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Medieval 5: Elgar 10 Guthrum and Alfred, part 2 of 2

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Alfred sent out the word on April fifteenth to raise the army, what Elgar called tax day. The word was to gather at Egbert’s stone on May the first, or as Elgar yelled, “May day! May day!” Men came from all over Somerset, the largest army Somerset ever raised. Osfirth brought a thousand men from Devon alone. A large contingent came from inland Dorset, especially around Sherborne. Dorset and Hampshire did not strip their coastal defense, but the men from Hampshire, and Wiltshire for that matter were angered by the raids, and some in Wiltshire were doubly angry for being under Danish occupation.

Guthrum pulled his men in from Bath, Chisbury and the Malmesbury-Braydon area around Chippenham. He left his men in Wallingford and Oxford thinking to distract any army coming from further afield. Alfred, however, did not pick up many men came from eastern Berkshire, eastern Hampshire, Surrey, Kent, or Sussex, but in truth he did not need those men. With just the men who gathered between May first and fourth, Alfred’s men outnumbered the Danes three to two.

Alfred waited to make sure Guthrum came fully out into the field before he moved on the tenth. They met at Eddington where Elgar’s nephew Ian held the field with three hundred men on horseback. When the two great armies actually met, it was no contest. The Saxons routed the Danes at every turn. In the end, Guthrum had to take his decimated army back to Chippenham where Alfred followed and laid a near perfect siege.

Over the next two weeks, the eastern army out of eastern Berkshire, Surrey, Sussex, and Kent drove the Danes from Wallingford. The Danes in Oxford planned to fight until they saw the size of the opposing force. They agreed to peacefully abandon Oxford and return to London on Akeman Street and Watling Street so as not to disturb Berkshire and to stay away from Surrey. After those two weeks, when the eastern army showed up at Chippenham, Guthrum surrendered. Chippenham might have held out against the West Saxons for a couple of months, but Guthrum knew Alfred could just wait them out. Better to talk.

When Alfred, his ealdormen, and Elgar, Osfirth, and Gwyn representing the old men entered the room with Guthrum and his commanders, Alfred would only accept unconditional surrender.

“You think I am trapped here between my men and your men?” Guthrum growled. “You have no idea how trapped I am.” He took another chair and slammed it against the wall and broke it. “I am trapped between Heaven and Hell.” He unbuckled his sword and threw it after the chair before he fell to his knees and wept.

Elgar nudged Alfred, and Alfred got down beside the man and hugged him, which made him weep even harder. Elgar whispered to Osfirth and Gwyn, “Well, my work here is done.”

