried to seize control of the weapon; aided by divisions that sprung up between the Vikings as to who should own the sword, and what their eventual aim should be.

Vikings clash

However, once the Kingslayer was returned to its rightful place in the monastery, the Vikings fell upon the monastery with great force. The Englisc defenders were outnumbered, and did not manage to save the sword or the famed Scrolls of St. Swithun – although they did managed to protect some of the monastery’s relics and altar decorations.

Later, the Vikings and Englisc met at a great banquet, presided over by Glora of the Holmbyggjar.
There the Mercian Thegn Herewulf of the Cilternsaete asked the gathered folk their opinion of the future of Mercia, and Ceolwulf’s idea of peace (or, as some would say, surrender).

  • Glora of the Holmbyggjar talked of the friendship she had for some of the Englisc, the bonds that united the two peoples, and peaceful co-existence. As a sign of friendship she returned to Thegns Ceolred and Herewulf the Scrolls of St. Swithun.
  • Ceolred Monger, Thegn of the Beorcsciringas, talked of his experience as a refugee from war-torn Mercia, who had found a home in Wessex. He said he wanted to see an actual end to the fighting, a victory for the Englisc. He wanted to return home to Mercia, but a free Mercia, not one threatened by war and by land-stealing heathens. Ceolwulf would not truely get rid of the Vikings, only appease them at great cost, and so Ceolred would not support him.
  • Ingibjorg of the Holmbyggjar talked not of land-stealing but of peaceful settlement, of intermarriage and intermingling, and said that though she would not convert to following the White Christ, she believed that her future children, born in Britain, would be Christians.
  • Hersir Hauk of the Oestvikingae‘s view was more bloodthirsty. He emphasised the historical similarities between the Englisc and the Vikings, how the Angles and Saxons were once pagan invaders fighting settled Christians. But he also gave a stark warning – if the Englisc did not follow Ceolwulf and seek peace with the Vikings, they would be wiped out, with Burhred and Alfred going the way of Arthur, and the Englisc being confined to the wilds, just as the Welsh were by the Englisc. He talked of blood, and fire, and war; the death of kings and the elimination of peoples if they did not follow Ceolwulf.

Hauk’s words stirred Herewulf to great anger, and bloodshed was only avoided by the intervention of Glora. It is clear that the people of Mercia will not have an easy decision to make, and that dark times lie ahead – they have lost the Kingslayer, so their morale has taken a blow (although not as bad as if it had been taken from the procession itself), and Ceolwulf continues to speak out against King Burhred & in favour of peace.

An excerpt from Hauk Ragnarsson’s Saga
In 874, the Oestvikingae fell again upon Mercia. Mercia had been weakened by the many raids, and their leaders were divided between those seeking peace and those who would still fight. The vǫlva Guðrún told Hauk that the Kingslayer, the sword that slew King Bagsecg at Æscesdūn, was held at a monastery named Earleywood, and foresaw that:

The Kingslaying blade will betray its bearer,
Defeat’s disgrace will be drowned in blood.

Hauk swore that he would get the Kingslayer for Guðrún, and traveled south to find it. However it was well-defended, and so Hauk made an agreement with his father’s daughter Ingibjorg of the Holmbyggjar – she would give him the Kingslayer if it fell into her hands, and he would give her land to settle upon if any fell into his hands. Hauk cared not for the settled life, he was a raider and nothing else, and unlike the Holmbyggjar he had no wish to possess land for he sought only war. Seeing this, Kappi Bosison, younger son of Styrsman Bosi who led the Holmbyggjar, left the Holmbyggjar and joined the Oestvikingae to seek his fame and fortune.
Later that day, the Holmbyggjar managed to seize the Kingslayer. When the Oestvikingae re-joined them, however, they refused to hand it over and treacherously turned on Hauk’s forces. They struck Hauk, Fritha and Kappi down, and forced Thorhelm to surrender. But Thorhelm was cunning, and as soon as they were distracted he seized the Kingslayer, and fled back to the Oestvikingae. Sadly at this moment the Englisc arrived, attacked the divided Vikings, and took the Kingslayer. The Oestvikingae fell into berserking, and Kappi earned himself the name Spear-Splitter, but they did not recover the Kingslayer.
The Englisc took Kingslayer back the Earleywood Monastery, and so Hauk led the Oestvikingae there. The Englisc were few, and could not stand against the greater numbers of the Vikings, and thus the Vikings forced entry into the monastery and took the Kingslayer and other relics. Thorhelm, using his customary speed, escaped with the Kingslayer. However when he returned to the monastery he was ambushed by some nuns, who tormented him and placed a strange Christian curse upon his shield.
Later, at banquet, there were great discussions about whether Mercia should seek peace or war from the Vikings. Ingibjorg spoke in favour of co-operation and settlement, showing the Englisc what could happen if they chose peace; Hauk spoke of killing all who stood against him, showing the Englisc what could happen if they chose war – which led to Hauk almost coming to blows with Herewulf of Mercia. Hauk returned to Guðrún bearing Kingslayer.

