Layamon's Brut

by active 1200 Layamon

In the fight came the Earl Aldolf of Gloucester, and found Hengest, wickedest of knights, where he fought fiercely, and felled the Christians. Aldolf drew his good sword, and upon Hengest smote; and Hengest cast the shield before him, and else were his life destroyed; and Aldolf smote on the shield, so that it was shivered in two. And Hengest leapt to him, as if it were a lion, and smote upon Aldolf's helm, so that it parted in two. Then hewed they with swords-the strokes were grim-fire flew from the steel, oft and well frequent! After a time, then leapt Aldolf to the ground, and saw by him Gorlois, who was a keen man full truly; of Cornwall he was earl, he was widely known. Then was the baron Aldolf much the bolder, and heaved high his sword, and let it down swing, and smote Hengest on the hand, so that he let go his good brand; and in haste grasped him, with his grim looks, by the cuirasses hood that was on his head, and with great strength struck him down; and then he him up drew, as if he would crush him, and with arms embraced him, and forth him led. Now was Hengest taken, through Aldolf, the brave man! Then called Aldolf, the Earl of Gloucester: "Hengest, it is not so merry for thee now as it was whilom by Ambresbury, where thou drewest the axes, and slew the Britons, with much treachery thou slewest my kindred! Now thou shalt pay retribution, and lose thy friends; with cruel death perish in the world!" Hengest proceeded still (without speaking); he saw no help; Aldolf led him to his sovereign, and greeted the sovereign with loving words: "Hail be thou, Aurelie, of noble race! Here I bring before thee Hengest, the heathen, who was thy kindred's bane, who hath sought to us harm; God granted it to me, that I have him grasped! Now I give him to thee, for dearest of men art thou to me; and let thy attendants play with this hound, shoot with their arrows, and his race anon destroy!" Then answered the king with quick voice: "Blessed be thou, Aldolf, noblest of all earls! Thou art to me dear as my life, thou shalt be chief of people!" There men took Hengest, and there men bound Hengest; there was then Hengest of all knights most wretched! This fight was overcome, and the heathens fled. Then saw Octa, that his father was full woe; and with Ebissa, his wed brother, joined them together, and fled into York, with harm enow, and made ready the walls, and pulled down the halls. Some of the heathens went to the wood, where the folk on foot laid them to ground.

Then was Aurelie the king pleased well through all things; he proceeded into Coningsburgh, with all his folk, and thanked the Lord for such might. Three days and three nights the king dwelt there forth-right, to heal the wounds of his dear knights, and rest in the burgh their weary bones. When the third day came, and the folk had made none, then caused the king the trumpets to blow, and summoned his earls, that they should come to husting, to Aurelie the king. When they came together, the king asked them soon, what they would counsel him, who were his rich men, by what death Hengest should die, and how he might best avenge his dearest friends, who lay buried near Ambresbury.

Then stood up Eldadus, and with the king he spake thus;towards God he was good, he was a holy bishop, Aldolf the earl's brother, he had no other:—"Lord king, listen now to me, what I will thee tell. I will make the sentence, how he shall be put to death. For he is most hateful of men to us in the world, and hath slain our kindred, and deprived of life-day; and he is a heathen houndhell he shall seek; there he shall sink for his treachery! Lord king, hearken to me, what I thee will tell. A king was in Jerusalem, who was named Saul; and in heathendom was a king of mickle might, who was named AgagJerusalem he hatedhe was king of the Amalechthe Worse was full nigh to him! Ever he hated Jerusalem with harm the most; never would he give them peace, but ever he withstood them; he burnt them, he slew them, he did them sorrow enow! It fell on a time that the sun gan to shine; then sate Agag the king on his high chair; his fated blood was troubled, and urged him to march. He called his knights anon forth-right: 'Quick to your steeds! and forth we shall ride; we shall burn and slay all about Jerusalem!' Forth went the king, and a great host with him; the land they gan through-run, and the towns to consume. The men saw that who dwelt in Jerusalem; and they advanced against them, knights and swains, and fought with the king, and with fight him overcame, and slew all his folk, and Agag the king they took; and so they with him came to Saul the king. Then was Saul the king blithe through all things! The king asked counsel at his rich knights anon, which he might the better do to him, either slay or up hang. Then leapt up Samuel, a prophet of Israel;he was a man exceeding holy, high toward the Lord; no man knew in those days man so high in God's law. Samuel took Agag the king, and led him in the market-place, and caused him most fast to a stake to be bound; and took with his right hand a precious brand; and thus called to him Samuel, the good man: 'Thou hightest Agag the king, now thou art in sorrow! Now thou shalt receive the retribution for that thou destroyedest Jerusalem, for that thou hast this noble burgh so greatly injured, and many a good man slain, and deprived of life-day! As I hope for mercy, shalt thou do so no more.' Samuel heaved up the sword, and strongly down struck, and cut the king all in pieces in Jerusalem's market, and threw the pieces wide over the streets. Thus Samuel took-on (acted), and so oughtest thou do to Hengest."