In good old man fashion, Gwyn responded, “What?”

~~~*~~~

Elgar helped Alfred pick out the locations for his thirty-three forts or Burghs that would defend Wessex against Mercian Danes or further intrusions. He helped Alfred design and build a fleet which could finally defend the coast of Wessex. Then he retired to his son’s house.

Alfred claimed Athelney Fort as an important place for the remembrance of the people of Wessex. It was from Athelney that Wessex, and maybe all of England was saved. And also, Alfred said, “Just in case.”

Eanwulf’s eldest son served Alfred faithfully as ealdorman of Somerset. The younger son got Watchet and took Elgar’s duty of the coastal watch. Elgar’s son finally got the house in Wedmore, so Elgar ended up living where Alfpryd did not want to go. Sadly, Alfpryd died several years earlier, but all their daughters made good marriages, so there was that.  Elgar’s daughter-in-law treated him like a dottering old fool. Elgar did not mind, though, he liked being pampered.

In his last year, Elgar had two visitors of note. The first was Pinoak who caught him up on the doings. Pinoak’s mother May passed away and Pinoak cried a little when he said his father Pinewood, and his great friend Deerrunner would not live much longer.

“It’s okay,” Elgar said and hugged the fairy. “We are all passing away, but life goes on. You just need to step up to lead. Your sister Heath, and your friend Marsham have moved to Northumbria where they are trying to keep an eye on Abraxas, the scoundrel. If you would not mind helping Reed keep an eyes on Alfred, all will be well.”

“I pray for my mother. Is that the right word? I pray that the source may find her time on this earth acceptable in his sight.”

“I am sure he will,” Elgar said. “And I pray for my old friends Gwyn and Osfirth, both of whom passed away recently.”

“I understand the king of Cornwall is looking at Osfirth’s son and thinking about getting Devon back. Osfirth’s son and Alfred are looking at Cornwall and agreed that if the man wants to start something, they will finish it.” Pinoak smiled. “As you once said, they may chase the man all the way to Land’s End. Alfred is talking about taking the rest of Devon and setting the border at the Tamar River. He is also saying Cornwall should be a client state, and maybe doesn’t need a king. Maybe an ealdorman would be better.”

Elgar nodded. “That sounds about right.” He chuckled, but just a little.

The other visitor came just a few days before Elgar finally passed away. It was Abraxas, and the first words out of his mouth was typical. “I am finally going to be rid of you.”

“Careful,” Elgar responded. “Don’t piss me off as long as I am alive, and I would not recommend it after I am gone, either.”

Abraxas stared at the ground for a moment before he confessed. “I can finally do what is in my mind to do.”

“It better not be trying to disturb history.”

“Not fair. Only you know what the future says.”

“Yes, and by the way, I was not happy that you put the fear into the Danes at Eddington. Alfred had things well in hand and did not need your help. I did not say anything sooner because that was the way things were supposed to go, so you guessed right for once… Don’t do it again.”

Abraxas looked at the ground again and looked like a child scolded. He vanished. He came to gloat but it did not work out that way.

Elgar thought it only fair to send a message to the future. Whoever I am in my next life, man or woman, sorry about that. I did get rid of the Flesh Eaters, not that they won’t be back, but sorry about leaving you with Abraxas. Maybe you will be lucky and be born on the other side of the world.

Medieval 5: Elgar 10 Guthrum and Alfred, part 1 of 2

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As expected, Guthrum moved men into Chisbury, Wallingford, and Oxford, so along with his contingent in Bath he effectively controlled the northern half of Wiltshire and the western half of Berkshire. From there, he could raid Somerset, southern Wiltshire, northern Hampshire, once reaching all the way to Winchester, eastern Berkshire, and as far as Farnham in Surrey. While his ships continued to raid the coast, he expected Wessex to fall apart. All he did was make people mad.

His raiding parties were continually ambushed and came straggling back with nothing or did not come back at all. By April, it became hard to find men willing to go out from the protection of the towns. Guthrum’s men were frustrated, and not the least with Guthrum himself. The man did not seem to care what his army did. He locked himself away for days at a time and took his books with him because, unlike most of his army, he could read, being of the kingly line and having been educated in the court of the Danish king. He did not even seem surprised when he heard about the disaster in Devon and the death of Ubba. He simply returned to his room, slammed the door, and did not eat any supper.

When Guthrum first arrived in East Anglia with the Great Summer Army, late in the year of 871, he set himself to find out all he could about the people he faced, the Angles and Saxons as well as the Celtic people on the land. He read about the victories and defeats, especially the Danish failures in Northumbria and Wessex, and he gathered and talked to men who had been there. He knew Wessex would be hard to take and hold. He understood it took time to gather the army of Wessex and planned to move straight to the shore, at the root of the country where he could be supplied from the sea. He would work his way inland from there.

At the same time, and maybe it was inevitable, he wanted to understand who these people were. To that end, he got and read what sections of the Bible he could find. He spent days and weeks talking with the priests in East Anglia to get a firm Idea of what this faith was all about. He was a confirmed son of Thor, but this Christ began to eat at him.

When he argued with Halfdan Ragnarson and Halfdan took half of the army north to Northumbria, Guthrum warned him not to interfere with the work of the bishop in York and above all, leave Lindisfarne alone, not that he expected the man to listen. To be fair, Guthrum was not sure why he said that.

Guthrum burned his way to Wareham and got settled in the fortress there before Alfred could arrive with his army. Guthrum had taken hostages all across Wessex, but Alfred’s people had captured some of Guthrum’s men including a couple of ship’s captains from failed raids along the coast. It seemed reasonable to sit down and talk, at least about the exchange of hostages.

Guthrum learned that Alfred was building ships. They were presently in the east around Southampton, Portchester, and the Isle of Wight. Guthrum also noticed that unlike Athelred, Alfred was willing to listen to the men who knew about such things. The siege was well laid. Guthrum had no chance of breaking out of Wareham, much less raiding up into Hampshire or Wiltshire. And if the English were building ships, he knew his time in Wareham would be limited.

Alfred drew up a treaty to exchange hostages and where the Danes promised to leave Wessex, and Guthrum signed it. Guthrum talked to his English hostages, one of whom was a deacon that kept talking to him about the way of Christ, the importance of keeping one’s word and how it was the way of the strong to defend the weak and protect the innocents. It is fair to say Guthrum lashed out in anger when he killed the hostages and ran away to Exeter. For the first time, he fully understood what he did was wrong and worthy of hellfire.

Guthrum stayed in Exeter because of his indecision. Alfred followed and again laid siege to the town to force out the Danes, but Guthrum waited. He had relief ships on the way, a whole fleet of a hundred ships, and all the fighting men to go with them. When Alfred’s pitiful few ships arrived and blocked the Exe River, Guthrum scoffed. But when he learned that a storm in the Channel wrecked his relief fleet and scattered them all along the north coast of Francia, he yelled at his men and threw a chair across the room, breaking the chair.

“They could at least have had the decency to wreck on the shore of Wessex.

Once again Guthrum felt he had no choice but to sit down with Alfred and hammer out a peace treaty. This time, Alfred did not let him leave by sea. He forced Guthrum to march his men up the road nearly a hundred miles to Bath. There, the road would follow the border of Wiltshire and the Mercian client kingdom of Hwicce. Guthrum would be welcomed at any time to cross back into Mercia and leave Wessex alone.

Guthrum settled in Hwicce, including placing a contingent in Pucklechurch that could move on Bath when the time was right. Unfortunately for Guthrum, Hwicce was the most thoroughly Christian nation on the whole island with the believers making up almost one hundred percent of the population. For nearly a year, he could not go anywhere or talk to anyone without the word of God in Christ impacting his ears. He tried to focus on his mission, the conquest of Wessex, but he found it hard.

When Alfred came to Chippenham where he could keep his eye on the Danes in Hwicce, Guthrum thought of it as a gift. Turning the ealdorman of Wiltshire, Wulfhere, was not a hard thing. Dealing with Alfred’s spies took more finesse but it did not take long. He wanted to move on Chippenham over Christmas, but something told him to leave the Christian celebration alone. He broke another chair but waited.

When he finally moved on Chippenham, he was amazed Alfred escaped his hands. He quickly had men in Braydon and Malmesbury on the north end of the Avon River. His men met little resistance in Bath on the other end of the river. He decided for all his planning, Alfred must have been warned and escaped the city, but he had nowhere to go. He would soon be caught.

Guthrum sat in his room and stewed. He actually prayed but it took a long time for him to realize that was what he was doing. The Ubba disaster honestly did not surprise him. The lack of success of his raiding parties out of Wallingford, Chisbury, and Bath also did not surprise him. He figured out almost as fast as Alfred that they would have to meet on the battlefield and settle things once and for all. He fully expected that either he or Alfred would be killed, and that would end it.

Medieval 5: Elgar 9 Odda and Ubba, part 2 of 2

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With the dawn, Ubba’s  commanders urged him to overrun the town, but at the same time, Ubba’s spies returned and reported. “They did not lay in any supplies and food. They don’t have any fresh water in the fort.”

Ubba turned to his commanders and smiled. “Why waste our men and blood? We have the gates blocked. We can wait a week and starve them out. Meanwhile, we can send out scouts to survey the area, west, south, and east. Let us see which way we can most easily move to enrich ourselves.”

“We had a good thing in Dyfed.” A man named Carlson complained. “Why did we come here?”

“Because.” Ubba retorted. “Guthrum has some five thousand men in his army. I am told Wessex can just about match that number. But an army cannot be in two places at once and right now they are focused on Guthrum. We can pick Devon clean and maybe Somerset, at least the western half of it and leave before Wessex can send any serious opposition. Then again, if Guthrum succeeds, we are safe here in the west end of Wessex to do as we please.”

“We have much to gain and little to lose if we play it smart.” One commander understood.

“Devon has not been in West Saxon hands for very long. They probably can’t raise much of an army. If we are patient, the men in this place will surrender when they get hungry enough and then Devon will be ours for the taking.” Ubba set about securing the siege on Countisbury and the fort while he selected the men to send out to scout and get a good grasp on the lay of the land. Those plans got interrupted when they saw men coming from the east.

Ubba’s men hurried to fortify that side of his camp. When he managed a count, he decided they only had three or four hundred men. “Probably the coastal watch from west Somerset,” Ubba said. “I don’t know how they knew we were here to come running, but it is a gift for us. We still have twice their number if you count them and the men in the fort together, and they are divided. It should not be hard to kill off one and then the other, and the coast of both Devon and Somerset will be ours for the taking.”

It sounded good in theory, but the dwarves picked up a second hundred coming through the Brendon Hills. Somehow, they got around Gwyn and his men and headed toward the coast and the twenty-three longships there. They had in mind first to make sure the Vikings had no means of escape. They figured with the ways east and west blocked by men, the Vikings only had the south as an escape route. They and their axes would happily chase the Vikings all the way to Dartmoor if necessary.

The Dwarfs with some judicious arrows from Pinoak’s people made short work of the hundred Danes Ubba left to guard the ships. Then they turned their axes on the ships themselves, though they mostly cut the anchors and shoved the ships out into the water. The water sprites in that area dragged the ships into the deep water where Ubba’s men could not get at them, and the dwarves were able to turn and face the Vikings in case Ubba sent his men to save the ships.

Ubba quickly turned his eyes toward the south, but he found no escape in that direction as the main force from Devon, about nine hundred men formed a wall and moved slowly forward. Ubba yelled. “Form up. Form the line. Make the wall. We can win this.”

“I hope,” Carlson mumbled.

Gwyn and Osfirth linked up and between them, they matched the Danes in numbers. it was a bit over twelve hundred Saxons and Celts versus a bit under twelve hundred Danes, and the Danes did not have time to set their order and keep any in reserve.

Copperhand yelled at the Vikings but he kept his dwarfs back from the men. Pinoak got the word that the Dwarves had come out of their place and what they were doing, and he told Elgar. Elgar yelled, but then he settled down and gave himself a massive headache, projecting his thoughts all that distance to Copperhand and whatever other dwarves might be listening.

You had your fun. You can stay back and prevent any Vikings that may try to escape down the shore or maybe try and swim to the ships, but let the men fight their own battle. Most of your people can’t tell the difference between Saxons and Danes, and if you start killing my Saxons I will be very angry.

Copperhand yelled back, but he kept two long ships intact as enticements to Ubba’s men, and in the course of the battle, there were some that made the attempt, so Copperhand and his got to chop up some Danes. They were not entirely disappointed.

Gwyn and Osfirth had mostly farmers and fishermen in their ranks. That just meant they had strong arms, backs, and legs. They could push a spear of swing a sword as well as any man, and hold their shields up all day long, but the Danes had mostly veterans of many battles. They had all the battle experience on their side and had learned some lessons the Saxons hardly imagined. Though the sides were about even in numbers, there seemed little doubt that the Danes would win the day, that is, until Odda moved.

Odda picked up another hundred men in Countisbury, plus he had a hundred or so men in green that he knew were Elgar’s people. They were in fact Pinoak’s fairies and a contingent of local fee, elves, gnomes, and such that manifested to help out. Odda knew if the Danes won the battle, he would be stuck with no food or water. He did not imagine he had any choice. He and his men charged out of the fort at the back of the Danes and hit them in the rear with five hundred new swords and arrows, The Danish line shattered.

Three men in their fifties ran with Odda and knocked him down. They knocked him down three times before the old man did not have the strength to get up again. He laid there in the grass and threatened the men. Those men understood, but they hovered around the seventy-year-old to protect him from the battle. In the end, Odda sat up and asked.

“How did we do?”

“Complete victory,” one of the men said. “Our losses were light. They lost their whole army. We have about four hundred prisoners.”

“Ubba?” Odda asked.

“Found. Dead,” the man said. Odda nodded, and two of the men helped him back to his feet.

************************

MONDAY

The story of Alfred and Guthrum comes to a different conclusion. Until then, Happy Reading

*

Medieval 5: Elgar 9 Odda and Ubba, part 1 of 2

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When Alfred reached the fortress of Athelney, Elgar limped out to greet him. “No way the Danes will find you here,” Elgar said. “The island is mist covered on a regular basis, especially in the colder months, and you have to know where to put your feet to not be swallowed up by the quick mud or sunk in a pool of brackish water.”

He looked to see that his wife Alfpryd and his youngest daughter Alfflaed welcomed Alfred’s wife and children with open arms. Poor Elgar was fifty-eight, about as old as he sometimes lived in the old days. His legs were giving him trouble, but he was as ready as ever to fight, at least as much as he was able. He introduced the sons of his brother Eanwulf, the elder of which was technically the ealdorman of Somerset. Alfred knew them. Elgar also introduced his own son, still technically a teenager, though he seemed full grown enough. Then he showed off the fortress and sat Alfred down for some food and talk.

“Rest later,” Elgar said. “I don’t know what you may be thinking but your people are loyal and ready to fight when you give the word. I have talked with Osweald in Dorset and old man Odda in Devon. The man has to be near seventy, but Osfirth, who is my age, is in much better shape than I am, and Gwyn, who is on the Somerset coast is only a couple of years older than Osfirth and ready to fight. Osric is holding on in Hampshire, and Ethelwulf has Berkshire well in hand. Your thegans are firmly with you, not liking the idea of Danish overlords.”

“And how do you know this?”

“Spies. My spies who are loyal. Wulfhere is an outlier. He does not even speak for most of Wiltshire. I’m sorry I lost Tata, but his brother Ian of Eddington is ready to call up his men when you are ready.”

“Ian?” one man asked.

“My sister says it is the Old Anglish version of John from the Bible.”

“How about now,” Alfred said and raised his voice a little. “I am ready now.”

Elgar let the silence that followed the outburst play out before he shook his head. “No. You are not anywhere near ready, and I did not bring you here to this safe haven just for an overnight. We need several months at the least to plan our moves. We need the armies from the frontier shires of Somerset, Dorset, and Devon to meet up and move together. The men from Hampshire and any they can get from Sussex need to join together. Berkshire and I don’t expect much from Kent. They are having a hard enough time just holding their own, but certainly the men from Surrey need to Join Berkshire. That is three armies, and they need to move on the objective at the same time and arrive together.”

“Chippenham, and before Guthrum and Wulfhere move in the spring,” Alfred said.

“Not realistic,” Elgar said. “But we should be able to face the Great Heathen Army sometime in the spring, and in Wiltshire. In the meantime, let me show you what we can do to disrupt whatever plans they may be making. In the future, it is called guerilla warfare.

