The Dragon and The Raven: Or The Days of King Alfred
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G. A. Henty >> The Dragon and The Raven: Or The Days of King Alfred
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It was still quite dark, and it was some time before the
Danes became thoroughly aware of what had happened; then
missing the voices of their leaders, some of them rushed into
the house, and the news that the two jarls and their
companions had been slain roused them to fury. At once they
set off in pursuit of the Saxons in a tumultuous throng;
but the band had already a considerable start, and had the
advantage of knowing every foot of the country, of which
the Danes were ignorant. When once fairly through the enemy,
Edmund had given the word and the formation had broken up, so
that each man could run freely and without jostling his
comrades. Thus they were enabled to proceed at a rapid pace,
and reached the fort just as day was breaking, without having
been discovered or overtaken by the Danes.
The news of this successful exploit raised the spirits of
the garrison of the fort. The Danes swarmed nearly up to
the walls, but seeing how formidable was the position, and
being without leaders, they fell back without making an
attack, some of the more impetuous having fallen from the
arrows of the bowmen.
About mid-day a solid mass of the enemy were seen approaching,
and the banners with the Black Raven on a blood-red field
showed that it contained leaders of importance, and
was, in fact, the main body of the Danes. It was an imposing
sight as it marched towards the fort, with the fluttering
banners, the sun shining upon the brass helmets and shields of
the chiefs, and the spear-heads and swords of the footmen.
Here and there parties of horsemen galloped about the plain.
"Their number has not been exaggerated," Egbert said
to Edmund, "there must be ten thousand of them. There are
full twice as many as attacked us on the field of Kesteven."
The sight of the great array struck terror into the minds
of a great part of the defenders of the fort; but the confident
bearing of their young ealdorman and the thought of the
strength of their walls reassured them. The Danes halted at
a distance of about a quarter of a mile from the walls, and
three or four of their chiefs rode forward. These by the
splendour of their helmets, shields, and trappings were clearly
men of great importance. They halted just out of bowshot
distance, and one of them, raising his voice, shouted:
"Dogs of Saxons, had you laid down your arms, and made
submission to me, I would have spared you; but for the deed
which you did last night, and the slaying of my brave jarls, I
swear that I will have revenge upon you, and, by the god
Wodin, I vow that not one within your walls, man, woman, or
child, shall be spared. This is the oath of King Uffa."
"It were well, King Uffa," Edmund shouted back, "to take
no rash oaths; before you talk of slaying you have got to
capture, and you will need all the aid of your false gods before
you take this fort. As to mercy, we should as soon ask it of
wolves. We have God and our good swords to protect us, and
we fear not your host were it three times as strong as it is."
The Saxons raised a great shout, and the Danish king
rode back to his troops. The lesson which had been given
them of the enterprise of the Saxons was not lost, for the
Danes at once began to form a camp, raising an earthen bank
which they crowned with stakes and bushes as a defence
against sudden attacks. This work occupied them two days,
and during this time no blow was struck on either side, as
the Danes posted a strong body of men each night to prevent
the Saxons from sallying out. On the third day the work was
finished, and the Danish kings with their jarls made a circuit
round the walls, evidently to select the place for attack.
The time had passed quietly in the fort. In one corner
the priests had erected an altar, and here mass was said three
times a day. The priests went among the soldiers exhorting
them to resist to the last, confessing them, and giving them
absolution.
The pains which the Danes had taken in the preparation of
their camp was a proof of their determination to capture
the fort, however long the operation might be. It showed,
too, that they recognized the difficulty of the task, for had
they believed that the capture could be easily effected they
would at once upon their arrival have advanced to the attack.
"To-morrow morning early," Egbert said, "I expect that
they will assault us. In the first place probably they will
endeavour to carry the fort by a general attack; if they fail in
this they will set to construct engines with which to batter
the wall."
At daybreak the following morning the Danes issued
from their camp. Having formed up in regular order, they
advanced towards the castle. They divided into four bands;
three of these wheeled round to opposite sides of the fort,
the fourth, which was as large as the other three together,
advanced towards the entrance. The Saxons all took the posts
previously assigned to them on the walls. Edmund strengthened
the force on the side where the gate was by posting
there in addition the whole of his band. Altogether there
were nearly 350 fighting men within the walls, of whom the
greater part had fought against the Danes in the battles of
the previous year. The attack commenced simultaneously
on all sides by a discharge of arrows by the archers of both
parties. The Saxons, sheltered behind the parapet on the
walls, suffered but slightly; but their missiles did
considerable execution among the masses of the Danes. These,
however, did not pause to continue the conflict at a distance,
but uttering their battle-cry rushed forward.
