Viking Voices (13 page)

At the appointed time in the morning of the third day we set sail from our hidden estuary in just a single boat carrying a white sail, and I am again the master of this vessel. Ottar is with us, in the bottom of the boat. He was handed over to me bound and gagged, but I take the gag off immediately. There is little point in making his ordeal any worse than it must be. He thanks me and I think he feels some relief at now being in the hands of one whom he can see bears him no malice. In other circumstances we might even have been friends but not now, I just have a job to do.

Not so far behind us the main fleet are following, they intend to remain in sight of us in case of any danger. They will not be bearing any sail and they will therefore be difficult to see, despite their numbers. Nevertheless they will need to keep their distance, as they could easily scare off the Vannin Danir who will be as suspicious of our reneging on the deal as we are suspicious of them.

We move quite a long way upwind, searching for their boat bearing the ransom, our sail flapping uselessly all the time. We need to keep it raised as the signal of our position but it cannot fill properly while we are moving into the wind. All of our progress is due to rowing which gets us into a good position upwind to sail back gently and easily. So far there is no sign of our enemies but we have agreed quite an imprecise rendezvous at quite a vague time. There is no precise way of saying when it is midday, we are all trying to look at the sun through the clouds and estimating when it is at its height.

Now we turn and return slowly trying to stay well away from the position of our fleet, which are much closer to that northern shore and also trying to get upwind. There is still no sign of that white sail, and we start to wonder if they are playing with us. Perhaps they have changed their minds, or have some trick to play?

Eventually we see their white sail, which is quite distant, much closer to Vannin than we had expected, and obviously inviting us to sail closer to that island than we would choose to be. I decide to take that risk and move nearer towards them, though trying to draw them further from the land. Ottar is visibly happier now, believing that his ordeal is almost at an end.

I am much less happy, realising that we are nearing the most difficult and dangerous part of the entire mission. There is every chance that the Vannin warriors will attack us either before or, more likely, just after we have handed the hostage over. It was clear to me that the agreed ransom was clearing every silver penny out of that family and I am confident they will try something to regain it, perhaps a trick or perhaps even an open assault. Because of that I have the largest available boat which is packed with eighty of the strongest and best of our warriors. We are prepared for the worst they can throw at us, and are also very ready to slit Ottar's throat at the first sign of deception. Perhaps it is as well that this thought seems not to have occurred to him. Not yet any way!

It is not an easy thing to raft two boats together in a heaving sea, and complicated by our need to get away as quickly as possible once we have the silver. The last thing we want is to be lashed securely to a boat full of vengeance seeking Vikings once they have their hostage back. After three failed attempts we are tied onto them. I have two men with sharp knives attending the lines with orders to cut them as soon as I give the order.

They want to hand over just five bags before they get their king with the remaining four and the gold to come later. This is not acceptable to me, I need all the ransom before I hand over the prisoner but will put him where they can see him, so they can see he is ready to be exchanged and that we are in good faith. They can also see that Ottar has two of our largest men either side of him with short swords and sharp knives. Our men are ready and prepared to kill him at the first sign of any treachery.

Slowly the bags are handed over and there is said to be a skippund in each leather pouch. I have a bag of sand in one hand which I have previously checked weighed one skippund. I hold the sack of sand in one hand and the silver in the other hand. It is a crude way of weighing them, to see if they feel equal and my judgement says that the weights are about right. I do, however, also check the contents of each to ensure that they are truly filled with silver.

They hand over seven bags but then refuse to release the others until they have their king. They are afraid that we will take the ransom but still refuse to hand over Ottar, which is an understandable concern. They propose to throw the remaining bags over as the king comes the other way. There is deadlock on this matter and a long standoff, so finally I agree to this. Our large warriors throw Ottar bodily across and he lands with a crash in the bottom of their longboat, no doubt giving him a new set of bruises. We get three bags coming the other way, each aimed at one of our warriors and one is caught in the chest and is knocked off his feet, and lands with a great crash in the bilges. These bags are supposedly filled with the balance of silver and gold, but in fact, when we open them they are all filled with pebbles. There has been a deceit, as I feared, but it is only partially successful. It is not such a great surprise to me, and we still have seven genuine bags of silver.

I immediately give the order to cut the lines suspecting further tricks and we are free of them, just as the boats separate several of their warriors do attempt to jump across and attack us. Six succeed in getting into our boat, but a larger number end up swimming alongside as we set the sail and pull away running down the wind as quickly as we can. Those who fell into the water are unfortunate; they will all drown as they are wearing mail and sink directly to the sea floor. Only if they can release their mail quickly enough to swim can they survive though they may be recovered from the water and still get home this night.

