Varangian (Aelfraed) (35 page)

I looked to the left.
  The men on the hill still stood but I saw more bodies.  Guiscard had attacked both lines at once. “Rotate!” The third ranks exchanged positions with the front rank which had fought long and hard. “Well done but the next ones will be the horses.  Second ranks spears. Front rank, axes.” I made my way to the front rank and stood between Cnut and Edward. They both grinned at me and although I could see that they were covered in blood, it was not theirs. I glanced behind me and saw Alexios salute me. We both knew that the next attack would be directed towards him.  Guiscard would go for the king in this deadly game of chess and I, the rook, would need to defend him. “Be prepared to go into wedge on my command!”

The cheer told me that they had heard.
  Sure enough, the pennant dropped and the line of Normans moved inexorably towards us.  This was the time when your bowels felt loose but you also enjoyed the thrill of excitement. These were not cataphracts, these were just Norman knights.  I had fought them and I had defeated them and I would do so again. I saw that Guiscard himself was leading the line which was impressively straight as it moved towards us.  They picked up the pace and gathered speed.  I could see that they held the lances overhand, not couched.  “They will throw javelins!  Second rank ready shields!” A thrown javelin was unpredictable because, although the flight was slow and you could follow it, when there were a number you could be struck by one you didn’t see.

They launched into the charge.
  “Steady!” A line of spears poked over our shoulders and it went a little darker as shields were raised. Then the javelins hit us.  Some of my men fell to those with a shallow trajectory but most clattered off the shields and then they were upon us. Death Bringer scythed a line before me and I saw half a horse’s head fly away.  I saw a Norman knight crash to the floor and I split open his head.  I sensed a sword come down and I grabbed it in my left hand and pulled the knight from his horse.  He flew over my head and I heard his screams as those in the third rank ended his life. We were winning! There was a clear space before us but I could see the enemy were having more luck against the Hetaireia and Alexios looked in danger. “Wedge!”

Edward took the place behind me on my left and Cnut to my right. I brought my shield around and held Death Bringer one handed. “A wedge of four hundred warriors is huge and the wall of shields to our right meant we were safe from attack.
  I edged to the left and led my Varangians into the flank of the horsemen.  Their shields faced us which meant their swords were on the wrong side and, initially, we cut through them like a knife through butter.  We carved a path through two rows of knights and I saw the pennant and banner of Robert Guiscard and then their line turned to face us and we were amongst the finest Norman knights of the age. I hacked at the horse before me, for I wanted to face Guiscard.  Alexios was safe and we had done our duty; now the Varangians would rid the land of the Normans. A horse reared to my left and Edward and I raised our shields and pushed. The overbalanced horse fell backwards and we surged forwards. Suddenly Cnut was no longer next to me but I cared not for there was but one knight between me and my prey.  I fended off his sword with my shield  and swung my axe overhand, as it bit into his chest, I felt a sharp pain in my side, I had been hit but, as the knight disappeared I saw Guiscard before me, his face a mask of fury. I could see the white hair through his mail but I was not complacent; he had much experience and would be a dangerous opponent.  He had a long sword and he stabbed it towards my throat.  I held my shield up.  He suddenly thrust the point of his shield over his horse and it struck me on the neck.  I could feel the warm trickle of blood as it seeped down my chest. I held my dagger in my left hand with the shield and Malcolm Canmore’s gift from years earlier stabbed forwards and struck Guiscard in the leg.  The bright blood told me I had struck home.  At the same time I swung my axe and caught his horse a glancing blow to his shoulder.  The beast reared away and Robert Guiscard was led away by his son who was instantly recognisable by his size.

“We have them! Forwards!”Two of his knights bravely faced us to stop our progress and others filled our flanks
. As I sliced through the leg of one knight I felt a sharp pain in my right arm and I could not hold Death Bringer.  I dropped it to the ground and pulled out the stump of Boar Splitter.  Then more knights surged forwards to attack us. The knight above me triumphantly raised his sword for the killing blow. I thrust upwards and felt Boar Splitter slide into his groin and then there was a crash and all went black.

As I slipped to the ground I heard an almighty cheer and then it was quiet and I saw people moving across the battlefield but it was no longer a battlefield it was Medelai and Nanna was there
with her arms open and her rosy cheeks shining and behind her walked Aethelward and my father with a woman who looked familiar and finally I saw Wolf, Osgar and Aedgart who faced me with grins as wide as a sunset. It began to go quiet and peaceful, it felt like my new estate and I wondered where Ragnar was and then I heard Harold Godwinson say as blackness took me, “Welcome son, and welcome a hero.”

Constantinople 1118

It is over thirty years since my friend Aelfraed Godwinson died. And today as we bury the great Emperor Alexios Comnenus, it is time to put on paper the story of the greatest English warrior of his age. The Emperor was a great Emperor; there is not a doubt about that.
  He defeated the Pechengs and he drove the Seljuks from his land but his greatest achievement, the defeat of the Normans was not his.  That was Aelfraed’s doing.  He and his Varangians drove the Normans from the field although all but three were killed.  The blow struck by my friend which sent Guiscard from the field although not mortal was vital for the wound became infected as he and his men recovered in the swampy ground where he and five hundred of his knights died from fever.  The cataphracts and their charge drove them from the field but it was the loss of their king which drove them back to Italy, never to return.

They brought Aelfraed’s body, packed in ice to the city where everyone turned out to watch it returned to his final home. Jarl Gunnersson provided a boat and Aelfraed Godwinson, Commander of the Varangian Guard; the last Englishman was laid to rest with all his weapons and his armour beneath the hull of the boat. Gunnar explained that was the way the Anglo Saxons had buried their dead and it seemed fitting to send Aelfraed on his final voyage that way.
  The hull was covered with earth and, at the end; there were just a handful that remained while Eric sang the song of Aelfraed.

We all kept in touch over the years which were marked for me by my daughter growing, marrying and having children, by my training those men who still flocked to join the Varangians and hear the tales of Aelfraed and the others. Eric and Snorri became part of the city council while Ragnar prospered as a farmer but he mourned Aelfraed’s death every year until he too died.
  The Jarl left the sea, for Aelfraed’s death had brought his own mortality that bit closer.

And me, Ridley of Coxold?
  Well I write this because I wish to put matters straight, Anna Comnenus, the Emperor’s daughter, has written her history of the event of that time.  She is her father’s daughter and always shows him in his glory. Alexios himself spoke often to me of the debt he owed Aelfraed but you will not see his name in the annals of the Empire.  He is remembered only in the stories men tell around the table; the story of Aelfraed the Housecarl, who was loyal and brave, honest and faithful, the greatest enemy of the Normans and my friend. He never once failed to honour his word and he never once berated anyone for a mistake.  To his men he was the ideal to which they aspired and to his friends, well he was Aelfraed and we loved him and now, as my life comes to an end, I look forward to the moment that he will greet me and then I shall be happy again. For Aelfraed truly was the greatest Saxon and English warrior.

Ridley of Coxold

Varangian

Constantinople 1118

Fictional characters are in italics.