Edmund and Egbert had but little fear of the attack on
the other faces of the fort proving successful; the chief
assault was against the gate, and it was here that the real
danger existed.
The main body of the Danes covered themselves with
their shields and rushed forward with the greatest
determination, pouring through the gap in the outer bank
in a solid mass, and then turned along the fosse towards
the inner gate. Closely packed together, with their shields
above their heads forming a sort of testudo or roof which
protected them against the Saxons' arrows, they pressed
forward in spite of the shower of missiles with which the
Saxons on the walls assailed them. Arrows, darts, and great
stones were showered down upon them, the latter breaking
down the shields, and affording the archers an opportunity
of pouring in their arrows.
Numbers fell, but the column swept along until it gained
the gate. Here those in front began an attack upon the
massive beams with their axes, and when they had somewhat
weakened it, battered it with heavy beams of timber until it
was completely splintered. While this was going on the Saxons
had continued to shoot without intermission, and the
Danish dead were heaped thickly around the gate. The Danish
archers, assisted by their comrades, had scrambled up on
to the outer bank and kept up a heavy fire on the defenders
of the wall. The Saxons sheltered their heads and shoulders
which were above the parapet with their shields; and between
these, as through loopholes, their archers shot at the Danes.
Edmund and Egbert had debated much on the previous days
whether they would pile stones behind the gate, but
had finally agreed not to do so. They argued that although
for a time the stones would impede the progress of the Danes,
these would, if they shattered the door, sooner or later pull
down the stones or climb over them; and it was better to
have a smooth and level place for defence inside. They had,
however, raised a bank of earth ten feet high in a semicircle
at a distance of twenty yards within the gate.
When it was seen that the gates were yielding Edmund
had called down his own band from the walls and formed
them in a half-circle ten yards from the gate. They were four
deep, as in their usual formation, with the four lines of spears
projecting towards the gate. The mound behind them he
lined with archers.
At last the gates fell, and with an exulting shout the Danes
poured in. As they did so the archers on the mound loosed
their arrows, and the head of the Danish column melted like
snow before the blast of a furnace. Still they poured in and
flung themselves upon the spearmen, but they strove in vain
to pierce the hedge of steel. Desperately they threw themselves
upon the pike-heads and died there bravely, but they
were powerless to break a passage.
The archers on the mound still shot fast among them,
while those on the wall, turning round, smote them in the
back, where, unprotected by their shields, they offered a sure
and fatal mark. Soon the narrow semicircle inside the gate
became heaped high with dead, impeding the efforts of those
still pressing in. Several of the bravest of the Danish leaders
had fallen. The crowd in the fosse, unaware of the obstacle
which prevented the advance of the head of the column and
harassed by the missiles from above, grew impatient, and after
half an hour of desperate efforts, and having lost upwards
of three hundred of his best men, the Danish king, furious
with rage and disappointment, called off his men.
On the other three sides the attack equally failed. The
Danes suffered heavily while climbing the steep side of the
inner mound. They brought with them faggots, which they
cast down at the foot of the wall, but this was built so near
the edge of the slope that they were unable to pile sufficient
faggots to give them the height required for a successful
assault upon it. Many climbed up on their comrades' shoulders,
and so tried to scale the wall, but they were thrust down
by the Saxon spears as they raised themselves to its level, and
in no place succeeded in gaining a footing. Over two hundred
fell in the three minor attacks.
There were great rejoicings among the Saxons, on whose
side but twenty-three had been killed. A solemn mass was
held, at which all save a few look-outs on the walls attended,
and thanks returned to God for the repulse of the pagans;
then the garrison full of confidence awaited the next attack
of the enemy.
Stones were piled up in the gateway to prevent any sudden
surprise being effected there. The Danes in their retreat
had carried off their dead, and the next morning the Saxons
saw that they were busy with the ceremonies of their burial.
