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While we waited in suspense, we saw a fierce light flash forth from the hall, and perceived that, having plundered it of all that was portable, they had fired it in many places at once; and while we looked, we saw our own once happy home share the same fate, and emulate the hall in sending forth its volume of ruddy fla...
Down the stream about two hours' journey an old Roman road, leading southward, crossed the river, where a bridge had once existed, long since swept away by time, but there was a tolerable ford quite safe, save in winter floods. Hard by stood a hostelry, and thither we journeyed in our heavily-laden bark. The light of t...
We were so exhausted with the fatigues and excitement of the enemy, that we hailed this lonely habitation as a little Zoar. It showed how safe people were feeling in Mercia, that we could not wake the good people for a long time, and we were getting impatient, for they seemed like the seven holy sleepers of Ephesus, aw...
"The poor brethren of St. Benedict from Aescendune." "Now the saints help thy lying tongue," thus irreverently he spoke, "do holy men travel like robbers in dead of night?" "Look, my brother, over the tree tops, and you may learn the cause of our wanderings; dost thou not even yet see the angry glare in the heavens? It...
"Are all safe, we trust, in body." "God be praised!" and the host hurried down and admitted us. His wife hasted to light a good fire, and to prepare us a breakfast; in short, we had fallen amongst the faithful, and we met great hospitality, for which may God repay the worthy host, Goodman Wiglaf. We were so fatigued in...
Wiglaf watched the river jealously to see that no foe pursued; but, as we afterwards learned, they had other things to think of. The road which ran across the river at this spot continued southward into Wessex, and, so far as we could learn, was free from danger, so I determined to send my brethren to Abingdon by easy ...
Before us lay the fated village, one mass of deformed and blackened ruins, from which the dark smoke ceaselessly arose, and made the air painful to breathe. But there was no sign of life; no living thing seemed to breathe there; the place seemed abandoned for ever. It was a dull day, dull as the gloom which was upon ou...
"I hear the tramp of men," he said. Then I listened, and distinctly heard the footfall of men and horses. We paused; it drew nearer. We were on the point of taking to the woods again, when I thought I caught the sound of the word of command in the English tongue, and the voice seemed familiar. We advanced still cautiou...
I recognised Elfwyn amongst them. I rushed up to him, and our tears mingled together. "They are safe, are safe," I cried. "Thank God!" broke from many an overcharged heart. "But where are they? where are they?"
"Safe at the forest farm, protected by brake and morass; and now tell me, how came you here?" Tidings arrived at headquarters that a small party of Danes were making an incursion into Mercia, riding as rapidly as they could, and I obtained Edric Streorn's leave to pursue them, with great difficulty I can tell you, and ...
"Elfwyn," I said, "my brother, we must not be ungrateful to God. Here are ruins indeed, but they cover no dead bodies; all have escaped." "No, Cuthbert, not all." I was silent, for I thought of Bertric. "We have buried him, Cuthbert, in God's peace, in the place he hallowed by his blood."
I saw the tears stream down his manly cheeks. My voice grew so hoarse, somehow, that I could not ask a question. "I will tell you all we have seen by and by, not now. I could not bear it;" and he covered his face with his hands. "How did he die?" I stammered at last. "Like St. Edmund."
I asked no more, but I hope the martyr will forgive me the tears I shed. I know I ought to rejoice that he has gained his crown, but I cannot yet. I shall be able some day. "How could they find the path through the woods, Cuthbert?" asked my brother; "how did they know the fords?" The same question had occurred to me. ...
"Elfwyn," said I, "do you remember Beorn?" He looked earnestly at me. "Did he not say that his captors asked particularly about Aescendune, and that the name of Anlaf was mentioned, and inquiries made concerning Alfgar?" "He did."
"It is the curse of St. Brice's night." "Fallen upon the innocent." "Leave it to God," said I. "I will try; let us go to my people."
And we arose and took the path through the woods, sorrowing for the news we must carry, and still uncertain about the fate of Alfgar. CHAPTER IX. THE CAMP OF THE DANES. It was the noontide heat, and two Danish warriors reclined under the shadow of an ancient beech, hard by the entrenched camp of the Danes, a few days a...
"You are in a great hurry, Sidroc." "Nay, all the camp inquires." "They must wait." "How long?"
"I cannot tell," said Anlaf, shifting uneasily about; "he is my only son, the heir of a long line of warrior princes." "To whom his life is a disgrace." "Not altogether; he is brave." "Would be, you mean, were he not a Christian."
