Now this sacking of the town of Ipswich brought terror into the hearts
of the men of East Anglia, who well knew how useless it would be for
them to appeal for help to King Ethelred. There were brave men in that
part of the country, however, who, at the first alarm of the landing of
the Norsemen, made themselves ready to defend their homes and the homes
of their neighbours. Chief among these was a certain holy and valiant
man named Brihtnoth. He was at this time Earldorman of East Anglia. He
had already done great work in spreading the Christian faith among the
poor and ignorant people over whom he stood in authority, and his
beneficent gifts to the monasteries of Ely and Ramsey had won for him
the reputation almost of a saint. The monks regarded him as a man of
quiet and thoughtful life, absorbed in acts of charity; but he proved
that he could be a man of action also, for he was soon to become the
hero of one of the most famous and disastrous battles ever fought on
English soil.
When Brihtnoth heard that the vikings had taken possession of Ipswich
he put aside his books, and, taking down his sword, rode about the
country side gathering men about him. He assembled a goodly army of
soldiers, both archers and swordmen, and marched towards the coast. It
is told that during this march he came to a certain monastery and asked
for food for his army. The abbot declared that he would willingly
entertain the Earldorman and such well born men as were with him, but
would not undertake to feed the whole host. Brihtnoth answered that he
would take nothing in which all his soldiers could not share, so he
marched on to the next monastery, where he fared with more success.
Now it speedily came to the ears of Olaf Triggvison that this army was
being assembled against him, and he sent out spies, who in time came
back with the news that Brihtnoth was encamped upon a hillside near the
town of Maldon, in Essex.
Olaf at once weighed anchor, and took his fleet southward past the Naze
until he came to the mouth of the river Panta (now called the
Blackwater). He led his ships inward on the top of the tide. Two hours'
rowing brought him within sight of the houses of Maldon. The town stood
upon a hill overlooking the river, which at this point branched off in
two separate streams, one stream passing by the foot of the hill, the
other flowing at a little distance to the north and passing under a
strong stone built bridge. Olaf brought his ships into the branch
nearest to the town, and his men, on landing, gathered in a confused
crowd in occupation of the space between the two streams.
Brihtnoth had already taken up a position of vantage to the north of
the bridge, having both streams between his army and the town. He had
arrayed his troops in a compact mass in the form of a wedge or
triangle, whose narrower point was opposite to the roadway of the
bridge. The men occupying the outer lines stood with their large
shields locked together so closely that they made a strong rampart or
shield fortress, behind which the archers and spearmen might remain in
safety while assailing their advancing foes. It was considered very
important in the early part of a battle that the shield fortress should
not be broken or opened, nor could such a breach be easily effected
except by overpowering strength or stratagem. Mounted on a sturdy
little white horse, the Earldorman rode backward and forward in front
of the lines to see that his men stood firm in their ranks. When all
was ready he alighted, sent his horse to the rear, and took his place
among his troops, determined to share every danger of his lowlier
comrades. From where he stood he could see the fair haired vikings
making a landing. Their great numbers appalled him, but he spoke no
word of fear. Presently he noticed two men whom, by their glittering
gold helmets and beautiful shields, he took to be chiefs. They walked
some distance apart from the host of shipmen, and took their stand on a
grassy knoll overlooking the opposing armies.
"Not wrong were the reports we heard concerning these sea wolves," said
he to a young man at his side. "Look but at those two chiefs standing
apart! Giants they are in sooth. The younger one--he with the flowing
yellow hair, and with the belt of gold about his thick arm--is surely a
head and shoulders taller than any East Anglian I have seen. It will be
a tough encounter if we come hand to hand with that man. But let us all
be brave, for we have our homes to defend, and God will not desert us
in our hour of danger. And we have many good chances on our side. Very
often the more numerous host does not gain the victory, if there are
bold and fearless men against them."
The yellow haired chief was Olaf Triggvison, and Guthmund was his
companion. They had climbed the higher ground, so that they might
better calculate upon the chances of the coming battle, and great was
their surprise to see how skilfully Brihtnoth had arrayed his men. That
triangle form in which the English stood was called by the
Scandinavians the "swine array", and it was believed to have been
introduced by Odin himself. Olaf well knew how strong that formation
always proved to be against the assaults of an enemy, and how almost
impossible it was for human force to break through it.
"The man who has marshalled that little army is no unworthy foe," said
he; "and I think we shall do well to carefully consider our plans
before making an advance. Well has he foreseen that we should land upon
this spot, and he has so placed his host at the farther side of the
river that we shall not reach him without great difficulty. The water
is deep, and the rising tide flows quick and strong."
