ANGLIAD
The Legendary History of the Anglo-Saxon People, from the
Coming of the Sheaf-Child to the Settlement of England
compiled from divers sources by Gavin Chappell
1. SCEAF
Long ago, in the very dawn of time,
a small boat was cast ashore on the coasts of the island
known as Scania. The natives of that land found within the boat a young child
who lay with his head upon a sheaf of corn, and was surrounded by weapons.
Though they could not know who the child was or from where he had come, they
took him in and accepted him as one of their own, named him Sceaf and nurtured
him in his youth. Later they chose him to rule over them as king.
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After a reign of many years, in which he was in all things a
just and wise ruler, Sceaf died. His sorrowing subjects placed him in a ship
and entrusted it to the open seas, returning him to the waters from which he
had so mysteriously come. He left a son named Bedwig, who succeeded him.
Bedwig begat Hwala, the old genealogies tell us, and Hwala
begat Hathra; Hathra had a son named Itermon, Itermon begat Heremod, Heremod
begat Sceldwa, who begat Beow, whose son was named Tætwa. Tætwa's son was Geat,
whose son was Godwulf. Godwulf begat Finn, Finn begat Frithuwulf, Frithuwulf
begat Frealaf. Of all these generations little is recorded. But Frealaf's son
was Woden, of which many things are written.
Woden is held to be one of the gods. He is famous for his
wisdom and his accomplishments, and he is said to rule over Esageard in the
land of the gods. During his life in this middle-earth he fathered many royal
lines among the men of the north, including those of the Angles, the Saxons and
the Jutes.
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2. WODEN
Dwelling in Esageard with Woden are twelve other gods, who
like him are known as the Ese, and men worship them throughout the Northlands.
Woden is said to be a great warrior, who has conquered many kingdoms, gaining
victory in every battle. When he sent his men into battle, or on any kind of
expedition, he would lay his hand upon their brows, and call down a benediction
upon them; this meant that their undertaking was always successful. Whenever
his worshippers fall into danger by land or sea, they call his name, from which
they always gain comfort and aid, for wherever Woden is, help is close. He
often sets out on journeys that may last many seasons.
He has two brothers, Weoh and Willa, and they rule over
Esageard when he is elsewhere. It is said by some that once, when Woden was
away so long that the gods thought he would never return, these two divided his
possession between them, although they took his wife, the goddess Frige, to themselves.
But it was not long before Woden returned, and took his wife back. His first
wife was Eorthe, daughter of Erce; when Woden saw how beautiful her daughter
Frige was, he deserted Eorthe for her, but before this they had a son together,
the god Thunær. Thunær was sent to be fostered by the giant Wingner in
Thrythhame. But when he was ten winters old, Thunær took his father's weapons.
When he was twelve, he came into his full strength. It was then that he lifted
ten bearskins from the ground at once. Then he slew his foster father Winger,
and his wife Hlore, and took Thrythhame as his own. After this, he journeyed
through many lands, fighting and conquering all the giants single-handedly, and
defeated a great serpent and many monsters. In the far north he found the
goddess Sibbe, and he married her. No one knows the ancestry of Sibbe; she is
the fairest of all women, her hair is like gold. Then Thunær came to Esageard,
where his father welcomed him.
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It was not long after this that the Ese went to war with the
Wena, another race of gods from the land Wanahame, but they were well prepared,
and defend their land. The war raged back and forth, and each tribe did much
harm to the other. But when they grew tired with this, both sides met to
establish peace, calling a truce, and exchanging hostages.
The Wena sent their best men, Neortha the Rich, and his son
Frea. The Ese sent a god named Hona, who they thought was ideally suited to
become a chieftain, since he was a stout and handsome god, and with him they
sent the wise giant Mima. When Hona came to Wanahame they instantly made him a
chief, and Mima counselled him well whenever he was close.
But if Mima was not near, when Hona was at council and the
Wenas asked him for his thoughts, he would always say 'Let others give advice.'
As a result, the Wena came to think that the Ese had not given them a fair
exchange, and so they cut off Mima's head, and sent it to the Ese. But Woden
too the head, preserving it with herbs so that it would not decay, and cast
spells over it, giving it the power to speak. From Mima's head he learnt many
secrets.
Meanwhile, Woden had placed Neortha and Frea among the Ese.
Neortha's daughter was Freo, and she taught the Ese the arts of witchcraft,
which the Wena were greatly accustomed to. When he was still with the Wena,
Neortha had married his own sister, a thing that was not forbidden by their
law. Their children were Frea and Freo. But it was not customary among the Ese
to marry such close relatives. Some time after, Neortha married a giantess from
Eotenhame, land of the giants, who was named Sceadu, but she would not live
with him, and later she married Woden, and they had many sons.
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Woden knew the art of prophecy, and with it he learnt that
these sons would settle and rule over the Northlands. He put his brothers Weoh
and Willa in charge of Esageard, and rode north with the gods. Wherever they
journeyed, men would say great things about them. They did not pause in their
travels before they came to the land that is now called Saxony. Here Woden
remained for a long time, and he ruled the country far and wide.
He set seven of his sons to defend the land. One of them was
Wadolgeat, and he ruled over the Angles. His son was Wihtlæg, who had two sons;
one was Wehta, who begat Witta, who begat Wihtgils, who begat the brothers
Hengest and Horsa. From Hengest descend the kings of Kent and Saxony. The other
son was Wærmund, whose son was Offa from whom the kings of Mercia descend.
Another son was Casere, and his son was Tætman, from whom
later descended the royal line of East Anglia. Woden's third son was Bældæg,
who ruled over what is now Westphalia. His sons were Forseta, who ruled over
the Frisians, and Brand, whose son was Gewis, from whom descended both the
royal line of Wessex and the kings of Bernicia.
The fourth son was Wægdæg, who ruled eastern Saxony. His son
was Sigegar, from whom descend the kings of Deira. Fifth was Garwendel, who
ruled over the Jutes, until they came under the sway of the Angles. From all of
these come many and great races.
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Woden rode further northward, and came at last to the land
named Hrethgothland, where he conquered all who resisted him. In Hrethgothland
he set his sixth son, who was named Scyld. His son was Frealaf, whose
descendants were the Scyldings, who were the Dane-kings, and the land that was
then called Hrethgothland is now Denmark.
Woden took up his abode in Odense, in the island of Fyn. He
sent one of his number, the goddess Gyfun, north across the sound to explore
the countries beyond, and she discovered the land we now call Sweden. Here she
met Gylfa, the giant who ruled these lands, and he gave her a ploughgate of
land in return for a night's entertainment. Then she travelled further into the
north, coming to Eotenhame, the land of the giants, where she bore four sons to
a giant. With her magic, she transformed these sons into oxen, yoked them to a
plough, and ploughed out the land into the sea opposite Odense. The name given
to this land is Zealand, and afterwards this was where she settled. Woden's son
Scyld married her, and they dwelt at Lejre. Where the land was ploughed out in
Sweden there is now a lake called Laage, and it cane be seen that this was
where Zealand came from, since the inlets of the lake correspond with the
peninsulas of the island.
From Gyfun Woden had learnt that the land in the east was
prosperous, and he went there, and Gylfa made peace with him, thinking that he
could not resist the gods. But Woden and Gylfa often tricked each other and
cast spells and enchantments against each other, but the gods won.
Woden dwelt beside Lake Mælare, in the town now called Old
Sigtuna, where he erected a large temple where sacrifices were made by the laws
of the Ese. He ruled over the whole of the surrounding district, and it was
called Sigtuna. He also gave domains to all his fellow gods.
Finally, he rode northwards to the shores of the ocean,
where he set his seventh son in the land now known as Norway. The son's name
was Sæming, and the kings of Norway are descended from him.
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When Woden and the gods came to the Northlands, they
introduced and taught to others all the arts that people have practised ever
since. Woden was the wisest and most cunning of all, and it was from him that
other learnt all arts and accomplishments; and he knew them first, and knew far
more than other people.
When he was with his friends, his face was so beautiful and
dignified that all felt exhilarated in his presence; but when he went to war,
he appeared dreadful to his enemies. This was because he could change his skin
and his shape in any way he wished.
Woden was so eloquent and clever in his speech that everyone
who heard his words believed them. He always spoke in verse, and he and the
gods were called song-smiths, and they introduced the art of song into the
north.
He had the power to make his battle enemies blind, or deaf,
or to strike them with terror, and render their iron blade blunt so they could
cut now more than a willow wand. But his warriors rushed into battle without
wearing armour, and were as wild as dogs or wolves; they bit their shields, and
had the strength of bears or wild bulls. They slew their enemies at a blow, but
neither fire nor iron could harm them. Their name was the Berserkers.
Woden could change his shape. His body would lie as if dead,
but he would take the form of a fish, or a snake, or a bird or a beast, and be
off in an instant to far-off lands on his business, or that of others. With
words alone he could quench fires, still the stormy ocean, and turn the wind to
any quarter he wished.
He and his fellow gods owned a ship that could sail over
wide seas, but could also be rolled up as if it were a cloak. At all times, he
carried Mima's head with him, and it told him news of other lands.
At times he would call the dead out of the earth and
question them, or sit upon burial mounds to gain knowledge from ghosts. He had
two ravens that spoke to him, and they flew through all lands and brought him
news. In all things he was superlatively wise. He taught all these arts in
runes and spells, and another name for the gods is spell-smiths.
Woden was a master of magic, by which he could know the fate
of men, and could bring on death, misfortune or poor health for his foes, or
take the strength and intelligence of one and give it to another. But from this
witchcraft came such weakness that it was thought shameful for men to practise
it. Woden also knew where all missing possessions were concealed, and knew the
spells to open up the earth, the hills, the stones, and burial mounds. He could
bind those who dwelt within them by his word, and take all he pleased. From
these accomplishments he became renowned.
His enemies feared him, his friends trusted him, and relied
upon his power. He taught many of his arts to his priests, and they came
closest to him in wisdom. But many others learnt witchcraft, and it spread far
and wide.
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Woden established the same law on earth that had existed in
Esageard. This said that all dead men should be burned, their belongings laid
with them upon the pyre, the ashes cast into the sea or buried. As a result of
this, he told them, people would came to Walhall, the Hall of the Slain in
Esageard, with all the riches cast on the pyre. Also they would enjoy all that
they had buried in the ground.
For great men a mound should be raised to their memory, and
all warriors who had distinguished themselves a standing stone should be
raised. In autumn there should be a sacrifice for a good year, and another at
Yule for a good crop; a third sacrifice should be in the spring, and this
should be for victory.
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3. BÆLDÆG
As we related above, Woden's son Bældæg became king of the
land we now call Westphalia, at that time the domain of the Heathobards. Before
this it was ruled by King Heathobard, but Woden and the gods defeated him in
battle and seized his kingdom, bestowing it upon Bældæg. He married a local
woman, and had two sons by her, Forseta and Brand.
At this time, Heathobard's young son Hætha was being
fostered by the neighbouring King Gewar. During a visit to King Gewar's lands,
Bældæg saw Nanne, daughter of Gewar, and despite his existing wife, fell in
love with her. He set out to the court to ask for her hand.
When Hætha, who was also in love with his foster-sister,
learnt of Bældæg's intentions, he went to Gewar.
'I wish to marry Nanne,' he told him.
Gewar looked troubled.
'Willingly would I give you my daughter's hand,' said the
king, 'but word has reached me that Bældæg has the same desire. And all know
that, by spells, the gods have made Bældæg's body invulnerable to iron.'
'Is there no way we could slay him?' demanded Hætha.
'I do know of a sword that could kill the god,' replied
Gewar, 'but it is in the keeping of Miming, a wood-elf who dwells in Halgoland,
in the far north.'
Undeterred, Hætha set out to find the sword.
Meanwhile, Bældæg came to Gewar's court. On making his
request, Gewar replied;
'Ask Nanne for her own opinion,' and Bældæg did so.
Nanne replied;
'I do not think it is fitting that a mortal like myself
should marry a god.'
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After this refusal, Hætha returned unexpectedly from the
north, bearing the sword of Miming, and attacked Bældæg. The gods came to
Bældæg's aid, Woden with his spear, Thunær with his mighty hammer, and many
another. But Hætha fought back, and even took on Thunær, hacking off the thunder-god's
hammer haft. With this weapon damaged, the gods fled to Odense, Bældæg with
them.
Victorious, Hætha returned to Gewar, and in great pomp he
married Nanne. He brought his queen back to his own land, but then Bældæg
returned, and defeated him, forcing him to flee to Gewar. After the battle,
Bældæg pierced the earth and created a fresh spring for his thirsty troops. But
Nanne's absence plagued the god, and each night he dreamed of phantoms of her.
He grew so ill that he could no longer walk.
At this time, Hætha had been accepted as king by the Danes.
On learning this, Bældæg came after him with a fleet. They fought over the
territories of the Danes, and Bældæg forced Hætha into retreat.
Now the gods decided to bring back Bældæg's strength with a
magical meal. But before it could be prepared, Hætha returned, and attacked
Bældæg's host. He met with Bældæg, and wounded him mortally with the Sword of
Miming, and the god retreated from the field. Next day, he returned to the
battle in a litter, rather than die in his tent. That night, however, he saw
Hel, goddess of the underworld, who promised him that she would soon have him
in her embrace.
After three days, Bældæg died from his wound, and his
followers buried him in a barrow.
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Woden began to ask seers and wise-women how to avenge his
son's death. In the far north he met Horstheof of Eotenhame.
