The Dane Law

By Garth Pettersen

After a peaceful year running their Frisian estate, Harald and Selia are called to Engla-lond.

Their return is marked by violence and intrigue. The king has vowed to Queen Emma that their son, Harthacnute, will inherit the throne, but the atheling is cruel and reckless. Many view Harald as the better choice, which makes him a target for the unseen supporters of his half-brother. King Cnute urges Harald to be prepared to assume the throne should Harthacnute prove inadequate. Harald resists being swept up by forces beyond his control, but doubts he will survive the reign of King Hartha.

And what of his older brother, Sweyn?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tirgearr Publishing
• Release date: Sep 19, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463094235

Book preview

DEDICATION

To my parents, and to my brother, Ryan––fondly remembered––who would have been proud.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many thanks to Tirgearr Publishing, and to Kemberlee Shortland who works so hard to support and promote all the authors under the Tirgearr roof. Thank you to my editor, Sharon Pickerel, for her intelligence and skill in shaping a final draft and to Cora Bignardi of Cora Graphics for creating another exquisite cover––visually stunning and true to the time and tone of The Dane Law.

I wish to thank my wife, Barb, for her on-going support of my writing, never demanding I put writing aside to complete the many tasks awaiting me on our acreage.

I must also thank my friends in the Chilliwack Writers Group, talented writers all––Ken Loomes, Fran Brown, Mary Keane, Joan Bridgeman, Terri Morton, and Charly Thompson––for their valuable feedback as the Dane's Law unfolded. Each one has helped shape and refine my writing.

HISTORICAL NOTES

Unlike the previous book in this series, The Swan's Road, The Dane Law is filled with historical figures––so many, that I have included a list. As to their character traits, that is mostly invention, though I believe Harthacnute was a cruel dastard. Resources that mention Harald Harefoot are scarce, so one can only hope that he was as heroic, trustworthy, and resourceful as I have portrayed him. History has retained more about Cnute and Emma and I have tried to motivate them in accordance with the times and the power roles they held. With Sweyn, I gave him Viking qualities, first son of a Viking king but too narrow in his thinking to ever rule.

Harald's meeting with Thorkell Leifsson could have happened, since they were contemporaries. I don't recall how I hit on that fact in my research, but I have always been intrigued by encounters between contemporaries (e.g. Mark Twain's friendship with Nikola Tesla, Teddy (not FDR) Roosevelt's dislike of Winston Churchill). In the next novel I hope to bring in Ælfgar Leofricson's stepmother, who was Lady Godiva.

I have attempted to display Engla-lond and Erui-lond as more backward than southern Europe. The feudal system would come with the Normans, as would stone castles. Harald's time precedes that. Dane and Saxon had more in common than either group did with the Normans. It was still a time of the chieftain's hall and I have imagined Cnute's court as a collection of halls, some connected.

The English language rubbed shoulders with Danish at this time, changing word order, verb forms, pronoun and preposition use, and giving us hundreds of new words. I try to pepper Harald's lines with Anglo-Saxon (Old English) vocabulary as well as the Norse. I try to avoid words with Middle English (Norman French) roots, but it's nigh impossible.

The more I research, the more I uncover my previous errors. Where I previously measured distances in leagues, I have since learned the English mile was the standard measure in Engla-lond––the English mile coming from mille––1,000 Roman paces. I have made more embarrassing errors, but I will wait for some clever reader to discover them.

I may be criticized for my title, The Dane Law, since the Danelaw of Alfred the Great's time has passed. Alfred and had Guthrum agreed to separate their kingdoms along Watling Street, the Anglo-Saxon name for the Roman Road that ran from London to Chester (the A5). In 878 Guthrum ruled the land north and east of Watling Street, and made it subject to the laws of the Danes, so the territory was called the Danelaw. By 1028, Wessex, Mercia, and Northumberland had all fallen under Cnute's rule. Cnute introduced his own legal code in 1020-1021 modeled on King Edgar's laws (King Edgar the Peaceful reigned from 959-975) and including some of Æthelred's. My title refers to the rule of law under King Cnute the Dane. I wish the plot turned on one particular law, but I liked this title from the beginning. Readers can make of it what they will and I hope, not judge me too harshly.