~~~*~~~

Elgar neglected to tell Alfred that he had gotten word of the backend assault on his people. Ubba, son of Ragnar Lodbrok was preparing to leave Dyfed in Wales and come ashore somewhere between the Parrett River and Pilton in Devon. He had arranged with Guthrum to pillage Devon down to Exeter, then follow the main road through southeastern Devon to the back end of Somerset at the Parrett River. From there, he could pillage Somerset or Dorset as he pleased. Of course, Ubba would decide for himself what he might do, and that might involve ravaging the coast to the Parrett River and then raiding up the river. He might ignore Devon altogether, or maybe give it back to the Cornish.

Eanwulf’s old friend Odda, near seventy years old, built the coastal watch from scratch back in the day. He got word that Ubba was coming and wanted to catch him on the shore. He personally took charge, and made the younger man, Osfirth set about gathering the fighting men of Devon so they could move as soon as they got word from Alfred. Of course, Osfirth, the younger man was near sixty himself.

Starting in Pilton, Odda followed the Danish sails down the coast toward Countisbury on the Somerset border. He had three hundred men gathered by the time he reached Countisbury and he imagined that might be twice what the Danes had. He had gotten used to raids of two hundred or maybe three hundred Danes and thought this would be the same. With another hundred raised in Countisbury, he would have half again the numbers of the Danes he expected. Then again, if the Danes landed in Somerset, he could bring his three hundred down the coast to Carhampton, as the case may be.

Osfirth and Gwyn had a better idea what they might be facing, or maybe they thought it through. Osfirth, as soon as he gathered the army of Devon, about eight hundred men, he moved north, stopping in Crediton and again at the western edge of Exmoor. He arrived one day after Ubba landed twenty-three ships and twelve hundred men. Odda, not having nearly the men to meet such a force, retreated to the town and the fort of Cynwit.

At the same time as the Danes turned their ships to the shore, Gwyn set out from Carhampton where he had gathered his three hundred of the Somerset coastal watch. Since he was getting his messages from a fairy, one of the ones assigned by Pinoak to watch the shore, it did not surprise him when he got told that Copperhand and a hundred dwarfs from the Polden Hills were following.

“I have no power to stop them following,” Gwyn told his commanders over supper. “I just hope they don’t get hurt. Elgar would not be happy.”

“I hope we don’t get hurt,” one of the commanders said, and the others laughed nervously.

Medieval 5: Elgar 8 The Struggle, part 3 of 3

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Deerrunner turned from the window. “You best hurry. Wulfhere has ridden out to meet Guthrum. He has his men primed to stop you from leaving the fort, but our people have secured one gate.”

“My wife, Ealhswith, and the children.” Alfred looked worried.

“My son, Pinoak and the ladies that came into the fort to help Wulfhere entertain the king.” Pinewood explained. “They are all our ladies, and they have your wife and children well in hand. They will meet us at the gate. You just need to decide which men you can truly trust so they can escape with us.”

“Only those you are sure of,” Deerrunner said. “And if there is anything you need to fetch from your rooms.”

“My books,” Alfred said.

“Already packed,” Deerrunner assured him.

Two ox drawn wagons with women and children, and two dozen men rode out from the southern gate as the sun set. They followed good paths so the wagons had no trouble, and by sunrise they reached the River Avon. Alfred looked back.

“That’s not possible,” he said. “We can’t have traveled all that distance in one night, especially with ox-drawn wagons.”

“There are ways,” Pinewood told him. “Hidden ways, like the ways you went to escape Reading and the Danes sent after you.”

“Oh, yes,” Alfred remembered, and he helped load his wife and children on the rafts that were conveniently stationed by the riverside. He decided it was best not to question too much, but one thing he wanted to know. “Where are you taking me? Are we going to Bath?” He imagined from Bath he could keep a watch on the events in Wiltshire and find a way to drive out Guthrum and Wulfhere with him.

“No majesty,” Pinewood answered him. “Bath is already overrun with Danes. They gathered at Pucklechurch and waited until they got the signal, then they fell on the city before the city could prepare to defend themselves. There is still some fighting going on around the town, but it is minor. The Danes own that place.”