The six who got into our boat are hopelessly outnumbered and are immediately at our mercy. I call on them to drop their weapons and I will spare their lives. It is a hopeless position for them and they do yield and are all soon bound, and left lying tied up in the bilges. Another small group of warriors have been recruited to join our adventure in the north.

Now the Vannin fleet that has been hiding just on the horizon put in their appearance as expected, a host of sails being raised from upwind of us, and they start to pursue us. I tack across to keep ahead of them but moving north away from their island towards where our own fleet are supposed to be. There is no sign of them. This could be serious trouble for us!

Just as I start to be seriously concerned we see our own fleet, also upwind, and raising their sails to converge with the track taken by the Vannin boats. Our fleet is a little further back but outnumbers them by around two to one, no doubt as result of our having either stolen or set loose so many of their drakken boats when we raided them. The game is up for them now, and so they turn away to get home safely, as fast as they can go. They are aware of their limitations and therefore are wisely content just to have recovered their king. They will have to accept that their seven bags of silver are gone!

I find myself meeting Ragnald and jumping across to his boat, stumbling, bruising and cutting myself in the process, in order to make my report to him. He is a very happy man opening the sacks of silver and congratulates me on the way I have handled the negotiations. It is a very rare moment of gratitude and acknowledgement from my grateful king.

He is more philosophical that I expect in respect of the three bags of pebbles that he has received instead of the additional two of silver and one of gold that were in the agreement. He is actually delighted with his seven leather bags full of silver, and even more delighted at the humiliation he has inflicted on Ottar. He seems relatively unconcerned that Ottar has lived to fight again, as he is convinced that his opponent has gone home a frightened and broken man.

Now the big issue is how to make that silver safe with our army about to resume its delayed expedition to Fortriu. If the treasure is taken north with us there is a danger that it will be seen as part of the plunder from that expedition and the Danes are then sure to claim a half share. There are also major difficulties in carrying that amount of weight around with an army and keeping it secure. It is clearly better to take this hoard back to our own community to be kept there alongside the silver that was retrieved from Dyflinn, and the additional money acquired since.

This gives Ragnald quite a diliemna, as he is now more than a week delayed in meeting the Danes. Most of the initial forty days since leaving Jorvik have already expired, and we had agreed to meet the Danes in the north in those forty days. He can hardly go back again with his entire fleet or there will be no chance of fulfilling our commitment. It makes far more sense to send a smaller group back to bury or otherwise secure the hoard, and who will then travel north to meet up with him and the Danes. This task can only be given to someone who is both completely trustworthy and loyal to our king and also capable of completing both the task and returning to make the journey north. There is only one candidate for that role, as my fortunes are now at their highest and Ragnald trusts me completely, even with his beloved silver.

So I find myself in charge of the seven leather bags filled with silver and heading south, passing well, well clear to the west of the hostile Isle of Vannin, seeing very little of it through the rain and mist, and then sweeping around to get the full benefit of a strong wind to set course directly back to our home in the wide estuary. The sight of a full sail is a joyous one when you are heading home. I love to ride the waves as we run before the wind. If only we could always be sailing with the wind at our backs! The sea is rough but the wind is favourable and so we can ride hard and fast along the waves and across the stormy waters.

Agreeing with Ragnald on how to do this had proved surprisingly difficult. I know that we will have great problems crossing the land of Britons when we eventually follow him north, and so I was very concerned by his proposal to give me just one boat and thirty men. I thought that would leave us very vulnerable in that foreign and hostile land. Even more so as I have no one who can speak their language. The sole man among us who can understand Brythonic is the Dane who came with us from Jorvik, and he will stay with Ragnald.

It seems Ragnald wants as few men with me as possible in my group since he does not like the idea of them knowing anything of the whereabouts of the treasure. He would also wish to keep as much of his army intact as possible. He sees my task as a simple one, just getting quickly home and then back to his fleet. I anticipate a difficult and perhaps dangerous search for him among the hostile natives at the head of the great fjord where he is heading.

In the end he conceded, with extreme bad grace, that three boats and a hundred men would travel with me. It is a very significant part of his force and will allow me a considerable degree of protection when we approach Fortriu. So I am grateful that he could be persuaded to take this approach.