"No, he is, or he would not dare cross my path as he does; death, with which I have often threatened him, does not seem to have much terror for him." "Perhaps he does not know how terrible death can be made. Has he ever heard of the rista oern {vii} (spread eagle)?" "I should not value him much if I won him by fear. I ...
"He must not expect that every conversion can be accomplished with as much rapidity as his own in early days." "Better not refer to that." "Why! he was baptized himself." "He would slay any one who reminded him of it."
"Yes; the curse of Harold Bluetooth, they say, was not a comfortable thing to get." "The father was a Christian in that case, and the son returned to the gods of his ancestors; in your case it is the opposite: the first might be permitted, the last never." "You would not talk in that way if he were your own son." "Shou...
"It was before we knew each other." "Then I will tell you. We had been ravaging the Frankish coasts, and the lad got a wound in his shoulder; we carried him home, for he had fought like a wolf, and the leeches tried to cure him, but it was all in vain; they said he would never be fit to go to battle again. Poor Sigard!...
Anlaf made no reply, but only sighed--a sign of weakness he strove to repress the moment he betrayed it. They walked back together to the camp, and there they parted. Anlaf repaired at once to his tent, and found Alfgar seated therein. "The king wishes to know when you will be enrolled amongst his followers." The lad l...
"Father, it is useless, you should not have brought me here, I shall live and die a Christian." "At all events, Alfgar, you should give more attention to all we have said to you, and more respect to the defenders of the old belief in which your ancestors were all content to die. What do you suppose has become of them?"...
"Then where are they--in hell?" Alfgar was silent. "What was good enough for them is good enough for me, and for that matter for you, too. I should be more comfortable there with them than with your saints and monks; at all events, I will take my chance with my forefathers, cannot you do the same?" "They did not know a...
"All fudge and priestly pratings, begotten of idleness and dreams. Valhalla and Niffelheim are much more reasonable; at all events they are parts of a creed which has made its followers the masters of the world." "This world." "The next may take its chance, if there is one, of which I by no means feel sure. You are thr...
His father was silent; the words struck him like a strain of weird music; but he did not yield the point, save for the time, and after a pause changed the subject. "You have other motives than heavenly ones. You love a Christian maiden." "How do you know that?" said Alfgar, blushing to the temples. "I have lain near yo...
"They have suffered enough." "Nay, only in buildings, which they will restore. I will pursue them with unrelenting vengeance, with the death feud, till I have destroyed the accursed race utterly." "Father!" "If you would save them," said Anlaf, who saw he had made an impression, "renounce your Christianity, and I will ...
Here he left the tent. The days which followed were, it may be imagined, very uncomfortable ones for Alfgar; but he was not destitute of occupation. It was his father's wish that he should join the youth of the camp in athletic and warlike exercises. This he had no objection to do, and he spent nearly his whole time in...
Strolling on the earthworks which defended the camp, near the royal quarters, Alfgar came unexpectedly upon no less a person than the king himself, in close conversation with a stranger. There was something in the form and manner of this stranger which even in the brief moment conveyed recognition to the mind of our he...
The work was a laborious one. From the dawn of day, horses, heavily laden, left the camp, loaded with the accumulated spoil of the year. Anlaf himself was very busy, and it was with some real alarm that Alfgar asked him what would happen did the English suddenly appear. "No fear of them, boy. We have received certain i...
"Like Eden the land at morn they find; But they leave it a desolate waste behind." Whenever they found a tract of country as yet unexhausted, there they settled until they had exhausted it. The wretched inhabitants, who had fled at their approach, perished with hunger, unless they had strength to crawl to the far dista...
Opposite the host, across the Solent, rose the lovely and gentle hills of the "garden of England;" but between them lay the Danish fleet, in all its grandeur, calmly floating on the water. Each of the lofty ships bore the ensign of its commander; some carried at the prow the figures of lions, some of bulls, dolphins, d...
Scarcely a fishing boat belonging to the English could be discerned: the Danes made a desert around them. Eight years before, in the year 998, they had wintered on the island, and since that time had regarded it as a Danish colony. No English remained in it save in the position of slaves, and the conquerors had accumul...
There was a higher glory far than all this, and it had left a lifelong impression on his soul. CHAPTER X. CARISBROOKE IN THE ELEVENTH CENTURY. The fleet bore the troops of savage soldiery safely--too safely--across the waters of the Solent, to the estuary formed by the Medina, where now thousands of visitors seek healt...