“What of Chisbury?” Alfred wondered how close to Winchester this conspiracy of his ealdorman went.

“Still Free, but probably not for long. I imagine Wallingford and Oxford will not be far behind and then the better half of Wiltshire and Berkshire will be in Danish hands. Once the line between Bath, Chisbury and Wallingford on the Thames is solid, he can raid as far away as Shaftsey, Eashing, Winchester, Wilton, and Axebridge. He may be able to push into Somerset as far as Glastonbury.”

“Meanwhile, the coast from Exeter to Hastings is continually raided by a whole fleet of ships, mostly out of East Anglia, Essex, and the Thames in Eastern Kent, but some also from York and Northumbria. The coastal watch is fighting back, but they lose the battles as many as they win.” Alfred tried not to mope.

When they reached the point in the river where the water flowed west toward the Severn Estuary, they found their horses mysteriously waiting for them. They rode down into the Selwood forest hoping to escape whatever patrols or foraging parties the Danes might send out from Bath. They almost did not make it.

Deerrunner, Pinewood, Alfred and his Thegans with plenty of men in green had to fight off one group so the women and children could be taken to safety. The dark came on soon enough and the fighting had to break off, but then some of the men got separated in the dark. Too bad for the Danes. The dark elves, that is, the goblins that gave Selwood a bit of a reputation routinely got left out when the fighting happened. They had plenty of pent up aggression that just waited for a Dane to be alone.

Alfred was also one that got separated and lost but he soon came to a cabin in the woods. That was fortunate because the goblins were not always the best at telling the difference between Saxons and Danes. Alfred hoped it was one of Elgar’s people. If not, then maybe a young woodcutter and his family. He hoped it was not a witch. It turned out to be an old Crone who let him in but warned him not to touch anything.

“My husband is out on escort duty. No telling how long that will last.”

“My name is Alfred,” Alfred admitted, trying to be friendly despite the heavy weight of worry that surrounded his thoughts.

“Oh? Good to meet you I suppose. My name is May, and I have an errand to run.” She looked him over and decided she had no choice. “I have wheat cakes in the oven, there. Try not to let them burn and don’t break anything while I am gone.” She left abruptly.

Alfred went to the door. He went out to his horse but left the door open. He unsaddled his horse and tied the animal by a trough he found that had water in it. He looked out into the dark, not having dared to move beyond the door light. There were too many strange sounds. He swore he saw two bright eyes staring at him from out of the dark.

“You have been a good horse,” he told his horse and patted him before he rushed back indoors to the firelight. He sat down at the table and wondered if there were any lamps or candles around that he could also light, but it was just a passing thought. Once he sat, all the tension from battle poured out of him and his muscles relaxed all at once. It was a wonder that he did not fall instantly asleep. Only his worry remained. He thought all might be lost.

The Channel coast was under constant assault. two hundred to five hundred to as many as eight hundred men in ships showed up almost anywhere, any time. The Bishop of Selsey in Sussex abandoned his post, and now the whole coast there has burned. Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Dorset, and Devon are all on fire, and Alfred did not have a fleet of ships to stop them. He needed ships, and forts, strong points built around the countryside where people could flee in time of trouble. He also needed a good night’s sleep.

To Alfred’s credit, he woke up when he smelled something burning. He remembered and got the wheat cakes out of the oven when they were still salvageable, for the most part. Naturally, that was when May returned, with Pinewood. Pinewood stood back and let May upbraid the poor man. May eventually ran out of things to say and kissed Pinewood and slipped into the back room.

“My wife,” Pinewood said. “She said she found you wandering in the dark and called to you to save you from the spookies. She thought I might like to get you back in one piece.”

“Spookies?” Alfred asked, remembering the eyes staring at him in the dark.

“The goblins are out tonight but come. We will be safe enough to take you to the others.”

Alfred followed Pinewood outside and found his horse saddled and several men in green mounted and ready to ride. When they arrived in the elf camp, Alfred hugged and kissed his wife and two children before he fell over on the nearest bed. He did not stay awake long, but he did try to decide what was worse, being caught by goblins or Missus May’s scolding.  He decided the Danes were worse and he tried not to hope the goblins caught them.

Medieval 5: Elgar 8 The Struggle, part 2 of 3

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Elgar had a bad feeling when he heard the Danes returned to Eastern Mercia to a place called Torksey where they wintered over 872-873. They built up their forces, drawing heavily on men from Northumbria and York as well as the Great Summer Army that landed in East Anglia in 871. By the time they reached Repton on the border of Danish East Mercia and Anglo-Saxon West Mercia, they were again the Great Heathen Army and ready to overrun the last of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms on the Island.

In 874, they invaded West Mercia. They drove out the king and installed a puppet king that would do what he was told. Then they looked at what remained unconquered. The two Danish leaders argued. Guthrum of East Anglia was relatively new to the land. He saw what happened at Reading and said they did it all wrong.

“I was the one who did it,” Halfdan argued. “I’m telling you my grandfather Lodbrok and my father Ragnar both said don’t go to Wessex because you will lose. I warned the king, but he did not listen. Bagsecg got himself killed at Ashdown, the first serious engagement with the West Saxons, a battle they won.”

“But you won most of the subsequent engagements,” Guthrum pointed out.

“But hardly worth the winning,” Halfdan yelled. “They blocked us from going east to link up with the main part of your Summer Army. They blocked us from moving south into the heart of Wessex. They wore us out. We were lucky Athelred died and Alfred was willing to pay us off to go away. We could not have done much else.”

“You built your stronghold on the Mercian-Wessex border,” Guthrum said. “But I have noticed Wessex is a big place. It takes time for them to gather their forces. I propose building a stronghold deep within the kingdom, somewhere on the southern border where we can have access to ships and supplies.”

“Good luck with that,” Halfdan said, and he took half of the army back north to attack that half of Northumbria that remained in Anglo-Saxon hands. He thought he might test the Celts of Strathclyde, and maybe even the Picts.

In 874, Guthrum wintered in Cambridge in Mercia but near the East Anglia and Essex borders where he could build his forces, better plan his strategy, and arrange for those ships and supplies. The next year, he marched rapidly down the roads the Saxons so kindly provided and overran Wareham on the coast of Dorset.

Alfred and his army could not dislodge them, or it would take a long time since they had access to the sea and Alfred did not have a navy. He called up what ships he could but did not deploy them around Wareham. They were not ready. So Alfred elected to talk to Guthrum and the other leaders of the Viking army. They drew up an agreement concerning the exchange of hostages and safe passage for the Danes to leave Wessex and not come back. Money changed hands, but even as Alfred pulled back his forces, the Danes killed the hostages and snuck out of town in the night.

Guthrum and his army landed in Exeter and continued to raid along the whole Channel coast of Wessex. That was not what they agreed. By then, Alfred’s little navy was able to blockade the Viking ships in the Exeter estuary. Guthrum did not worry. He expected a relief fleet any day, but that fleet got wrecked and scattered by a storm in the Channel. Guthrum was forced to concede.