'You must father another son by Hrind, daughter of the
giant-king, and this son will avenge his brother's death.'
So Woden muffled his face in his hood, and entered the
service of the giant-king. He became captain of the giant-warriors, and won a
splendid victory over their enemies. The king lauded him highly, and even more
so after he succeeded in routing the foe single-handedly. Now he was so far in
the king's favour, he told him of his love for Hrind. Although the giant-king
favoured him, Hrind only hit him when he came looking for a kiss.
Undeterred, the next year he returned to the king in the
guise of a foreigner, saying that his name was Horstheow, and that he was a
smith. The king gave him a great deal of gold, and told him to make rich
ornaments for the ladies of the court. Woden offered Hrind an exquisite
bracelet and several rings. But again, when he tried to kiss her, she struck
him. Her father was angry with her for refusing him, but she said "I will
not wed an old man!"
A third time, Woden went to the king, in the guise of a
warrior. Again she struck him when he tried to kiss her, but he touched her
with a rune-carved stave, and she fell into a fit.
Woden took on the form of a maiden, and went to the giants
again.
'I am Wicce, a physician,' he told them.
'Then you must tend Hrind, my daughter,' said the
unsuspecting giant-king; and in this way, Woden managed to have his way with
the girl.
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But because Woden had brought shame to the gods by these
actions, the gods banished him, putting in his place the god Wuldor, who ruled
the gods for nine years. Wuldor was a cunning wizard who used a bone marked
with runes to cross the sea, rather than a ship. But at last the gods pitied
Woden in his exile, and he returned, driving Wuldor out to be slain by the
Danes. Now Woden discovered that Wala, his son by Hrind, was a warrior, and he
went to the lad, reminding him of his brother's death.
Wala met Hætha in battle, and slew him, but was so badly
wounded that he died the next day.
Now Woden told the people of the North that he was returning
to Esageard, and that there he would welcome all his friends, and said that all
brave warriors should be dedicated to him; now he lives there eternally.
Then began the belief in Woden, and the calling upon him. It
is believe that he appears to the people of the North before any great battle.
He gives victory to some; other he invites to his hall; both of these are fortunate.
They burned Woden's body, and at his pyre there was much
splendour. They say that the higher the smoke rises in the air, the higher in
Walhall will he sit, whose pyre it is; and that the more property is consumed
with him, the richer he shall be in the next life.
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4. EARENDEL
Garwendel son of Woden ruled over the Jutes, until his
cousin Wadolgeat of the Angles defeated him in battle. Wadolgeat established
his power over the Jutes, but appointed Garwendel's sons Earendel and Feng as
under-kings. Earendel reigned for three years, then decided to win for himself
a wife. He heard of the princess Garthryth, fairest woman in the world, who was
imprisoned in a tower in Eotenhame, surrounded and guarded over by giants.
Earendel set out north with his fleet, bound for the land of the giants, but
for three years his progress was hindered by the ice, until finally a storm
freed them. Then the fleet sailed on to a land governed by a giant named Bela,
who Earendel defeated in a sea-battle.
But then his ship was wrecked, and Earendel came floating on
a plank to an island where he was rescued by a man who introduced himself as
Yse the fisherman. But Earendel soon saw that the man was no ordinary
fisherman; he had a castle with seven towers, and a host of fishermen served
under him. In truth, he was the god Thunær, who in the northern oceans had once
had the world-serpent on his hook. Earendel emancipated himself from his
slavery with gold.
After many other adventures, Earendel came to the Meadows of
Neorxena, where Garthyrth was imprisoned. Thunær himself showed him the way.
Earendel found Garthryth surrounded by giants and monsters, who spent their
time fighting each other, but still waited upon the fair maiden as their
princess. When Earendel approached, the giants tried to take his life, and he
was hard pressed to defend himself.
But he came at last to Garthryth's bower, where she received
him with a kiss and a greeting, knowing that he was to be her husband. Once
Earendel had defeated all the giants, they celebrated a kind of wedding, but
between them lay a two-edged sword, and they slept like brother and sister by
each other's side before sailing back to Jutland.
Earendel had now passed three years in valiant deeds of war,
and to win Wadolgeat's favour, he gave the king the pick of his plunder. He
married Garthryth, and she bore him a son named Amluth. For many years they
lived in peace.
But Feng, Earendel's brother, was jealous at his good luck,
and after much brooding he decided to murder his brother. When the chance came
to do this, he seized upon it, then married Garthryth, telling the people that
Earendel had greatly ill-treated her.
'It was to save her that I slew my brother,' he told the
people. 'I thought it was shameful that she should suffer her husband's abuse.'
And he was widely believed.
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5. AMLUTH
Amluth was one who put no credence in his uncle's claims.
But fearing Feng might suspect him, he feigned madness.
Every day he lay by the hearth of his mother's house,
rolling in the dirt. Nothing that he said was anything other than madness. At
other times he would sit over the fire, fashioning wooden crooks, hardening
them in the fire and shaping barbs at their ends to make them hold more
tightly.
Someone asked him what he was doing.
'I am preparing sharp javelins to avenge my father,' was his
crazy reply. Everyone scoffed at this; but it helped him afterwards.
But these words made some of Feng's thanes suspect a cunning
mind beneath the mad behaviour.
'His skill suggests he has the hidden talent of a
craftsman,' said one of them to the king.
'His mind is quick enough,' said another, 'and he only acts
the fool to hide some other intentions.'
'Can you prove his deceitfulness?' asked Feng thoughtfully.
'We would, my lord,' said a thane, 'if we put a beautiful
woman in his way, in some secluded place, and tempt him to acts of love. All
men are too blind in love to be cunning.'
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So Feng sent his thanes to take the young man to a remote
part of the forest, and do all that they thought necessary.
Among them was Amluth's foster-brother, who did not want to
trap Amluth, but decided to warn him if he could. He could see that Amluth
would suffer the most if he behaved sanely, and if he made love to the girl
openly. But Amluth was aware of this also. When the men asked him to mount his
horse, he sat upon it backwards, putting the reins on the tail. They rode on,
and a wolf crossed Amluth's path through the thicket.
'A young colt has met you,' said one of the thanes, laughing
at his own wit.
'In Feng's stud there are too few of that king fighting,'
said Amluth. There were some frowns at this, which seemed to them a wittier
answer than they had expected.
'Your answer is cunning,' said the first thane, ruefully.
'I speak nothing but truth,' replied Amluth. He had no wish
to be seen to lie about anything, and he mingled truth with wit to reveal
nothing about the matter or about himself.
They came to the beach, where the thanes found the
steering-oar of a wrecked ship.
'Look, Amluth,' said one, 'we have found a huge knife!'
'Then it was the right thing to carve so big a ham,' Amluth
replied. There was laughter at this, but in fact he meant the sea, which
matched the steering-oar in vastness.
As they rode past the dunes, one said;
'Look at this meal!' referring the sand.
'The tempests of the ocean have ground it small,' Amluth
replied.
'That's not the answer of a fool,' said the thane
accusingly.
'I spoke it wittingly,' replied Amluth.
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Then the thanes left him, so he could pluck up the courage
for love-making. In a dark place he encountered his foster-sister, who was the
woman Feng had sent to tempt him. He took her, and would have slept with her
immediately, had her brother not given him some idea that this was a trap. For
the man had attached a straw to the tail of a gadfly, which he had sent in
Amluth's direction, and Amluth guessed from this that it was a secret warning
to beware treachery. So he dragged the maid off to a distant fen, where they
made love. Before they did so, Amluth secretly laid down three objects he had
gathered during the journey. Once they had lain together, he asked her
earnestly to tell no one. She agreed in view of their long friendship.
When he returned home, the thanes were waiting for him.
'Did you give way?' asked one slyly.
'Why, I ravished the maid,' he replied.
'Where did you do it?' asked another. 'And what was your
pillow?'
'I rested on the hoof of a donkey, a cockscomb, and a
ceiling,' replied Amluth, and all laughed at the mad reply, but in truth, it
had been fragments of these three objects that Amluth had laid down on the
ground before sleeping with his foster-sister.
'Is what this madman says true?' they asked the girl.
'He did no such thing!' she replied firmly. Also Amluth's
escort agreed that it would have been impossible.
Then Amluth's foster-brother said;
'Latterly, I have been singly devoted to you, brother.'
In reply, Amluth said;
'I saw a certain thing bearing a straw flit by suddenly,
wearing a stalk of chaff fixed to its hind parts.' Although the others laughed,
his foster brother rejoiced.
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So none of them had succeeded in tricking Amluth. But one of
Feng's thanes, in council, said;
'No simple plot can prove Amluth's cunning. 'His obstinacy
is great, and his wiliness is many-sided.'
'Then what do you suggest?' asked the king.
'I have thought of a better way, which will certainly help
us learn what we wish. My lord, you must leave the palace, claiming that
affairs of state take you elsewhere. Closet Amluth alone with his mother in her
chamber, but first place a man in hiding in the room to listen to their speech.
If Amluth has any wits he will not hesitate to trust his mother.'
Feng nodded approvingly.
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Feng left the court claiming to be on a long journey. His
thane went secretly to Garthryth's chamber, and hid himself in the straw. But
Amluth was ready for any treachery. Afraid of eavesdroppers, he crowed like a
noisy cock on entering the room, flapping his arms as if they were wings. Then
he began to jump up and down on the straw to see if anything lurked there.
Feeling a lump under his feet, he drove his sword in, and impaled the thane.
Then he dragged the man from hiding and slew him. After that he hacked the body
into pieces, seethed them in boiling water, and flung them into an open sewer
for the pigs to eat.
Now he returned to his mother's chamber, where she lamented
his madness. But he reproached her for her conduct, and tore her heart with his
words.
When Feng returned, he could find his thane nowhere.
Jokingly, he asked Amluth, among others, if he had seen him.
'Your thane went to the sewer, but he fell in and drowned in
filth,' Amluth replied with a wild grin. 'Then the swine ate him.'
Feng shook his head in disgust at this apparent nonsense.
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Now Feng was certain that his stepson was full of guile and
treachery, and he wished to slay him, but did not dare do this openly for fear
of his wife. Instead, he decided to ask his old friend the King of Britain to
kill him, so that he could claim ignorance of the deed.
Before Amluth went, he went to his mother in secret.
'Hang the hall with woven knots,' he told her enigmatically.
'And if I do not return after a year, perform obsequies for me. Then will I
return.'
Two of Feng's thanes went with him, taking with them a runic
message to the King of Britain, asking him to execute their charge. On board
ship, while his two companions were sleeping, Amluth searched them, found the
message, and read the runes. Then he scratched clean the stave, and cut his own
message to the effect that his companions should be put to death, not he. In a
postscript he asked that the King of Britain give his daughter in marriage to
"a youth of great judgement" who he was sending. He signed it with
his uncle's signature.
When they reached Britain, the envoys went to the ruler, and
gave him the rune-stave. The king read it, then gave them good entertainment.
But when Amluth had the meat and drink of the feast placed before him, he
rejected it.
'How incredible,' people were heard to murmur, 'that a foreign
lad should turn his nose up at the dainties of the royal table as if it were
some peasant's stew.'
When the feast was over, and the king was bidding goodnight
to his friends, he sent a man to the quarters assigned to Amluth and his
companions to listen to their speech.
'Why did you act as if the king's meat was poisoned?' asked
one of the thanes.
'Blood flecked the bread,' replied Amluth. 'Did you not see
it? And there was a tang of iron in the mead. As for the meat, it smelled like
rotting flesh. Besides, the king has the eyes of a thrall, and in three ways
the queen acted like a bondmaid.'
His companions jeered at him for his words.
Meanwhile, the king heard all this from his spy.
'He who could say such things,' the king remarked, 'must
possess either more than mortal wisdom, or more than mortal folly.'
He summoned his reeve, and asked him where he the bread came
from.
'It was made by your own baker, my lord,' replied the reeve.
'Where did the corn of which it was made grow?' asked the
king. 'Are there any signs of carnage in the vicinity?'
The reeve replied.
'Nearby is a field where men fought in former days,' he
said. 'I planted this field with grain in spring, thinking it more fruitful
than the others.' He shrugged. 'Maybe this affected the bread's flavour.'
Hearing this, the king assumed that Amluth had spoken truly.
'And where did the meat come from?
'My pigs strayed from their keeper,' the reeve admitted.
'and they were found eating the corpse of a robber. Perhaps it was this that
the youth could taste.'
'And of what liquor did you mix the mead?'
'It was brewed of water and meal,' replied the reeve. 'I
could show you the spring from which the water came.'
He did so, and when the king had it dug deep down, he found
there several rusted swords.
After this, the king went to speak with his mother.
'Who was my real father?' he asked.
'I submitted to no man but the king your father,' she
replied.
He threatened to have the truth out of her with a trial, and
she relented.
'Very well,' she replied. 'If you must know, your real
father was a thrall.'
By this, the king understood Amluth's words. Although
ashamed of his lowly origins, the king was so amazed by Amluth's cleverness
that he asked him to his face why he had said the queen behaved like a
bondmaid. But then he found that her mother had indeed been a thrall.
Amluth told the king that he had seen three faults in her
behaviour.
'To begin with,' he said, 'she muffles her head in her
mantle like a handmaid. Secondly, she picks up her gown when she walks.
Thirdly, I saw her pick a piece of food from her teeth and then eat it.' He
went on to say that the king's mother had been enslaved after captivity, in
case she might seem servile only in her habits, rather than her birth.
