Thorpe. Pauli’s _Alfred the Great_. Bohn’s Library.
Ohthere told his lord King Alfred, that he dwelt northmost of all the
Northmen. He said that he dwelt in the land to the northward, along the
West Sea; he said, however, that that land is very long north from
thence, but it is all waste, except in a few places, where the Fins here
and there dwell, for hunting in the winter, and in the summer for
fishing in that sea. He said that he was desirous to try, once on a
time, how far that country extended due north, or whether anyone lived
to the north of the waste. He then went due north along the country,
leaving all the way the waste land on the right, and the wide sea on the
left, for three days: he was as far north as the whale-hunters go at the
farthest. Then he proceeded in his course due north, as far as he could
sail within another three days; then the land there inclined due east
[the North Cape] or the sea into the land, he knew not which, but he
knew that he there waited for a west wind, or a little north, and sailed
thence eastward along that land as far as he could sail in four days;
then he had to wait for a due north wind, because the land there
inclined due south [the White Sea], or the sea in on that land, he knew
not which; he then sailed thence along the coast due south, as far as he
could sail in five days. There lay a great river [Dwina] up in that
land; they then turned up in that river, because they durst not sail on
by that river, on account of hostility, because all that country was
inhabited on the other side of that river; he had not before met with
any land that was inhabited since he came from his own home; but all the
way he had waste land on his right, except fishermen, fowlers, and
hunters, all of whom were Fins, and he had constantly a wide sea to the
left. The Beormas had well cultivated their country, but they did not
dare to enter it; and the Terfinna land was all waste, except where
hunters, fishers, or fowlers had taken up their quarters.
The Beormas told him many particulars both of their own land, and of the
other lands lying around them; but he knew not what was true, because he
did not see it himself; it seemed to him that the Fins and the Beormas
spoke nearly one language. He went thither chiefly, in addition to
seeing the country, on account of the walruses, because they have very
noble bones in their teeth; some of these teeth they brought to the
king: and their hides are good for ship-ropes. This whale is much less
than other whales, it being not longer than seven ells; but in his own
country is the best whale-hunting, there they are eight-and-forty ells
long, and most of them fifty ells long; of these he said that he and
five others had killed sixty in two days. He was a very wealthy man in
those possessions in which their wealth consists, that is in wild deer.
He had, at the time he came to the king, six hundred unsold tame deer.
These deer they call reindeer, of which there were six decoy reindeer,
which are very valuable amongst the Fins, because they catch the wild
reindeer with them.
He was one of the first men in that country, yet he had not more than
twenty horned cattle, and twenty sheep, and twenty swine, and the little
that he ploughed he ploughed with horses. But their wealth consists for
the most part in the rent paid them by the Fins. That rent is in skins
of animals, and birds’ feathers, and whalebone, and in ship-ropes made
of whales’ hides, and of seals. Everyone pays according to his birth;
the best-born, it is said, pay the skins of fifteen martens, and five
reindeers’, and one bear’s-skin, ten ambers of feathers, a bear’s or
otter’s skin kyrtle, and two ship-ropes, each sixty ells long, made
either of whale-hide or of seal’s.
He said that the Northmen’s land was very long and very narrow; all that
his man could either pasture or plough lies by the sea, though that is
in some parts very rocky; and to the east are wild mountains, parallel
to the cultivated land. The Fins inhabit these mountains, and the
cultivated land is broadest to the eastward, and continually narrower
the more north. To the east it may be sixty miles broad, or a little
broader, and towards the middle thirty, or broader; and northward, he
said, where it is narrowest, that it might be three miles broad to the
mountain, and the mountain then is in some parts so broad that a man may
pass over in two weeks, and in some parts so broad that a man may pass
over in six days. Then along this land southwards, on the other side of
the mountain, is Sweden, to that land northwards; and along that land
northwards, Cwenland. The Cwenas sometimes make depredations on the
Northmen over the mountains, and sometimes the Northmen on them; there
are very large fresh meres amongst the mountains, and the Cwenas carry
their ships over land into the meres, and thence make depredations on
the Northmen; they have very little ships, and very light.