In 877, Guthrum and his army moved to Western Mercia and he rethought his strategy. He decided on a to pincer approach. If Halfdan, son of Ragnar would not do it, maybe Ubba, son of Ragnar could be enticed to come out of Wales.

~~~*~~~

Despite the fact that most of the previous invasion of Wessex took place in January, including the battles of Reading, Ashdown, and Basing, generally speaking both Vikings and Saxons did not bring their armies out in the cold and snow. Armies normally wintered in towns. They did not go sloshing around outdoors.

Alfred felt fairly safe celebrating Christmas and the new year in Chippenham, up in Wiltshire near the Mercian border. Wulfhere, the ealdorman of Wiltshire went overboard on the feast days since he was entertaining the king. That was nice, but mostly Alfred wanted to keep one eye on Guthrum and his army to see when the man moved. He really did not expect Guthrum to move until spring, but he wanted to be sure.

 “Gentlemen…and Ladies,” Wulfhere stood at the front of the hall and got everyone’s attention. “I apologize, but it seems I have some business to attend, messengers, nothing crucial but I have to absent myself from the merrymaking. Please carry on and enjoy the feast, and I will see you all tomorrow. Again, my apologies.” He smiled, signaled the musicians to continue, and left the hall.

Alfred wondered what could be so important. He watched Wulfhere go and caught sight of two older men in green headed toward his table. Elgar’s men, he remembered. The wild men who lived in the forests and swamps where most men did not go. They lived on the edge of society since Roman times, or maybe even earlier. He would find out what they wanted.

“My name is Pinewood. My companion is Deerrunner,” the old man said. Deerrunner looked around the room. “A word in private would be best.”

“You are Elgar’s people,” Alfred wanted to be sure.

Pinewood nodded. “Lord Elgar asked us to keep an eye out for you and keep one eye on the Danes. The Danes have come out from their place.”

“What?” Alfred joined Deerrunner in looking around before he spoke. “Come with me,” he said and led them to an annex room unoccupied at the present. Two of his thegans wanted to come with him, but he told them to wait.

“Tell me,” Alfred ordered.

“Best get your things and the men you can trust, if any,” Deerrunner said as he stepped to the one window in the room and looked down on the courtyard.

“Wulfhere has made a deal with Guthrum,” Pinewood said plainly. “Guthrum and his army are only hours away. They left Gloucester at nightfall and stayed on the roads. they moved twenty miles in the night, took ten hours in the morning to rest, and started again in the early afternoon. They should be here by midnight or in the dark of the morning hours.”

“What? Why am I just hearing of this? What happened to my spies?”

“Your spies have either been killed or bought.”

“What? What happened to Elgar’s nephew, Tata—Peter, from Eddington?”

“Tata lies among the slain,” Pinewood lowered his eyes and his face like a man who somehow failed at his task.

************************

MONDAY

Alfred escapes the trap but it is a long way to safety. Until next time, Happy Reading

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Medieval 5: Elgar 8 The Struggle, part 1 of 3

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Things finally heated up in 870. The Danes occupied Reading, a town on the border between Berkshire and Mercia. Both sides claimed the town, but presently, the Danes owned it. Athelred began to gather his army. The Danes waited. Given their failures in Wessex, this time they waited to see what Wessex would do first.

Ethelwulf, the ealdorman of Berkshire caught a foraging party sent out from Reading. The Danes were about half Ethelwulf’s numbers, but they fought well even if the outcome was inevitable. The battle took place near Englefield and Ethelwulf had a great victory there. King Athelred was greatly encouraged as he and his younger brother Alfred brought up the main portion of the army to join Ethelwulf and attack Reading. They hoped to drive out the Danes and remind the Danes that the West Saxons were not to be trifled with. It did not go as planned.

Athelred still did not know how to lay a town under siege, and he refused to listen to anyone like Elgar who knew how to do it properly. There were weak points and some actual holes in Athelred’s line of encirclement. The Danish commanders took advantage of that. They burst out of the gates and counterattacked. The West Saxon siege lines fell apart and Athelred’s army ran for their lives. Ethelwulf, the victor at Englefield just a few days earlier was killed. Athelred and Alfred escaped, but only with Elgar’s help.

Elgar took the two of them and much of the army by secret elf paths that the Danes would never find. They moved further in a sort time than humanly possible and soon got out of range of the Danish patrols. Athelred complained the whole time. Elgar simply replied, “Shut up,” and after a short time Alfred said the same thing.

The Danes wanted to follow up their victory at Reading. They arrived at Ashdown and divided their forces, planning to send half their army east toward Kent while the other half moved on Hampshire and the west. They were surprised when the West Saxon army arrived, mostly intact. Athelred copied the Danish formation, dividing his army between himself and Alfred. Then Athelred went to church, and some have thought he wanted to get God on his side.

“God knows the end from the beginning,” Elgar told Alfred. “He already knows who will win the battle. While it is good to submit to God and accept the outcome God decides, there is no way Athelred is going to bribe God or convince God to be on his side. I don’t think God is interested in taking sides when sinful men have a mind to kill each other. Our place is to fight just as hard as we can, to do our duty faithfully, but then to accept however the Lord decides to work things out. You cannot argue with God, and if he has decided one thing, you cannot change his mind. Faithfully do your part, do your duty with all of your might, but leave the outcome in God’s hands.”

Alfred understood. He prepared his half of the army to face the enemy and waited. He waited a long time, but Athelred never came out from his devotions, and finally Elgar’s men in green reported movement in the Danish lines. The Danes had camped along the ridge so they had the strong position. If they remained patient, the West Saxons would have had to charge uphill. But they got tired of waiting.

As the Danes came down, at least Alfred was ready. He charged, and Elgar had to use his little ones to keep the other Danish division from out flanking Alfred’s men. The division of Danes that faced Athelred’s men had to hastily fortify their camp against the uncanny marksmanship of the enemy. Meanwhile, Athelred continued to bargain with God.

Alfred won his battle. The Danes were defeated, and the other Danish division withdrew from the battlefield rather than remain to be picked off by arrows, one by one. It did not become a rout, but Alfred’s men, and the men from Athelred’s camp that joined them, continued to find pockets of the enemy that they chased well into the night. Athelred did not know where to go from there. He claimed a great victory, though he missed it, and because of that most of the Danish army survived.

The Danes first moved their army to the east rather than Hampshire and the heart of Wessex. They knew all about Weland and how he burned Winchester and that really angered the West Saxons. Besides, they hoped to pick up fresh men that currently held the northeast from London to Canterbury. Two weeks after Ashdown, Athelred and Alfred caught up with the Danes at the king’s estate of Basing. The battle was hard fought, but in the end the West Saxons had to withdraw. It was a victory for the Danes but a costly one as it turned out only the West Saxons got fresh men from Kent, Surrey, and Sussex; about two thousand.

Someone among the Danes figured out they were being followed and tracked. Elgar suspected Abraxas told them, but he decided not to find out. The Danes backed up. They went through Englefield and followed a zig-zag pattern up to Reading. They hoped to lose whoever was tracking them, but Pinoak and his fairy troop would never be fooled.

When the Danes got to Reading, they stayed for a month to lick their wounds. Athelred and the West Saxons did the same and appreciated the breather, but even Athelred understood the war was not over. At the end of February the Danes snuck out of the town under cover of darkness. Pinoak and his people were right there to watch. Athelred moved north while the Danes moved south and they met at a place called Meretun.

Meretun was another hard fought so-called victory for the Danes. They were losing for most of the day but managed to regroup at one point and pulled it out. The casualties on both sides were atrocious. Heahmund, the militant bishop of Sherborne died. He eventually got replaced by a man named Athelheah who seemed more concerned with the conduct of the church rather than the conduct of the army. Athelred was also badly wounded in the fighting. The Danes claimed the victory, but to be clear, the West Saxons pulled back when Athelred was wounded and could no longer fight.

He was carried all the way down the Dorchester Road to Wimborne where he finally gave up the fight and died of his wound. He was buried there, and that left Alfred as the last of the five sons of King Athelwulf. Athelred had married, and had two sons, but they were both infants. Alfred was young at twenty-three, but he was at least full grown and actually a bit older than Athelred had been when he took the crown.

While Alfred, Elgar, and Osweald of Dorset buried Athelred, the Danes thought to strike. Uncle Osric led the men of Hampshire, Wiltshire, and Berkshire to battle. Osric lost, but he did enough damage to the Danes to keep them from rampaging through the land. By the time Alfred arrived with men from Dorset and Somerset, he found the Danes at Wilton in Wiltshire. They managed to push well into Wessex, but they had failed to even reach Hampshire.

The battle was fierce. Once again it got counted as a Danish victory, but by then both sides were exhausted and hardly able to continue. It was an easy thing to arrange a meeting between the two sides. Alfred paid the Danes to go away, having the example of Burgred who paid off the Danes in Nottingham.

“Hopefully, this will give us enough time to rest and rebuild our forces for when they break their agreement,” Alfred explained.

Elgar, having turned fifty-one felt he was too old to argue. On the way home, he thought to stop in Athelney to check on the fortress there.

Medieval 5: Elgar 7 Second Chances, part 4 of 4

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Abraxas stood on the shore of Northumbria and watched, briefly. He did not want Flesh Eaters around to mess up whatever plans he had in mind. He reduced the two fighters to dust. He put a hole in the bomber so it crashed into the sea. Finally, he destroyed the shuttle’s engines and it exploded before it hit the water. No doubt Abraxas felt very pleased with himself. Elgar was not happy. He got his friends Osfirth of Devon and Gwyn to take the men home.

“I will no doubt catch up with you before you get there. In fact, this might not take long at all.”

“Where are you going?” Gwyn asked.

“Flesh Eaters?” Osfirth wondered.

“The last of the Flesh Eaters,” Elgar answered. “Get the men home safe and don’t let Athelred or Burgred screw that up too.”

“This was a long way to go for nothing,” Osfirth agreed.

“Not for nothing,” Elgar said. “We got the Danes to leave East Mercia for good.”

“If their word is worth anything,” Gwyn agreed.

Elgar traded places with Danna, the mother goddess of the Celtic gods, but she kept up a glamour of Elgar so Gwyn and Osfirth did not notice. They noticed when she vanished, but Gwyn merely nodded and Osfirth only shrieked a little.