Historical Note – The Battles of 870/871
871 is one of the larger entries in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and as it was such a key year we wanted to include it in our plot. Even though we are starting after it, running plots based from 872 onwards, it still loomed large. Here’s the full quote:

This year came the army to Reading in Wessex; and in the course of three nights after rode two earls up, who were met by Alderman Ethelwulf at Englefield; where he fought with them, and obtained the victory. There one of them was slain, whose name was Sidrac. About four nights after this, King Ethered and Alfred his brother led their main army to Reading, where they fought with the enemy; and there was much slaughter on either hand, Alderman Ethelwulf being among the skain; but the Danes kept possession of the field. And about four nights after this, King Ethered and Alfred his brother fought with all the army on Ashdown, and the Danes were overcome. They had two heathen kings, Bagsac and Healfden, and many earls; and they were in two divisions; in one of which were Bagsac and Healfden, the heathen kings, and in the other were the earls. King Ethered therefore fought with the troops of the kings, and there was King Bagsac slain; and Alfred his brother fought with the troops of the earls, and there were slain Earl Sidrac the elder, Earl Sidrac the younger, Earl Osbern, Earl Frene, and Earl Harold. They put both the troops to flight; there were many thousands of the slain, and they continued fighting till night. Within a fortnight of this, King Ethered and Alfred his brother fought with the army at Basing; and there the Danes had the victory. About two months after this, King Ethered and Alfred his brother fought with the army at Marden. They were in two divisions; and they put them both to flight, enjoying the victory for some time during the day; and there was much slaughter on either hand; but the Danes became masters of the field; and there was slain Bishop Heahmund, with many other good men. After this fight came a vast army in the summer to Reading. And after the Easter of this year died King Ethered. He reigned five years, and his body lies at Winburn-minster. Then Alfred, his brother, the son of Ethelwulf, took to the kingdom of Wessex. And within a month of this, King Alfred fought against all the Army with a small force at Wilton, and long pursued them during the day; but the Danes got possession of the field. This year were nine general battles fought with the army in the kingdom south of the Thames; besides those skirmishes, in which Alfred the king’s brother, and every single alderman, and the thanes of the king, oft rode against them; which were accounted nothing. This year also were slain nine earls, and one king; and the same year the West-Saxons made peace with the army.

‘Make peace with the army’ probably means paying danegeld to get rid of the Vikings, so ultimately the year was probably a Viking victory. But it’s still a key time, as these are the first victories against the Vikings recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The Kingslayer is our invention, as is Earleywood Monastery.

Character Stories

Hauk Ragnarsson’s Saga

Of Ragnar of Jutland

There was a man hight Ragnar, a farmer from near Fyrkat in Jutland. He was a wedded man; he had to wife Gudrun, daughter of Gunni and Sinfjotli, and sister to Ulrik of Ranrike; he had no sons but Ingibjorg was hight his daughter. Ragnar gave his daughter Ingibjorg to Halldor, who held land adjacent to Ragnar, and she bore him a son hight Arinbjorn and a daughter hight Dagrun.

Yet Ragnar was ill-favoured. Gudrun died when Ingibjorg was young, and he was left alone. His neighbours oft argued with him about the rights to the best pasture land. It was because of this that he had several times to go travelling, supporting his farm through trade.

And so Ragnar came to Gotland, the greatest island in the Baltic Sea, where he met Hilda, the daughter of Gaut a famous hersir of Visbær and the widow of Bræsi a rich trader. Hilda was of fine figure, and Ragnar lay with her whenever he visited Gotland. Hauk and Sighfridh were hight their sons.