Regarding Gwyn's trial, justice was served not by evidence but by the status of those who stood up for the accused. If Harald had arrived in time, Gwyn would no doubt have been found blameless.

Sources I used include: The Year 1000 by Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger, Anglo-Saxon England by Peter Hunter Blair, Daily Life in the Middle Ages by Paul B. Newman, Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing by Melissa Mohr, Everyday Life in the Middle Ages by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Life in a Medieval Village by Frances and Joseph Gies, English Through the Ages by William Brohaugh, to name a few. I also used resources on the Internet regularly for maps, names, Old English and Danish translation, and historical clarification.

I hope you, the reader, find my rendering of eleventh century Engla-lond plausible and engaging. My aim is to be accurate, but my overall goal is to spin a rousing tale.

GLOSSARY

æx - (Old English) axe

æppelwín - (O.E.) apple cider

atheling - Saxon term for prince

aurochs - European ancestor of cattle, alive in the Middle Ages but now extinct

bearn - (O.E.) babe, baby

berserker - (Old Norse) literally bear shirt; a wild Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy of battle lust

bloodwite - fine paid to the king in atonement for a crime; if the deed was intentional, both wite and wergild had to be paid, if unintentional just wergild

bot - term for various types of compensation for damages done, including maintenance and repair of houses, tools required, etc.

burh - (O.E.) or burg (later borough) was a fortification or fortified settlement. In the 9th century, raids and invasions by Vikings prompted Alfred the Great to develop a network of burhs and roads to use against such attackers. Some were new constructions; others were situated at the site of Iron Age hillforts or Roman forts and employed materials from the original fortifications. As at Lundenburh (medieval London), many were also situated on rivers: this facilitated internal lines of supply while aiming to restrict access to the interior of the kingdom for attackers in shallow-draught vessels such as longships.

Burhs also had a secondary role as commercial and sometimes administrative centers. Their fortifications were used to protect England's various royal mints.

cariad - Welsh for love

cæppe - (O.E.) hood; root of modern word cap

ceorl - (O.E.) churl, a free man on the lowest rung but having land to farm; a ceorl might be well off or poor; had military obligations

chapman - peddler

cildru - (O.E.) children

corpus - Latin for body

dæg - (O.E.) day

demesne - land held directly by the lord

déofol - (O.E.) the devil

dēorling - (O.E.) darling (dear one)

draca - (O.E.) dragon (pl. dracan)

drekkar - a Scandinavian warship

drink hæil - (from Old Danish) drink good health

ealdefæder - (O.E.) grandfather

ealdor - (O.E.) chieftain, headman

ealdorman - the term came to refer to a noble of the highest social rank in Anglo-Saxon England, appointed by the king to rule a shire

elf-shot - a term for undiagnosed aches and pains, attributed to mischievous entities

Enska - English (in Icelandic, which is similar to Old Norse)

erne - sea eagle

flesher - butcher

fortnight - fourteen days; two weeks

freehold - a piece of land owned with the right to dispose of it

free-lance - mercenary

frobisher - a polisher (burnisher) of armor and swords

furlang - (O.E.) furlong: from furh [furrow] + lang [long.] The word originally denoted the length of a furrow in a common field (formally regarded as a square of ten acres).

fýrdraca - (O.E.) fire-spewing dragon

galyngale - (Cyperus longus) a herb with a highly aromatic root, related to an Asian plant of the ginger family, used in medieval cooking and herbal medicine.