~~~*~~~

Danna dropped the glamour and appeared on the shore of Northumbria. She compelled Abraxas to be there. He appeared startled. It was something she knew she could do as long as he remained in her jurisdiction, and presently he could not go anywhere else. He figured it out soon enough before he shrieked a bit more than Osfirth and made sure his feet did not touch any of the water. In Margueritte’s day, Abraxas was banned by various gods from any land where he might have staked a claim. He was supposed to be giving up his bit of flesh and blood and going over to the other side with the rest of the ancient gods. He had been given several chances but had yet to find the courage.

“Amphitrite took the water away from you,” Danna said. “All water, fresh or salt. on this earth. You said at the time you would die. You are made of fire and water, you said, and without the water you would burn up, but I see you are still here.”

“Still stuck on this one rock as the only place that is safe,” he groused. “I have had to survive on beer and wine.”

“No,” Danna answered. “You can drink fruit juice, apple juice, or milk if you would rather.” Abraxas made a face of disgust. “Besides, you can always go to the other rock, Ireland, and complain over there.”

Abraxas shook his head. “That whole island is full of Irish…and your children who should not be there.”

“My disobedient children are not your concern, except to say they are leaving the human race alone and not interfering with history. The day of the gods is over. The new way has come. You will not be permitted to have worshipers or whatever you may be thinking. And creating hags as personal slaves is cruelty to the human race on many levels. Presently, since the water is death to you, there is no point in getting you to clean up your mess.” Danna frowned. He ignored her. “You were told to stay away from the space aliens.” She did not scold him, but she was tempted. She took a breath and called. “Manannan.” She did not compel her children, grandchildren, or whatever, that is, those who called her Mother. But it was polite to come when Mother called.

The sea began to boil. Big breakers crashed against the rocks and the foam splattered everywhere. Abraxas jumped further back, but he was unable to leave the area entirely because Danna compelled him to stay. The British Isles were part of the ancient land where she had the final authority on this earth.

A tall, skinny, slightly green-skinned man covered in seaweed rose out of the water. Anger was etched across his face and he showed death in his eyes but it was all directed toward Abraxas who took another step back.

“Mac Lir, attend,” Danna said. “Our guest has scattered a Flesh Eater shuttle, bomber, and two fighters across the North Sea. No Flesh Eaters are allowed to survive and it all must be cleaned up so no part of it will be found in the future. You know what to do. Take it to Lady Alice on Avalon and place it where she tells you. I am sure Vingevourt, king of the water sprites of the North Sea will help.”

Manannan stopped giving Abraxas the evil eye and turned to Danna. “Why me?” he asked.

“Because as long as you have refused to join your brothers and sisters and go over to the other side, some effort will continue to be required of you from time to time. Gilla de, be a good boy and clean up this mess.”

Manannan nodded his head slightly, said, “Mother,” and vanished. Danna turned to face Abraxas and let out some of the steam that built up inside her.

“You have been given more than enough chances to find the courage to go over to the other side. You have been reduced to these islands. To place your foot anywhere else on this earth will be death to you, and it is your own doing. You have been told repeatedly not to interfere with people or the development of the human race or with the new way. The old way has gone. The day of the god is ended. Get that message. And you have been told over and over to stay away from space aliens or any non-human people. I swear, you are like my little ones. They hear well enough but the minute my back is turned they go right back to what they were doing that got them in trouble.”

Abraxas stared at her like a scolded child, but he said nothing, so she finished her thought.

“Take care, lest you find even these islands taken from you and you have only the Second Heavens to wander filled with regret.” she waved her hand releasing him from the compulsion to attend her and he instantly vanished. Danna shook her head and went to several places in the islands and on the continent to watch and mind her own business. It took a week before Elgar returned to Osfirth, Gwyn, and his men marching across Berkshire, about halfway home.

Medieval 5: Elgar 7 Second Chances, part 3 of 4

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Athelbald died from his mysterious disease in July of 860 and the kingdom passed to his brother Athelberht of Kent. Once the way back to the capital was clear, Judith returned to Winchester, packed her bags, and went home to her father in West Francia. She was not about to be married again to yet another brother. Athelberht, like Athelbald had not married and had no children, so he was eligible to fall into Judith’s web, but Judith was done with that, and done with Wessex. In her mind, the whole kingdom was stupid and stubborn, and she would never be allowed to rule or gather all the power to herself. Even so, despite her bad attitude, she had matured over the years and now felt she could handle her father’s court and look for a more reasonable solution to meeting her desires.

Alfred was thirteen by then, and he corresponded with Elgar. Elgar got him books to read. Athelred was seventeen, so still too young to rule anywhere. The result was Athelberht moved to Winchester but took the throne of Kent with him. He integrated the nine shires for the first time and ruled the whole as the kingdom of Wessex. As it turned out, he had four years to rebuild Winchester and sew the pieces of the kingdom together.

 For Berkshire, he selected a thegan who carried his father’s name, Ethelwulf. The man had Mercian roots, but Berkshire had been under the Mercian thumb for a time so the rest of the king’s men in the shire raised no objections. Besides, since the army of Wessex helped Mercia keep the Welsh in line, Mercia had come to accept Wessex as something of an overlord, so a man of Mercian background seemed no problem.

For Hampshire, Athelberht looked to Osric in Dorset. Osric straddled the fence when Athelbald and his father Athelwulf argued about the Wessex throne, but Athelberht took it as his position. Athelberht refused to take sides. In truth, Osric kept switching sides based on what was most advantageous to him. In any case, Athelberht appointed Osric as ealdorman of Hampshire and let Osric’s son, Osweald take Dorset. Besides, Athelberht’s mother was Osric’s sister, so Athelberht imagined Uncle Osric would do right by him.