Their chosen retreat was the precincts of the old castle--old even then--for it had been once a British stronghold, commanding the route of the Phoenician tin merchants across the island, whence its name "Caer brooke," or the "fort on the stream." The Romans in after ages saw the importance of the position, fortified i...
The conquering Cerdic died four years after, and his son Cynric gave the island to his nephews, Stuf and Wihtgar. The latter died in 544, and was buried in the spot he and his had reddened with blood, within the Roman ramparts of Carisbrooke. It is needless to say that at that early period our ancestors were heathens, ...
The ramparts whereon he was standing were of Roman workmanship, built so solidly that they had resisted every attack of man or of time; while down below lay the ruins of a magnificent villa, once occupied by the Roman governor of the island. Anlaf appeared and stood beside his son. "Alfgar," he said, "the day after tom...
"And the king proposes to enrol you amongst his chosen warriors on that day; he has marked the skill you have displayed in the mimic contests with spear or sword, your skill as a horseman, and he wishes to see whether in actual battle you will fulfil the promise of the parade ground." "And yet he knows my faith." "Alfg...
The heart of the old warrior was sensibly affected by this appeal, but not knowing the strength of Christian principle, he could not reconcile it with facts, and he walked sadly away. But two days, and the dread choice had to be made--the crisis in the life of Alfgar, a crisis which has its parallel in the lives of man...
But to bring such disgrace upon his father and his kindred! "Blood is thicker than water," says the old proverb, and Alfgar could not, even had he wished, ignore the ties of blood; nature pleaded too strongly. But there was a counter-motive even there--the dying wishes of his mother. If his father were Danish, she was ...
Was Christianity worth the sacrifice? Where were the absolute proofs of its truth? If it were of God, why did He not protect His people? The heathen Saxons had been victorious over the Christian Britons; and now that they had become Christian, the heathen Danes were victorious over them. Was this likely to happen if Ch...
This creed had sufficed for his ancestors for generations, as his father had told him. Why should he be better than they? If they trusted to the faith of Odin, might not he? And then, if he lived, when the war was carried into Mercia, he would save his English friends, even although forced to live unknown to them. "Oh!...
He saw, as in a vision, the patient, brave lad enduring mortal agony for Christ, so patiently, so calmly. Had Bertric, then, died for nought? He felt as if the martyr were near him, to aid him in this moment, when his faith was in peril. "O Bertric, Bertric!" he cried, "intercede for me, pray for me." He fell on his kn...
Then he looked up at Sweyn, the murderer of his father, and marvelled that his hand was yet so steady--his head so clear. This apostate parricide! never would he live to kiss the hand of such a man; better die at once, while yet pure from innocent blood. This his Christianity had taught him. "Minstrel," cried the fierc...
"Listen to the ceaseless wail, Listen to the frenzied cry Of anguish, horror, and amaze; Would ye know from whom they come, Tell me, warriors, would ye know?" Here he paused, after throwing intense emphasis on the last words, till he had concentrated the attention of all, and the king gazed--absorbed--then he continued...
Alfgar had seen the apostate in his moment of retributive agony, and he shuddered. "Better death, far better," he murmured, "than a fate like this. God keep me firm to Him." The king had by this time recovered his usual composure, but his rage and fury were the more awful that the outbreak was suppressed. "Sit down, my...
The "rista oern" whispered one in his ear. The ferocious king nodded, and his eyes sparkled with the expected gratification of his fierce cruelty. Meanwhile warriors were searching all the precincts of the camp for the destined victim. Nearly half-an-hour had passed, and the king was getting impatient, for nearly all t...
Still he came not; and at length the searchers were forced, one after the other, to confess their failure. "It is well," said the king; "but it was the insult of a Christian, and shall be washed out in Christian blood. Anlaf, produce thy son." "Nay, nay, not now," cried Sidroc and others, for they saw that Sweyn was al...
"Drink first, then, and drown care," said Sidroc, and gave the brutal tyrant a bowl of rich mead. He drank, drank until it was empty, then fell back and reposed with an idiotic smile superseding the ferocious expression his face had so lately worn. Meanwhile a hand was laid upon Alfgar's shoulder, and a keen bright eye...
He led Alfgar forth into the courtyard. "Thou dost not seem to fear death," said the boy prince. "It would be welcome now." "So some of our people sometimes say, but the motive is different; tell me what is the secret of this Christianity?"
