The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth Page A

through water as through holt or feld this was gifen when a yonge cilde. the water is colde it is eosturmonth it is hard to breathe i is ceocan breathan cwic but it seems to me i has been cast in to the mere to be sum thing after the brocn land and after the fyr
    i tacs in a great breath then and i gan down
    down i gan down in to the blaec but my eages is open i gan down i pulls hard down to the treows i sees them cuman up to me i sees them blaec and mofan with the water i puts out my hand and i feels them cold and hard and slimd and then the water tacs me baec up up to the boat to the heofon to the world and i cums up ceocan to breathe and now with sum thing i has nefer had that no man has efer been gifan
    now thu has been there
    it is lic ys
    thu has been to the holt
    they did not cum
    they is here
    i called they did not cum
    does thu thinc they cums in fyr in the heofon
    what then
    they cums in thu
    when
    thine is the bodig thu ceoses the time
    it is lic ys
    be triewe
    that night i gan to the holt where my swine was before they was cwelled by the scuccas and i made a fyr to dry myself and i satt and locd at the fyr and all was still for a long night. when the sunne cum i rose from the aesc of my small fyr and i gan ofer to the aesc of the great fyr what had been my hus and was now cold and still
    into this aesc i gan and for sum time i was in it delfan and secan and i was aesc then on my nebb and in my haer and beard and on all my clothes all was aesc and i was secan
    first i found my sweord my grandfathers sweord still on the beam what had cum down all blaec and i lifted the sweord and clened it and carried it from the hus and laid it down on the ground. then i gan baec and for sum time i loccd and i toc sum other things what i was needan sum things what does not beorn what is made of style and gold and i clened these things and laid them on the ground with my sweord to tac to where i moste go. then i gan baec and this last time i found odelyn
    all mete she was all of her lif gan in fyr blaec and beorned lic sum hara or cicen coccd on a fyr too hot and long. her scap was not wifman was sum thing not of this world for she had gan to the other. i seen not what had been done to her and was not there for her when i was needed and this is my weacness what now i sceal lif with for it is my curse and this wifman who none sceolde efer harm who was triewe and who was lufd by me and cept lic a cwen in all things now was gan in frenc fyr and this macd me a small man small and weac and with my sweord still on the beam and my self gan for aels while my wifman was fuccd and cwelled by ingengas. and why wolde these gods spec with me why wolde they not smerc at me scun me lic a sic hund a sic man a sic weosul
    all gan all was gan and so i gan i toc what i had and i gan away from my hus and land. before i gan i dug a graef for my odelyn and i laid her down with luf and with curses for those who tocc her from me and with her i left sum ac wud sum treen from the fyr a scramasax sum leafs from the holt and sum secg from the fenn and i laid down also my wyrd and i saed i will tac them for thu i will haf my wergild in frenc blud and ofer her then i swept the eorth and all was done on my lands and nefer did i thinc to see them again in this world
     
     
    i spac to him then but he nefer spac baec
    this weland this great smith who had ceosan me he had cum when all was teornan about in blud and fyr this great ealdor of all anglisc folc lic i saes i seen why he ceosan me for i was a socman of three oxgangs i had been gifen the sight of the fugol who cum to warn us and i was of the eald hus. now angland was in need and now i had been to the hus of the lost gods so it seemed to me i would be gifen a path to tac
    but no path was seen then this smith weland he spac to me when he ceose and other times he gan and was not hierde for days and nights. sum times i was thincan he saes he is weland he saes he is the great smith of