"But there is the bridge by which we may cross," returned Guthmund.
Olaf smiled and shook his head.
"The bridge is very narrow," he said, "and the old chief has wisely
placed three of his champions there to defend it and bar our passage."
"Though he had placed there three score of champions, I see no danger
in our crossing," said Guthmund.
"Nevertheless, the bridge would still be secure to those who hold it,"
answered Olaf. "Indeed, I would myself engage to hold such a position
with my own hand against a far greater force than ours. It is but a
matter of endurance, and one good sword, well wielded, is as good as
the strongest gate ever made."
As he spoke he noticed the figure of Earldorman Brihtnoth, who now left
his place in the ranks, and advanced towards the three champions at the
bridge. The old man stood there awhile giving some directions to the
bridge defenders. He was about to return when he saw that Olaf was
sending Guthmund down to him with some message, and he waited.
When Guthmund stepped upon the bridge he laid down his sword upon the
ground. Brihtnoth went forward to meet him.
"What is your will?" asked the Earldorman.
"I have come with a message from my king," answered the viking.
"What says your king?"
"He says that since it appears to be the common practice in this
country for kings and earls to buy off an unwelcome foe with offers of
gold, he will engage to withdraw and go back to his ships on your
paying him a sum of money that he will name."
Brihtnoth drew back in anger at such an offer, not guessing that King
Olaf was but testing his bravery.
"And who is it that has told your chief that such is the habit of our
English kings?" he demanded.
"Little need was there for anyone to tell the tale," answered Guthmund,
"for it is well known throughout the countries of the vikings that King
Ethelred has not so many brave warriors at his call that he can afford
to lose them for the sake of a few bags of gold. Not once but many
times has he thus sought to buy off the Norsemen."
"Go back to your chief," cried Brihtnoth, with an indignant sweep of
his arm; "go back and tell him that steel, and not gold, is the only
metal that can now judge between him and me!"
"It is the metal that King Olaf has ever favoured," returned Guthmund;
"and right glad will he be to hear that there is at least one man among
the English who is brave enough to be of that same opinion."
So, when Olaf's messenger returned, there arose a loud cry from the
deep throats of the vikings. The cry had scarcely died away ere the air
was filled with arrows, that fell in a heavy shower among the English.
Then Brihtnoth's archers answered the challenge, and the battle began
in good earnest. For a long time the two armies stood facing each
other, with the river running between, and arrows alone were the
weapons used. But at last one of Olaf's captains--Justin it was--ran
forward, sword in hand and shield on arm, towards the bridge. He was
closely followed by a large number of the vikings.
Bravely did the three champions stand at their post. With their feet
firmly set, and their shields before them, they met the onrush of their
foes, wielding their long swords with such precision and strength that
Justin and five of his fellows fell dead without striking a single
blow. Onward the vikings pressed, leaping over the bodies of their
fallen companions, but only to be themselves driven back again under
the terrible blows that met them. Very soon the roadway of the bridge
was so crowded with the slain that many of the men fell over the
parapet into the deep water of the river. A party of Olaf's bowmen
stood by the nearer end of the bridge, assailing the three dauntless
defenders with their arrows. Again the northmen charged. This time they
were led by Kolbiorn Stallare, who advanced slowly, and not with a
heedless rush as the others had done. He carried his heavy battleaxe;
but before he could raise his weapon to strike, the nearest of the
defenders stepped unexpectedly forward and dealt him a tremendous blow
which made him stagger backward. The blow was met by his strong shield,
and he received no hurt; but in stepping back he tripped upon the arm
of one of his fallen comrades, and was borne down under the weight of
the men who, following close behind him, rushed headlong to the death
that he had escaped. There Kolbiorn lay for a long while, and Olaf
Triggvison, who had seen him fall, believed him to be dead.
Now it was Guthmund and not Olaf who had given the command to the
Norsemen to attempt the taking of the bridge, and Olaf was very angry
at seeing so many of his best men sacrificed. He had seen that the tide
in the creek was ebbing, and that very soon the bridge would cease to
be an important post. Accordingly he ordered that those who were still
endeavouring to cross should be withdrawn.
The three champions who had thus succeeded in keeping the bridge were
named Wulfstan, Elfhere, and Maccus. Wulfstan was the man who had
struck Kolbiorn Stallare, and he knew that the blow could not have
killed him. So when the vikings had left the bridge he rescued Kolbiorn
from under the weight of slain men who had fallen over him, and
Kolbiorn limped back to the rear of the Norse archers who, all this
time, had kept up a constant firing of arrows upon the Englishmen.