I had set off immediately after we made the agreement and travelled as quickly as I could past Vannin and towards our home on the Dee. Soon we are back again in our own estuary, after a very rapid and thankfully uneventful journey, and are pulling the boats up onto our own beach. This time Aud is not there to greet me, as this visit will come as a complete surprise to her.

As soon as we arrive I go immediately to see Aud and my family but I have little time for greetings. There is just time for a cuddle with my wife and small daughter and I attempt the briefest of explanations as to why I am here. My family, including my mother and Aud's mother, is all assembled to hear of our adventures. There are so many questions and the short conversation I intended takes several hours until a messenger comes to summon me to see Thora. Naturally she is too grand to come to see me herself!

I must quickly get to meet Thora, Ragnald's concubine, as he has ordered me to hand all the silver over to her. He told me that she will know where to put it and how to store it; clearly it will go together with the existing hoard of treasure. It is obvious now that the main hoard is held safely somewhere nearby, probably buried in the ground very close at hand. I offer to assist Thora in hiding it, as I expect there to be some heavy digging and the silver itself is heavy, but she vigorously refuses.

No doubt she has her reasons, there is a great deal of emotion and danger starting to attach itself to this hoard, especially fear, and so the fewer people are aware of its hiding place the better. It leaves her to carry a very substantial weight of metal herself, and no doubt the very heavy work of digging a hole big enough and deep enough to contain that weight.

Thora also has other news for me to pass back to Ragnald, as he will soon be the father of her new child. Now she clearly expects him to marry her and make her the queen, if there was ever any doubt of her intentions on that issue it has certainly gone now. I am absolutely unsure of how he will react to this, but I am looking forward to telling him and finding out.

In the immediate future I have happier times ahead since I will get a few happy days with Aud and Astrithr. I would love to stay longer but cannot delay further. Naturally my wife pleads with me to stay longer and I am delighted that she wants my company so much. It is wonderful to spend the night in her arms, after the anxiety and unhappiness that has bedevilled our recent times.

It seems that she and Brodir have been very active in developing their new business as moneyers and have already replaced the crude dies that I made with much better ones that they have designed and made together. Their coins now really do seem like true currency.

It turns out to be the first of several days that we spend together, more than I had first expected to stay, because events are about to take an interesting and disturbing turn which will delay us further.

My hundred warriors are on the beach and already approaching the boats in preparation to depart when we hear reports of a large troop of horse borne Angles who appear to be heading rapidly towards us from Ceaster. Fortunately they have been spotted from a hilltop while still some distance off, so we have an early warning of their approach. Without it we would have left without knowing anything of them.

Under the terms of the agreement with Ingamund and the King of Mercia, the Angles have the right to send warriors here to inspect what we, the Norse people, are doing, but they have never been here before and naturally we are puzzled and concerned by their arrival now. We have often had visitors involved in trade, but these men are numerous and well-armed, and they definitely do not look like traders. What has happened recently to arouse their interest in us? Naturally I am very worried about this development and turn around to witness and to influence this event before I and my one hundred warriors leave.

I am interested to find out more and immediately wonder whether they are here because they know that Ragnald and the main group of men are away. No doubt news from the Isle of Vannin has travelled fast too, they may therefore believe that the colony is unprotected; they might even believe that Ottar's ransom is here. I am sure that they would probably be surprised and delighted to know that both are essentially true, as they would then turn the village over searching for the treasure and torture any one that they thought might know where it is concealed.

Therefore it is my job to conceal the truth from them, persuade them that the village is well defended, that there is no treasure here and that they should return peacefully to their own territory. I need to take responsibility for this situation and it is fortunate that I became aware of it before I left.

Relations with the Angles have previously always been cordial and even good-natured. There has been a lot of trade to mutual benefit and I definitely do not want that to alter this harmonious co-existence at this moment when we are at our most vulnerable. It is imperative to build on our harmony with them, at least until we are stronger.

I order all of my men, plus all of the old and infirm men left behind here when Ragnald departed, to assemble, and to show their presence as fully armed as they possibly can be. I hope to give the impression that the colony has a much larger protective force than it really has. In calling the assembly, I have forgotten to consult Ingamund although he is the Jarl, and not me. There is little time to react, so swift and decisive action is required and I have decided and acted.