The king praised Amluth's wisdom as if it was inspired, and
in accordance with the message from Feng, gave him his daughter as wife. On the
next day, to fulfil the rest of the message, he had Amluth's companions hanged.
Amluth feigned anger at this, and the king gave him gold in wergild, which he
melted in the fire, and poured into two hollowed-out sticks.
-------------------------------------
After spending a year with the king, he asked leave to make
a journey, and sailed back to his own land, taking with him only the sticks
containing the gold. When he reached Jutland, he dressed again in his old rags,
and entered the banquet hall covered in filth. Here he found the people holding
his wake, and he struck them aghast, since all believed him to be dead. But in
the end, their terror turned to laughter. The guests jeered and taunted each
other.
'That Amluth should turn up at his own funeral!'
'Where are the men who went with you?' someone asked.
Amluth pointed to the sticks he bore.
'Here they are,' he replied, to the laughter of all. Then he
jollied the cupbearers, asking them to ply more drink. Next he girdled his
sword on his side, then drew it several times, and cut himself with it. To
protect him from himself, the king's thanes had sword and scabbard riveted with
iron nails. Then Amluth plied the thanes with horn after horn of mead, until
all were drunk. They fell asleep one by one in the hall itself.
Now Amluth took from his rags the wooden crooks he had
fashioned so long ago, then cut down the hanging his mother had made, which
covered both the inner and the outer walls of the hall. Flinging this over the
sleeping thanes, the then applied the crooked stakes, knotting and binding them
so none could rise. Then he set fire to the hall.
As the fire spread, he went to Feng's chamber, where he took
his uncle's sword from where it hung over the bed, and replaced it with his
own. Then he woke Feng
'Your men are dying in flames,' he said. 'And here am I,
Amluth, armed with my crooks to help me, athirst for long overdue vengeance,
for my father's murder.'
On hearing this, Feng leapt from his couch and tried to draw
the sword that hung over his bed. But Amluth cut him down as he struggled to
unsheathe the weapon.
-------------------------------------
Uncertain of how the Jutish nation would react to his deeds,
Amluth lay in hiding until he could learn the people's thoughts. Everyone
living nearby had watched the hall burn through the night, and in the morning
they came to see what had occurred. Searching the ruins they found nothing but
a few burnt corpses, and the body of Feng stabbed with his own sword. Some were
angry, others saddened, others happy that the tyrant had been slain.
At this, Amluth abandoned his hiding place, and called an
assembly. Here he told the Jutes of the circumstances that had brought this
about, where upon the people proclaimed him king, seeing him as a man of wisdom
and cunning.
-------------------------------------
With this done, Amluth equipped three ships, and sailed back
to Britain to see his wife and his father-in-law. With him went the best of his
thanes, well equipped and richly clad. He had had a shield made for him, upon
which was painted the story of his exploits.
The King of Britain received them well, treating them as
befits a king and his retinue. During the feast he asked;
'Is my old friend Feng alive and well?'
Amluth shook his head.
'He died by the sword,' he replied.
'Who slew him?' asked the king sharply.
'It was I,' replied Amluth.
At this the king said nothing, but secretly he was
horrified, for in their youth he and Feng had sworn that each should avenge the
other's death if one of them were to be slain. But the slayer was his
son-in-law. Which should he chose, to honour his vow, or to respect the ties of
blood and marriage? At last, he chose the former, but decided that he would
achieve vengeance by the hands of another.
'I have sad tidings to relate, also,' he said. 'While you
were among the Jutes, my wife died of illness.'
Amluth offered his condolences, and asked if he intended to
marry again.
'Indeed,' the king replied, 'and since I am delight with you
cunning and craft, I would like you to find me a fresh match.'
'Do you have any preferences?' asked Amluth.
The king replied that he did. 'In Pictland there reigns an
unmarried queen named Eormenthryth. I wish to marry her.' But he neglected to
tell Amluth that the reason the queen was unmarried was because she had the
custom of killing all who wooed her.
Amluth set out for Pictland with his thanes and some of the
king's attendants. When he was near the hall of the queen, he came to a meadow
by the road where he rested his horses. Finding the spot pleasing, he resolved
to rest himself there, too, and posted men to keep watch some way off.
Queen Eormenthryth learnt of this, and sent ten warriors to
spy on the foreigners. One of them slipped past the guards and took Amluth's
shield, which Amluth was using as a pillow, and the letter the King of Britain
had entrusted him with. When he brought these things to Queen Eormenthryth, she
examined the shield, and saw that this was the man who had with cunning and
craft unsurpassed avenged on his uncle the murder of his father. She also read
the letter with distaste. She had no desire to marry an old man. She rubbed out
all the writing, and wrote in their place saying that the bearer was to ask her
hand himself. Then she told the spies to replace both shield and letter.
Meanwhile, Amluth had found the shield had been stolen, kept
his eyes shut and feigned sleep when the spy returned. As the man was replacing
the shield and letter, Amluth sprang up, and seized him. Then he woke his
thanes, and they rode on to the queen's palace.
He greeted her.
'I am here to represent my father-in-law, the King of
Britain,' he told her, and he handed her the letter, sealed with the king's
seal.
Eormenthryth too it, and read it.
'I have heard of you,' she said. 'You are said to be very
cunning. Your uncle deserved all he received at your hands. You achieved deeds
beyond mortal estimation. Not only did you avenge you father's death and your
mother's faithlessness, but at the same time you gained a kingdom. You have
made only one mistake.'
'And that is?' challenged Amluth.
'Why, your lowly marriage,' Eormenthryth replied, as if it
was obvious. 'Your wife's parents were both of the stock of thralls, even if
they became kings by accident. When looking for a wife, a man must regard
firstly her birth over her beauty. I, whose origin is far from humble, am
worthy of your bed and your embraces, since you surpass me in neither wealth
nor ancestry. I am a queen, and whoever I deem worthy of my bed is king.' She
embraced him.
Amluth, overjoyed by her words, kissed her back, and told
her that her wishes were as his own. A banquet was held, the Picts gathered,
and they were married.
When this was done, Amluth returned to Britain with his
bride, and a strong band of Picts followed to guard against attack. As they
came south, they met the King of Britain's daughter.
'It would be unworthy of me to hate you as an adulterer more
than I love you as a husband,' she said, 'for I have now a son as a pledge of
our marriage, and regard for him, if nothing else, means I must show the
affection of a wife. He may hate his mother's supplanter, I will love her. But
I must tell you that you must beware your father-in-law.'
As she was speaking, the King of Britain came up and
embraced Amluth, and welcomed him to a banquet.
But Amluth, being forewarned, took a retinue of two hundred
horsemen, and rode to the hall appointed. As he did so, the king attacked him
under the porch of the hall, and thrust at him with a spear, but Amluth's
mailshirt deflected the blow. Amluth was slightly wounded, and he went back to
the Pictish warriors. Then he sent to the king Eormenthryth's spy, who he had
taken prisoner. The man was to explain what had occurred, and absolve Amluth.
The king pursued Amluth, and slew many of his men. The next
day, Amluth, wishing to fight, increased his apparent numbers by setting some
of the corpses on horseback, and tying others to stones, and giving the
impression that his forces were undiminished, and striking fear into the hearts
of his opponents, who fled. Amluth's forces came down upon the king as he was
retreating, and slew him.
Amluth amassed a great amount of plunder, and then went with
his two wives back to his own land.
-------------------------------------
In the mean time, Wadolgeat had died, and Wihtlæg, his son,
had become king of the Angles. He had immediately begun to harass Garthryth,
Amluth's mother, and stripped her of her royal wealth, saying that Amluth had
usurped the kingdom of the Jutes, and defrauded the King of the Angles, his
overlord.
In a spirit of conciliation, Amluth presented Wihtlæg with
the richest of his spoils, but soon after he seized the chance for revenge, by
attacking and subduing him. After this, Wihtlæg recruited the forces of the
Angles, and challenged the Jutes to war. Amluth saw that he was caught between
disgrace and danger; if he accepted the challenge he would risk defeat or
death, but to flee would be dishonourable. Finally, he decided to meet Wihtlæg
on the field of combat.
But because he loved Eormenthryth so much, he was more
concerned about her widowhood than his death. She said that she had a man's
courage, and would not abandon him on the battlefield. But she did not keep
this promise. Amluth rode against Wihtlæg in Jutland, and met his end in the
fray. Now Eormenthryth accepted Wihtlæg's offer of marriage, thus betraying
Amluth's memory. So fell the Jutish royal house.
After this defeat, many Jutes fled to Frisia, where they
were welcomed by the king, Folcwalda, and their descendants were still at his
court three generations later.
Wihtlæg ruled over the two kingdoms for many long and
peaceful years, before dying of disease.
6. OFFA
Wihtlæg had two sons. The elder, Wærmund, succeeded his
father as king of the Angles, while the younger was Wehta, whose descendants
later became kings of Kent. It was a quiet and prosperous time for the Angles,
and Wærmund reigned long over a peaceful land.
In his prime, he had no children, but in old age he had a
son named Offa, who surpassed everyone else in stature, but from his youth he
never spoke or laughed, never played or made merry. His father pitied him, and
got him for wife the daughter of Freawine, a descendant of Brand son of Bældæg,
who was under-king of the Wærnas. Wærmund thought that this alliance would
ensure that Offa would have help in ruling the kingdom. Freawine had two sons,
Cedd and Wig, excellent youths who Wærmund hoped would assist his son in later
years when he ascended the throne.
-------------------------------------
In those days, the King of the Myrgings, a people who lived
south of Angeln, across the River Eider, was Eadgils. He had defeated many neighbouring
nations, and was still a great warrior. One of his customs was to walk alone
clad in full armour, partly to keep himself permanently in practice, partly for
the glory this gave him. In search of further glory, he led his war-bands into
the north, and challenged Freawine to battle at the border of his territories.
The battle was long and bloody. In the midst of the
fighting, the two leader met to fight in person. Eadgils slew Freawine, and his
armies put those of the Angles to flight. Now Eadgils returned to the land of
the Myrgings, and bragged out of measure concerning his exploit.
Wærmund raised Freawine's sons to their father's rank, and
when Eadgils heard of this, he set out for the Wærna-lands immediately to harry
them once more, having in his host the greatest warriors of his realm.
Cedd, son of Freawine, sent his chief thane Folca to inform
Wærmund of Eadgils' return. Folca found Wærmund feasting in his hall, and gave
his message.
'Here is the long-hoped for chance of war at hand,' he told
the king, 'for now you have the chance of honourable victory on the field.
Eadgils comes with his full host, sure of victory. Doubtless he would prefer
death to flight, so now you may avenge the death of Freawine.'
Wærmund nodded approvingly at the words.
'You have spoken this message boldly,' he said. 'Join us at
the board,' he added, inviting him to sit at the feast. 'You must be weary
after your journey.'
I have no time to eat,' replied Folca, 'but I would ask of
you a drink to quench my thirst.' Wærmund gave him a drink in a golden cup.
'And you may keep the cup,' he told the messenger. 'Men
weary from travel find it better to use a cup for drinking than the hand.'
'I would drink as much of my own blood,' Folca replied
proudly, 'before you will see me turn and flee!'
Wærmund thought that he was well repaid with this vow.
When battle began, Folca met Eadgils in the fray, and they
fought together for a long time, until the Myrgings began to retreat. Folca had
wounded Eadgils, and the Myrging king joined the general rout. When Folca,
dazed with his wounds, ceased pursuing the enemy, he caught his own blood in
his helmet, and drank it, thus repaying the king's gift. Wærmund, who saw this,
praised him for fulfilling his vow.
'A warrior should perform a noble vow to the end,' Folca
replied, showing as much approval of his own deed as Wærmund had.
-------------------------------------
Eadgils fled back to the Myrgings, bragging of the killing
of Freawine to salve the wound caused by his ignominious flight. When they
heard of this, Cedd and Wig were greatly angered, and they swore a vow to unite
in avenging their father. But since they thought it unlikely that they could do
this in open war, they went to the land of the Myrgings with no companions.
They came to the wood where they had heard that Eadgils
walked, hid their weapons, and found the king nearby. He asked them who they
were.
'Deserters,' they replied. 'We come from the land of the
Wærnas, and left our country for a killing.'
The king assumed that this meant they had been banished for
former misdeeds, when they really referred to their intent to kill him.
'I would like to know who the Angles think slew Freawine,'
Eadgils said.
'People are in doubt over this,' said Cedd. 'He died in
battle, so the identity of his killer is uncertain.'
'It is vain to think so,' replied Eadgils, 'for it was I
alone who slew him in single combat!' he went on to ask if Freawine was
survived by any offspring.
'Two of his sons still live,' Cedd replied.
'I would like to know their age and stature,' said Eadgils.
'They are much of the same size, age and height as we two,'
said Cedd.
'If they had the courage of their father, it would go badly
for me,' replied Eadgils. 'Do they speak at all about avenging their father?'
'It is idle to talk and talk about something irremediable,'
replied Cedd.
-------------------------------------
When Cedd saw that the king's solitary walks were a frequent
custom, he took his weapons, with his brother beside him, followed the king
through the wood. When Eadgils saw them, he stood his ground.
'We will take vengeance for your slaying of Freawine,' said
Cedd, 'especially in view of your arrogant boasts.'
'Beware,' replied Eadgils, 'lest I slay you both! It would
be greater glory if you accepted wergild for your father than that you fight me
and I slay you.'
But Cedd scorned this offer.
'Come forward and fight me in single combat,' he said. 'We
will not set upon you two to one.'