In later days Ragnar’s feud with his neighbours on Jutland escalated. Ragnar was ambushed and killed on the way to the shieling, and so Ingibjorg his daughter travelled to England, where she followed her mother’s brother Ulrik, owner of the Svart-svín, hersir of the Holmbyggjar.

Of Hauk and Sighfridh Ragnarsson

When the sons of Ragnar and Hilda grew the people of Gotland said that they were touched by Loki, for they lacked restraint as they lacked a father. They spent much of the wealth of their mother Hilda, on strong alcohol and stronger women. They were also known for their gambling, where Hauk oft lied and cheated whilst Sighfridh oft stole.

Finally Hilda went to her brother, Magnus son of Gaut, a rich hersir and wise leader in Visbær. Magnus was told by Hilda how Ragnar’s sons were akin to Loki, and Magnus decided it was soft-living that had corrupted the sons of Ragnar, and so gave to Hauk a long-ship and sent him trading. However, in order that he would not forget this was a punishment, the ship was hight Lögseims, that is Sea-thread, a kenning for Jörmungandr the sea-serpent child of Loki. Magnus gave Hauk a great many furs, and instructed him to travel through the lands of the Rus and trade the furs for silver.

Travels in the Rus-lands

Hauk and Sighfridh took many men, including their good friends Lopt and Olaf, and travelled south and east, up the rivers to Rurik’s city, mighty Holmgarðr (that was later named Novgorod). Here they conducted their trade, and got much silver. Thereafter they went further, into the lands of the Rus and beyond.

There they fought alongside the Rus in a great battle, which sadly was lost. Many tales are told of that contest- how Lopt led the Rus charge, how Sighfridh lost his teeth but thankfully not his life, and how Hauk did absolutely no fighting but got very drunk and did much trading.

The Return to Gotland

Ragnar’s sons escaped the lands of the Rus, and returned to Gotland. They returned with much silver and fine clothes, but lacking many of their men. However their mother’s brother Magnus declared the journey successful, and gave them both fine swords.

Hauk did not wish to settle again, for the taste of adventure had intoxicated him even more than alcohol once had. And so he soon slipped away from his Uncle’s hall, and left Gotland once more aboard Lögseims. He took with him again his companions, Sighfridh, Lopt and Olaf, and also more men to replace those who had died in the Rus lands. Foremost among the recruits were the half-brothers Thorhelm and Snorri Sveinsson. Thorhelm was cruel man, famed for his slaughter of the defenseless and his taming of a mighty serpent, Smug. He had to himself a wife called Fritha. Snorri was, like many of Lögseims, a great follower of fashion and was particularly famed for his vast collection of clothes.

Arrival in Englisc Lands

Hauk traveled first to Sweden, thinking to travel onwards to Norway and offer his services to Harald Fairhair. At a great feast in the hall of the Österhus Vänner on the isle of Norderön, he met his half-sister Ingibjorg. She told him of the wealth and riches that were to be won in the Englisc Lands in the Great Heathen Army under Halfdan, and so Hauk turned Lögseims further west.

There was a lady called Freyja. She was a fearsome fighter, bountiful feaster, and great gift-giver, who led a force of mercenary Vikings in Britain called the Oestvikingae, a feared host. She was a child of Gotland, and many there knew her name. Hauk saw that she would lead him to greatness, and so he sought her out, and pledged his sword to her. Her warriors also included the fierce Visna, a shieldmaiden every bit as fearsome as her namesake who fought for Harald Wartooth against Sigurd Ring at the Battle of Bråvalla.

Shortly after his arrival in Englisc lands, the Oestvikingae visited a hall ruled by the Westmen. After all had dined on a great feast, the lord of the hall called for entertainment and to hear a tale of Vikings. There Hauk recited these verses, about his life:

Now this is the saga all about how
My life got flipped, turned upside down
And I’d like to take a minute just sit right there
I’ll tell you how I became the Rus vike from Visbær.

On the isle of Gotland, born and raised
In the mead-halls I spent most of my days
Drinking hard, wenching, cheating at dice
And picking on folks, never playing nice.