Not only do I tell the men to arm themselves and demonstrate the biggest presence that we can, we also dress many of the women and girls as men, although we have to get them to stand behind us so they are partly obscured. Perhaps they can hold a shield across themselves if they can find one, then it should appear that, even in the absence of its king, the place is well defended. We do indeed look like a substantial and formidable force but we will take great care not to be provoked into a fight. Not only because we are much less strong than we appear, but also because of the need to preserve good relationship with the Saxons. This situation calls for diplomacy and deceit rather than military action.

Now that the Angles are nearby I remember Ingamund's position and go to make my apologies to him. He is surprisingly cordial and accepting of the situation and, although I am a commoner with no royal blood, he courteously accepts me as an equal. It shows how much my standing is rising in this community. I respectfully ask him to represent the community in dealing with the Angles, rather than myself. They know him because he negotiated our original agreement with them, they are well aware of his status and will immediately respect him without any formalities or need for introduction. He is the ideal man for this role and I willingly defer to him as the highest status leader present.

When the Angles arrive they are greeted with a large, silent crowd of around four or five hundred armed “men”, with my hundred fit, heavily armed and mature warriors in full sight at the front together with the best of Ingamund's defenders, including the so called sick, who all seem to have fully recovered as soon the fleet had left. The visitors are around fifty in number and certainly look surprised, and perhaps even a little intimidated at the strength of numbers facing them.

I move forward to greet them in a friendly and polite manner and find that, as I suspected, they are lead by a Danir speaking gentleman. No doubt that ability was once more the reason for his selection for this task. I can understand a little of the Anglo-Saxon tongue and they can clearly understand much of what we say too. There has been enough understanding for a considerable amount of trade and exchanges, but there have been more than enough misunderstandings too. When that happened the outcome was usually settled by violence, and I am very anxious to avoid that now. The services of the translator are very welcome in such a potentially sensitive negotiation.

He accompanies me into Ingamund's house while the other Angles are offered hospitality in the form of food and drink by some of the older women. All the time they will be aware that are being observed watchfully and pointedly by my warriors.

The discussions are calm but rather confusing. When asked by Ingamund why the Saxon has come to see us there is a short awkward silence, before he does indeed quote the right of the Saxons to monitor our activities under the terms of Ingamund's agreement with King Ethelred. It is not at all clear what he is monitoring or why he came now, although I can see that he is certainly very curious, asking questions and observing everything he can see around him. He obviously feels no need to make any secret of this curiosity either.

Not surprisingly he asks about the whereabouts of Ragnald and is very sharply told by Ingamund that Ragnald is not the Jarl here, he Ingamund, is in charge of this settlement. Ragnald does not rule here. Although the Saxon ambassador apologises for any misunderstanding about status he still presses the question again. I tell him the Ragnald is currently away for a short time visiting old friends in Vannin. In a way it has a core of truth in it, though I wonder how much the Saxon knows of the true story of the interactions between Ottar and Ragnald. I have stretched the definition of friendship a lot further than most people understand that word. By now Ragnald is very much further away than Vannin.

It is quite possible, or even likely, that the Ottar's family will have had to borrow silver in order to raise even the part ransom that they actually paid for the release of the hostage. They may even have approached Ethelred or his wife, who often acts for him, in order to borrow enough silver. If so, then the Saxons might well know what has happened and sense an opportunity to steal the ransom from us. Maybe this visit is intended to evaluate whether the silver has actually come back here.

Eventually they come to their apparent objective here, and ask that future tributes are paid in silver, rather than in sheep and other animals as previously agreed. Ingamund reacts with fury and tells them very aggressively and convincingly that he has no silver as this is just a small farming and fishing community. In any case this new demand is a violation of the agreement. They greet this with surly silence and obviously do not believe him on the question of silver. Having seen how he conducts himself, I would believe him, he looks completely sincere.

It is evident to me now that Ingamund has truly never been aware of the silver that Ragnald collected for himself in Dyflinn, or the additional silver that Ragnald took off Ivarr at the time of his death, or even the recent ransom of Ottar. In addition, he has failed to observe any of the movements of the chest.

As I reflect on past events I recall that he has so often been absent on every occasion when the silver was in view. Even when chest was handled into and out of the boats he was perhaps away on his mission to liaise with the Angles. He definitely could not have been present when Ottar was first kidnapped and then ransomed. Maybe I was unfair in my first judgement on him; he has perhaps not been so guilty of being as completely gullible as I had first thought. His ignorance is quite useful now!