Ohthere said that the shire in which he dwelt is called Halgoland. He
said that no one dwelt to the north of him; there is likewise a port to
the south of that land, which is called Sciringes-heal; thither, he
said, no one could sail in a month, if he landed at night, and every day
had a fair wind; and all the while he would sail along the land, and on
the starboard will first be Ireland, and then the islands which are
between Ireland and this land. Then it is this land until he comes to
Sciringes-heal, and all the way on the larboard, Norway. To the south of
Sciringes-heal, a very great sea runs up into the land, which is broader
than any one can see over; and Gotland is opposite on the other side,
and then Seeland. This sea lies many miles up in that land. And from
Sciringes-heal, he said that he sailed in five days, to that port which
is called Æt-Hæthum [Sleswig], which is between the Wends, and Saxons,
and Angles, and belongs to Denmark.
When he had sailed thitherward from Sciringes-heal, Denmark was on his
left, and on his right a wide sea for three days, and two days before he
came to Hæthum, he had on the right Gotland, Seeland, and many islands.
In these lands the Angles dwelt before they came hither to this land.
And then for two days he had on his left the islands which belong to
Denmark.
EDWARD’S POLICY (907-925).
=Source.=—_Anglo-Saxon Chronicle._ Translated by J. A. Giles. Bohn’s
Library.
ANNO 907.—This year Chester was repaired.
ANNO 909.—This year Ethelfled built the fortress at Bromesberrow.
ANNO 912.—This year King Edward took possession of London and of Oxford,
and of all the lands which owed obedience thereto. This year Ethelfled,
lady of the Mercians, came to Scaergate on the holy eve, “Invention of
the Cross,” and there built the fortress, and the same year, that at
Bridgenorth.
ANNO 913.—In this year, about Martinmas, King Edward commanded the
northern fortress to be built at Hertford, between the Memer, the
Benewic, and the Lea. And then after that, during the summer, between
Rogation days and midsummer, King Edward went with some of his forces to
Maldon in Essex, and there encamped, whilst the fortress at Witham was
wrought and built; and a good part of the people who were before under
the dominion of the Danish men submitted to him; and in the meanwhile
some part of his force constructed the fortress at Hertford, on the
south side of the Lea. This year, by the help of God, Ethelfled, lady of
the Mercians, went with all the Mercians to Tamworth, and there built
the fortress early in the summer; and after this, before Lammas, that at
Stafford.
ANNO 914.—Then after this, in the next year, that at Eddesbury, early in
the summer; and afterwards, in the same year, late in harvest, that at
Warwick. Then after this, in the next year, after Midwinter, that at
Chirk, and that at Warburton; and that same year, before Midwinter, that
at Runcorn.
ANNO 917.—This year, before Lammas, Ethelfled, lady of the Mercians, God
helping her, got possession of the fortress which is called Derby, with
all that owed obedience thereto.
ANNO 918.—This year, in the early part of the year, by God’s help, she
got into her power, by treaty, the fortress at Leicester, and the
greater part of the army which owed obedience thereto became subject to
her; and the people of York had also covenanted with her, some having
given a pledge, and some having bound themselves by an oath, that they
would be at her command. But very shortly after they had become so
(twelve nights before midsummer), she died at Tamworth, in the eighth
year of her having rule and right lordship over the Mercians.... And
then after that, in the same year, before Martinmas, King Edward went
with his forces to Buckingham, and there sat down four weeks; and, ere
he went thence, he erected both the forts on either side of the river.
And Thurkytel the earl sought to him to be his lord, and all the
captains, and almost all the chief men who owed obedience to Bedford,
and also many of those who owed obedience to Northampton.
ANNO 919.—This year, before Martinmas, King Edward went with his forces
to Bedford, and gained the town; and almost all the townsmen who
formerly dwelt there submitted to him; and he sat down there four weeks,
and commanded the town to be built on the south side of the river.
ANNO 920.—This year, before Midsummer, King Edward went to Maldon, and
built the town, and fortified it.
ANNO 921.—This year, before Easter, King Edward gave orders to take
possession of the town at Towcester, and to fortify it. And again, after
that, in the same year, during Rogation days, he commanded the town at
Wigmore to be built.... Then, shortly after, during the harvest, King
Edward went with the forces of the West Saxons to Passoham, and sat down
there while they encompassed the town at Towcester with a stone wall.