Caused havoc all round, I was up to no good
Enjoyed making trouble in my neighbourhood
I got in one little blood-feud, my mum got scared
And said “You’re going to your uncle Magnus in Visbær”.

He lent me his ship, gifted it at a feast
I sailed her south, to the Rus and the East
I bought some bling, traded furs that were rare
Then I set sail home, went home to Visbær.

Magnus wanted his ship back, he said I was late
But I said screw that, fled in sixty eight
I sailed for Englisc lands, til I was finally there
In the Oestviking, the Rus vike from Visbær.

Hauk Leads the Oestvikingae

After several years of fighting, Freyja declared that she wished to return to Gotland, and use her money to rule men in peace not in war. All the Vikings of the Great Heathen Host lamented this fact. The remaining Oestvikingae had a great Thing, and there Hauk persuaded them that he would be their leader. And so it was.

At this time, the Great Summer Army had joined the Heathen Host, and together they fought the forces of Wessex near to Reading. Many mighty battles were fought, and for the first time the Englisc halted the Viking advance, Wessex succeeding where East Anglia, Northumbria and Mercia had failed. At Æscesdūn King Bagsecg of the Great Summer Army was slain with a sword hight Kingslayer, and the Vikings fled. The Englisc later said that all the Vikings who fled that day were cowards, and poured shame upon them.

The Oestvikingae organised a great blót, and gathered many folk. From Gotland came Wulfhild, daughter of Magnus, cousin to Hauk. She feasted in the hall of the Oestvikingae at the top table in the place of honour, but then whilst all were drunk she took Hauk’s longship Lögseims and fled with it, in the process driving it against the rocks and destroying it. A dark mood descended upon Hauk after the defeats and insults that had been placed upon him, and he fell under the influence of a dark vǫlva named Guðrún, who delighted in bloodshed.

The next year the Great Heathen Host descended upon London. As the Englisc fled their burning city, the Oestvikingae fell upon them, under the orders of the vǫlva Guðrún to gather living creatures for sacrifice at blót. The Englisc attempted to travel in a convoy, escorting refugees to St Albans, but the Oestvikingae harried them, chasing through the woodlands, howling like wolves and striking where they were weakest. The Englisc convoy collapsed, and Hauk unleashed Thorhelm the Cruel, who chased down the unarmed civilians and children like a fearsome beast. However, the Oestvikingae over-extended themselves, advancing ahead of the other Vikings, and were driven off by the re-grouped Englisc, who marched on to St. Albans. Guðrún was displeased not to have her offering, and the Oestvikingae swore to do better next time… Whilst the plunder from London was being divided, Fritha of the Oestvikingae, wife of Thorhelm the Cruel, claimed for herself the Chalice of King Edwin of Northumbria, a precious vessel that once bore the saint’s head.

The Doom of Kings

Two years later, the Oestvikingae fell again upon Mercia. Mercia had been weakened by the many raids, and their leaders were divided between those seeking peace and those who would still fight. The vǫlva Guðrún told Hauk that the Kingslayer, the sword that slew King Bagsecg at Æscesdūn, was held at a monastery named Earleywood, and foresaw that:

Kingslaying blade will betray its bearer,
Defeat’s disgrace will be drowned in blood.

Hauk swore that he would get the Kingslayer for Guðrún, and traveled south to find it. However it was well-defended, and so Hauk made an agreement with his father’s daughter Ingibjorg of the Holmbyggjar – she would give him the Kingslayer if it fell into her hands, and he would give her land to settle upon if any fell into his hands. Hauk cared not for the settled life, he was a raider and nothing else, and unlike the Holmbyggjar he had no wish to possess land for he sought only war. Seeing this, Kappi Bosison, younger son of Styrsman Bosi who led the Holmbyggjar, left the Holmbyggjar and joined the Oestvikingae to seek his fame and fortune.
Later that day, the Holmbyggjar managed to seize the Kingslayer. When the Oestvikingae re-joined them, however, they refused to hand it over and treacherously turned on Hauk’s forces. They struck Hauk, Fritha and Kappi down, and forced Thorhelm to surrender. But Thorhelm was cunning, and as soon as they were distracted he seized the Kingslayer, and fled back to the Oestvikingae. Sadly at this moment the Englisc arrived, attacked the divided Vikings, and took the Kingslayer. The Oestvikingae fell into berserking, and Kappi earned himself the name Spear-Splitter, but they did not recover the Kingslayer.
The Englisc took Kingslayer back the Earleywood Monastery, and so Hauk led the Oestvikingae there. The Englisc were few, and could not stand against the greater numbers of the Vikings, and thus the Vikings forced entry into the monastery and took the Kingslayer and other relics. Thorhelm, using his customary speed, escaped with the Kingslayer. However when he returned to the monastery he was ambushed by some nuns, who tormented him and placed a strange Christian curse upon his shield.
Later, at banquet, there were great discussions about whether Mercia should seek peace or war from the Vikings. Ingibjorg spoke in favour of co-operation and settlement, showing the Englisc what could happen if they chose peace; Hauk spoke of killing all who stood against him, showing the Englisc what could happen if they chose war – which led to Hauk almost coming to blows with Herewulf of Mercia. Hauk returned to Guðrún bearing Kingslayer.