geldingr - gelding; a gelded stallion

Great Wain - the constellation Ursa Major; wain means wagon

hide - the amount of land required to support one family

housecarls - (late Old English hūscarl) a member of the bodyguard of a Danish or English king or noble

hundred - a subdivision of a shire; originally 100 hides; each month the hundred would have an open air court to settle disputes; crimes committed within the hundred were the responsibility of its residents; locals acted as judges unless the shire-reeve was present on one of his twice yearly visits

jarl - (Danish) earl

knarr - a Scandinavian ship used for transporting goods

ladebord - (Middle English) the side of a ship on which cargo was put aboard; later changed to larboard (16th century) and then port side (side of ship facing the port for loading)

leech - doctor (O.E. læca)

lytling - (O.E.) little one, child

murther - (O.E. morthor) murder

middeldæg - (O.E.) mid-day

middelniht - (O.E.) midnight

nattmara - Scandinavian she-werewolf who would terrorize the sleeping by riding upon their chests; origin of our word nightmare

Nordlondær - (O.E.) Northlander

notwritere - (O.E.) one who makes notes; a scribe

pax vobiscum - (Latin) peace be with you

pening - (O.E.) silver penny coin; basic unit of coinage in the eleventh century

port-reeve - chief officer of a town, with duties similar to a mayor

pottage - grain boiled to swelling (porridge) before the addition of herbs, vegetables (onions, leeks, carrots, chard, spinach), and beans, peas or other legumes (meat and fish being more costly)

sáeflód - (O.E.) an incoming tidal flood

sard - (O.E.) to copulate (not considered obscene to say, do, or witness in the Middle Ages)

Saeterndaeg - (O.E.) Saturday

scilling - (O.E.) shilling (about 4 silver pennies)

scullion - lowest domestic servant: the dish-washer / bottle-washer, night soil gatherer

sennight - seven days; one week

shire-reeve - the king's representative in a shire

skald - a Scandinavian court poet or bard; a skald named Thorkill wrote a heroic poem, Tøgdrápa, about King Cnute

skeggox - (O.E.) Saxon hand axe used as a throwing weapon or in hand-to-hand fighting

sponn - (O.E.) spoon

steorbord - starbord side of a ship, so called because the steering board or beam that attached to the rudder angled to that side

steorman - steersman, one who handles the rudder

stigweard - (stig = a part of a house hall; ward = one who keeps safe, guards); steward

Sunnandaeg - (O.E.) Sunday

swain - a country youth

swive - (O.E.) screw (in the sexual sense)

tarse - (O.E.) penis (body parts and bodily functions were not considered obscene)

thegn - (O.E.) one who serves, is commonly used to describe either an aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves.

thegnage - the position of thegn

thrall - slave

tranter - (O.E.) carrier, wagoner

villein - peasant occupying land subject to a lord; he was tied to the land and the manor, not permitted to leave without permission (in the feudal system brought to England by the Normans after 1066, but used on the continent before that)

völva - Norse witch, literally wand-wed or staff carrier

wædbrec - (O.E.) breeches

wæs hæil - (O.E.) wassail; a wish for others while drinking: be in good health

weald - (O.E.) forest

wergild - (O.E. wergeld, weregild) man price; the price paid as compensation to a man's family by the killer to prevent a blood feud; in Anglo-Saxon and Germanic law, the price was determined on the basis of rank: 200 shillings for a ceorl, 1200 shillings for a nobleman

wiccecræft - (O.E.) witchcraft

woodyer - woodcutter

wrought - archaic past and past participle of the verb work

wuduwe - (O.E.) - widow

wyf - (O. E.) wife; pl. wyves

wyrm - (O.E.) reptile, serpent, snake, dragon, worm, insect, mite, poor creature

yard - (O.E.) another term for a penis (not an obscene word)

yeoman - (O.E.) holder of a small estate, perhaps 60 acres or more; a freeholder but not one of the gentry

yrthling - (O.E.) literally, earthling; a husbandman or farmer

Place Names

Badon - Bath

Brytenlond - the land of Britain

Ceaster - (or Cæstir) Chester

Cirenceaster - Cirenchester

Cornwealum - Cornwall

Danmark - Denmark

Defnascir - Devonshire

Dorestadt - a medieval town (originally Roman) located at the junction of the Rhine and Lek rivers in what is today the Netherlands, and what was then called Frisia.