'Attack at once,' Eadgils told them. 'If I cannot persuade
you to take the peaceful course, then let me grant you all the advantage you
possess.'
'I would rather die,' replied Cedd. 'A battle on such terms
would be no more than a reproach.'
He attacked Eadgils alone, and the king defended himself
well, but made no attempt to kill the lad.
'Let your brother join the battle,' Eadgils urged. 'Make use
of another hand, since your efforts alone are useless. But if you refuse this,
I will not spare you.' Now he attacked with all his might.
But Cedd gave him so strong a stroke of his sword that he
split the king's helmet. But Eadgils retaliated by driving Cedd to his knees.
Now Wig, seeing his brother near defeat, put all thoughts of honour aside and
attacked Eadgils and slew him.
The two brothers cut off the king's head, hung his body over
a horse, and left the wood. Coming to the nearest village, they handed all this
over to the villagers, telling them that the sons of Freawine had taken
vengeance on Eadgils, King of the Myrgings, for his slaying of their father.
When they returned to the kingdom of the Angles, Wærmund
received them with the highest honours, willing to discount the shameful
killing in his joy at the death of an enemy. It became a saying among
foreigners, however, that the death of the king had broken down the ancient
principle of combat.
-------------------------------------
When Wærmund was beginning to go blind, the King of the
Swæfe sent envoys to him, commanding that he give up his kingdom since he no
longer had the strength to rule it.
'If you refuse this,' said the king's envoys, 'then send
your son to fight with our atheling, and let the winner rule this land. If you
do not accept either offer, then we shall come with all the men at our disposal
and take your lands from you by force.'
Wærmund sighed deeply.
'It is insolent of your king to taunt me for my age,' he
replied. 'In youth I was no coward. It is unfair to cast my blindness in my
teeth; many men of my age are blind. If anyone is at fault it is your king, who
should at least have waited for my death before laying claim to my lands. I
would rather fight this duel with my own hand than give up my freedom to
another.'
'Our king will not fight a blind man,' replied the envoys,
'since this would bring him more shame than honour. It would be better if your
son was to fight.'
The king was at a loss for a reply, but then a voice came
from the back of the hall.
'I ask my father's leave to speak.'
'Who spoke?' asked Wærmund.
The thanes exchanged glances. One leaned forward.
'Sire, it was your son,' he said.
Wærmund shook his head.
'If it is not enough that foreigners jeer at my misfortune,'
he said, 'that my own retainers should tell such lies. All know my son is
dumb.' 'My lord king,' said another thane, 'it is true. Your son spoke.' The
other thanes agreed. Finally, Wærmund said;
'He is free, whoever he is, to speak his mind.'
'It is futile for the Swæfe king to covet a realm as strong
as ours,' said Offa. 'What is more, our king does not lack an heir. I shall
willingly fight not just the Swæfe atheling, but any man the atheling wishes to
take as his comrade.'
The envoys laughed at this.
'We agree!' they replied, and set a time for the duel. But
the Angles were astounded by the events, both by the fact of Offa's speech, or
his words themselves.
Once the envoys had gone, Wærmund looked round blindly.
'Whoever spoke is a brave man,' he said, 'for challenging
two men. I would sooner leave my kingdom to such a man than to my foe.'
'Sire,' said a thane. 'He who spoke is without a doubt your
own son.'
Wærmund looked troubled.
'Come nearer,' he told Offa, 'so I may touch your face, and
determine your identity.' He did so, and the king found that it was indeed his
son. 'But why have you never spoken before?' the king asked, amazed.
'Before, I was satisfied with your protection,' said Offa.
'I had no need to speak, until I saw my land hard pressed by foreigners.'
'I see,' said Wærmund. 'But why, then, did you challenge two
men rather than one?'
'I hope by this to redeem the shame of King Eadgils' death,'
said Offa. 'The glory this will win us will make good the shame we have known.'
'You have judged matters well, my son,' said Wærmund. 'But
now you must learn the use of weapons, since you have had little experience of
them before.'
They offered Offa coats of mail, but each one was too tight
for his wide chest, and he split the links. In the end Wærmund commanded that
they cut his coat of mail away on the left side and patch it with a buckle.
Next they gave Offa swords to try, but Offa shattered each
of them, one after the other.
'Where will we find a sword strong enough?' lamented the
thanes.
Wærmund looked blindly at them.
'I had a sword of great strength in my youth,' he said.
'Screp was its name, and it would cut through any obstacle in a blow, and never
was its blade notched.'
'Where is it, father?' asked Offa.
'I buried it deep in the ground to stop others from using
it,' Wærmund replied. 'Since at that time I had no hope in you. If only I can
find the spot...'
He asked them to lead him to a field, and questioned them
again and again over the ground. Finally, he realised they were at the right
point, and drew the sword Screp out of its hole, and handed it to his son.
Offa looked at the blade. It was frail and covered in rust
from its long burial.
'Must I prove this one like the others?' he asked.
'If mere brandishing shatters the sword, there are none that
could serve for your strength, my boy.'
-------------------------------------
With the sword untested, they went to the island in the
Eider where the duel was to be fought. Offa crossed to the island alone, while
a famous champion accompanied the Swæfe atheling. Dense crowds lined the banks
on either side. Wærmund stood at one end of the bridge, ready to fling himself
in the waters if his son was beaten.
Both warriors attacked Offa, but he parried their blows with
his shield, trying to establish which of them was the better fighter, so he
might slay him with one stroke of Screp. Hearing that his son hung back,
Wærmund dragged himself to the edge of the bridge, sure that Offa was doomed.
'Attack me more briskly,' Offa told the atheling tauntingly.
'Do some deed worthy of your tribe, in case your thane seem braver than you.'
Then he turned to the champion, and said; 'Repay your lord's trust by fighting,
not skulking at his heels!'
The champion attacked, and Offa hacked at him with his
sword.
Wærmund heard the sound.
'I hear the sword of my son!' he cried. 'Whereabouts did he
deal the blow?'
'It went straight through the champion!' replied the thanes.
At this, Wærmund drew back from the edge of the bridge.
'Come, atheling!' Offa cried then. 'Your thane did well by
you - now sacrifice yourself on my blade to his ghost!'
He turned the thick edge of his blade towards the front,
thinking the cutting edge to frail for his strength. Then he thrust the blade
through the atheling's body.
'I hear Screp again,' said Wærmund.
'Your son has killed both foes,' said one of the thanes, and
Wærmund wept tears of joy.
-------------------------------------
While the Swæfe, their honour trampled in the dirt, bore off
the bodies of their champion and the heir to their throne, the Angles welcomed
Offa with shouts of triumph.
And no longer did the Angles hear taunts about the murder of
Eadgils from Myrgings or Swæfe or any of the nations of the North Sea coast.
The kingdom of the Swæfe came under the dominion of the Angles, and after his
father's death, Offa ruled it alongside his own land, placing his cousin Witta
as under-king. Now Offa, once thought incapable of ruling one realm, reigned
over the broadest of kingdoms.
-------------------------------------
7. HENGEST
As related above, Offa's cousin Witta became under-king of
the Swæfe. Witta's son was named Wihtgils, and he fathered two sons, Hengest
and Horsa. In his youth, Hengest went out in search of adventures, and joined
the war-band of Hnæf Hocing, king of the Half Danes. Many heroes were in that
band, Oslaf and Guthlaf and Hunlaf, sons of the Dane-king; Sigeferth, king of
the Secgan, and many others, but Hengest surpassed them all in prowess and
strength. The Half Danes had long been at war with the Frisians, since the days
of Hoc and Folcwalda, but the conflict had been brought to a close when Hnæf
married his sister Hildeburh to Finn, the Frisian king.
As related above, many of the Jutes dispossessed by Wihtlæg
after the death of Amluth had sought refuge at the Frisian court, and the feud
burned between them and Hengest's people just as fiercely as it did between the
Half Danes and the Frisians. When Hnæf came to visit his brother-in-law for
Yule, with his retinue at his back, the scene was set for one of the bloodiest
conflicts the North was ever to know.
The door-warden of their hall awoke Hnæf near midnight.
'I hear the noise of metal on metal, and see lights in the
darkness, lord king, outside our hall. Is it dawn already? Or does some dragon
fly above in the night sky? Or do the gables of our hall burn?'
Hnæf replied.
'It is not the hall burning, nor does dawn break yet in the
east, and no dragon flies towards us. It is the sound of swords being carried
against us that you hear. Soon battle shall break, beneath the moon.
'Awake!' he cried to his slumbering men. 'Rise to your feet!
Who will fight for me? Hold your shields well, be brave in mood, join me at the
hall-doors!'
His thanes awoke, and did on their swords. Two warriors went
to one door, Sigeferth and Eaha, swords drawn, and Oslaf and Guthlaf to the
other, followed by Hengest himself.
One of the attackers outside, Garulf, King Finn's champion,
cried;
'Who holds the door?'
'I am Sigeferth, king of the Secgan, known across the seas.
I am accustomed to battle and can bear myself bravely. The death you intend for
me will be your own instead.'
Sigeferth and Garulf and their followers fought at the
doors, both mighty warriors who shattered each others shields and hacked armour
from their bodies. But Garulf fell there, with many good men around him. And
the battle raged on until morning when the sun broke on a ghastly scene; Hnæf
and many of his men lay dead, including Hunlaf the Dane, but most of Finn's
thanes had also been slain, as had his son by Hildeburh. After the dead were
laid upon the funeral pyre, Hengest took command of the war-band and negotiated
a settlement.
'Your war-band will remain in Frisia until the spring, as my
thanes, and thus protected from further feuding. In the spring,' Finn told
them, 'you may depart.'
Throughout that long winter, Hengest brooded; serving the
slayer of his lord was one of the most dishonourable acts a warrior could
commit. When spring broke the frozen waters, he sailed back to his lord's
people. But it was not long before the son of Hunlaf, whose father had fallen
in the fray, convinced him to return, and avenge the deaths of Hnæf and his
thanes.
The warriors sailed back to Frisia with Hengest at their
head. They attacked the hall at Finnsburh, killed Finn and his men, and brought
Hildeburh back to a victorious people.
-------------------------------------
Hengest returned to his homeland, where he married, and had
four children; Renwein - who later married the King of Britain; Octha and Eosa,
who defeated the Picts; and Heathogeat, who was the first king of the Saxon
race.
At that time, Vortigern was King of Britain. In his time,
the Britons lived in fear not just of the raids of the Picts and the Scots, but
also of the Roman Ambrosius Aurelianus, whose father Constantine had governed
the land for the Emperor, and whom the Britons had deposed in favour of
Vortigern.
In the meantime, the land of the Angles was growing
over-populated. When he saw this, King Eomer met with his thanes and elders. In
accordance with their ancient laws, they gathered together the youth of their
nation. Then they cast lots and chose the strongest and most able of them to go
into foreign lands and secure new lands for themselves. They chose Hengest and
his brother Horsa, among many more, and made them rulers over the others
because of their blood. Then they put to sea in three of the ships they called
keels, and sailed to Britain. For long ago, a spæwife had foretold that their
people would reign over that land for more than three hundred years, half of
which time would be spent in plundering and despoiling.
At that time, Vortigern was at Canterbury, a city that he
often visited. Messengers came to him speaking of the arrival of tall strangers
in great ships, and he commanded his men to receive them peacefully, and bring
them into his presence.
As soon as they had been brought before him, he eyed the two
brothers who led the foreigners.
'Where are you from, O strangers?' he asked, by means of his
interpreter, Ceretic. 'And why have you come to my realm?'
'My lord king,' Hengest replied, 'Angeln was our
birth-place. We come to this land to offer our service to you or some other
lord. For we were sent into exile for no other reason than because our nation
has become too numerous for our existing lands. In accord with our ancient
laws, we set sail, and under the good guidance of Woden we have arrived in your
kingdom.'
The king looked earnestly at them.
'What religion do you profess?' he asked.
'We worship the gods of our people,' Hengest told him, 'Tiw
and Thunær, and the other deities who rule this world, but most of all Woden,
to whom our ancestors dedicated the fourth day of the week, which we still call
after his name Wodnesday, or Wednesday. Next to him we worship the great
goddess Frige, to whom the sixth day is dedicated, and we call it Friday.'
Vortigern said, 'By your belief, or better unbelief, I am
much saddened. But your coming brings me great joy, since, whether it is by
God's providence or some other agency, is very convenient for me. My enemies
oppress me on every side. If you will fight for me in my wars, I will entertain
you honourably in my country, and give you lands and other gifts.'
The Angles accepted his offer willingly, and once the
agreement was confirmed, they stayed in the isle of Thanet. A short time after,
the Picts issued forth from Pictland with a great host, and began to lay waste
the north of Vortigern's domain. When the king learnt of this, he gathered his
forces, and went to meet the Picts beyond the Humber. The battle was savage,
although the Britons had little need to exert themselves, since the Angles
fought so bravely that the Picts were soon put to flight.
-------------------------------------
Hengest and his men returned to Thanet where they remained,
with the Britons supplying them with food and clothing on the condition that
they defend the land against its enemies. But as more and more Angles swelled
the ranks, the Britons became unable to fulfil their promise. One day the
Angles came to claim a supply of food and clothing, the Britons replied;
'Your numbers have grown; we no longer require your aid. You
may return home, now, for we can no longer keep you.'
At this, the Angles debated ways in which they could break
the peace between them. Hengest, by now a man of experience and cunning, went
to the king.