When at last the tide had fallen, and the ford could be passed, the
bridge defenders retreated, and Brihtnoth allowed the northmen to cross
over unhindered. Olaf led his chosen men across by the road, while the
larger number of his warriors waded through the stream. And now the
fight began in desperate earnest.
Separating his forces into three divisions, Olaf advanced to the
attack. He directed his left wing, under the command of Guthmund, upon
Brihtnoth's right flank; his right wing, under Harald Biornson, wheeled
round to the attack of Brithnoth's left. He reserved for himself the
position which was considered the most difficult to deal with--the
point where the English chief himself stood, surrounded by his
strongest and most experienced soldiers. This was the narrowest part of
the formation, and Olaf knew that if he could but break through the
wall of shields at this point the whole mass of men, now so compact and
impregnable, would quickly be thrown into confusion.
Kolbiorn fought at Olaf's right hand, and Thorgils Thoralfson at his
left. Behind and about them were a thousand of the most valiant vikings
and berserks.
The attack began on all sides with the hurling of javelins, but very
soon the northmen approached closer to their enemies, and carried on a
closer combat with their swords, and at first the vikings got the worst
of it.
Olaf and his fellows had already caught sight of the white bearded
Brihtnoth, and they were making their way towards him when Thorgils
Thoralfson fell forward, pierced to the heart with a spear. Now, the
spear was one which Olaf himself had before thrown into the midst of
the English ranks, and it had now been returned in such a manner that
Olaf at once knew it had been hurled by some man trained as the vikings
were in the use of the weapon. Advancing yet nearer, he searched with
quick eye among the faces of the men before him. As he did so another
spear was flung; this time it was aimed at Kolbiorn, who caught it on
his uplifted shield.
Kolbiorn had seen the face of the man who had thus picked him out, and
throwing his shield aside he gripped his battleaxe, and flinging
himself with all his great strength against the wall of men he burst
through the ranks. Olaf saw him fighting his way into the midst of the
soldiers, who fell back before the weighty axe. At last Kolbiorn
reached the man he sought, and engaged with him hand to hand, while
Olaf and the vikings followed into the breach. In a very few moments
Olaf was at Kolbiorn's side, and then he too saw the face of the man
who had killed Thorgils. It was the face of his own fellow-slave in far
off Esthonia, his companion in Holmgard, his shipmate Egbert, whom he
had believed to be drowned.
The duel between Kolbiorn and Egbert lasted for several minutes, but it
was evident that Kolbiorn was but playing with his adversary, for he
gave him many chances.
"Less skilful are you than when we last met," he said with a laugh,
"and your wrist is not so strong. Gladly would I have given you a few
more lessons had opportunity served; but instead I must now repay the
blow you gave me over our game of chess."
Egbert then fell, and Kolbiorn turned to the help of Olaf, who was now
engaged with the English chief and three of his special comrades.
Brihtnoth wanted to fight Olaf sword to sword, but Olaf respected his
bravery and his grey hairs, and chose rather to encounter a very broad
chested Englishman, who had already slain three of the vikings. As
Kolbiorn entered the fray he saw Brihtnoth turn away from Olaf and
cross swords with one of the berserks. The berserk fell, with a great
cut across his head. His place was taken by one of his shipmates, whom
the old chief also overcame. The Earldorman was wounded, but he went on
bravely fighting until at last he was cut down by a viking named Harek
the Hawk.
The spot where the English chief had fallen became now the centre of
the battle. Here, in defence of their dead leader's body, the bravest
among the English fought and fell. Wulfstan, Maccus, and Elfhere--the
three who had held the bridge--again fought shoulder to shoulder at
this place. Wulfstan was vanquished by Olaf, and his two companions
fell to Kolbiorn's blade. The names of some of the other English
warriors are Alfwine, a lord of the Mercians, Eseferth, Brihtwold,
Edward the Long, Leofsuna, and Dunnere; all of whom fell in defending
the body of Brihtnoth. One of the vikings, thinking that Olaf meant to
gain possession of it, carried off the body of the dead hero; but Olaf
would not allow his men to do dishonour to so brave a foe, and he
afterwards delivered the body to Brihtnoth's friends, who gave it a
worthy resting place in Ely cathedral.