Engla-lond - England

Erui-lond - Ireland

Erui-londær - Irishman or Irishwoman

Esseborne - Hurstbourne Tarrant

Exancaester - (O.E.) Exeter

Fiergen - (wooded hill) a place name the author borrowed from the original name of Ferndown, Dorset

Frisia - a former kingdom governed in the eleventh century by the Franks; now part of the Netherlands

Grønlond - Greenland

Grønlondær - Greenlander

Gwynedd - a medieval kingdom in northwestern Wales

Hamwic - Southampton

Hellulond - Helluland; one of the lands found by Leif Erikson, possibly Baffin Island

Iselond - Iceland

Lincylene - Lincoln

Londis End - Lands End

Lundenburh - London

Marklond - Markland; one of the lands found by Leif Erikson, south of Helluland and north of Vinland; possibly Labrador

Mercia - a kingdom in the English Midlands; in the eleventh century Mercia was a province (earldom) of England

Nordvegr -Norway

Northantone - Northampton

North Humberland - Northumberland (north of the River Humber)

Ramfjord - Waterford

River Tamesas - the Thames

Silceaster - Silchester

Tamworth - capital of Mercia in eleventh century

Sussax - Sussex (South Saxon)

Vinlond - Vinland; one of the lands found by Leif Erikson, thought to be Newfoundland

Wessax - Wessex (West Saxon)

Wintanceaster - Winchester

Wirleah - Great Wyrley, Staffordshire

Historical Characters

Ælfgar Leofricson (circa 1010-1066) - succeeded his father, Leofric as Earl of Mercia

Ælfgifu (Edith) of Northampton (c. 990-after 1036) - mother of Harald Harefoot, first handfasted (not blessed by the Church) wife of Cnute

Bishop Ælfsige of Wintanceaster (died 1032)

Æthelred the Ill-advised (968-1016) - King Æthelred the Unready (from unred meaning ill-advised)

Æthelwold -10th century bishop of Wintancester and church reformer

Cnute (Canute, Knut, Cnut) (990 - 1035) - king of England, Denmark, Norway, and some parts of Sweden

Edmund Ironsides (989-1016) - son of Æthelred the Unready

Emma of Normandy (circa 985-1052) - second wife to Cnute, mother of Harthacnute; mother of Alfred and Edward the Confessor by previous marriage to Æthelred the Unready; sister to Richard the Good (Richard II), Duke of Normandy, and aunt of Robert the Devil (Robert I), Duke of Normandy

Harald Harefoot (circa 1012-1040) - second son of Cnute and Ælfgifu of Northampton; King Harald I

Sweyn Cnuteson - eldest son of Cnute and Ælfgifu of Northampton

Harthacnute Cnuteson - third and youngest son of Cnute (and Emma of Normandy); King Harthacnute I

Earl Godwin (1001-1053) - Earl of Wessex; father of King Harold II

Harold Godwinson (1022-1066) - son of Earl Godwin; later King Harold II, defeated and killed by William the Conqueror's forces at the Battle of Hastings

Gytha - wife of Godwin and sister of Jarl Ulf

Jarl (Earl) Ulf - one of Cnute's jarls; married to Cnute's sister Estrid; killed on Cnute's orders, for an insult (the final straw)

Godgifu (Lady Godiva) - wife of Earl Leofric

Leif the Lucky (circa 970-circa 1020)- Leif Erikson, discoverer of North America

Thorkell Leifsson (circa 1000- ?) - son of Leif the Lucky (Leif Eriksson)

Earl Leofric - Earl of Mercia (died 1057)

Northman - brother of Leofric; killed by Cnute

Ragnall mac Ragnaill - (died 1035) King of Ramfjord (Waterford)

THE DANE LAW

The Atheling Chronicles, #2

Garth Pettersen

Prologue

A.D. 1016, Sussax, Engla-lond

With the sun near setting, eventide mists rose and thickened, obscuring the way through the lowland. Bracken caressed their leggings and bramble thorns snagged their sleeves, as the five warriors sought to retrace their steps. No footprint appeared in the soft earth, no broken branch hung as marker.