And Thurferth the earl, and the captains, and all the army which owed
obedience to Northampton, as far north as the Welland, submitted to him,
and sought to him to be their lord and protector. And when one division
of the forces went home, then another went out, and took possession of
the town of Huntingdon, and repaired and rebuilt it, where it had been
before demolished; and all who were left of the inhabitants of that
country submitted to King Edward, and sought his peace and protection.
And after this, still in the same year, before Martinmas, King Edward
went with the forces of the West Saxons to Colchester, and repaired the
town, and rebuilt it where it had been before broken down; and much
people submitted to him, as well among the East Angles as among the East
Saxons, who before were under the dominion of the Danes. And all the
army among the East Angles swore union with him, that they would all
that he would, and would observe peace towards all to whom the king
should grant his peace, both by sea and by land. And the army which owed
obedience to Cambridge chose him specially to be their lord and
protector; and confirmed it with oaths, even as he then decreed it. This
year King Edward built the town at the mouth of the Cleddau [in
Pembrokeshire].
ANNO 922.—In this year, between Rogation days and Midsummer, King Edward
went with his forces to Stamford, and commanded the town to be built
upon the south side of the river: and all the people who owed obedience
to the northern town submitted to him, and sought to him to be their
lord.... And all the people of the land of Mercia, who before were
subject to Ethelfled, submitted to him; and the kings of the North
Welsh, Howel, and Cledauc, and Jothwel, and all the North Welsh race,
sought to him to be their lord. Then went he thence [_i.e._, from
Tamworth] to Nottingham, and took possession of the town, and commanded
it to be repaired and occupied as well by English as by Danes. And all
the people who were settled in Mercia, as well Danish as English,
submitted to him.
ANNO 923.—In this year, after harvest, King Edward went with his forces
to Thelwall, and commanded the town to be built, and occupied, and
manned; and commanded another force also of Mercians, the while that he
sat there, to take possession of Manchester in Northumbria, and repair
and man it. This year King Raegnald won York.
ANNO 924.—In this year before Midsummer, King Edward went with his
forces to Nottingham, and commanded the town to be built on the south
side of the river, over against the other, and the bridge over the
Trent, between the two towns: and then he went thence into Peakland, to
Bakewell, and commanded a town to be built nigh thereunto, and manned.
And then chose him for father and for lord, the King of the Scots
[Constantine II.] and the whole nation of the Scots, and Raegnald and
the son of Eadulf and all those who dwell in Northumbria, as well
English as Danes, and Northmen and others, and also the king of the
Strathclyde Britons and all the Strathclyde Britons.
ANNO 925.—This year King Edward died, and Athelstan his son succeeded to
the kingdom.
[NOTE.—The events of 921, 922, 923, 924 probably occurred three years
earlier—_i.e._, in 918, 919, 920, 921.]
ATHELSTAN’S DOOM CONCERNING HOT IRON AND WATER (925-940).
=Source.=—Thorpe, _Ancient Laws and Institutes of England_.
And concerning the ordeal we enjoin by command of God, and of the
archbishop, and of all the bishops, that no man come within the church
after the fire is borne in with which the ordeal shall be heated, except
the mass-priest, and him who shall go thereto: and let there be measured
nine feet from the stake to the mark, by the man’s feet who goes
thereto. And if it be water, let it be heated till it sings towards
boiling. And let the vessel be iron or brass or lead or earthen. And if
it be a single accusation, let the hand dive after the stone up to the
wrist; and if it be threefold, up to the elbow. And when the ordeal is
ready, then let two men of either side go in, and let them be agreed
that it is as hot as we have said before. And let an equal number of men
of either side go in, and let them stand on both sides of the ordeal,
along the church; and let them all be fasting; ... and let the
mass-priest sprinkle holy water over them all, and let them each taste
of the holy water, and give them all the kiss-book [the Gospels or Pax]
and the sign of the cross: and let no man mend the fire any longer when
the consecration is begun, but let the iron lie upon the embers until
the last collect: after that, let it be laid upon the stake, and let
there be no other speaking within, except that they pray earnestly to
God Almighty that he make manifest what is most true. And let him go
thereto; and let his hand be sealed up: and let it be postponed till
after the third day, whether it be foul or clean within the seal. And he
who breaks this law, let the ordeal be void for him, and let him pay to
the king 120 shillings as a fine.
