Tag Archives: Wulfgar

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

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

The Hunt for Ivar’s Treasure, early 875 A.D. (Earleywood, March 2015)

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At the end of 874 King Burhred of Mercia was driven out of his kingdom, and the Viking king Ivar Ragnarsson died (see 2014’s Flaunden event). The Vikings crowned Ceolwulf as their puppet in Mercia, and he declared a peace. However, it was not universally respected, as some Mercians did not acknowledge Ceolwulf… Meanwhile the Vikings were leaderless, with Ivar’s brother Halfdan Ragnarsson and his rival Guthrum at each other’s throats, and all the warbands turning on each other.

Skirmish

King Ivar revealed on his deathbed where he buried the gold from Medhamstead Monastery (Peterborough) in 870. His notes and map were torn into three parts by squabbling Vikings, and the three parts found their way into the hands of the Holmbyggjar, Oestvikingae, and Westmen. They raced across Mercia toward the site to recover Ivar’s ill-gotten gains, clashing with each other in a series of brutal skirmishes on the way. Whilst passing through the lands of the Cilternsaete they encountered a problem: the Cilternsaete, possibly encouraged by the Beorcsciringas visiting from Wessex and letters from King Alfred, were being obstructive and demanding tolls from any Vikings crossing their land (and were secretly trying to gather the bits of the map for themselves, creating their own copy).

Englisc

The Westmen managed to collect the entire map, and rushed towards the final location, although on the way they did loose a piece to a final Englisc attack. Thus (after a break for a delicious lunch) the Westmen hared off first into the area where the treasure was buried. The Englisc were hot on their tail, followed by the Oestvikingae and Holmbyggjar (who had made their own map, by comparing their memories of fragments they had lost). After much backstabbing, frenzied searching through holly bushes, and quite a lot of reburial, it became clear that all the gold had been found. Then came the final desperate dash to sneak the treasure away from the site… The Englisc utilised the speedy and sneaky Wulfgar to smuggle theirs out first; the Oestvikingae put all their eggs in one Thorhelm whilst the rest of them tried to hold off the enemy (and Cuthwin took them down in quick succession); the Westmen sent Grimkell flanking the hall to successfully save their massive haul of treasure as Bulverk and Wulf caught Hauk with his pants down; Fritha sprinted in with one relic when everyone was distracted; and then came a final push from the Holmbyggjar, who had already feasted on most of the treasures that they recovered.

Duel

In the evening, in a hall on the borders of East Anglia, Ceolwulf’s peace held and Ingibjorg of the Holmbyggjar served a magnificent feast. The Englisc were visited by Father Godfrid of Earleywood Abbey, fresh from Ceolwulf’s court and newly promoted to the priesthood, with news of Englisc uprisings in Mercia, East Anglia, and Northumbria. He was returned one of the two lost Scrolls of St. Swithun by Ceolred Monger Thegn of the Beorcsciringas and the cursed sword Kingslayer by Herewulf Thegn of the Cilternsaete (delivered by Wulfgar of the Cilternsaete), and himself delivered letters to the Vikings from the three men who would be their king:

  • Guthrum said that there was no point fighting Wessex until the Englisc uprisings were subdued. He said that he was heading East, to crush the East Anglians, and offered land to all who would follow him.
  • Harald Fair-Hair, the King who had recently united all of Norway under his iron fist, announced that he was sailing towards these lands with Ragnvald Earl of More. He said that he intended to start by taking the Isles – the Shetlands, Orkneys, Hebrides, and Mann.
  • Halfdan Ragnarsson said that he would not let the Englisc, the Picts, or Harald Fair-Hair take the land that the Great Army had conquered, and that he was marching North to defend Northumbria and the Isles.

There was outrage at Harald’s words, with Styrkar Ovennisson of the Westmen wanting to defend his home on Orkney; Guðrún of the Oestvikingae casting bones and predicting ruin on any who followed Harald; and Hallgerd of the Westmen saying that Harald Fair-Hair reminded her of a bullying cousin from when she was young. The Westmen and Oestvikingae both declared their support for Halfdan, whilst Glora of the Holmbyggjar was more cautious, wishing to consult her comrades before deciding which king to follow.

Feast

An excerpt from Hauk Ragnarsson’s Saga
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).

Historical Notes – Buried Gold and Medhamstead Abbey

Medhamstead monastery was one of the greatest foundations in Anglo-Saxon England, jointly founded by two of the earliest Christian English kings, Oswi of Northumbria and Peada of Mercia. In 870 it contained around 80 monks, but the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that:

A.D. 870. This year the army rode over Mercia into East-Anglia, and there fixed their winter-quarters at Thetford. And in the winter King Edmund fought with them; but the Danes gained the victory, and slew the king; whereupon they overran all that land, and destroyed all the monasteries to which they came. The names of the leaders who slew the king were Hingwar and Hubba. At the same time came they to Medhamsted, burning and breaking, and slaying abbot and monks, and all that they there found. They made such havoc there, that a monastery, which was before full rich, was now reduced to nothing. The same year died Archbishop Ceolnoth; and Ethered, Bishop of Witshire, was chosen Archbishop of Canterbury.

Hingwar was probably Ivar, whilst Hubba was one of his brothers. He may well be the “brother of Ingwar and Healfden” who appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 878.
Medhamstead was rebuilt in 963-6, 100 years after our period, and evolved into the present Peterborough Cathedral.

What happened to the gold of Medhamsted Abbey is not recorded. Probably it was split between the raiders. However some our most spectacular Dark Age finds are from hoards have been deliberately buried, like the Staffordshire Hoard, the Cuerdale Hoard, and the Vale of York Hoard.
It’s presumed that these hoards were buried by people wanting to look after their property, who then died or were otherwise unable to return and dig them up. This event was meant to explore that concept, as well as playing with the idea of Easter Egg Hunts and our love of Treasure Island other pirate stories of buried gold and maps marked with big Xs!

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!