'My lord king, your enemies disturb your land, and your
subjects show you little love. They threaten you and say they will bring over
Ambrosius from Armorica, to depose you and make him king. If it please you, we
will send messengers to our country to invite more warriors, so that with
greater forces we will be better suited to oppose your foes. But one thing I
would ask of your clemency, if I did not fear a refusal.'
'Send for more warriors from your land, and fear no refusal
from me in anything you ask for.'
'I thank you, lord king,' replied Hengest. 'You have
bestowed upon me great gifts, but you have not yet granted me the honours
fitting to my birth. I should have some town or city under me, so I will have
greater esteem among your nobles. I should be made a lord or chieftain, since
my forefathers were such.'
'It is not within my power to do you this much honour,'
replied Vortigern, 'because you are strangers and pagans. Nor am I yet
sufficiently acquainted with your customs to set you on a level with my
subjects and countrymen. And if I did rate you highly as my subjects, I would
hesitate to do so, because my nobles would dissuade me.'
'Give to me,' said Hengest, 'only so much ground as I can
encircle with a leather thong, to build a fortress upon, as a place of retreat
if I have need. For I will always be faithful to you, as I have been hitherto,
and will pursue no other course in the request I have made.'
The king granted his request, and told him to send
messengers to Germany to invite more men over. Hengest did so, and then took a
bull's hide, making one thong out of the whole, with which he encircled a rocky
place that he had carefully chosen, and within it he began to build a castle.
When it was finished, it took its name from the thong with which it had been
measured, called, in the British tongue, Cærcarrei; in English Thancaster, or
Thong Castle.
-------------------------------------
The messengers reached Angeln, where they selected many
warriors, returning with sixteen ships, and bringing with them Renwein,
Hengest's beautiful daughter. Now the Angle chieftain prepared a feast to which
he invited the king, his officers, and Ceretic, his interpreter. Beforehand, he
asked his daughter to serve them so profusely with wine and ale and mead that
they might become drunk.
The king accepted the invitation, and having highly
commended the magnificent structure, enlisted the new warriors into his
service. When this was done, Renwein came out of her bower bearing a full horn
of mead. Approaching the king, she made a low curtsy, and said to him;
'Lord king, wassail!' At the sight of the lady's face, the
king was stricken by her beauty. He called his interpreter, and asked him what
she had said, and what answer he should make.
'She called you "lord king",' replied the
interpreter, 'and offered to drink your health. Your answer to her must be
"Drink hail!"'
Vortigern answered accordingly.
'Drink hail!' and asked her to drink. After this he took the
cup from her hand, kissed her, and drank it himself. From that time to this, it
has been the custom in Britain that he who drinks to anyone says
"Wassail!", and he that pledges him answers "Drink hail!"
Vortigern now being drunk, fell in love with the maiden, and
asked Hengest for her hand in marriage.
Hengest consulted with his brother Horsa and the other
thanes present. Unanimously they advised him to give him his daughter, and to
demand the entire province of Kent as her dowry. So Renwein was given to
Vortigern, and Kent to Hengest, without the knowledge of Guoyrangancgonus, who
ruled it. The same night the king married the lady, and was extremely delighted
with her, but this brought upon him the anger and hatred of his nobles, not to
mention his sons by a previous marriage, Vortimer, Catigern, and Pascent.
Hengest said to the king;
'As I am your father-in-law, I claim the right to be your
adviser: pay heed to me, since it is to my people that you owe the conquest of
all your foes. Let us invite over my son Octha and his brother Eosa, brave
warriors both, and bestow upon them the lands in the north of Britain, by the
Wall, between Deira and Pictland. For they will hinder the inroads of the
invaders, and so you may enjoy peace on the other side of the Humber.'
Vortigern complied with the request.
'Invite over anyone you know who can assist me,' he replied.
And so came Octha, Eosa, and Cerdic, with forty ships filled
with warriors. Vortigern received them all with kind words and ample gifts.
They sailed round Pictland, laid waste the Orkneys, and seized many regions,
even as far as the Pictish borders. In the meanwhile, Hengest continued to
invite over more and more ships, and his numbers grew every day.
These newcomers were from the Saxons, the Angles, and the
Jutes. From the Jutes descend the people of Kent and the Isle of Wight, and
those in the land of the West Saxons who are called Jutes to this day. From the
Saxons - that is, the area know as Old Saxony - came the East, South, and West
Saxons. And from Angeln, which is said to remain unpopulated to this day, came
the East and Middle Angles, the Mercians, all the Northumbrian stock (that is,
those peoples living north of the river Humber), and the other English peoples.
When the Britons became aware of this, they feared betrayal,
and petitioned the king to banish them. But Vortigern, who loved them above all
other nations because of his wife, was deaf to their advice. And soon the
Angles became firmly entrenched, and were assisted by foreign warriors. For
Vortigern was their ally, because of his wife whom he loved so much, and none
dared fight against them.
But the Britons soon deserted their king, and elected his
son Vortimer to succeed him, and Vortimer attacked the Angles, and made
dreadful incursions upon them. Four great battles were fought in Kent.
-------------------------------------
The first was fought in Thanet itself, where Vortimer drove
them; he enclosed them within, and beset them on the western side. The second
was at Crayford, at the meeting of the river Derwent and the river Cray, where
Hengest and his forces slew four thousand of the enemy, and the Welsh forsook
Kent, and fled in consternation to London. But soon they returned, and a battle
was fought at Aylesford, where Horsa and Catigern son of Vortigern met, and
after a long fight slew each other. Then the Angles fled to their ships, and a
fourth battle was fought near Wippedfleet, where they slew twelve British
leaders. On their side a thane named Wipped was slain, after whom the place got
its name.
-------------------------------------
Vortimer besieged them there, harrying them daily with his
fleet. When they were no longer able to bear the attacks, they sent Vortigern,
who had been with them throughout the war, as an emissary to his sons to ask
leave to depart safely for their homelands. While the matter was being discussed,
they went aboard their keels, abandoning their women and children, and returned
to Germany.
Vortimer began restoring to his subjects their possessions
that had been taken from them, and to rebuild their churches. But this stirred
up the enmity of his stepmother Renwein, who decided to bring about his death.
She consulted poisoners, and finding one who was intimate with Vortimer,
corrupted him with large and numerous presents, and bade him give the king a
poisoned draught. As soon as he had taken it, Vortimer was seized by sudden
illness. He ordered his men to come to him. Telling them he was near death, he
divided among them his treasures. He comforted them by telling him that he was
merely going the way of all flesh, but urged them to fight bravely against all
invaders.
'Place a brazen pyramid in Thanet,' he told them, 'and place
my body on top of it, so that the sight of my tomb might frighten the Angles
back to their own lands. None of them who should look upon my tomb will dare
approach our land.'
But despite this, when he was dead, his men disregarded his
wishes and buried him in London.
Now they restored Vortigern to the throne. At the request of
his wife, he sent messengers to Hengest, inviting the to return to Britain with
a small retinue, so no more quarrels would break out between the Angles and his
people. But Hengest, remembering Vortimer's harryings, and Horsa's death,
raised an army of no less than three hundred thousand men. Fitting out a fleet,
he returned to Britain.
When Vortigern and his nobles heard of this, they were
greatly angered, and decided to attack them, and drive the Angles from their
coasts.
-------------------------------------
Hengest, learning of their intentions from messengers sent
by his daughter, spoke with his thanes. They considered several means of
dealing with the situation, but decided finally to approach them peacefully.
Hengest sent messengers to Vortigern, telling him that he had brought so many
men not wishing to attack the Welsh, but because he thought Vortimer might
still be alive.
'Now that we know him to be dead,' his message ran 'we will
submit ourselves to your judgement, lord king. You may keep as many of us as
you see fit, and let the rest return to their own lands. And if this pleases
you, my lord, appoint a time and place for a meeting, where we might decide
these matters more fully.'
The king was pleased with these words, since he was very
unwilling to part with Hengest. He commanded his subjects and the Angles to
meet upon the calends of May at the monastery of Amesbury, and here settle the
matters between them. The meeting was agreed to on both sides, but Hengest
privately ordered his warriors to carry a long dagger, or sax, under their
clothes.
'When the conference is in full swing, I will give this word
of command; "Draw your saxes!" At this, you must seize the closest
Briton, and stab him to death,' he told them. 'In this way we can end the
threat the British nobles pose us.'
The two parties met at the time and place appointed, and
began discussing peace terms. But as soon as there was a suitable opportunity,
Hengest shouted;
'Draw your saxes!' and seized Vortigern by the cloak.
The Angles drew their long knives, and fell upon the
unsuspecting Britons, killing four hundred and sixty noblemen. They had come
unarmed, thinking only of peace. But the Angles did not escape entirely
unharmed, for the Britons defended themselves as well as they might with clubs
and stones.
Eldol, lord of Gloucester, defended himself with a club, and
fled back to his own city after fighting his way out of the press.
The Angles spared Vortigern, but threatened him with death
and bound him, demanding his cities and hill-forts in return for his life. The
king bought his freedom by giving them Essex, Sussex, and Middlesex, along with
other places. They made him confirm this with an oath, then released him, and
marched first on London, which they took; then to York, Lincoln, and
Winchester, laying waste the lands between.
-------------------------------------
Soon after, Vortigern called together his wizards to consult
them. They said to him;
'Retire to the remote boundaries of your kingdom; build and
fortify there a city to defend yourself.'
The king, pleased with this advice, departed with his
wizards, and journeyed through many territories, in search of a place to build
a citadel. At length they came to a province named Gwynedd, and having surveyed
the mountains of Snowdon, they found a place adapted to the building of a
citadel on the summit of one hill. The wizards said to the king;
'Build here a city; for this place will be forever secure
against invasion.'
Then the king sent for masons and carpenters, and gathered
together all materials needed for building, but they all vanished in the night.
A second and a third time they obtained the necessary materials, but again they
vanished. Now Vortigern asked his wizards why this had happened.
'You must find a child born without a father,' said
Maugantius, leader of the wizards, 'put him to death, and sprinkle the ground
with his blood, or you will never build this citadel.'
The king sent messengers throughout Britain in search of a
boy without a father. In their travels they came to the field of Ælecti, in the
district of Glevesing, where they saw some young men playing ball. As they were
watching, they heard a quarrel between two of the youths. One said to the other;
'Oaf! Do you think you can quarrel with me? You are nothing!
I am of royal blood on my father and mother's side. As for you, who can say
what you are, since you never had a father.'
Hearing this, the messengers asked the bystanders about the
boy in question.
'No one knows his father,' they learnt, 'but his mother is
the daughter of the king of Dyfed, and she lives at St Peter's, with the nuns
of Carmarthen.'
The messengers hurried to the ruler of the city, and told
him to send the boy and his mother to King Vortigern.
When the mother and the son were brought to Vortigern, he
spoke to the mother with the respect her noble birth demanded.
'May I ask by what man you conceived this boy?'
'My lord king,' she replied, 'by your soul and mine, I know
of none who fathered him. All I know is that once when I was with my
handmaidens in our chambers, one appeared to me in the guise of a handsome
young man, who would often embrace me, and fall to kissing me. But when he had
stayed but a little time, he would vanish from my sight. Then he would speak
with me when I was alone, though he was invisible. After much time, he lay with
me many times in man's form, and got me with child. For I have known no man
other than that one.'
Vortigern was struck with amazement. He sent for Maugantius,
who listened to the matter, and said;
'In the books of our philosophers, and in a great many
histories, I have read of several people who have known similar experiences. As
Apuleius asserts in his De Deo Socrates, there dwell in the void between earth
and moon spirits who we name incubi. They are partly of terrestrial nature, and
partly that of angels; and it is their habit to take on human form and lie with
women. It is likely that one appeared to this woman, and fathered the young man
upon her.'
-------------------------------------
The next day, the boy without a father was brought before
Vortigern.
'Why have your men brought me here?' the boy asked.
'So you may be put to death,' replied Vortigern, 'and so the
ground upon which my citadel will stand may be sprinkled with your blood.
Otherwise I shall not be able to build upon it.'
'Who told you to do this?' asked the lad.
'My wizards,' replied Vortigern.
'Bid them come hither,' replied the boy. When they entered
the chamber, he questioned them closely.
'How did you learn that this citadel could not be built
unless the ground were sprinkled with my blood? Tell me, then who told you of
this.'
Afraid, the wizards said nothing. The boy turned to the
king.
'I will make plain to you this matter in good time,' he
said, 'but first I wish to speak with your wizards, and wish them to tell you
what lies beneath this pavement.'
'We do not know,' said Maugantius resentfully.
'There is a pool,' said the boy. 'Come and dig.'
Vortigern's men did as the boy said, and they found a pool.
'Now,' said the boy to the wizards, 'tell me what is in it.'
They made no reply.
'I can tell you,' said the boy. 'You will find two vases in
the pool.'
They examined the pool, and found two vases lying together.
'What is in the vases?' asked the boy.
They said nothing.
'You will find a tent within them,' said the boy. 'Separate
them, and it will be as I say.'
'Do as he says,' said Vortigern. All was as the boy had
said.
'What is in the tent?' the boy asked. The wizards could not
answer.
'You will find two serpents, one white, one red; unfold the
tent.'
They obeyed, and found two serpents, as he had described.
The boy told them to pay attention to the creatures.
The serpents began to struggle with each other, and the
white one threw down the other into the middle of the tent, and at times drove
him to its edge. This happened three times. But at length, the red serpent
recovered his strength and forced the white serpent from the tent, pursuing it
through the pool.
'And what does this wonderful omen signify?' asked the boy.
'We do not know,' said Maugantius grimly.