THE BATTLE OF BRUNANBURH (937).
=Source.=—_Anglo-Saxon Chronicle._ Translated by W.
[Note that the lines are to be read across the page.]
Here the King Athelstan, of earls the ruler,
of heroes the ring-giver, and eke his brother,
Edmund the Atheling, long-lasting glory
won in the battle with edges of swords
near to Brunanburh: the shield-wall they clove,
they hewed the war-lindens with leavings of hammers,
the heirs of Eadweard; as was befitting them
from their forebears, that they in battle oft
against every foeman the land defended,
hoard and homesteads. The foeman cringed,
the Scottish people and the seamen,
fated to death, fell: the field grew wet
with blood of fighters, since the sun up
at morning tide, glorious star,
over lands glided, God’s shining candle,
the eternal Lord’s, till the excellent creature
sank to her seat. There lay many men
with spears done to death, heroes of Northmen
over their shield shot, as eke the Scottish,
weary, of war sad. Wessex men onwards
the live-long day in their companies
footprints followed of loathed peoples;
hewed they the runaways behind terribly
with swords milled to sharpness. Mercians refused not
the hardest of handplay to one of the heroes
of those who with Anlaf over the wave-mingler
in the ship’s bosom sought for the land
fated to fighting. Five there lay
on the battle-field kings all-youthful
by swords laid to sleep, as also seven
of the earls of Anlaf, countless of the army
seamen and Scottish. There was put to flight
of Northmen the chief, by need compelled
to his ship’s stem-piece with small company:
the ship pressed afloat; the king away went
on the yellow flood, his life he rescued.
So there eke the sage one came by fleeing
north to his kindred, Constantinus,
hoary fighter; he could not exult
in mingling of swords: he was reft of his kinsmen,
deprived of his friends on battle-field,
cut off in the contest, and he his son forsook
on place of fighting foredone with wounds,
young in the warfare. He could not boast him,
grizzly-haired hero, of clash of swords,
old wrong-doer, nor Anlaf the more,
with their leavings of armies; they could not laugh
that they in battle-work better men were
on the battle-field, in banner’s conflict,
in meeting of spears, in moot of heroes,
in weapon’s contest, that they on the death-place
with Eadweard’s children contended.
Failed him the Northmen with their nailed ships;
dreary those left by spears, on dashing ocean,
over deep water, Dublin they seek
and again Ireland in shameful wise.
Likewise the brethren the two together,
the king and Atheling, sought their kindred,
West Saxons’ land, in war exulting.
Left they behind them corpses to share
to old dusky-coat, to the swart raven,
with horny nib, and to the grey-coat,
the eagle white-tailed, the prey to enjoy,
to the greedy war-hawk, and the grey beast,
the wolf in the weald. Was not more slaughter
in this island ever till now
of folk cut down before this time
by swords’ edges as the books tell us,
and ancient wise men, since from east hitherwards
Angles and Saxons up to land came,
over broad oceans, Britain they sought,
proud smiths of war the Welsh overcame,
earls eager for fame they won this country.
A LAND BOC (940).
=Source.=—_Cott. Aug._, ii. 62. Earle, _Land-Charters, and other Saxonic
Documents_, Oxford, 1888, p. 175. Translated by W.
✠ Our Lord Jesus Christ reigning for ever! Since by the providence of
our Creator every creature was made altogether good in the beginning and
was beautifully created and splendidly fashioned, above the heavens and
below, as well in the case of angels as men and the manifold and diverse
kinds of beasts of burden and fishes and birds: And since from the
beginning of the world until the end they rightly keep the laws ordained
by their Creator except man alone, who was formed in his image and set
above every creature, who for his transgression is rushing headlong to
death: Therefore I EADMUND, king of the Angles, burning for the heavenly
country, have granted and given to a certain lady of a religious order,
named Æthelswith, x hides in the place commonly known in the ancient
tongue as AT OSWALDING TOWN: That she may enjoy it well and ever possess
it so long as the spirit of life unharmed pursue the course of this
declining age and dwell in flesh corruptible: and that she may leave it
to whatever heir she will for ever after herself, as we said above, as
an everlasting inheritance.