Meanwhile the battle had fared ill with the East Anglians on the other
parts of the field. The breaking of the fortress of shields had thrown
the ranks into confusion. The vikings, under Guthmund and Harek,
followed up their advantage and fought with fierce onslaught. The
English were but ill armed; many of them had bills and swords, others
had spears and arrows, but some had no better weapons than such as they
had themselves contrived out of their farm implements.
When it was seen that the northmen were gaining the victory on all
hands many of the English began to lose courage, and one, a caitiff
named Godric, mounted the horse on which Brihtnoth had ridden to the
field, so that many thought that it was the Earldorman himself who had
fled. After this there was a general retreat, and so the battle of
Maldon ended.
Olaf Triggvison made no assault upon the town, but pitched his tents on
the high ground between the two streams where he had landed. He allowed
the East Anglians to carry off their dead and give them Christian
burial. His own dead numbered over four hundred, and he had them laid
in a mound with all their armour and weapons, and built a cairn over
them according to the heathen custom.
He lay with his ships off Maldon during the rest of the summer, and
raided in Essex and Suffolk without hindrance.
Now it might be thought that King Ethelred, hearing, as he soon heard,
of the taking of Ipswich and of the defeat of the East Anglians at
Maldon, would lose no time in gathering an army to expel the invaders.
The spirit of the nation was ready for a vigorous resistance of the
northmen, and with a few such men as Brihtnoth to lead them the English
might without much difficulty have driven every viking out of the land.
But Ethelred was a man of quite another stamp from the valiant
Earldorman of East Anglia, and he adopted the fatal system of looking
to gold to do the work of steel.
Olaf Triggvison and a party of his captains returned to the camp one
day, after a great boar hunt, and they found that in their absence
certain messengers had arrived from Andover, where the king held his
court. Olaf directed that the men should be brought to him in his tent,
and there he held speech with them. On entering the tent the messengers
set down before the viking chief two heavy bags containing the sum of
ten thousand pounds in gold, This money, the men said, had been sent by
King Ethelred as a gift to the leader of the Norsemen.
"And for what reason should King Ethelred send such a gift to me who
have done him no good service, but have only been despoiling his lands
and disturbing his peaceful subjects?"
"It is because the king wishes you to cease your ravaging in East
Anglia and take away your ships and men," returned the spokesman. "That
is the condition he imposes on your accepting the gold."
"And how if I refuse the gold and say that it does not suit my purpose
to remove my ships?" asked Olaf. "Will your king then march with his
armies against the vikings, and give us the exercise of another good
battle?"
The messenger shrugged his shoulders.
"King Ethelred does not doubt that you will take the gold," said he.
"And as to his marching against you, of that matter he has said no
word."
"In that case you may leave the money in my keeping," said Olaf. "And I
charge you to thank King Ethelred for his generosity. It so happens
that this part of the country is already becoming somewhat bare of food
and we are wearying for new scenes. I think, therefore, that before the
winter days are far advanced we shall weigh anchor and set sail. But
our going shall not be one day earlier on account of Ethelred's desire
to be rid of us."
The messengers wanted a more definite promise from Olaf that he would
not only sail away at this present time but also that he would not
again invade the English coasts. But to this Olaf would not agree.
Either the king must be satisfied that the vikings intended to quit the
shores of East Anglia in a few weeks' time, or he might take back his
gold and suffer his kingdom to be invaded and ravaged at whatever point
the Norsemen chose to make a landing.
It seemed for a long time that they could come to no agreement; but
finally the matter was so arranged that the gold was delivered into
Olaf's hands and the messengers departed, with a mere half promise of
peace and the assurance that Olaf would remove his ships within twenty
days. Olaf did not hold himself bound to keep these conditions;
nevertheless he resolved to abide by them. He had already discovered
that his forces were too small to attempt, with any certainty of
success, a deliberate conquest of England; and, indeed, even before the
arrival of Ethelred's messengers, he had determined to presently
withdraw his fleet until such times as he had gathered about him a host
large enough and strong enough to lay siege to London. His departure
from Maldon was therefore of his own choosing and not the result of any
threats upon the part of the English king.
Meanwhile Olaf did not lose sight of the fact that the foolish policy
of King Ethelred, instead of having the effect of securing the kingdom
against invasion, only set forth a very strong encouragement to the
vikings to repeat their incursions as often as they were in want of
money. Ethelred and his advisers seem never to have learned this
lesson, and for many years after the battle of Maldon the sea rovers,
both Danish and Norwegian, continued to harry the English coasts, with
the invariable result that, so soon as they had plundered a few
monasteries and reduced a few villages to ashes, they were sure to
receive the offer of a very handsome bribe as an inducement to put to
sea again.