'I will now explain the meaning of this mystery. The pool is
the world, and the tent is your kingdom: the two serpents are two dragons. The
red serpent is the Red Dragon of the Britons, but the other serpent is the
White Dragon of the Saxon people who now occupy much of your land. But at
length, however, our people will rise and drive the Saxons back into the sea.
'However, you must leave this place, where you may not build
your citadel. Fate has allotted this mansion to me, and I shall remain here.
You must seek other provinces to build your fortress.'
'What is your name?' asked Vortigern.
'I am Merlin,' replied the boy.
-------------------------------------
By make these and other prophecies, Merlin amazed all who
were present. Vortigern, wishing to know more of his fate, questioned the boy
closely.
'Flee the sons of Constantine, if you can,' he replied. 'Even
now they are preparing their fleets to leave the Armorican shore, steering for
Britain. They will fight and subdue the Saxons, but first they will slay you.
It was to your own ruin that you betrayed their father, and invited the Saxons
into the island. You are caught between two fates; one that the Saxons shall
lay waste to your kingdom, and kill you if they find you, the other that
Ambrosius Aurelianus will avenge his father's murder upon you. Seek out a
refuge if you can. Hengest will be slain, and Ambrosius will reign over this
land until he is poisoned. His brother will succeed him, but die the same
death, and your own son will be associated with this matter, but he of Cornwall
shall seek vengeance.'
The next day, Ambrosius Aurelianus and his brother arrived
in Britain with ten thousand men.
-------------------------------------
The king gave Merlin that city, and fled to the region known
as Ganarew, where he a built the city that is named after him, Caer Gwetheyrn.
Once they had heard of Ambrosius' coming, the Britons, who
had been scattered to the winds by Hengest's attacks, gathered together, and
made Ambrosius king. They begged him to attack the Angles, but he insisted they
deal with Vortigern first, and they advanced on Caer Gwetheyrn to besiege it.
Setting their siege engines to work, they tried to beat down
the walls, but this was fruitless. Finally, they fired the city, and it blazed
until it burned down Vortigern's tower and killed him within.
-------------------------------------
Meanwhile, Hengest and his Angles had heard this news, and
he was greatly afraid, since Ambrosius' reputation was so great that none in
Gaul had dared encounter him, and he inspired great loyalty in his followers.
The Angles retreated north of the Humber, and fortified towns and cities.
Hearing of this, Ambrosius led his army north, marching
through the devastated lands between. When Hengest learnt of his approach,
however, he took heart again, and spoke to the bravest of his thanes.
'Ambrosius has but a few Bretons with him,' he told them,
'no more than ten thousand, and the miserable Britons, who we have defeated on
so many occasions, are their only reinforcements. We are two hundred thousand
men - the victory is ours!'
He advanced towards Ambrosius, into a field called Maes
Beli, through which Ambrosius was to pass, intending to attack them by
surprise. Ambrosius became aware of the move, and yet he still marched on.
coming within sight of Hengest's forces. Now he put three thousand Breton horse
in the centre, drawing out the rest of his men and the natives on either side,
the men of Dyfed on the hills, those of Gwynedd in the nearby woods to fall
upon the Angles, should they flee in that direction.
-------------------------------------
On the other side, Hengest was walking through the ranks of
Angles, telling them how they should act in battle.
'Place all your hope in the gods,' he told them.
Then battle commenced, with great loss of men on either
side. But Hengest and his men were routed, and forced to retreat to the nearby
town of Caercynan, or Conisbrough. Ambrosius pursued, killing or enslaving all
he came across.
Seeing this, Hengest did not enter the town but assembled
his men outside, and awaited Ambrosius. The British leader appeared, and
another battle began, where the Angles held their ground, despite heavy losses.
Just as victory seemed within their grasp, however, a detachment of Breton
horse attacked, and the Angles gave ground.
Then Eldol faced Hengest, and they fought, and the Briton
captured his foe. The Angles began to flee the field, the Britons pursuing
them; some fled to the cities, other to the forests, others to their ships. But
Octha, son of Hengest, retreated to York, while Eosa made his way to Alclud, or
Dumbarton, where he had a large host.
-------------------------------------
Now Ambrosius took Conisbrough, where he remained for three
days, deliberating with his men what should be done with the captive Hengest.
Eldad, brother of Eldol and bishop of Gloucester, said;
'Although you would free him, I wish you would hack him to
pieces. As the prophet Samuel did, when Agag the Amalekite was in his power,
hewing him to pieces, saying "As your sword has made women childless, so
shall your mother be childless among women". Do this to Hengest, who is
another Agag.'
So Eldol took Hengest outside the walls of the town, and
there beheaded him. But Ambrosius, who was a man noted for moderation, decreed
that he be buried, and a barrow raised above his corpse, after the custom of
the Angles. Following this, he led his army to besiege Octha in York.
-------------------------------------
8. OCTHA
When the Britons had invested his city, Octha was unsure
whether he should try to fight such a vast army. After discussing the matter
with his thanes, he led them out, carrying a chain in his hand and dust upon
his head, and went to Ambrosius.
'My followers are defeated,' he said, 'and I do not doubt
your power, since you have forced so many to come before you as suppliants.
Accept us as such, and accept this chain. If you do not deem us fit for your
mercy, enthral us where we stand.'
Ambrosius pitied them as they stood there, and spoke with
his council.
'What should we do with them?' he asked.
Various proposals were made, before Eldad the bishop rose.
'The Gibeonites came willingly to the Israelites seeking
mercy, and they found it. Shall we Christians be worse than Jews, refusing
mercy to our foes? Let them return to their lands in the north on the
understanding that they shall remain there, and be our vassals.'
'Very well,' replied Ambrosius. And so Octha and his thanes
went to the north, and he ruled over it as king. Soon Eosa and his followers
joined them.
-------------------------------------
Not long after, Pascent, son of Vortigern, who had fled the
land on the coming of Ambrosius, returned with a large fleet, and attacked in
the north. Ambrosius rode to meet him, and put him to flight. Pascent sailed
over to Ireland where the king of that land received him, and promised him aid.
Not long after his victory over Pascent, however, Ambrosius fell sick. When
Octha and his followers heard of this, they rejoiced that their enemy was
weakened. Octha despatched one of his men, Eoppa son of Esa, to Pascent, who
had crossed over from Ireland and was now fighting Ambrosius's brother Uthir.
Eoppa came to Pascent's tent, and asked him;
'How will you reward the man who kills Ambrosius?'
Pascent replied;
'If I could find a man of such resolve I would give him a
thousand pounds in silver, and friendship for life. Were I to gain the crown, I
would make that man a noble.'
'I have learnt the British language, and I know the customs
of the folk. Also, I am a skilled healer. My plan is to pose as a Welsh monk
who knows physic, and gain admission to Ambrosius' presence, where I will
poison him.'
'Very well,' replied Pascent, and sealed this with an oath.
So Eoppa shaved his bard and head and put on a monk's habit,
and hastened to Winchester, where Ambrosius was. Here he offered his service to
Ambrosius' attendants, who received him well, and brought him to tend to their
leader.
'I will restore your health,' said Eoppa, 'if you will but
take my potions.'
'Very well,' said Ambrosius weakly; 'prepare them.'
Eoppa did so, but secretly included in it poison, then gave
it to Ambrosius, who drank it.
'Now you must cover yourself up,' Eoppa told him, 'and sleep
a while.'
The king did so, but as he slept, the poison worked its way
through his body, and he never woke again. Meanwhile, Eoppa had vanished from
the court.
That night a great comet blazed in the sky.
Soon after, however, Ambrosius' brother Uthir rode against
Pascent and his allies, and defeated them near Saint David's. He was elected
his brother's successor.
-------------------------------------
Meanwhile, Octha and his fellows, seeing that their treaty
with Ambrosius was annulled by his death, began sending over to Germany for
reinforcements. Then they rode out and sacked cities and forts until Uthir came
against him.
The Angles acted with great gallantry, and beat back their
attackers, pursuing them with slaughter to Mount Damen as the light failed. The
mountain was great, and thickly wooded with hazel at the top, with much broken
and rocky ground below. The Britons took refuge among the rocks and bushes,
while the Angles camped near the foot of the mountain.
Before daybreak, however, the Britons attempted to surprise
the camp of the Angles, but the guards saw their approach, and woke their
fellows with the blare of horns. Realising that they had been seen, the Britons
charged straight at the camp, running towards the Angles with their swords
drawn. Surprised, the Angles soon met with defeat. Octha and Eosa were
imprisoned, and the survivors fled.
Uthir had his two prisoners placed under guard in London,
where they remained until war broke out between Uthir and his men.
-------------------------------------
It came about that Uthir fell deeply in love with Gorlois'
young wife Igerna. Insulted by the attentions Uthir showed his wife, Gorlois
retired from the court without asking Uthir's leave, and retired at once to his
own lands. Uthir sent word that he should return at once, but Gorlois refused,
and Uthir attacked Cornwall, setting alight cities and towns. Gorlois retreated
to Dimilioc with many of his men, but placed his wife Igerna in Tintagel, on
the coast.
Uthir besieged Dimilioc, but soon he fell sick with love for
Igerna. He spoke with one of his men, Ulpinus.
'My love for Igerna is so great that I can have no peace of
mind or bodily health until I have her,' was his complaint. 'If you can find no
way for me to accomplish my desire, I may soon die.'
'How can any man advise you?' asked Ulpinus. 'All know that
Tintagel is nigh impregnable, being set on the coast, with the sea surrounding
it. Only one entrance exists, across a narrow rock that three men could defend
against a host. Only one man is likely to know how you could achieve this, and
that is Merlin.' 'Bring Merlin to me,' Uthir ordered. Duly, Merlin was brought
into his presence.
'Advise me,' said Uthir, 'how I may gain entrance to
Tintagel, and to fair Igerna.'
'To do this,' said Merlin, 'we must use arts unknown in your
time. I have the drugs that will give you the exact appearance of Gorlois, so
you resemble none other than he. I advise you to accept this, and allow me to
give you the appearance of Gorlois, and transform Ulpinus into Jordanes,
Gorlois' friend, and I myself, in the form of his other friend Britaelis, will
accompany you. In this guise you may gain entrance to Tintagel, and into
Igerna's presence.'
Uthir agreed to this, and leaving the siege in the hands of
his men, went with Merlin and Ulpinus, in their assumed forms to Tintagel. They
gained admittance with ease, and Uthir went to the lady, who suspected nothing,
and lay with her that night.
Meanwhile, Uthir's army attacked Dimilioc, and Gorlois
sallied forth with his men, but he was slain in the first few moments of the
fight, and his men routed. Dimilioc was taken and looted, while Gorlois' men
rode to Tintagel with news of her husband's death. But when they entered the
great hall, they found a man identical in all respects to their lord sitting
with Igerna.
Uthir - for it was he - made light of the news, but said he
must ride forth to fight his foes. As soon as he had left Tintagel, he joined
his men, putting off the semblance of Gorlois. Here he learnt of all that had
occurred. He was sorry for Gorlois' death, but glad now that Igerna could marry
again. He then returned to Tintagel, took it, and with it Igerna. They lived
together long, and had a son named Arthur, and a daughter, Anna.
But soon word came of Octha and Eosa's escape from the
prison in London, and Uthir fell sick.
-------------------------------------
Octha and Eosa, in the confusion that arose when Uthir and
Gorlois went to war, had fled their dungeon, and returned to Angeln, where they
raised great numbers of men. Again they attacked the north, destroying cities
and their inhabitants. Against them rode Lot of Lothian, a valiant warrior to
whom Uthir had given command of the army as he lay sick. But his prowess
against Octha was doubtful, and the Angles often repulsed him. Soon Britain was
almost laid waste.
Uthir was angered by this, and he summoned his nobles,
rebuking them for their cowardice. He swore that he would lead them against the
Angles, and go into battle in a horse-litter. Octha and Eosa, who were in the
lands around St Albans', heard that the Britons were coming against them again,
but that Uthir led them in a horse-litter.
'What honour will we gain by fighting a half-dead king?'
asked Octha scornfully. They retired into the city, leaving the gates open in
contempt for their foes.
But Uthir ordered a siege, and forced the Angles to defend
themselves. Battle continued until night. At dawn, the Angles sallied out, and
the Britons attacked them. The battle lasted for much of the day, until the
Angles fled the field.
They returned to the north without pursuit from Uthir, who
remained at St Albans, in his malady. Octha sent spies to his court, who
discovered that Uthir had been dissuaded from following them by his men,
because he was too sick. The Angles hit upon the scheme of poisoning the spring
from which the king would drink, and when next he drank of it, he died within
the hour.
-------------------------------------
After Uthir's death, the nobles of Briton assembled at
Silchester, and chose Arthur, Uthir's son, to lead them against the Angles.
Arthur was then only fifteen years old, but of such courage and generosity,
sweet temper and innate goodness, as to gain him the love and respect of all.
He rewarded all who had supported him bountifully, and many men flocked to his
banner. Now he resolved to attack the Angles, to enrich his men with booty.
Hearing that Octha was heading south, intending to take his
father's old possession of Kent, Arthur assembled his men and marched north to
meet him. Octha encountered him at the mouth of the Glein, where they battled,
with greater losses on both sides. Then the Angles went to besiege Lincoln,
which lies in Linnuis, between the rivers Dubglas and Bassas. Arthur rode
against them, and they fought five battles, four on the Dubglas and one on the
Bassas. In the struggle many Angles were slain, and many more drowned in the
rivers.