Does it also mean that there is less chatter about the silver than I had feared? That less people are aware of the silver? Is it at least not being discussed openly within our community? That would be very good news. Or is Ingamund simply just out of contact with the gossip?

It could have been quite reassuring if the Angles had not been demonstrating so very obviously that they are fully aware that we have silver. I am very concerned by their presence and am in no doubt at all that we will soon face continuous demands for large payments in silver to the Saxons. My worst fear is that they will come back once I have left and ransack our settlement while it is so lightly defended.

In the longer term this change in circumstances will clearly have a strongly negative impact on our relationship with the Angles. Ragnald is certain to prefer to fight them rather than pay them in silver, and Ingamund now seems to be taking that line too. I wonder if they realise how much future trouble is certain to come from this meeting. I guess they must believe that we are still weak and must accept any terms they choose to impose. If they believe that they will be in for a very rude shock, though perhaps not in the short term.

It is quite possible that Aud's venture in becoming a moneyer has also added to the perception of silver being in plentiful circulation here. So I will ask her to suspend that activity until the whole of Ragnald's force returns. I certainly do not want her to be the subject of attention from armed and dangerous thieves. Heavy walls might have some defensive advantage but it is much better to be just left alone.

In the short term Ingamund's ignorance is very valuable to us and it may have bought us some much needed time. This is turning out to be a very bad time for Ragnald to be conducting such a large scale expedition so far away in Fortriu. If the Angles visit had happened even a few days earlier, before I arrived with my warriors, the village would indeed have been very vulnerable. I am confident that the Angles would then have sent in a large force to search every place in our village for the silver. As it is we may have assembled a large enough display of force to convince them that they would have to fight their way in with a large number of men and take substantial casualties. There is, however, no doubt that they do have as many numbers as they might need, so it is vital to give the impression that the silver is not here.

I amuse them and myself with the pointed story of our visit to Jorvik, letting them know that Ragnald's queen is the cousin of the King of Jorvik and how Ragnald is forming a military pact with the Danir of Jorvik. It's a double-sided point as it might go down very badly with the Angles to hear that we are forging close contacts with their deadly enemy, and could create hostility towards us. It will certainly not surprise them though; we and the Danir are fellow Scandinavians after all. On the other hand it clearly makes them aware that we are not just a small vulnerable group alone in the world with no important friends. It is always a good thing in this hostile world to be seen to have powerful allies who might want to avenge any overt aggression towards us. The Danir are certainly that powerful ally and even the Mercian Saxons are fearful and very wary of them.

So the conversation is concluded with no changes agreed and the Angles leave peacefully this time. I hope and believe that their reconnaissance mission will have convinced them that we are neither defenceless nor without friends. They must now believe that it will be dangerous for them to attack us, and importantly, they will have had found absolutely nothing to encourage them to believe that any silver is here. Ingamund's angry response to their questions looked convincing, and they may well know enough about him from their previous meetings to believe that he is not a devious man and would struggle to act out a lie in a convincing way.

They had originally agreed to let Ingamund settle here in the belief that he represented just a small community, a fraction of those expelled from Dyflinn. In fact, the majority of the community that left that city are now living here after our flight from Vannin. Now that they know Ragnald and his group are here too they may have realised this has become a much larger community, which would at least make them want to increase the tribute payable.

They will have got some mixed messages about that matter too. There are few boats present on the beach at present and many people judge the size of a Norse community by the number of boats they hold. Naturally, most of the boats are currently away with Ragnald. On the other hand they will have seen a larger group of warriors than they might have expected. In fact, most of the people here will appear to be warriors since we have dressed the women and girls as warriors. They may possibly have noticed that there are few people here other than warriors, just a few older women, and that will be confusing for them.

The whole incident leaves me with a considerable concern about the safety of our settlement and I decide to leave at least half of my hundred men here to reinforce the old and sick that were left here before. That will leave me with a much smaller group, which is a grave concern if we have to fight our way through the Britons in order to rejoin Ragnald. We have no idea what will face us in that land and naturally I would be more confident if we had a larger force. I will, however, have to balance our resources against the variety of risks which we face.

I anticipate that Ragnald will be initially angry when he finds I have returned with less than half of the force he gave me but, no doubt, he will share my concerns about the safety of the settlement, and be persuaded that it was the right thing to do. I hope he will share my concerns about the women and children but, if not, he will certainly be concerned about the security of his silver. That silver hoard is becoming a horrible liability and endangers our people as long as it is here. It is much too dangerous to be held in the village.