At some little distance from their camp the dead were placed
in a sitting position, in long rows back to back with their
weapons by their sides, and earth was piled over them until a
great mound fifty yards long and ten feet high was raised.
Three jarls and one of their kings were buried separately.
They were placed together in a sitting position, with their
helmets on their heads, their shields on their arms, and their
swords by their sides. Their four war-horses were killed and
laid beside them; twenty slaves were slaughtered and placed
lying round them, for their spirits to attend them in the
Walhalla of the gods. Golden drinking-vessels and other
ornaments were placed by them, and then a mound forty feet
in diameter and twenty feet high was piled over the whole.
The whole force were occupied all day with this work.
The next day numbers of trees were felled and brought to
the camp, and for the next two days the Danes were occupied
in the manufacture of war-engines for battering down
the walls. Edmund and Egbert utilized the time in instructing
the soldiers who did not form part of the regular band,
in the formation of the quadruple line of defence which the
Danes had found it so impossible to break through, so that if
more than one breach was effected, a resistance similar to
that made at the gate could be offered at all points. The
skins of the oxen killed for the use of the garrison were
carefully laid aside, the inside being thickly rubbed
with grease.
The Danish preparations were at length completed, the
war-engines were brought up and began to hurl great stones
against the wall at three points. The Saxons kept up a constant
fire of arrows at those employed at working them, but
the Danes, though losing many men, threw up breastworks
to protect them.
The Saxons manufactured many broad ladders, and in
the middle of the night, lowering these over the walls, they
descended noiselessly, and three strong bodies fell upon the
Danes guarding the engines. These fought stoutly, but were
driven back, the engines were destroyed, and the Saxons retired
to their walls again and drew up their ladders before
the main body of Danes could arrive from the camp. This
caused a delay of some days in the siege, but fresh engines
having been constructed, the assault on the walls was
recommenced, this time the whole Danish army moving out and
sleeping at night close to them.
After three days' battering, breaches of from thirty to
fifty feet wide were effected in the walls. The Saxons had
not been idle. Behind each of the threatened points they
raised banks of earth ten feet high, and cut away the bank
perpendicularly behind the shattered wall, so that the
assailants as they poured in at the gaps would have to
leap ten feet down.
Each night the masses of wall which fell inside were
cleared away, and when the breach was complete, and it was
evident that the assault would take place the next morning,
the hides which had been prepared were laid with the hairy
side down, on the ground below. Through them they drove
firmly into the ground numbers of pikes with the heads sticking
up one or two feet, and pointed stakes hardened in the
fire. Then satisfied that all had been done the Saxons lay
down to rest.
In the morning the Danes advanced to the assault. This
time they were but little annoyed in their advance by the
archers. These were posted on the walls at each side of the
gaps to shoot down at the backs of the Danes after they had
entered. On the inner semicircular mounds the Saxon force
gathered four deep.
With loud shouts the Danes rushed forward, climbed
the outer mounds, and reached the breaches. Here the leaders
paused on seeing the gulf below them, but pressed by
those behind they could not hesitate long, but leapt down
from the breach on to the slippery hides below.
Not one who did so lived. It was impossible to keep
their feet as they alighted, and as they fell they were impaled
by the pikes and stakes. Pressed by those behind, however,
fresh men leapt down, falling in their turn, until at length
the hides and stakes were covered, and those leaping down
found a foothold on the bodies of the fallen. Then they
crowded on and strove to climb the inner bank and attack
the Saxons. Now the archers on the walls opened fire upon
them, and, pierced through and through with the arrows
which struck them on the back, the Danes fell in great
numbers. Edmund commanded at one of the breaches, Egbert at
another, and Oswald, an old and experienced warrior, at the
third.
At each point the scene was similar. The Danes struggled
up the mounds only to fail to break through the hedge of
spears which crowned them, fast numbers dying in the attempt,
while as many more fell pierced with arrows. For an
hour the Danes continued their desperate efforts, and not
until fifteen hundred had been slain did they draw off to
their camp, finding it impossible to break through the Saxon
defences.
Loud rose the shouts of the triumphant Saxons as the
Danes retired, and it needed all the efforts of their leaders to
prevent them from pouring out in pursuit; but the events of
the preceding year had taught the Saxon leaders how often
their impetuosity after success had proved fatal to the Saxons,
and that once in the plain the Danes would turn upon
them and crush them by their still greatly superior numbers.