Elgar talked to Eanwulf and Bishop Ealhstan of Sherborne and asked them to support, encourage, and teach young Osweald to do a good job in Dorset. Eanwulf did nothing. Ealhstan figured Osweald was like Athelbald, easy to manipulate. Nothing Elgar could do about that. At least Osric did not abandon his son.

Athelberht succeeded in his tasks over the years he ruled. The eastern shires of Kent, Surrey, and Sussex were fully integrated into the larger kingdom of Wessex. Winchester and the whole land of Hampshire were rebuilt and strengthened against the Danes. Everything was settled by 864 when the east coast of Kent became ravaged by the Danes, almost a repeat of what happened fourteen years earlier in 850. Dover, Canterbury, Rochester, and London were raided, and everything east and north of Watling Street fell to Danish hands.  This was a year before the landing in East Anglia by what modern scholars call the Great Heathen Army. Some might suggest the actual invasion of England started in 864.

Two other things of note happened in 864. First, the Flesh Eater fighters and three person bombers strafed the major population centers in Wessex, from Kingston on Thames to Carhampton in Somerset. Some buildings burned, some collapsed, and some people died. It was not devastating, but like warning shots to not resist or fight back without suffering consequences. Second, Athelberht was wounded in one fly-over. He limped for a number of months, well into the new year, before he lost his leg. He seemed to do well enough after that for a one legged man, but six months or so down the road the leg got infected. Gangrene. He died sometime at the end of August, early September of 865, and was buried in Sherborne next to Athelbald. That left twenty-two-year-old Athelred to be king.

By the grace of God, as Elgar’s priest said, the Viking Great Army first turned north in 866 after they got settled and got their bearings. The death of Ragnar Lodbrok being thrown into a snake pit needed to be answered. The Danes devastated Northumbria and installed a puppet king in York. Then they turned on Mercia and ravaged eastern Mercia, wintering in 867-868 in Nottingham. In 869 they returned to conquer East Anglia and killed King Edmund who held the line against them when they first arrived. This left Wessex isolated with only western Mercia free and still in the hands of Athelred’s and Alfred’s sister whose husband, King Burgred of Mercia, still had some say over the land. With all that, the Danes were not ready to try Wessex again until late in 870. Thus far, the Danes had not been successful in Wessex. That gave Athelred time to reach out to his thegans and ealdormen and settle matters in the kingdom while gathering his forces. It also gave Elgar time to act.

When the Flesh Eater fighter ship flew over Watchet, Elgar knew he had to do something. The fighter dive bombed the town several times but did little damage before it moved on down the coast. The fortress, which was Elgar’s home, and the church were untouched. That allowed him the opportunity to speak with the priest again before he acted foolishly. He found things changed a bit.

“I am having a hard time holding on to Mercy and Forgiveness,” the priest admitted. “Two of the church widows were caught in the open and burned. How these creatures can fly and rain fire from the sky is beyond my understanding, but with such great power there is supposed to be great responsibility.”

“People,” Elgar said. “They are not human people like us, but they are people, not creatures. And you make me afraid to act at all.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I am one of those great powers that must act with great responsibility,” Elgar said plainly.

“Yes, I understand that much,” the priest responded. “But you have given these strange people sufficient chances, have you not?” Elgar nodded, so the priest concluded. “In Christ we have forgiveness of sin and the promise of Heaven. He will not hold our actions against us in eternity. But in the here and now, that does not leave us off being responsible for our actions, and often we must suffer the consequences.”

Elgar nodded again. “The law says for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. To put it in Biblical terms, as you sew, so shall you reap.”

“I would think so,” the priest said.

As soon as the Vikings began to land in East Anglia where they cowed King Edmund and gathered horses and equipment for their invasion, Elgar moved. He asked Lady Alice of Avalon to reach out into space. She found three Ape ships in a patrol group not that many light years away. She fed them the coordinates and informed them of the Flesh Eater ship located on the Genesis moon where they did not belong. Those Ape ships started out right away, but it would be well over a year before they arrived.

In place of his brother Eanwulf, who was ill, Elgar went with King Athelred, and twenty-five hundred men of Wessex to help King Burgred of Mercia route the Danish army that wintered in Nottingham. They intended to drive the Danes from Mercia altogether and thus liberate the eastern half of the land. Sadly, Burgred was not a military man and Athelred knew nothing about how to lay a successful siege. The two king together could not force the Danes to budge. It seemed to Elgar that the Danes were laughing at them. Elgar was twice Athelred’s age, but somehow they were back to the days where they did not listen to anything Elgar had to say. Burgred’s wife, Athelswith, Athelred’s older sister painted Elgar as the baby of the family. That is how Burgred saw him, so Athelred agreed with his sister. In the end, King Burgred paid the Dane to leave and stay away. The Danes waited until the weather cleared before they pulled out and headed back to York.

Only one thing of note happened at that time. Ealhstan, Bishop of Sherborne died in a skirmish with the Danes. No one knew how he managed to be in the area when the Danes came out to forage for food. He was generally a person who ran away when the fighting started, but he got himself killed and a man named Heahmund, a bit of a militant bishop, so quite the opposite of the coward took over.

Just as well, Elgar thought. He had his hands full with what was happening in space. The three Ape ships arrived and immediately engaged with the Flesh Eater ship somewhere out toward Mars. The battle was not so swift. The ships maneuvered all over space to get a clean shot on their enemy. Two Ape ships prevented the Flesh Eater ship from escaping into the asteroid belt. one of the Ape ships was destroyed, but the Flesh Eater ship had its screens taken down. It tried to escape, but the third Ape ship caught it and it exploded, spreading dead Flesh Eaters all across that section of space. One Ape ship was gone. One Ape ship was seriously damaged, but the third ship survived well enough to where they could guide their damaged ship to a place where they could repair.

Unfortunately, the Apes did not see the Flesh Eater shuttle head for Earth, escorted by two fighter ships and a three person fighter-bomber. Double unfortunately, someone else did see that shuttle. At first it headed toward the coast of Norway, but at the last minute it skirted across the North Sea like flying under the radar and headed toward the Scottish highlands. The shuttle had all thirteen fertile females and several litters of infants. As promised, once they left earth their fertility was restored, even if they only went as far as the moon.

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MONDAY

The Kairos confronts Abraxas and cleans up the last of the Flesh Eater mess. After that, things with the Danish army begin to heat up. Until then, Happy Reading

 

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Medieval 5: Elgar 7 Second Chances, part 2 of 4

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While King Athelwulf, Eanwulf, and Osric were off helping the Mercians beat down the Welsh, the king’s wife, Osburh caught a cold. As sometimes happened in those days, she died before Athelwulf got home. The king went into a time of seclusion. For some months, they could hardly get a word out of him.  Eventually, he would only speak to the priests and so perhaps it was no surprise when after two years he decided to make the pilgrimage to Rome. He took his younger sons, Athelred and Alfred with him.

Athelwulf’s eldest surviving son, Athelbald took the reins of the kingdom, though he was not the sharpest knife. Athelwulf made his next eldest son, Athelberht, subking over Kent, Surrey, and Sussex, though Athelbald did not allow Athelberht the same grace to rule that his father allowed him. Eanwulf and Osric liked having Athelbald in charge. He was easy to manipulate. And they supported Athelbald when Athelwulf returned and found his throne occupied.

While in Rome, Athelred and Alfred were tutored under the watchful eye of the pope. Alfred took to the learning and reading like the proverbial duck to water, in particular the histories, though he was only nine years old. He became fascinated to learn how Rome built such a mighty empire and organized itself to last a thousand years. He read about the saints and martyrs who struggled and sacrificed so much for the gospel and to convert the heathen. He read and received instruction about many things, and even at that young age, he recognized how the people of Wessex and the church in Wessex were hampered by the inability to read and the lack of books worth reading. He took a vow against his enemy, ignorance.