Hauk took to Kingslayer to the vǫlva Guðrún, and she thought of a plan to harness its magics to make King Burhred flee Mercia, so that Ceolwulf might take his place and rule Mercia as a puppet of the Vikings. Guðrún presented her plan to Ivar Ragnarsson, and he was pleased. And so when the Great Army attacked Mercia, Guðrún went ahead of them, to the heart of that land, and she took with her Hauk and his cousin Wulfhild, who was learning the arts of seiðr from Guðrún, and other warriors. In a terrible storm Hauk erected a powerful níðstang, topped with a stag’s head, bathed in blood from the Chalice of King Edwin of Northumbria, and sliced with the Kinglayer. And the vǫlvas carved it with dark runes, and recited spells, and walked backwards around it three times with their heads between their legs, and called down the gaze of Odin on King Burhred.

After erecting the níðstang to curse Burhred, the Oestvikingae travelled to Repton, and there met with the rest of the Great Heathen Host. There Hauk was reunited his cousin Katla, sister to Wulfhild, and her family.

Under King Ivar ‘the Boneless’ Ragnarsson’s leadership, the Great Heathen Host erected a mighty fortified bank around their camp at Repton. When Burhred’s army arrived, they tried to pen the Vikings inside this camp. As disease began to spread in the camp, King Ivar saw the need for us to break out and fight in open group – the Oestvikingae were among the leaders of the breaching force. It was a hard fight, with the Englisc intent on not giving the Host the space to use their superior numbers, but eventually the Mercians were driven back. Hauk was greatly impressed by the courage of the fallen Mercian thegn who led the battleline, and died with his sword in his hand. Hauk took his penis as a talisman, and later Guðrún buried the body with a boar’s tusk between its legs and a Thor’s Hammer around his neck, to ensure that he went to Valhalla, and was whole there.

The Oestvikingae then fought through the streets and woods surrounding Repton, as the Host fought to get to open ground where they could reform the battleline. The vǫlva Guðrún instructed Hauk that in order to ensure the battle ahead would go well, he must sacrifice an infant, quartering them into a bloody mess, and this was done, using a young Viking boy that they encountered and brawled with. This earnt Hauk his sister Ingibjorg’s grave disapproval.

The Great Heathen Host succeeded in getting through to clear ground, fighting past many Englisc and suffering some terrible losses in the process. They then reformed the shieldwall, and charged Burhred’s wall, seeking to capture and kill the King. As his battleline broke, Burhred fled, and hid in the nearby woods. The Vikings split up to search for him, clashing with Mercians seeking to find and protect their lord.

The Oestvikingae succeeded in capturing several ladies of Burhred’s court, and Hauk sought to threaten them to draw out Burhred and talk to him. In order to do this, Hauk sent one of their hostages to get Burhred and told her to return within a certain count or else the others would die. This strategy drew the ire of other Vikings, with Guðrún and Thorhelm the Cruel not wanting to set a captive free, the Holmbyggjar saying that slaying unarmed women was cowardly and wrong, whilst the Westmen wanted to continue the pursuit not engage in politics. As the count was completed, Burhred had not emerged – either because he was too cowardly to come forward to save his people, or because he was too far away to hear the demands – and so the Oestvikingae killed their captive, impaling her on Odin’s Tree.