If we could find a stream, one of Jarl Ulf’s men said, ‘twould lead us back to the shore.

If we were ravens we could fly there. Have you seen a cursed stream? The jarl barely kept his anger in check. It had been his decision to lead the scouting mission––there was no other to blame. The big Dane took a deep breath. He raised an arm. Hold up.

His four companions stopped. Each man supported a round wooden shield on his left arm and carried an iron-tipped spear. Thick beards masked resolute faces. Unwashed tresses spilled from unadorned dome helmets crafted with eye and nose protection. Only Jarl Ulf bore a battle-æx at his waist.

Darkness falls and the mists deepen, the chieftain said. We’ll do as when a fog enwraps us at sea––we’ll wait. In the morning light we’ll find our way back to the ships.

From somewhere in the wood, the bark of a dog broke the stillness.

The Danes stood motionless, all knowing a yelping dog meant men not far off. The barking sounded again, closer.

Spread yourselves and move with me, Ulf commanded in a low voice, and immediately his men spaced themselves and moved into position. They advanced through the dark weald toward the cur-dog, the cool mist dampening their faces. Practiced in stealth, the Danes made little noise in their passing. The dog continued to proclaim his location and the Danish line curved and closed.

The cur’s bark changed to a low growl.

Spears lifted, and the warriors stood ready.

A piercing whistle penetrated the cold night air and the dog’s growls ceased. There was a scuffling of paws on leafmold and the attackers knew their prey had withdrawn.

On high alert, Ulf’s men waited for his command.

Press on, Ulf said, his voice no more than a grunt.

They passed farther into the dense woodland, keeping a steady and silent pace.

Appearing at first like a flickering eye haloed in the white vapors, the campfire blinked through the trees and vines. Drawing nearer, Ulf and his men perceived a lone figure sitting before the fire, stroking a large black-brindle dog that took to growling as they approached.

Steady, Æadwulf, said the dog’s master. The cur ceased its low, rumbling growl, and dropped to an at rest position. It watched the newcomers arrive, still ready to attack if so commanded.

The night is cold, the youth called out in poor Danish. Come to my fire. My hand is empty. And to signify, he lifted his arm, showing the palm of his hand.

Ulf stepped first from the dark of the night into the fire’s light. The swain rose to his feet, hand still raised. Ulf assessed the younger man: short-bearded, tall and solidly built, dressed for hunting rather than fashion, in tunic and braies. Though outnumbered, he stood his ground and met Ulf’s gaze without faltering. The arm came down, but the hand remained open.

You are alone? Ulf asked.

A nod in response.

Ulf motioned for his men to search the surrounding wood. He returned the battle-æx to his waistband and raised his hands to the heat of the fire.

You could have taken your wolf-dog and run from us, he said. Why didn’t you?

His host pondered the Danish words; then said in a mix of Saxon German and Danish, I was curious as to who besides me would be in this wood at night. And I am not partial to running and hiding.

Jarl Ulf gave a short laugh. Perhaps not a wise decision, but one I can agree with. What are you called?

Godwin I am named. My father is thegn here. The young man bent to stroke the dog, who began to settle.

Why do you tend a fire here on this night?

For the pleasure of Æadwulf’s company and the taste of the mist. The dog likes to hunt at night. I listen to him and the night sounds. Is that strange to you?

Uncommon, perhaps, Ulf replied, not strange. Tell me, do you not take us for your enemy, invaders of your homeland?

There are many who wish to rule Sussax, and many high-born who switch allegiances. Since King Æthelred the Ill-advised died, it is unknown who will rule, be it Edmund Ironsides or your Cnute. Or perhaps they will divide up the rule. I wish to live and thrive––with the victor.

Behind his beard, Ulf smiled. And if you choose wrongly?

That would be unfortunate. Therefore, I put off choosing ‘til I must.

And your father, which way does he lean?