And let the aforesaid land with all things thereto rightly pertaining,
fields, pastures, meadows, woods, and woodland groves be free from every
worldly hindrance except these three, the fyrd, and bridge-work, and
fortress-work. But if anyone shall try (what we do not desire) to
infringe this our grant, entering thereupon through self-exaltation, may
he endure the cold blasts of ice and the Pennine[2] troop of evil
spirits unless he first make amends with the tearful sighs of repentance
and by pure reform. These are the boundaries by which the aforesaid land
is surrounded. These are the land boundaries at oswalding tun: first
ælfgyth’s boundary on the east up to teting ford; then from there west
up to done; then from there up to eadgifu’s boundary; then from there to
the bishop’s boundary at cirring; from cirring north thence to emecing
mere; to oswalding tun pertain holly hurst, and byrhttring den, and
eoreding den, and liccing den, and hereferth’s lea, and dynning den, and
cyrthring hurst, and trip hurst and insnadis into oswalding tun; and the
meadow at brunes ford and the meadow at bee brook pertain to oswalding
tun.
Footnote 2:
Meaning either feathered, or, belonging to the Great St. Bernard Pass
in the Pennine Alps, over which the writer had probably passed on a
journey to Rome.
This aforesaid donation was completed in the year from the Incarnation
of our Lord Jesus Christ DCCCCXL, Indiction XIII.
✠ I Eadmund king of the Angles have confirmed the aforesaid donation
+
with the sign of the holy cross.
✠ I Wulfhelm archbishop of the church of Canterbury have signed the
+
donation of the king with the mark of the holy cross.
✠ I Eadred the king’s brother have signed.
✠ I Theodred bishop of the church of London have signed.
✠ I Ælfheah bishop of the church of Winchester have made the triumphant
+
mark of the holy cross.
✠ I Cenwald bishop have assented to the aforesaid gift.
✠ I Oda bishop have confirmed.
✠ I Ælfric bishop have signed.
✠ I Wulfhun bishop have assented.
✠ I Wulfhelm bishop have signed.
✠ I Burgric bishop have assented.
✠ I Æthelgar bishop have corroborated.
✠ Ælfhere earl.
✠ Wulfgar earl.
✠ Æthelstan earl.
✠ Uhtred earl.
✠ Orda thegn.
✠ Ælfric thegn.
✠ Eadmund thegn.
✠ Wulfsige thegn.
✠ Wullaf thegn.
✠ Ordeah thegn.
✠ Eadric thegn.
✠ Ealhelm thegn.
✠ Ælfsige thegn.
✠ Æthered thegn.
✠ Athelmund thegn.
✠ Wulfhelm thegn.
✠ Wulfheah thegn.
✠ Wulfsige thegn.
✠ Wihtgar thegn.
✠ Æthelwold thegn.
✠ Ælfred thegn.
✠ Wulfgar thegn.
✠ Ælfsige thegn.
✠ Wulfnoth thegn.
✠ Æthelstan thegn.
✠ Æthelsige thegn.
✠ Eanulf thegn.
_On the back_: ✠ This is Oswalding tun’s boc which Eadmund the king
booked to Æthelswith as a perpetual heritage.
DUNSTAN IS MADE ABBOT OF GLASTONBURY BY KING EDMUND (946).
=Source.=—_Life of St. Dunstan_, by B., a Saxon priest, written between
995 and 1006, §§ 13, 14. Stubbs’ _Memorials of St. Dunstan_ (Rolls
Series). Translated by W.
At length they [Dunstan’s opponents] bound around him the rope of their
iniquity, destined therein to entangle themselves rather than him, that
they might poison the heart of the king, infected by their wickedness,
and make him credulous by their lies. The latter, as he had before been
led on by evil men, moved with great anger, immediately ordered him to
be deprived of every dignity and office, and to seek his sureties where
he willed, without him or his. There were then dwelling with the king at
Cheddar, where these events occurred, venerable ambassadors of the
eastern kingdom, whom Dunstan, as if already condemned to exile, and
unwitting of any other plan for himself, approached, begging that they
would not desert one abandoned by the king, but would conduct him home
with themselves although but for a sojourn. Taking compassion on his
sorrow they promised him whatever advantages their kingdom afforded if
he would accompany them.