The search for Burhred continued, and the Oestvikingae clashed with Englisc and Viking alike as they continued to carve a bloody path through any hostages they caught. However the search proved inconclusive, and the Oestvikingae returned to Repton to bury the dead.

A while later, they feasted at a hall of the Cilternsaete. There much news was shared: King Burhred was missing, presumed fled; Ceolwulf had declared himself King of Mercia; and King Ivar ‘the Boneless’ Ragnarsson, the man who held the Great Summer Army and the Great Heathen Host together, was dead. Tempers were high, and Englisc and Viking alike turned their ire on the Oestvikingae for the sacrifices they had performed, especially the killing of the unarmed hostages. Hauk remained defiant: the sacrifices were neccessary in order to gain the victory, and the threat to the hostages would have been averted by Burhred if he was a true king and cared about his people, if he had just stepped forwards. With King Ivar dead, there was no leader to bind the Vikings together, and deep fractures appeared between the groups… The peace held, but only just.

After the Battle of Repton, Hauk wrote this song about King Ivar’s death:

The saddest song, I shall now sing;
Of how the Kingslayer, killed a king.
Ivar the Boneless, big and brave;
Reaved British lands, for Ragnar’s revenge.

His Heathen Host, harried the Englisc,
Kings were killed, and kingdoms vanquished.
When fighting Wessex, we suffered woe,
King Bagsecg killed, by Kingslayer’s blow.

The sword was saved, stored in Christ’s house,
Symbol of our slain, giving Saxons strength.
So we were sent, to steal sword for seiðr,
As witches wove words, wyrd’s web drew near:

Kingslaying blade will betray its bearer,
Defeat’s disgrace will be drowned in blood.

Monks were mauled, monastery attacked,
To get the king-slayer, seiðr for spá-wives.
A nithing-pole erected, a night for norns,
King Burhred cursed, with deep-cut runes.

The blade was brought, to Ivar the Boneless,
King Ivar cursed Burhred, Kingslayer would kill.
At Repton’s battle, Burhred was beaten,
Shield-wall smashed, and fyrdsmen slain.

As Burhred’s battleline, began to flee,
Ivar sprang forward, shouting his glee.
The Viking king, drew Kingslaying blade,
Predicted by witches, who prophecies made:

Kingslaying blade will betray its bearer,
Defeat’s disgrace will be drowned in blood.

From Englisc flight a thegn stepped forth,
Boldly blocked Boneless, to save Burhred his lord.
Both rained blows, blood flowed bright,
Ivar’s blade bounced; bit him, took life.

The battle was won, Burhred’s battleline fled,
But the Viking king, was cut, killed, dead.
Where to now, will the wanderers Vike?
The heathen host, has lost it’s head.

The witches’ words, were twisted and wicked,
The bearer betrayed, was Boneless not Burhred.
Mercia retreats, but Ragnarsson is rift,
Saxons gain strength, as Ivar is slain.

Kingslaying blade betrayed its bearer,
Defeat’s disgrace was drowned in blood.

The Great Army Splits

After the death of Ivar, the Oestvikingae were given part of a map that showed where he had hidden the treasure he had taken from Medhamstead Abbey 5 years before. They went east, through the lands of the Cilternsaete, to find it. On the way they clashed with other Vikings, wild raiders, who stole their fragment of Ivar’s map. However the Oestvikingae were wise, and had memorised their fragment of the map, chanting its words and drawing its shapes on the ground. When they met the Holmbyggjar, who had also once possessed some of Ivar’s map but then lost it, they shared the details which they remembered and together they rebuilt the map in their minds. With the help of some Englisc they later managed to defeat the wild Vikings, enforcing the peace which Ceolwulf had made.

The Oestvikingae then followed other treasure hunters to the place where Ivar’s gold lay. Using the map they had memorised, they hurried to one of the locations, and the keen eyes of Thorhelm quickly spotted the glint of monastic relics. Some of their treasure was stolen by the Holmbyggjar, once again reneging on earlier friendship, so Guðrún and Fritha buried the rest. Later they managed to rescue another piece of treasure from Englisc hands, and Fritha buried it so well that no man could find it, though several saw the area she had hidden in it and searched it long and hard. They then had to get the treasure out of the area, beyond the grasping hands of the Englisc. They dug up their first hoard, and entrusted it to Thorhelm’s swift legs whilst the rest of the warband held up the Englisc attempting to persue him. Then Fritha sneaked out to her buried stash, and managed to return it all on her own whilst the other searchers were distracted.