Just then Sidroc and Anlaf came out from the hall and saw the two together. Sidroc seemed annoyed, and led the young prince away, while Anlaf seized the opportunity to whisper to his son: "My son, I can do no more for thee; I see thou wilt persist in thine obstinacy. I release thee from thy promise given to me; escape ...
"I accept the charge," said Sidroc; "follow me, Alfgar, son of Anlaf." Alfgar followed passively. He could not help looking as if to take leave of his father; but Anlaf stood as mute and passionless as a statue. Sidroc reached a party of the guard, and bade them confine the prisoner in the dungeon beneath the ruined ea...
It was a low dungeon, built of that brick which we still recognise as of Roman manufacture, in the foundations of what had been the eastern tower of the ancient fortification. The old pile had been badly preserved by the Saxon conquerors, but it had been built of that solid architecture which seems almost to defy the a...
"Perhaps before he dies he may yet think of me without shame." For the shame which he unwillingly brought upon a father who was stern, yet not unkind or void of parental love, was the bitterest ingredient in the cup. And so the hours rolled on, which brought the dreaded morn nearer and nearer; and the victim, comforted...
"Alfgar, son of Anlaf, sleepest thou?" "Surely I dream," thought he, and strove to sleep again. "Alfgar, son of Anlaf, sleepest thou?" Now he sat up, and beheld, or thought he beheld, a figure of one clothed in the attire of a minstrel, in the centre of the chamber.
"Art thou yet in the flesh like me?" he cried, repressing a shudder. "Even so, a being of like mould, subject to pain and death." "A prisoner, then; art doomed to die?" "No prisoner, neither art thou, if thou willest to escape."
"Thou art the gleeman who insulted Sweyn." "Nay, who told the brutal tyrant the truth." "And what doest thou here?" "I am come to deliver thee."
"But how?" "Rise up, cast on your garments." Hardly knowing what he did, Alfgar obeyed, and when he stood face to face with the stranger, began to lose the uneasy impression that the being who addressed him was otherwise than mortal; for he saw by the light of the lamp that the gleeman bore all the attributes of a livi...
"Because I know the secrets of the prison house--knew them before the Danes had murdered the once happy dwellers in this garden of England, which they have made a howling wilderness; hence I escaped the wrath of the furious parricide, whom the saints destroy, with ease, and laughed in security at their vain efforts to ...
"Yes, of Aescendune. I have heard that thou art thence. Now waste no more time." More and more mystified, for he had never to his knowledge seen the speaker before, Alfgar gazed at the gleeman. He appeared of noble air and mien, but was evidently but a young man; he was somewhat above the average height, and looked as ...
"Upwards it leads to the banqueting hall, and you can comprehend my escape this evening," said he; "but our path is now downwards, unless you would like to go up and see the drunken beasts of murderers snoring off their debauch upon the floor as they fell; oh, that it were lawful for a Christian man to cut their throat...
"I heard you sing like a scald tonight." "It was my part, and I acted it passing well, did I not? Sweyn would own as much; but, pardon me, I am forgetting that my daring put you in danger." "How did you know that?" "I heard every word; and perhaps I might even have risked more than this to save you."
Meanwhile they had descended nearly a hundred steps, and the atmosphere became singularly cold and charnel-like, when they entered a large vault, which, by the light of their torches, appeared of great extent. Its walls were covered with uncouth representations, and inscriptions in Latin. "What place is this?" "It had ...
"Thanks be to God for our preservation in that den of unclean lions!" said the gleeman; "but had they known who was amongst them, he would have had scant chance of escape." "May I not know?" "Not yet. Come, we must waste no more time." They walked swiftly down the brook. No sentinels were posted in this direction, nor ...
"The danger is yet to come," said the gleeman, in a low tone. Shortly they reached the river, and then they found a boat hidden in the rushes, which grew tall and strong. They embarked, and Alfgar steered, by the other's direction, straight down the stream, while he rowed for full an hour with remarkable strength and d...
"I do." "Well, they are the Danish war ships, and our hour of peril draws near. We must drop down with the tide, which is running out strongly, and I must steer. You can row, I suppose?" "Yes." "Well, get the oars ready to pull for your life, if I give the word, but not till then. Now silence."
In perfect silence they drifted down upon the ships. Happily for them there was no moon, and although the stars were bright, there was little danger that their dark-painted bark would be seen at any distance. One great mass after another seemed to float by them; but it was the dead hour of the night, and no sounds were...