Athelred, by contrast, had little interest in the lessons. It is not that he was lazy, but his interests went more toward the martial arts. He did not mind learning about Caesar and hearing all about the battles. His was more of a romantic view of empire, of battles and conquest, not necessarily ruling. All the same, their father Athelwulf had both young boys invested in a way that proved their worthiness to rule. Athelwulf figured when he died, the older boys could not shave the younger one’s heads and stick them in a monastery somewhere to be forgotten.

When they left Rome after a year, they returned to the Carolingian court of Charles the Bald. Alfred, now ten, brought his trunk full of books. Athelred, fourteen, carried a sword with which his father hoped he would not cut himself.

Charles the Bald spent those days building alliances with outside kings and rulers as a balance against his own nobility that did not like him very much. Athelwulf, king of Wessex, certainly fit the bill. No one can say how Charles’ twelve-year-old daughter Judith came into the negotiations except to say Judith was a witch who had no intention of becoming a nun. She was beginning to chaff under the strict rules of her parents and wanted out. At her young age she had no business considering marriage, but it was all she could think of to escape. Besides, she figured the old man would not give her any trouble. He still loved his first wife, Osburh, and he would not live that long. She prepared herself to make sure of that.

When the family returned to Wessex, they found the throne taken and Athelbald would not be giving it up. Much to Athelwulf’s disappointment, his old friends Eanwulf of Somerset with Ealhstan, Bishop of Sherborne supported Athelbald, while Osric of Dorset sat on the fence between the two. Athelwulf, who was already not feeling well, was reluctant to start a civil war. He had the support of Hampshire, Wiltshire, and Berkshire, so he made a deal with his son. Athelbald took the western provinces of Somerset, Dorset, and Devon where Eanwulf’s friend Odda took the reins after his other friend Ceorle died in the 851 battle against the Danes. Athelwulf kept the central shires under his hand. Basically, Athelbald got the bishop of Sherborne while Athelwulf kept the bishop of Winchester. Athelberht in Kent, who refused to take sides, kept the bishop of Canterbury while the bishop of London was still technically claimed by Mercia, and by the Danes.

The agreement only lasted about a year. Athelwulf got sick and died just after the new year, 858, in Sussex, where he was buried. Athelbald moved back to Winchester and to the throne of Wessex. Then he did one thing that Elgar, Eanwulf, Osric, and the Bishop of Sherborne all agreed and advised against. He married Judith, now fifteen, his father’s widow. He did not know she was a witch.

It certainly was not Judith’s intention to be saddled with the son, but she saw no other way to power. At one time, she imagined after she got rid of the old man she might take the crown for herself, but that would never fly with these rude and ignorant Saxons. They called her queen, but in Saxon terms, the queen was no more than the king’s wife. Judith ruled through Athelbald for two and a half years, but it soon became too taxing to continue. The man was terminally stupid, and stubborn once he got a thought in his head. She controlled things well enough to get what she wanted, but he got on her every nerve. Athelbald was already sick with the same mysterious disease that killed his father when the Vikings under Weland burned Winchester. That happened in 860.

Charles the Bald originally contracted with the Viking Weland to drive out some other Norsemen that were threatening Paris from the north shore of Francia. Weland sort of succeeded. He gathered his army and put those Norsemen under siege until they paid him an ungodly amount of gold to go away. He thought this was a good thing. He heard about Athelwulf in Rome, how he lavished gold everywhere he went. He thought Wessex was just across the Channel. He imagined if he brought his army there, they might also pay him off to go away.

To his credit, Weland got all the way to the walls of Winchester before the army of Wessex gathered. He burned parts of the town, but he did not take the town before three times his numbers came from outside the city to confront him. Weland could not run fast enough. They fought, and Weland lost badly before he made it to his ships and escaped. The people of Wessex did not pay him off. They just got mad, and it was a mistake that got echoed in the halls of Denmark and Norway. The Vikings lost badly at the Parrett River. They lost again in 851 near Kingston in Surrey. Now, Weland had to tuck his tail and run. The message was don’t mess with Wessex.

Without knowing it, Weland did three things that might have proved troublesome in the future. His army managed to kill two ealdormen, the leaders in Berkshire and Hampshire. Poor Wulfheard of Hampshire was the father of Eanwulf’s wife, so he was family in a sense. And he had no sons, so the position stayed vacant for a while. For the hat trick, Weland’s army drove Athelbald from the city and nearly caught him in a skirmish outside the city walls. Athelbald received a cut in his arm which was not life threatening, but he was already weak from being sick.

Athelbald ran to Sherborne, to where he imagined his friends lived. The Bishop, Ealhstan, received him as the king, but he did not show any great friendship. Eanwulf did not even bother to visit. Instead, he sent Elgar.

Elgar spent the last seven years at home where his wife finally gave him a son to go with his four daughters. He felt it was about time since he turned forty in 860. In those seven years, he only drove off two Viking raids, and he figured one landed on his shore by accident. He guessed they were headed toward Glywysing in Wales and got turned around in the storm. It would have been nice to think he spent those years in peace and quiet, but no such luck.

Some of that time got spent receiving reports about the would-be god Abraxas. The god settled in Northumbria, on the opposite side of the island from where Elgar was located in Somerset. Marsham the elf and Pinoak’s fairy sister, Heath, both moved into the area where they could watch the god closely. Both married into the local elf tribe and fairy troop and settled in to do their duty. Abraxas seemed to be moving quietly around the area, though he brought in more Danes and Norsemen than Elgar imagined was healthy. Elgar guessed Abraxas wanted the pagan Vikings and English Christians to clash in their culture and faith and cause uncertainty in many minds. Elgar concluded that Abraxas could take advantage of that uncertainty. He would have to watch it.

The rest of the time, he kept one eye on the Flesh Eaters who abandoned the Earth only to land on the moon. From there, they regularly sent shuttles back to earth to pick up whole herds of animals, sometimes including cattle and sheep, and the occasional farmer and rancher. More concerning was the three-person bombers being used as scout ships and to deliver Flesh Eater counselors to the Danish throne.

Elgar’s elf spies suspected the Flesh Eaters were using their mind control devices on certain chiefs, counselors, and elders throughout Scandinavia. It was impossible to tell, or prove, because the elves knew nothing about that level of advanced technology, and the men behaved perfectly normally, as far as the elves could tell, even if their instructions came from the moon.

Elgar hoped the Flesh Eaters left Earth and were only hiding out on the moon until things settled down in deep space. Once the battles between the Apes and Flesh Eaters quieted down out among the stars, Elgar hoped these local Flesh Eaters would leave the solar system altogether. He was willing to let them visit and gather food as long as that food consisted of deer, cattle, sheep and the like. He was not happy about the occasional rancher or farmer they took with the herds, but at least they stopped eating the Geats on a regular basis.

Elgar talked to Reed, his house elf, the one who gathered all the information brought in by the elf and fairy spy networks. “Hopefully, when the fireworks in deep space settle down, these Flesh Eaters will leave altogether.”

“Hopefully,” Reed agreed, but all they could do was watch and wait. “It has been fifteen or sixteen years. How long will this war in space continue?”

“Eighteen years since the Apes found the Flesh Eater home world,” Elgar said and shook his head. He thought to explain what he could. “It takes a week, or two with bad winds, to travel from Denmark to England. But in space, the stars they travel to are not necessarily next to each other. To sail from Copenhagen all the way around to the Mediterranean to raid in Provence, Italy, or get to Constantinople takes months, maybe a year or two. In space, the distances are vast. Even at faster than light speed, it can take months or years just to get to an Ape colony or Flesh Eater colony. The actual fighting does not last long. It is the travel to get to the battlefield that takes forever. It is not much different on Earth. Armies gather, and most of the time is spent just getting there.”

Reed nodded that he understood.