That evening they dined well, and received news that Harald Fairhair was seeking to rule these islands as well as Norway. The Oestvikingae agreed that they would not bend their knee to him, but would march north with Halfdan to repel his attack (staying somewhat near the back of Halfdan’s army, making sure that they Englisc did not rise up behind them).

Character Stories

Dagrun’s Story

My name is Dagrun, the daughter of Ingibjorg and Halldor. I was born on my father’s lands in Jutland, neighouring the land held by my mother’s family. I lived there for many years until I was married to my dear husband Ørn whose lands were not so far from where I had grown up. The marriage was a promising one and I was pleased with the match, although I did not get on well with his family. Ørn was very good to me but very stubborn in his affairs with others. I always feared that this would be his downfall.

One spring my mother’s father Ragnar was killed in an ambush. From then on the year was ill-fated; their livestock was stolen and the animosity between my family and their neighbours escalated. My mother’s uncle Ulrik had lands in England and offered my parents a new life there. My older brother Arinbjorn was as yet unmarried as were my younger siblings, so they went to England along with my parent’s few relatives and slaves. I was saddened to see them go but understood that they could not stay where they were, and I in turn could not leave Ørn and the life and children I hoped to have with him.

My family left and for too short a time life was good, although I missed them terribly and longed for news. My husband’s family were civil to me but it always seemed as though they thought their son could have married better. I worked harder to try to gain their favour, and became a fine worker of cloth and yarn, though I missed the guidance of my mother in these matters, whose weavings were the finest of any in the land.

The following yule Ørn had a drunken row with Sigarr, a local man whom I had never liked. I thought the row trivial but Ørn felt slighted and brooded over it for weeks. One day he announced he was going to settle matters with Sigarr. I begged him not to go but his stubbornness won out: that was the last time I saw him alive. My dreams of a happy marriage shattered, I tried my best to get on with his family but they blamed me for Ørn’s death, saying I should have stopped him from going to see Sigarr. I longed for my own family and became more and more unhappy as the months wore on.

Then at the height of summer, my mother’s cousin Valgard came to Jutland. I had never seen such a wonderful sight! Though it pained him to do so Valgard told me the news of my brother and father’s deaths. He had heard of Ørn’s death and knowing of the emnity between his family and me had come to offer me passage to England. I did not even stop to think and was soon on my way to a new land to be with what remained of my beloved family, knowing my mother would appreciate help to run the household. The passage to England was strange for me having never been at sea, but I was excited to see new places and to be back amongst my own people.

Now I live here at Hólmr, helping my mother with the running of the farm and learning to improve my weaving from her skilled hands. Many visitors pass this way and we always show them the greatest hospitality. It is thanks to one of these visitors that I have my son, Finn, although his father did not settle here amongst us. I have no doubt that he will grow up to be a fine, strong lad, and we will raise him with the stories of the old gods and the new.

Character Stories

Lands of the Holmbyggjar

Ranrike – Ulrik’s Homeland

Ranrike, or Ránríki in Old Norse, corresponds to the northern half of the traditional Swedish province of Bohuslän. Bohuslän is on the western coast of Sweden, bordering Skagerrak and Norway, and is approximately the area described as Alfheim in Scandinavian mythology. Ranrike forms part of Viken, which is a broad term for the huge bay formed by southern Norway and the northern part of Sweden’s west coast.

It is sometimes claimed that the word “Viking” is derived from Viken, although the word “wicing” appears in the 6th or 7th century Anglo-Saxon poem Widsith which predates its appearance in Icelandic Sagas and Scandinavian rune stones. The word is used to refer to pirates generally and not Scandinavians in particular: the Old English word wíc means “trading city” or “camp”. If this derivation is correct, the word may have come to mean Nordic pirates specifically when the Danes and Norwegians started raiding in the 8th century, and the term was eventually adopted by the raiders themselves.