Aldolf heard this, the Earl of Gloucester; toward Hengest he leapt, as if it were a lion, and grasped him by the head, and after him hauled him, and drew him through and through, and throughout all Coningsburgh; and without the burgh he caused him to be bound. Aldolf drew his sword, and smote off Hengest's head; and the king took him forth-right, because he was so brave a knight, and laid him in earth, after the heathen law, and prayed for the soul, that it never were happy.

And now Aurelie the king caused a husting to be summoned, and caused trumpets to be blown, and his army to assemble—there was wondrous folk—and marched right to York, and inclosed Octa with his men there within. The king caused a dyke to be dug, all about York, that no man might there either go out or in. Octa saw that; therefore he was full woe. And his heathen folk, that he had in the burgh, they betook them to counsel, what they might do. And thus spake Octa with his companion Ebissa: "I have now bethought me, what I will do. I and my knights shall forth-right in our bare-breech go out of the burgh, hang on my neck a chain, and come to the king, praying his mercy. We all shall else be dead, except we follow this counsel." And, they all did so, as Octa them advised; put off their clothes the careful knights, and proceeded out of the burgh, miserable thanes, twain and twain, twenty hundred! Aurelie beheld this, noblest of kings, strange it seemed to him of the naked knights. Together came the host that lay over the land; they saw Octa naked come, that was Hengest's son. He bare in his hand a long chain; he came to the king, and before his warriors he fell upon the ground, and the king's feet sought; and these words then said Hengest's son Octa: "Mercy, my lord king, through God the mild; for the love of God Almighty have mercy of my knights! For all our heathendom is become base, our laws and our people, for loathsome we are to the Lord. For us has failed in hand Appolin, and Tervagant, Woden, and Mercurius, Jupiter, and Saturnus, Venus, and Didon, Frea, and Mamilon, and all our beliefs are now to us odious, but we will believe on thy dear Lord, for all it faileth us now in hand, that we worshipped. We yearn thy favour, now and evermore; if thou wilt me grant peace, and if thou wilt me grant amity, we will draw to thee, and be thy faithful men; love thy people, and hold thy laws, if thou wilt not that, do thy will, whetherso (whatsoever) thou wilt do, or slay us or up hang us."

And the king was mild-hearted, and held him still; he beheld on the right hand, he beheld on the left hand, which of his wise men first would speak. They all were still, and kept silence with voice; was there no man so high, that durst a word utter; and ever lay Octa at the king's feet so; all his knights lay behind him. Then spake Aldadus, the good bishop, and said thus: "Ever it was, and ever it shall be, and yet it behoveth us, when we yearn mercy, that we should have mercy; worthy is he of mercy, who worthily prayeth for it. And thou thyself, lord king, thou art chief of the people, pardon thou Octa, and also his companions, if they will receive Christendom with good belief; for yet it may befall, in some country that they may fitly worship the Lord. Now stands all this kingdom in thine own hand, give them a place, where it shall be agreeable to thee, and take of them hostages, such as thou wilt require; and let them be well held in iron bonds; the hostages be found meat and clothes, be found all that to them shall belief; and then mightest thou well hold this people in thy land, and let them till the land, and live by their tilth. And if it subsequently shall befall, soon thereafter, that they fail in hand to hold troth, and weaken in work, and withstand thee, now I decree to thee the doom, what thou mayest then do. Cause men to ride to them exceeding quickly, and cause them all to be destroyed, slain and eke up hung. This I decree to thee; the Lord it hear!" Then answered the king, with quick voice: "All I will so do as thou hast deemed." Thus spake the king then: "Arise up, Octa; thou shalt quickly do well, receive Christendom." There was Octa baptised, and his companions also; and all his knights on the spot forth-right. They took their hostages, and gave to the king, three-and-fifty children they delivered to the king. And the king sent them beside Scotland; oaths they swore, that they would not deceive him. The king gave them in hand sixty hides of land, thereon they dwelt well many winters.