The survivors lifted the siege and fled north again, but
Arthur pursued them closely, until they came to the edges of the Caledonian
Forest, where they made a stand. They fought the Britons, making a brave
defence, while the trees secured them against the arrows of the attackers.
Arthur ordered his men to cut down the trees and place the trunks around to
hinder the Angles' escape, besieging Octha and his forces for three days.
But then the Angles sallied forth, and escaped, fleeing to
the vicinity of Castle Guinnion. Arthur pursued them, and they fought again,
and Arthur went into battle bearing the image of the Holy Virgin upon his
shield, and put Octha and his forces to flight once more, pursuing them the
entire day with great slaughter.
They retreated to Caerleon, and Arthur besieged them again.
When he heard of this, Eosa was upon the coast, awaiting the arrival of
reinforcements from Germany, led by his brother Heathogeat. He decided to march
to the city at night, and surprise the Britons from the rear. But Arthur learnt
of this, and sent six hundred horse and three thousand foot, under the command
of Cador of Cornwall.
Eosa, then, was ambushed while heading for Caerleon, and his
men were put to flight. Eosa was grieved by this, but decided to find some way
of joining his brother nevertheless. He took on the guise of a harper, and
entered Arthur's camp outside Caerleon. In this way he succeeded in coming close
to the city walls, where the defenders recognised him, drew him up with cords,
and took him to his brother. The two Angles embraced joyfully, and then began
discussing ways to escape from this situation. But as they were beginning to
think themselves doomed, news came that Heathogeat had landed with his fleet of
six hundred ships. At this, Arthur raised the siege, and Octha and Eosa led
their men to join Heathogeat.
But when Arthur had gathered more men including his
companions Cai and Bedwyr, and they rode against Octha and his host on the
banks of the river Tribruit. The battle went on for many hours, but finally
Octha and his companions decided to retreat once more. They came to the
mountain of Breguoin, otherwise known as Mount Agned, and again Arthur besieged
them. The Angles had nothing to eat at all, and to escape death from famine,
they asked permission to come out, leaving behind all their booty, and sail at
once to their homeland.
'Also,' said Octha, 'we will send you tribute from our
lands, and exchange hostages.'
Arthur agreed, keeping all their gold and silver, and taking
hostages. Then the Angles set sail, and made their way round the coast. But
soon they repented of their shameful ultimatum, and landed in the southwest,
where they took control of the land, and laid siege to the city of Bath.
Hearing of this, Arthur immediately executed the hostages,
and marched against them. He spoke to his followers.
'Since these heathen and infamous Saxons have seen fit to
break faith with me, I shall avenge the blood of my people this day. To arms,
men, and let us fall upon them. With the aid of Christ we shall obtain the
victory!'
Now he led his men to attack the Angles, who rushed out to
meet them, making a noble defence throughout the day, but towards sunset they
retreated onto the peak of Mount Badon, where they camped. The next morning,
Arthur and his army laid siege to the mountain, but lost many men in the
ascent, since the Angles had the advantage of the higher ground.
But after a hard struggle, the Britons gained the summit,
and came into close battle with the Angles, who received them warmly, making a
vigorous defence. So they spent much of the day, until Arthur, angered by the
little advantage he had gained, drew his sword Caliburn, and rushed with great
fury into the thickest of the Angles' ranks, and it is said that he slew nine
hundred and forty men by his own hand. Seeing this, his men made great
slaughter on all sides, and many thousands fell before them. Finally, Octha and
the few survivors fled the hill, and made their weary way back to Kent.
After this defeat, Octha reigned peacefully in his kingdom,
and peace remained in Britain until the battle of Camlann many years later when
Arthur was slain by his nephew Mordred. But many of Octha's Saxon followers
left Britain in the meantime, under Heathogeat his brother, and sailed to
Hadeln on the German coast, where Theodric, king of the Franks, was at war with
the Thuringian leader Eoremenfrith.
The Thuringians were rulers of the land they had come to,
and the Saxons had to fight them for a long time before they could gain
possession of them. But the Saxons had a legal right, at least to their
landing-place and the vicinity. While still in their ships in the harbour, out
of which the Thuringians could not drive them, they decided to negotiate about
the matter, and the Thuringians told the Saxons that if they would refrain from
plunder and rapine, they could remain to buy what they needed and sell all they
could. A Saxon youth, richly adorned with gold, went ashore.
Here a Thuringian met him, and asked;
'Why do you wear so much gold around your scrawny neck?'
'I am dying from hunger,' the Saxon replied, 'and wish to
find one who will buy my gold.'
'How much do you ask?' asked the Thuringian.
'What will you bid?' the youth answered. The Thuringian
regarded the nearby dunes.
'I will give you as much sand as you can carry in your
clothes.'
The Saxon accepted the offer, and the Thuringian filled his
tunic with sand, in return for which the Saxon gave him his gold and returned
to the ships.
Hearing of this bargain, the Thuringians laughed with
contempt, and the other Saxons found it foolish, but the youth said;
'Come with me, brave Saxons, and I will show you how my
foolishness will be to your advantage.'
He took the sand he had bought so dearly, and scattered it
as widely as he could across the ground, covering so large an area that it gave
the Saxons sufficient room for a fort.
The Thuringians sent messengers complaining at this, but the
Saxons replied that they had taken no more territory than they had purchased
with their gold. So the Saxons gained a foothold.
Meanwhile, the war between the Thuringians and the Franks
continued. Huga, king of the Franks, had died leaving no heir except his
daughter Amalburh, who was wedded to Eormenfrith, king of the Thuringians. The
Franks had made Huga's illegitimate son Theodric king, and he had promised
peace and friendship. But Amalburh persuaded the king's thane Yring to advise
war.
'Theodric is by birth my bondsman,' Eormenfrith had said
unwillingly to the messenger. 'I will not yield my claim.'
'I would rather give you my head,' replied the messenger,
'than hear such words, since they will be washed out by the blood of so many
Franks and Thuringians.'
Theodric and Eormenfrith met, and the battle went on for
three days. Eormenfrith was defeated, but Theodric had to retreat, due to great
losses. But then Thyle of the Rondings advised Theodric to offer the newly
arrived Saxons lands in return for aid in the war. Heathogeat and his men
joined Theodric, and together they routed the Thuringians. So the Saxons gained
lands.
Eormenfrith sent Yring to Theodric to beg for mercy, but
Theodric persuaded him to turn traitor, luring his master into the presence of
the Frankish king, and murdering him as Eoremenfrith bowed. Then Yring asked
for the reward Theodric had promised him.
'Begone, foul traitor,' said Theodric, 'and be content that
I leave you with your life!'
Then Yring drew his sword again and slew Theodric, then cut
his way out of the hall and departed. In memory of this feat, the Milky Way is
named Yring's Way.
-------------------------------------
9. THE HEPTARCHY
But in Britain, now that Arthur was dead, the Angles began
inviting over more and more of their people from Germany, and they continued
this until the reign of Ida, son of Eoppa, who was the first king in Bernicia.
By now there were seven kingdoms ruled by the Angles, Saxons and Jutes, over
whom reigned kings of the blood of Woden and other gods.
These kingdoms included Northumbria, which was divided
between Deira (whose rulers were descended from Wægdæg son of Woden), and
Bernicia - whose kings were of the blood of Bældæg, as were those of Wessex.
East Anglia's kings are descended from Casere son of Woden; those of Kent and
Mercia go back to Wihtlæg son of Woden; while the kings of Essex descend from
Seaxneat, god of the Saxons. Also there are the kings of Sussex, whose origin
is unrecorded.
-------------------------------------
Octha was the first king of Kent, of whom we have already
spoken. His father was Hengest, whose father was Wihtgils, whose father was
Witta, whose father was Wehta, whose father was Wihtlæg, whose father was
Woden.
The first king of Sussex was Ælle, who came to Britain with
his three sons, Cymen, and Wlencing, and Cissa, in three ships, landing at the
place that is named Cymenes ora. There they killed many of the Britons, and drove
some in flight into the wood that is named the Weald. Then they fought against
the Britons at Mercred's Burnsted, and later Ælle and Cissa besieged the city
of Pevensey, and slew all within, nor was one Briton left there afterwards.
Two leaders came into Britain, Cerdic and Cynric his son, in
five ships, at Cerdices ora, fighting with the Britons on the same day. Cerdic
slew the British king Natanleod at Charford, and took from him the land of
Netley. Later they fought the Britons at Cerdicsley, and seized the Isle of
Wight, slaying all who held Carisbrooke, which he gave to his nephews Stuf and
Wihtgar. Then Cerdic died, and Cynric succeeded him. Cerdic was the son of
Elesa, son of Gewis, son of Wig, whose sister married Offa of Angeln, son of
Freawine whom Eadgils slew, son of Frithugar, son of Brand, son of Bældæg, son
of Woden.
The first man to rule over Essex was Æscwine, son of Offa,
whose father was Beadca, whose father was Sigefugel, whose father was Sweppa,
whose father was Antsecg, whose father was Gesecg, whose father was Seaxneat.
At the same time men came from Germany to occupy East
Anglia, and some of them invaded what was later called Mercia, and they waged
war with the Britons. But because their leaders were many, their names have not
come down to us. But the first king of East Anglia was Wehha, son of Wilhelm,
son of Hryp, son of Hrothmund, son of Trygil, son of Tætman, son of Casere, son
of Woden. Wehha begat Wuffa, who begat Tyttla, who begat Redwald, who received
in his court Edwin son of Ælle, when he fled from Æthelfrith.
The first king of Deira was Ælle, whose father was Yffe,
whose father was Uxfrea, whose father was Wilgisl, whose father was Sæfugel,
whose father was Sæbald, whose father was Sigegeat, whose father was Swebdæg,
whose father was Sigegar, whose father was Wægdæg son of Woden. Ælle's son was
Edwin who was the first Christian king of Northumbria, but in his youth fled to
Gwynedd after being sent into exile by Æthelfrith, first king to unite Deira
and Bernicia.
The first king of Bernicia was Ida, son of Eoppa who
poisoned Ambrosius, son of Esa, son of Ingwi, son of Angenwit, son of Aloc, son
of Benoc, brother of Frithugar and like him son of Brand, son of Bældæg son of
Woden. Ida had twelve sons, four of whom succeeded him in turn. One of his
grandsons, Æthelric, had as a son that Æthelfrith who has already been mention,
who united Deira and Bernicia. He had many sons, including Oswald who Penda of
Mercia killed.
The first king of Mercia was Creoda, whose father was
Cynewald, whose father was Cnebba, whose father was that Icel after whom the
Mercian kings are called the Icelings. His father was Eomer, whose father was
Angeltheow, whose father was that Offa who won the broadest of kingdoms in his
youth with a duel against the atheling and the champion of the Swæfe nation.
Wærmund was Offa's father, Wihtlæg begat Wærmund, Wadolgeat begat Wihtlæg, and
Woden begat Wadolgeat. Creoda had a son named Pubba, who had twelve sons, of
whom two are better known, Penda and Eowa. Penda fought against the
Northumbrians, and slew Oswald, and fixed his head and limbs upon stakes, at
Oswestry.
-------------------------------------
Ida, the son of Eoppa, ruled over lands in the north of
Britain, and reigned twelve years. Then Outigern the Briton fought bravely
against the nation of the Angles.
Adda, son of Ida, reigned eight years; Æthelric, son of
Adda, reigned four years. Theodric, son of Ida, reigned seven years. Freothwulf
reigned six years. Hussa reigned seven years. Four kings fought against him,
Urien, and Ryderchen, and Guallauc, and Morcant. Theodric and his sons fought
bravely against Urien. But sometimes the Angles and sometimes the Britons were
victorious, and Urien besieged them for three days and three nights in the island
of Lindisfarne; but while he was out on a raid he was murdered by an agent of
Morcant, who envied him his prowess.
Æthelfrith reigned in Bernicia for twelve years, and twelve
more over Deira as well, and he gave to his wife Bebba, the town of Dingwary,
which from her is called Bebbanburh, or Bamburgh.
Edwin, son of Ælle, who reigned for seventeen years,
conquered Elmet, and expelled Ceretic, its king. Eanfled, his daughter,
received baptism, on the twelfth day after Pentecost, with all her followers,
both men and women. The following Easter Edwin himself received baptism, and
twelve thousand of his subjects with him.
Oswald son of Æthelfrith, reigned for nine years; he slew
Cadwalla, king of Gwynedd, at the battle of Heavenfield, with many losses on
his own side. Oswy, son of Æthelfrith, reigned for twenty-eight years and six
months. During his reign many of his subjects were killed, when Cadwallader
succeeded his father as king among the Britons, and Oswy died among the rest.
He killed Penda at Winwed, and the kings of the Britons who accompanied Penda
as far as Stirling, were all slain.
Penda, son of Pybba, reigned for ten years; he separated the
kingdom of Mercia from the North, and slew by treachery Anna, king of the East
Anglians, and Oswald, king of the Northumbrians. He fought the battle of
Masefeld, in which fell Eawa, son of Pybba, his brother, king of the Mercians,
and Oswald, king of the Northumbrians, and he gained the victory through the
favour of Woden. He was the last heathen king among the Angles, and after his
day, the Angles were Christian.
-------------------------------------
NOTES
My intentions with this work have been to reconstruct, as
far as possible, the lost legendary history of the Anglo-Saxon people. All the
groundwork was done long ago, by scholars like HM Chadwick and RW Chambers, but
to my knowledge no one has transformed their superlative scholarship into a
generally accessible narrative.