Therefore no one was allowed to sally out, and the discomfited
Danes retired unmolested.
The next morning to their joy the Saxons saw that the
invaders had broken up their camp, and had marched away
in the night. Scouts were sent out in various directions, and
the Saxons employed themselves in stripping and burying
the Danes who had fallen within the fort, only a few of the
most distinguished having been carried off. The scouts
returned with news that the Danes had made no halt, but had
departed entirely from that part of the country. Finding that
for the present they were free of the invaders, the Saxons left
the fort and scattered again, to rebuild as best they might
their devastated homes.
But if in the neighbourhood of Sherborne the Danes
had been severely repulsed, in other parts of the kingdom
they continued to make great progress, and the feeling of
despair among the Saxons increased. Great numbers left
their homes, and taking with them all their portable
possessions, made their way to the sea-coast, and there embarked
for France, where they hoped to be able to live peaceably and
quietly.
Edmund placed no hindrance in the way of such of his
people who chose this course, for the prospect appeared
well-nigh hopeless. The majority of the Saxons were utterly
broken in spirit, and a complete conquest of the kingdom by the
Danes seemed inevitable. In the spring, however, of 877 King
Alfred again issued an urgent summons. A great horde of
Danes had landed at Exeter and taken possession of that town,
and he determined to endeavour to crush them. He sent to
Edmund begging him to proceed at once to Poole, where the
king's fleet was ready for sea, and to embark in it with what
force he could raise, and to sail and blockade the entrance to
the river Exe, and so prevent the Danes from reinforcing their
countrymen, while he with his forces laid siege to Exeter.
Edmund would have taken his own vessel, but some time
would have been lost, and the king's ships were short of hands.
He was not sorry, indeed, that his men should have some
practise at sea, and taking his own band, in which the vacancies
which had been caused in the defence of the fort had
been filled up, he proceeded to Poole. Here he embarked
his men in one of the ships, and the fleet, comprising twenty
vessels, put to sea.
The management of the vessels and their sails was in
the hands of experienced sailors, and Edmund's men had no
duties to perform except to fight the enemy when they met
them.
The news of the siege of Exeter reached the Danes at
Wareham, which was their head-quarters, and 120 vessels
filled with their troops sailed for the relief of Exeter.
The weather was unpropitious, heavy fogs lay on the
water, dissipated occasionally by fierce outbursts of wind. The
Saxon fleet kept the sea. It was well that for a time the Danish
fleet did not appear in sight, for the Saxons, save the
sailors, were unaccustomed to the water, and many suffered
greatly from the rough motion; and had the Danes appeared
for the first week after the fleet put to sea a combat must
have been avoided, as the troops were in no condition to
fight.
Presently, however, they recovered from their malady
and became eager to meet the enemy; Edmund bade his men
take part in the working of the ship in order to accustom
themselves to the duties of seamen. The fleet did not keep
the sea all the time, returning often to the straits between
the Isle of Wight and the mainland, where they lay in shelter,
a look-out being kept from the top of the hills, whence a wide
sweep of sea could be seen, and where piles of wood were
collected by which a signal fire could warn the fleet to put to
sea should the enemy's vessels come in sight.
A full month passed and the Saxons began to fear that
the Danes might have eluded them, having perhaps been
blown out to sea and having made the land again far to the
west. One morning, however, smoke was seen to rise from
the beacon fire. The crews who were on shore instantly hurried
on board. From the hills the Danish fleet was made out
far to the west and was seen to be approaching the land from
seaward, having been driven far out of its course by the winds.
The weather was wild and threatening and the sailors
predicted a great storm. Nevertheless the fleet put to sea
and with reefed sails ran to the west. Their vessels were larger
than the Danish galleys and could better keep the sea in a
storm. Many miles were passed before, from the decks, the
Danish flotilla could be seen. Presently, however, a great
number of their galleys were discerned rowing in towards
Swanage Bay.
In spite of the increasing fury of the wind the Saxons
spread more sail and succeeded in intercepting the Danes. A
desperate fight began, but the Danes in their low, long
vessels had all they could do to keep afloat on the waves.