But they heard no more, for they had drifted beyond hearing. They had now attained the last ship, when suddenly a watchman sprang to the side. "Boat ahoy! Whence and where?" "From the 'Great Dragon'--a poor gleeman and his attendant to his home on the shore."
"Come on board then, and wake us with a song. The watch is ours, and we will make it merry." There was no help for it; and commending courage with a significant look to his companion, the gleeman and Alfgar ascended. It was yet dark, and the language and appearance of each might pass tolerably under ordinary circumstan...
He told how the fierce Ragnar sailed for England, how his fleet was wrecked, but still how, with the relics of his forces, he assaulted Northumbria, and was taken captive by Ella the king, who threw him into a hole filled with vipers and toads. "Sharp the adder's tooth, but sharper Spake the sea king to his foes, Spake...
In turn Alfgar was forced to support his assumed character. Luckily his tenacious memory retained the words of many an old song, and the warriors were well pleased. "Why must thou go to shore? We will feed and guerdon thee well if thou wilt stay with us." "We are aweary now, and would fain return to our comrades on the...
They were allowed to return to their boat; but as they did so, many a keen eye was fixed upon them. The dawn was already beginning to appear in the east, and every moment was of importance. "Thou hast borne the test well," said the gleeman, "and hast not flinched." "I could not in your presence." At this moment they he...
"Hast seen a boat with a gleeman and harp bearer?" "They have just left the ship." "Follow; they are English spies. Sweyn will give the weight of their heads in red gold." Instantly they heard the sound of hurried voices, the lowering of boats, the splash of numerous oars, and all nearly close behind them. They took an...
The light was gradually growing stronger, and their chance of escape seemed feeble, when Alfgar saw before them a dense cloud of mist rolling round the eastern promontory, and uttered a cry of joy as it enfolded them. "The wind is east, keep it on your right cheek, and steer straight forward. I will take both oars," sa...
"Alfgar," said the gleeman, "you will find a quiver of arrows and a long bow at the bottom of the boat behind you." Alfgar handed them to him. "The points are passing sharp, and the bow is in order; take your turn to row." Alfgar obeyed; he could not do otherwise, the gleeman's tone of command was so powerful, but he f...
"You need not hurry yourself; let them approach. They are not likely to have brought other weapons than their swords and axes." The boat gained on them rapidly, until it was within a hundred and fifty yards. "Keep just this distance if you can," said the gleeman, and drew an arrow suddenly to its head; it whistled thro...
Another steersman promptly took the place, but some yards were lost by the pursuers. "Slacken, we are too far for accurate aim; and we English must not disgrace ourselves in Danish eyes." They slackened, another arrow sped, and the foremost rower fell. Evidently the Danes had no means of reply. "Slacken yet more;" and ...
But as he did so he cried aloud: "Dane, we give thee thy life, blood sucker though thou art. Go, and tell King Sweyn that Edmund {viii} the Etheling, son of Ethelred of England, has been his gleeman, and hopes he enjoyed the song which told the doom of parricides." CHAPTER XII. THE MONASTERY OF ABINGDON. One of the cen...
Centwin was then king of Sussex, but various petty states were tributary to him, and ruled by viceroys. One of these viceroys was Cissa, whose dominions included Wiltshire and the greater part of Berkshire {ix}. This Cissa and his nephew, Hean, founded Abingdon. A mission was sent out from Chichester which attracted gr...
Several times the monastery was in peril by reason of the wars between Wessex and Mercia. In A. D. 752, Cuthred of Wessex defeated Ethelbald of Mercia at Burford, hard by, and protected Abingdon from further aggressions. Twenty-five years later the decision of war was reversed. Offa, the great and fierce king of Mercia...
In festo St. Edmundi. Again I resume my diary, at the great monastic house of Abingdon, where I have rejoined my brethren. I have already told how, in company with Elfwyn, Father Adhelm and I sought the forest farm where our beloved ones had found refuge from the cruel oppressor. The joy of the women and children to wh...
We have been able to learn nothing of Alfgar; but we think that Anlaf probably yet lives, and that he has recovered his son; yet we cannot imagine how he escaped on St. Brice's night. Well, to return. We at once set to work, and erected a church of timber, for the service of God; and I said mass in it the first Sunday ...
Then, leaving Father Adhelm in charge of the woodland settlement, I determined to visit my brethren here, where I have been received with all Christian love and hospitality by the abbot and his brethren. Three days my journey lasted. I travelled with only two attendants, serfs of our house; a poor prior burnt out from ...