I have used the genealogies of the Anglo-Saxon kings as a
basic framework, fleshing this out with information from later sources that
preserve identifiable fragments of the legendary history of the Anglo-Saxons.
In the following notes I will explain this in further detail.
-------------------------------------
1. SCEAF
Main Sources: The Chronicle of Æthelweard (Ed. A. Campbell),
Malmesbury: the Kings before the Norman Conquest (Ed. J
Stevenson)
In most of the surviving Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies,
Sceaf appears at the point where they change from Biblical characters to
heathen mythical heroes and gods. Said to have been "in the Ark with
Noah", this is usually regarded as a later monastic reinterpretation of
the original heathen myth. More information is provided by writers such as the
tenth century chronicler Æthelweard, who speaks of the child Sceaf's arrival in
a boat full of weapons, and how he became ancestor of Woden's dynasty, and thus
the later Anglo-Saxon kings. The twelfth century writer William of Malmesbury
adds that the boat lacked oars and that Sceaf's head was resting on a sheaf of
corn, hence the name (OE sceaf = sheaf). His progeny are recorded by the
genealogists.
-------------------------------------
2. WODEN
Main Sources: Snorri Sturluson: Heimskringla: History of the
Kings of Norway (University of Texas)
----------------: Edda (Everyman, 1996)
Little is known of the Anglo-Saxon myths concerning Woden.
What remains corresponds roughly with the fuller accounts of Norse myth,
although not absolutely. The god appears here as a magician in the Nine Herbs
Charm, there as a maker of idols in Maxims I B. He can also be found in the
word Wednesday (Wodnesdæg), and various placenames in England connected with
his cult - Wednesbury, Wansdyke, Wenslow. But the best-documented myth
concerning the god recorded after the Conversion identifies him as the ancestor
of almost all the Anglo-Saxon royal houses.
The original form of the myth is unknown. By the time it was
recorded in Anglo-Saxon England, Woden had clearly been euhemerised into an
ancient king. It goes against the Eddic mythology, where Odin's father and
grandfather, Borr and Buri, represent the full extent of the god's ancestry.
Most serious historians use Woden's presence in the genealogies to cast doubt
on their veracity, and often regard them as little more than propaganda. From a
mythologist's point of view, however, they are invaluable.
I have filled in the gaps with Snorri Sturluson's later
account in his Heimskringla and Edda, both of which show influence from
Anglo-Saxon genealogy, although there is little to suggest that he knew anymore
about Old English myth than we do. However, his versions are the oldest and
fullest forms available. In them Woden / Odin is presented as an ancient king,
in accordance with contemporary mores, but I have taken the liberty to
'restore' the tale to a more heathen form.
-------------------------------------
3. BÆLDÆG
Main Sources: Saxo Grammaticus: History of the Danes (Ed.
Oliver Elton)
Snorri Sturluson: Heimskringla: History of the Kings of
Norway (University of Texas)
In the genealogies, one of Woden's many sons is known as
Bældæg. Many writers, from Æthelweard onwards, have identified this son as the
Norse god Baldr. I have followed this, despite some reservations, but adapted
the version in Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum rather than Snorri's Atys-like account,
under the assumption that it preserves an earlier form. Also, with its Danish
origin and locale, it is perhaps closer to the story the Anglo-Saxons knew.
Saxo's account also fits better with the notion of the visit of Woden and his
sons to the world of Men, and the founding of the Woden-descended royal houses.
But since its anti-Baldr bias is not in keeping with my own approach to the
tale, I have made certain changes.
The story of the wooing of Hrind and the avenging of Bældæg
/ Baldr follows directly on in Saxo, but the final episode in which Woden
returns to the halls of the gods is adapted from Heimskringla.
-------------------------------------
4. EARENDEL
Main Sources: Snorri Sturluson: Edda (Everyman, 1996),
Saxo Grammaticus: History of the Danes (Ed. Oliver Elton),
Orendel
Earendel is a very good example of the elusive and
fragmentary nature of the subject matter. A number of different accounts exist
regarding characters with forms of this name - Aurvandill in Iceland,
Horwendill in Denmark, Orendel in medieval Germany, Earendel in Anglo-Saxon
England. Each account tallies in only the vaguest of ways, but most scholars
posit a single lost original for all three.
In the Edda, Snorri preserves an account of how Thor rescued
Aurvandill the Brave from captivity among the giants and flung his frost-bitten
toe into the sky where became one of the brightest stars (identified by some
with a Corona Borealis, by others with the Morning Star); Saxo's Horwendillus
is the original of Old King Hamlet in Shakespeare's play, a heroic warrior-king
noted for his expeditions into the east (traditional location of giantland);
the peerless knight Orendel in German tradition sailed east on a crusade and
passed through many supernatural perils to rescue the most beautiful woman in
the world, who became his wife; and Earendel is mentioned by the poet Cynewulf
in connection with the morning star. All these names are etymolgically one and
the same. This mythical character, or medley of characters, inspired Tolkien to
construct his entire Lord of the Rings mythology (where he appears as
Earendill).
I have used the basic story of Orendel with elements
inspired by Snorri, rounding off my version with Saxo's account of the
homecoming of Horwendill and more than a little artistic license. It is by no
means a definitive reconstruction of the ur-Earendel saga. But it does lead
quite smoothly into the next tale.
-------------------------------------
5. AMLUTH
Main Sources: Saxo Grammaticus: History of the Danes (Ed.
Oliver Elton),
Frisian rune-inscription from Westeremden
Amluth - the form recorded on a Frisian rune-stave from
Westeremden, c.800 - was known to Saxo as Amleth, and is more famous as
Shakespeare's Hamlet. It may come as a surprise to readers that the Dane
appears as an Anglo-Saxon ancestor. But bear with me.
The stories of Amleth and Uffo (see below) appear in Saxo's
Danish History where they are rulers in Denmark. Uffo has been positively
identified as Offa I of the Mercian genealogy, and it soon becomes apparent
that a portion of Anglo-Saxon legendary history has become detached and placed
out of context in the legends of Denmark. Amluth is said to be son of the
præfectus of Jutland, from which it can be assumed that he was a Jute. There is
evidence (see Appendix C of Tolkien's Finn and Hengest) that the Jutes had come
under the rule of the Angles, apart from a group who had fled to Frisia. Much
of this can be reinforced by archaeological evidence. Tolkien suggests that the
Jutes were already tributary in Earendel's time. I have altered this a little,
and moved the conquest forward to the death of Amluth. Other changes I have
made include altering the nationality of Eormenthryth (Saxo's Hermithruda) from
Scottish to Pictish, since this is more in keeping with the period of the
story, which I presume to be some time in the fourth century AD. It is tempting
to suggest that the Amluth saga indicates some recollection of the
"barbarian conspiracy" of 367? Could the ruler of Britain who is so
friendly with a Jutish king be one of the Germanic soldiers recorded as holding
high posts in Britain at the time? Alan Bliss suggests Wihtlæg, Amluth's
killer, was born around 300 AD. In this case, could Amluth be linked with the
Saxons in Britain during the reign of Carausius? But this is no more than
speculation.
-------------------------------------
6. OFFA
Main Source: Saxo Grammaticus: History of the Danes (Ed.
Oliver Elton),
The identification of Saxo's hero Uffo with Offa of the
Mercian genealogies has been made by better scholars than I - H.M Chadwick
(Origin of the English Nation), R.W. Chambers (Beowulf, Widsith), J.R.R.
Tolkien (Finn and Hengest) et al. I have retold Saxo's story more or less
verbatim, but in an Anglo-Saxon context.
-------------------------------------
7. HENGEST
Main Sources: Beowulf (Penguin, 1973, Ed. Alexander, M),
Arthurian Period Sources: Gildas (Phillimore & Co. Ltd,
2002, Ed. M. Winterbottom)
Nennius: The History of the Britons (Welsh Academic Press
2003, Ed. AW Wade-Evans et al)
Geoffrey of Monmouth: History of the Kings of Britain
(Penguin 1988, Ed. Lewis Thorpe)
Two characters with the name Hengest or Hengist appear in
early medieval accounts: the deep-minded, vengeful warrior featuring in the
Finnsburh episode of Beowulf, and in The Finnsburh Fragment; and the
treacherous mercenary who led the Saxon invasion of Britain. They are roughly
contemporary, and it is customary to assume that they are identical, although
there is no solid evidence for this. They certainly show similar
characteristics, despite being depicted from wildly different viewpoints; the
archetypal Anglo-Saxon warrior who waits out his time as a retainer of his
lord's slayer before finally taking vengeance; the machiavellian schemer who
patiently puts up with Vortigern's waverings before seizing control. One
nation's hero is another nation's villain.
I have linked the two accounts - one of Hengest in his
extreme youth, showing his potential, the other being Hengest in later years as
a warlord in sub-Roman Britain. Here the mists of legend begin to dissipate and
we come closer to true history. But we have yet to deal with the most
mysterious figure of the Dark Ages.
NB. For the unusual identification of Hengest as an Angle
rather than a Jute, see Appendix C of Tolkien's Finn and Hengest.
-------------------------------------
8. OCTHA
Main Sources: Nennius: The History of the Britons (Welsh
Academic Press 2003, Ed. AW Wade-Evans et al),
Geoffrey of Monmouth: History of the Kings of Britain
(Penguin 1988, Ed. Lewis Thorpe),
Widukind of Corvey: Res Gestæ Saxonicæ
One of the major troubles faced by the Arthurian industry
when proving the reality of King Arthur is not so much the paucity of sources,
but the manner in which they persistently contradict each other. The Old
English depiction of Hengest and the contrary British / Welsh view can be explained.
But when one side harps continually on a figure whose absence is conspicuous in
the other's legends, we run into real difficulty. Arthur is never mentioned in
English literature before the Norman Conquest.
This could be explained by partisan feelings; why mention
someone who resoundingly defeated you? But it has to be borne in mind that the
accounts in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle regarding the Arthurian period make no
mention of Arthur. They are, in fact, extremely sparse until the ninth century.
This is why I have relied greatly on the fuller account of the period furnished
by Celtic tradition. I have received criticism for including Arthur in a work
on Anglo-Saxon legend, but my argument is that for a full, coherent account, we
must use the sources that provide themselves. This section concerns Octha, who
appears to have been Arthur's principal opponent; Arthur's presence is
inescapable.
I have made liberal use of Nennius and Geoffrey of
Monmouth's works, with occasional references to the Mabinogion and Welsh
tradition. The final element, about the retreat of certain Saxons into Germany,
where they founded the later Duchy of Saxony, comes from the continental Saxon
historian Widukind. Its basis in historical fact is confirmed by the
contemporary account of Procopius, the Byzantine historian, who refers to
frequent Saxon migrations from Britain into Germany, and close links between
the two groups in his day.
-------------------------------------
9. THE HEPTARCHY
Main Sources: Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (Greenwich Editions,
2002, Ed. Savage, A).,
Nennius: The History of the Britons (Welsh Academic Press
2003, Ed. AW Wade-Evans et al),
Bede: Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Penguin,
1990, Ed. Leo Sherley-Price)
As a term for the kingdoms of England before the rise of
Wessex, the "Heptarchy" is anathema to all Anglo-Saxon historians,
who repeatedly point out that at no point did precisely seven kingdoms exist -
there were always more or less than this. But although the term dates from the
early modern period, the notion was based on accounts of chroniclers from the
High Middle Ages. This may reflect a traditional concept of seven kingdoms -
seven being a significant number in many traditions - and I have taken it as
such. Since my work is primarily concerned with tradition and legend I deemed
it suitable.
The text is adapted from various chroniclers and historians
of the Early to High Middle Ages, especially the much-maligned and eminently
readable Nennius.
-------------------------------------
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Sources:
Anonymous: Beowulf (Penguin, 1973) (Ed. Alexander, M).
Anonymous: The Mabinogion (Harper Collins 2002) (Ed. Lady
Charlotte Guest)
Anonymous: Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (Greenwich Editions, 2002)
(Ed. Savage, A).
Æthelweard: The Chronicle of Æthelweard (1962) (Ed. A.
Campbell)
Bede: Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Penguin,
1990) (Ed. Leo Sherley-Price)
Gildas: Arthurian Period Sources: Gildas
(Phillimore & Co. Ltd, 2002) (Ed. M. Winterbottom)
Grammaticus, Saxo: History of the Danes (1894) (Ed. Oliver
Elton)
Malmesbury, William of: Malmesbury: the Kings before the
Norman Conquest (Llanerch, 1989) (Ed. J Stevenson)
Monmouth, Geoffrey of: History of the Kings of Britain
(Penguin 1988) (Ed. Lewis Thorpe)
Nennius: The History of the Britons
(Welsh Academic Press 2003) (Ed. AW Wade-Evans et al)
Snorri Sturluson: Heimskringla: History of the Kings of
Norway (University of Texas) ----------------: Edda (Everyman, 1996)
Tacitus: The Agricola and the Germania
(Penguin 1970)
-------------------------------------
Secondary Sources:
Chadwick, H.M: The Origin of the English Nation (Cambridge
1907)
Chambers, R. W: Beowulf: an Introduction to the Study of the
Poem (Cambridge 1921) ----------------: Widsith: a study in Old English Heroic
Legend (Cambridge 1912)
Sisam, K: Anglo-Saxon Royal Genealogies (British Academy,
1986)
Tolkien, J.R.R: Finn and Hengest: The Fragment and the
Episode (Harper Collins, 1998) (Ed. Alan Bliss).
-------------------------------------