Osea Island – Ulrik’s Land in England

Osea Island is part of the Hundred of Thurstable, a name which probably derives from the pagan deity Thunor. This is the Anglo-Saxon name for Thor. The neighbouring island, Northey, was in a different hundred, probably because the causeways to the two islands lead to opposite shores of the Blackwater estuary. The Domesday Book gives the following information about Thurstable, Osea and Northey islands:

“Hundred of Thurstable: Richard holds (Great) Totham from Hamo, which Thorbert held as one manor, for 5 hides before 1066. Then 10 villagers, now 9: always 16 smallholders. Then 12 slaves, now 13. Then 4 ploughs in lordship, now 3. Always 5 men’s ploughs.

Woodland: 100 pigs; meadows, 16 acres; 2 salt-houses. Always 20 cattle; 40 pigs. Then 5 cobs, now 2; then 100 sheep; now 150; always 40 goats. Value then and later 100s; now £6.

The Blackwater Estuary (modern times)

In the same (totham) 8 free men held 1 1/2 hides which Richard also holds. Always 2 ploughs. Meadow, 3 acres. Value 20s.

He also holds Osea (Island), which Thorbert held before 1066 as a manor, for 4 hides. Then 1 smallholder, now none; always 3 slaves. 1 fishery; pasture, 60 sheep. Value 60s.

Hundred of Wibertsherne: Richard holds Northey Island from Hamo (a steward) which Thorbern, a free man, held before 1066 as a manor, for 4 hids and 40 acres.

Then 2 villagers, now 3. Always 4 slaves; 2 ploughs in lordship; 1 men’s plough. Pasture, 60 sheep. Value then 60s, now £4.”

Osea and Northey Islands, as they are today. The sea was about a metre lower in the 9th century, so the islands would have been larger. [1]

The Future of the Hólmbyggjar

We don’t really know the scale of Viking settlements in Southern England. It’s hard to identify buildings as specifically Scandinavian, and although in the North of England there is genetic evidence for a Norwegian legacy, the settlers in the South were mainly Danish, and too close in origin to the Anglo-Saxons for a clear distinction to be easily made.

Finds of Scandinavian oval brooches, swords and other items have confirmed that Vikings definitely came to England. The distribution of the finds suggests however that only first or second generation settlers maintained the Scandinavian style of dress. It seems that there were not repeated waves of settlers as in Iceland to build up a Norse community: Iceland was unoccupied and land was there for the taking, unlike England which was already fully occupied. Instead, single settlement events seem to have occurred and then fairly soon afterwards the settlers disappeared from our sight. Possible explanations include:

  • The settlers were relatively few in number, and rapidly adopted English styles and burial practices [2].
  • The settlers were killed or driven out within a generation or two.
  • There were very few Viking women settlers: the jewellery we’ve found was given by Viking men to English women.

The Hólmbyggja settled on Osea Island in Essex around the year 880, when Guthrum allocated land in East Anglia to his followers. Again, we don’t know whether there was major population replacement, minor settlement or merely a takeover of the aristocracy – it may also have varied from region to region. The story of the Hólmbyggja assumes that relatively small numbers of Viking warriors and their families settled in lands which were inhabited by the Anglo-Saxons but temporarily under Danish rule. Most of the neighbours would have been English, and there would have been pressure to learn the language and adopt Christianity: according to Icelandic sagas, when a Christian king defeated pagans, they could buy their freedom by being baptised.

There was no room for further immigrants and the descendents of the original settlers were more concerned with establishing a position within English society. It’s likely that by 920, Essex was under English rule again, at which time some of the original settlers may still have been alive. Certainly English rule was fully re-established by the time of the Battle of Maldon in 991, which was part of the fresh wave of Viking invasions.

On St Brice’s Day 1002, Aethelred ordered that all the Danes living in England be killed. It’s not known whether this order applied to settlers of long standing within the Danelaw, or only to the newcomers who were extorting Danegeld and terrorising the coasts. It was not a good time to be seen as a Dane, and if the Hólmbyggja had not been sufficiently Anglicised they may have fallen victims.

Osea Island is close to Northey Island, the site of the Battle of Maldon. According to the Domesday Book, in 1066 Osea Island was owned by Thorbert, and Northey Island by Thorbern. These names are Anglicised versions of Old Norse names, and it’s possible that these men were descendants of ninth century settlers.

Notes

  1. A metre is just over a yard in old money. [back]
  2. Pagans were usually buried with grave goods. Christians were not. This showed a lack of consideration towards archaeologists on the part of the Christians. [back]