At length we all sat down to supper, but talked so much we could eat little, and I soon learned all the news Alfgar had to tell. His tale is wonderful; he has been indeed delivered from the mouth of the lion, nay, from the jaws of the fierce lion; but I must set down all things in order. The one thing which delights me...
But when all these congratulations were over, and we had learned all that Alfgar had to tell, there was evidently something on the mind of the prince. "Alfgar and I have a very important duty to perform," he said. I waited, and he proceeded. "There has been grievous treachery in our ranks. Edric Streorn has sold us to ...
"I feared as much," said I, sadly. "I learned it at Carisbrooke, and am now on my way to Dorchester, where my royal father has arrived, or will arrive tomorrow. I should have gone there at once, but Alfgar learned you were here, and would come. Besides, we need your help to fit us for appearing at court." And, in truth...
"We will to the tradesmen tomorrow," I said, "and fit you for the presence." "I have yet heavier news to unfold," Edmund added, very seriously. "The Danes purpose a winter campaign in the heart of the land, hoping to take us unawares." "Now the saints forbid!" said I. "Even so; but they are not all with us. St. Brice i...
I sighed, and so did they. The very remembrance of that day is sickening. "We have heard," said the abbot, "that the king will arrive tomorrow at Dorchester; we will send you thither in the morning. Meanwhile, my sons, you do not eat and drink as I would have you. Remember you need to sustain exhausted nature." That wa...
"He appears to love this wicked Edric," said the abbot sorrowfully. "Far better than his own flesh and blood," replied Edmund. "My son," said the abbot, "rest here this night in our poor house; tomorrow we will find you both horses and fitting apparel, and ye shall go meetly to the king, who is the guest of the bishop....
The compline bell rang. "I will go with you to thank God first for our deliverance, and to pay my vows to Him," said Edmund; "then to bed." After compline, Edmund went from the chapel to bed. Alfgar would not retire. He came to my cell; there he talked with me for a full hour. His affection moves me greatly. He has evi...
After we had arrayed the Etheling and Alfgar this morning, I decided to accompany them on their road to Dorchester, for it happened that I had arranged to say mass and preach tomorrow at the little church of St. Michael at Clifton, the residence of my sister Bertha and her husband Herstan. It lies on a cliff over the T...
The river here makes a sudden bend to the east, after running for some time almost due north, and at the bend the steep cliff rises whereon the little church and my brother Herstan's hall is built, with a few cottages below and around occupied by his theows. We went first to the church and offered our devotions. From t...
Soon after our arrival, Herstan sent a messenger to Dorchester to learn at what hour the king was expected; and the answer was returned, that they expected him in time for the banquet at the episcopal palace this evening. So Edmund and Alfgar consented to pass the day quietly at Cliffton. CHAPTER XIII. THE CITY OF DORC...
Dorchester became successively the seat of two great bishoprics--the one West Saxon, the other Mercian. The first, founded by Birinus, when Wessex extended far north of the Thames, was divided seventy years later into two sees--Winchester and Sherburne. For some years the city was without bishops, owing to its insecure...
At length the sound of approaching cavalry was heard, and the cry "The King! the King!" was raised, and cheers were given by the multitude. It was observable, almost at a glance, that they proceeded from the young and giddy, and that their elders refrained from joining in the cry. About a hundred horsemen, gaily capari...
On the opposite side of the quadrangle was the great hall where synods were held, and where, on state occasions, such as a royal visit, the banquet was prepared. Here, after the king had availed himself of the bath, and his attendants had divested themselves of their travel-stained attire, the throne of the king was pl...
Ednoth said grace, and the chanters responded. The canons of the cathedral, the priests of the other churches, the sheriff of the county, the reeve of the borough, the burgesses, all had their places, and the banquet began; huge joints being carried round to each individual, from which, with his dagger, he cut what he ...
"Have they lost many of their number? Did the people of this hundred suffer greatly in the war which Sweyn forced upon us?" "Not very many; still there has been a little mourning, and much anticipation of future evil," replied the bishop. "That is needless," said Edric; "they may all prepare to keep their Christmas wit...
"The Wight! it must be a hundred miles from here; the Danes have never reached any spot so far from the coast as this." "Yet there is an uneasy belief that they will attack the inland districts now that they have exhausted the districts on the coast, and that we must be prepared to suffer as our brethren have done." "B...