Toward Edmund Ironsides. But I am not my father.

Ulf bellowed out a laugh. You please me, young Godwin. You have spirit, and I can’t fault your wits.

Ulf watched his men return to the fire, having found no one in the wood.

Perhaps, Ulf said, we can be of service to each other this dark night. Godwin watched the Viking chieftain but said nothing. My men and I have been floundering in your forest like fish on a shoal. You could guide us back to our ships, no doubt.

Godwin eyed Ulf as if he were bargaining for a favored weapon. And how would you do me service?

Why, by not attacking this part of Sussax. And by leaving your head upon your shoulders!

The Vikings all joined Ulf in the laughing. When the din died down, Godwin looked round at the armed warriors and said, Then it would please me greatly to guide you to your ships.

Good lad. I am Ulf, jarl to Cnute, King of Danmark. The Dane offered his open hand to Godwin.

The young Saxon took the extended hand and clasped it.

When Cnute is King of Engla-lond, come find me at court.

The fire’s light shone on the young Saxon’s slight smile and danced in the glister of his eyes.

Godwin looked up at Jarl Ulf. And nodded.

Chapter One

A.D. 1028

Even at a distance I knew the rider. He sat his horse like a man uses a tool, for a purpose, not out of love. Alric’s heart was filled only by the sea wind in his long, gray-red hair and matted beard, or a good ship under his feet and an iron-headed skeggox in his hand. But to his further credit, he loved my father, King Cnute, and he loved me, and though he would not admit to it, he adored my wondrous wyf, Selia.

You’ll have to complete this on your own, I told the two villeins I had been helping repair a cartwheel. They stood watching the stranger approach. A traveler was news and diversion on our demesne in Frisia. I walked down the road to meet my friend.

Alric trotted his horse over the stone bridge that crossed our millstream, and then slowed to a walk and raised his sword arm. Hail, Harald.

Hail, Alric! I returned, lifting my open palm. Well come.

Alric halted his horse before me and dismounted nimbly, belying his forty or more years. We embraced each other fiercely, laughing in the joy of our reunion.

For an old bear, you look well enough, I told him as we examined each other at arm’s length.

And you seem to have a few more whiskers in that chin-warmer you call a beard, Alric said. The matted rug on his own face allowed only a glimpse of the broad smile, but his eyes and their furrows gave it away.

I laughed and clapped my old friend on the back. Come to the hall. Selia will be overjoyed to see you. I led Alric back up the road to the hall, handing his horse off to one of the villeins.

So, has my father given you free time to visit where you will, or is it king’s business you’re about?

My time is always the king’s, Alric replied, I’d have it no other way. But it pleases me to be sent to you as messenger.

I am sure the king considered that when he sent you. Can your message wait until we have a horn of ale in hand?

Doubtless it can.

We entered the carefully tended gardens that lay before the hall. Since Selia and I had taken possession of her late Uncle Onno’s demesne, she had made the gardens her own. As much as I had detested Onno for his plotting against us, I admired his lands, just payment––the lands and his life––for his wrongs. I had undertaken to manage the demesne even better than Onno had.

I felt sure those who labored here as servants or in bondage to the land carried no ill will against me. It would have been unwise if they had. I treated all fairly. Certainly everyone who worked for me had a full belly and a warm hearth, and lived without fear of the lord’s displeasure.

I led Alric into the hall. My stigweard, Willem, was setting up the groaning board for our middeldæg dinner.

Willem, tell the lady Selia we have an honored guest.

At once, my lord, he replied. Greetings, lord Alric.

I am no lord, Willem, but I am pleased to see you. Alric strode over to Willem and offered his open hand. Willem clasped it and smiled.

I trust your son, Derrick, is well? Alric said.

He is, and I thank you for asking. If you will pardon me, the mistress will wish to know of your arrival.

The two men withdrew their hands, and Willem left the hall.

We had barely sat at the board when Selia burst into the room. Alric! she cried, and ran into the Dane’s arms just as he got to his feet. She wore a yellow gown of fine wool and