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Chapters (76)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise forMATTHEW HARFFY
  3. BY MATTHEW HARFFY
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright
  6. Dedication
  7. Maps
  8. Epigraph
  9. Contents
  10. Place Names
  11. One
  12. Two
  13. Three
  14. Four
  15. Five
  16. Six
  17. Seven
  18. Eight
  19. Nine
  20. Ten
  21. Eleven
  22. Twelve
  23. Thirteen
  24. Fourteen
  25. Fifteen
  26. Sixteen
  27. Seventeen
  28. Eighteen
  29. Nineteen
  30. Twenty
  31. Twenty-One
  32. Twenty-Two
  33. Twenty-Three
  34. Twenty-Four
  35. Twenty-Five
  36. Twenty-Six
  37. Twenty-Seven
  38. Twenty-Eight
  39. Twenty-Nine
  40. Thirty
  41. Thirty-One
  42. Thirty-Two
  43. Thirty-Three
  44. Thirty-Four
  45. Thirty-Five
  46. Thirty-Six
  47. Thirty-Seven
  48. Thirty-Eight
  49. Thirty-Nine
  50. Forty
  51. Forty-One
  52. Forty-Two
  53. Forty-Three
  54. Forty-Four
  55. Forty-Five
  56. Forty-Six
  57. Forty-Seven
  58. Forty-Eight
  59. Forty-Nine
  60. Fifty
  61. Fifty-One
  62. Fifty-Two
  63. Fifty-Three
  64. Fifty-Four
  65. Fifty-Five
  66. Fifty-Six
  67. Fifty-Seven
  68. Fifty-Eight
  69. Fifty-Nine
  70. Sixty
  71. Sixty-One
  72. Sixty-Two
  73. Author’s Note
  74. Acknowledgements
  75. About the Author
  76. An Invitation from the Publisher

The abbot had seemed uncertain, but he was a timid man and nothing we said could make him speak against the mynsterfæder of Uuiremutha. Of course, neither of them had witnessed the attacks at Lindisfarnae or Werceworthe.

“I am reminded of Didymos the Apostle,” I said, my tone harsh. “He doubted Jesus had risen from the tomb until he had seen the marks of the nails, and placed his hands in the son of God’s wounds. Pray that you do not live to see the dragon ships. That you do not face the wrath of the Norsemen, feel the bite of their blades, the heat from the flames of your scriptoria. I fear that once you have touched that wound, it will be too late for you to profess your belief in the danger we warn you of.”

I regretted my words now. They had only angered the monks, turning them further against us and our offer of protection.

As we had returned, leaving the minster behind, Hereward had sighed.

“It is a good thing for us that they refused our aid,” he said with a frown.

“How so?” I asked.

“There are nowhere near enough of us to defend even one of the minsters, let alone both of them, divided as they are and cut off from us by the Uuir. No, we will be hard pressed enough to defend ourselves, the ship, and Mancas’ folk.”

Hereward’s pragmatic tone had angered me at the time. Despite the way that Fridwin had acted towards me personally, these were Christian monks who would be murdered and enslaved if the Norse came. But watching the two ships that sped towards the river mouth, I knew Hereward was right. Each ship held some thirty warriors or more. I looked along our ragged line. We numbered closer to a score of men, and most of them, not hardened fighters. But Hereward had drilled into us that we did not need to butcher all of an enemy to be victorious. All we needed to do was make ourselves a stronger opponent than could easily be vanquished. The brethren to the north were the sheep that attracted the wolves, we needed to make ourselves deadlier prey. Wolves would not seek out hounds, when there were lambs nearby.