The king was in York, good it seemed to him; he took his messengers, and sent over all his land, and ordered his bishops, his book-learned men, earls and thanes, to come towards him, to Aurelie the king, to a great husting. It soon came to pass, that they came together. The king greeted his folk with his fair words, he welcomed earls, he welcomed barons, and the bishops, and the book-learned men.—"I will say to you with sooth words, why I sent after you, and for what thing. Here I give to each knight his land and his right, and to every earl and every baron, what he may win, to possess it with joy; and each man I order to love peace, on his life. And I bid you all to work and build the churches that are fallen, to let the bells ring, to sing God's praise, and each with our might to worship our dear Lord; each man by his might to hold peace and amity, and cause the land to be tilled, now it is all in my hand." When this doom was all said, they all praised this counsel. The king gave them leave to depart thence; each fared homeward, as to them it best seemed.

Full seven nights the king lay there still, and then he gan proceed into London, to gladden the burgh-folk, who oft were busy. He caused walls to be strengthened, he caused halls to be built, and all the works to be righted that ere were broken; and gave them all the laws that stood in their elders' days; and he made there reves, to rule the folk. And thence he gan proceed right to Winchester; and there he caused to be worked halls and churches;—there it seemed to him most pleasant;—and afterwards he went to Ambresbury, to the burial-place of his dear friends, whom Hergest with knives had murdered there. He caused men anon to be inquired for, who could hew stone, and eke good wrights, who could work with axe, he thought to work there a work wondrously fair, that ever should last, the while men lived! Then was in Caerleon a bishop, that hight Tremoriun; he was a man exceeding wise in the worlds-realm; with the king he was, over the weald. And thus Tremoriun, God's servant, spake there with the king, of a good thing: "Listen now to me, Aurelie, what I will make known to thee, and I will say to thee the best of all counsel, if thou wilt it approve, eft it will like to thee. We have a prophet, who is Merlin named; if any man might him find, upon this weald, and bring him to thee, through any kind of thing, and if thou his will wouldest perform, he would say to thee best of all counsel, how thou mightest this work make strong and stark, that ever might last, the while that men lived." Then answered the king—these words were to him agreeable:— "Dear friend Tremoriun, all this I will do." The king in haste sent his messengers over all his kingdom, and bade every man to ask after Merlin; and if men might him find, to bring him to the king, he would give him land, both silver and gold, and in the worlds-realm perform his will. The messengers gan to ride wide and far; some they went right north, and some they went forth south; some they went right east, and some they went right west, some they went anon, so that they came to Alaban, that is a fair well in Welsh land. The well he (Merlin) much loved, and oft therein bathed him; the knights him found where he sate by the strand. So soon as they him met, they greeted him fair; and thus said the two knights to him forth-right: "Hail be thou, Merlin, wisest of men! By us he who is a goodly king, named Aurelie, noblest of all kings, greets thee, and he beseecheth thee courteously, that thou come to him; and he will give land to thee, both silver and gold, if thou in the realm wilt counsel the king." Then answered Merlin, what to the knights was full woe: "I reck not of his land, his silver, nor his gold, nor his clothes, nor his horses; myself I have enow." Then sate he still a long time. These knights were afraid, that he would flee. When it all brake forth, it was good that he spake: "Ye are two knights come right here; yesterday ere noon I knew that ye should come, and if I so would, ye might not have found me. Ye bring me greeting from Aurelie the king. I knew his qualities ere he came to land, and I knew the other, Uther his brother; I knew both ere they were born, though I never saw either with eye. But alas! alas! that it is so ordered, that the monarch may not live long! But now will I go, and be your companion; to the king I will proceed, and perform his will."