Many were run down by the Saxons. The showers of arrows from
their lofty poops confused the rowers and slew many. Sweeping
along close to them they often broke off the oars and
disabled them. Sometimes two or three of the Danish galleys
would try to close with a Saxon ship, but the sea was too
rough for the boats to remain alongside while the men tried
to climb up the high sides, and the Saxons with their spears
thrust down those who strove to do so. Confusion and terror
soon reigned among the Danes, and fearing to try to escape
by sea in such a storm made for the shore, hotly pursued
by the Saxons.
But the shore was even more inhospitable than their
foes. Great rocks bordered the coast, and upon these the
galleys were dashed into fragments. The people on shore,
who had gathered at the sight of the approaching fleets, fell
upon such of the Danes as succeeded in gaining the coast,
and everyone who landed was instantly slain. Thus, partly
from the effects of the Saxon fleet but still more from that of
the storm, the whole of the Danish fleet of one hundred and
twenty vessels was destroyed, not a single ship escaping the
general destruction.
CHAPTER VII: THE DRAGON
The Danes at Exeter, being now cut off from all hope
of relief, asked for terms, and the king granted them
their lives on condition of their promising to leave
Wessex and not to return. This promise they swore by their
most solemn oaths to observe, and marching northward
passed out of Wessex and settled near Gloucester. Some of
the Saxons thought that the king had been wrong in granting
such easy terms, but he pointed out to the ealdormen
who remonstrated with him that there were many other and
larger bands of Danes in Mercia and Anglia, and that had he
massacred the band at Exeter--and this he could not have
done without the loss of many men, as assuredly the Danes
would have fought desperately for their lives--the news of
their slaughter would have brought upon him fresh invasions
from all sides.
By this time all resistance to the Danes in Mercia had
ceased. Again and again King Burhred had bought them
off, but this only brought fresh hordes down upon him, and
at last, finding the struggle hopeless, he had gone as a
pilgrim to Rome, where he had died. The Danes acted in Mercia
as they had done in Northumbria. They did not care, themselves,
to settle down for any length of time, and therefore
appointed a weak Saxon thane, Ceolwulf, as the King of Mercia.
He ruled cruelly and extorted large revenues from the
land-owners, and robbed the monasteries, which had escaped
destruction, of their treasures.
The Danes suffered him to pursue this course until he
had amassed great wealth, when they swooped down upon
him, robbed him of all he possessed, and took away the nominal
kingship he had held. As there was now but little fresh
scope for plundering in England many of the Danes both in
Anglia and Mercia settled down in the cities and on the lands
which they had taken from the Saxons.
The Danes who had gone from Exeter were now joined
by another band which had landed in South Wales. The latter,
finding but small plunder was to be obtained among the
mountains of that country, moved to Gloucester, and joining
the band there proposed a fresh invasion of Wessex. The
Danes, in spite of the oaths they had sworn to Alfred, and
the hostages they had left in his hands, agreed to the proposal;
and early in the spring of 878 the bands, swollen by
reinforcements from Mercia, marched into Wiltshire and captured
the royal castle of Chippenham on the Avon. From this point
they spread over the country and destroyed everything
with fire and sword. A general panic seized the inhabitants.
The better class, with the bishops, priests, and monks,
made for the sea-coasts and thence crossed to France, taking
with them all their portable goods, with the relics, precious
stones, and ornaments of the churches and monasteries.
Another party of Danes in twenty-three ships had landed
in Devonshire. Here the ealdorman Adda had constructed a
castle similar to that which Edmund had built. It was fortified
by nature on three sides and had a strong rampart of
earth on another. The Danes tried to starve out the defenders
of the fort; but the Saxons held out for a long time, although
sorely pressed by want of water. At last they sallied
out one morning at daybreak and fell upon the Danes and
utterly defeated them, only a few stragglers regaining their
ships.
A thousand Danes are said to have been slain at Kynwith;
but this was an isolated success; in all other parts of the
kingdom panic appeared to have taken possession of the West
Saxons. Those who could not leave the country retired to
the woods, and thence, when the Danes had passed by, leaving
ruin and desolation behind them, they sallied out and
again began to till the ground as best they could. Thus for a
time the West Saxons, formerly so valiant and determined,
sank to the condition of serfs; for when all resistance ceased
the Danes were well pleased to see the ground tilled, as
otherwise they would speedily have run short of stores.
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