Forth went Merlin, and the knights with him, so long that they came to the sovereign. The good tidings came to the king; never ere in his life was the king so blithe, for ever any kind of man that came to him! The king went to his steed, and out gan him ride, and all his knights with him, to welcome Merlin. The king him met, and greeted him fair, he embraced him, he kissed him, he made him his familiar. Great was the mirth among the people, all for Merlin's arrival, who was son of no man. Alas! that in the world was no wise man that ever knew here whose son he were, but the Lord alone, who surveys (or explores) all clean! The king led to chamber Merlin who was dear; and he gan ask him anon with his fair words, that he should cause him to understand of the world's course, and of all the years that were to come, for it were to him greatly in will, that he thereof knew. Merlin then answered, and to the king said thus: "O Aurelie, the king, thou askest me a strange thing, look that thou no more such thing inquire. For my spirit truly is wrathful, that is in my breast; and if I among men would make boast, with gladness, with game, with goodly words, my spirit would wrath himself, and become still, and deprive me of my sense, and my wise words fore-close, then were I dumb of every sentence. But leave all such things," quoth Merlin to the king, "for whensoever need shall come to ever any people, and man will beseech me with mildness, and I may with my will dwell still, then may I say, how it afterwards shall happen. But I will counsel thee of thy nearest need, and say to thee right here what thou hast in heart. A plain is by Ambresbury, that is broad, and exceeding pleasant, there was thy kindred deprived of life with knives, there was many bold Briton betrayed to the death; and thinkest to greet the place with worship, and with surprising works to honour the dead, that there shall ever stand, to the world's end. But thou hast never any man, that knows aught thereon, who can make a work that never will fail. But I will counsel thee at such need, for I know a work with wonder encompassed, far the work standeth in Ireland. It is a most surprising thing, it is named the Giant's Ring, the work is of stone, such another there is none, so wide as is the worlds-realm is no work its like. The stones are great, and virtue they have; the men who are sick they go to the stones, and they wash the stones, and therewith bathe their bones; after a little while they become all sound! But the stones are mickle, and immensely great; for was never any man born, in every any burgh, who might with strength bring the stones thence." Then answered the king: "Merlin, thou sayest strange thing, that never any man born may bring them thence, nor with any strength carry from the place, how might I then bring them hence?" Then answered Merlin to the king who spake with him: "Yes, yes, lord king, it was of yore said, that better is art, than evil strength; for with art men may hold what strength may not obtain. But assemble thine army, and go to the land, and lead thou with thee a good host; and I will go with theethy worship will be the more! Ere thou back come, thy will thou shalt have, and the work thou shalt bring with thee to this land, and so thou shalt carry it to the burial-place, and honour the spot where thy friends lie. And thou thyself shalt therein thy bones rest; when thy life endeth, there shalt thou rest." Thus said Merlin, and afterwards he sate still, as though he would from the world depart. The king caused him to be brought into a fair chamber, and dwell therein, after his will.

Aurche the king caused a husting to be summoned from all the lands that stood in his hand; he bade them counsel him at such need. And his noble barons they well advised him, that he should do the counsel that Merlin had said to him. But they would not lead the king out of this land, but they chose them for chief Uther the good, and fifteen thousand knights, weaponed fair, of bold Britons, who thither should go. When this army was all ready, then began they to fare with all the best ships that by the sea stood, and voyaged so long that they came to Ireland. And the brave knights took the haven, they went upon the sea-strand, and beheld Ireland. Then spake Merlin, and discoursed with words: "See ye now, brave men, the great hill, the hill so exceeding high, that to the welkin it is full high? That is the marvellous thing, it is named the Giant's Ring, to each work unlike—it came from Africa. Pitch your tents over all these fields, here we shall rest for the space of three days; on the fourth day we shall march hence toward the hill, where our will is. But we shall first refresh us, and assemble our warriors, make ready our weapons, for well they behove us (we shall need them)." Thus it remained, and there lay the army.