The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth Page B

wulfdale but all i has is words i does not cnaw i has not seen him it may be he is sum deoful or sum nightgenga of the holt specan to me plegan with me succ things has been hierde of. when i was a yonge cilde many tales was telt to me by other boys in the ham of eald ghasts from fenn and holt what cum to men whispran to them of gold and luf. oft when men cums to land what has been ham to aelfs they will hiere micel whispran and be telt to cum to the fenn at night for sum maeden is waitan but naht is waitan but death
    so at this time i still did not cnaw what to do and sum daegs was spent wandran in the holts around the eald ham for though naht was there but aesc now i did not cnawan where to go or what to do. i locs now and i sees that i cnawan in triewth what i moste do but then i was afeart and so i cept to places i cnawan for to leaf wolde be to cum to my wyrd in full and this thing was so great it left me dreaned and small in its sceado
    for in triewth i cnawan another reason weland cum to me for this was what my grandfather telt me and aelfgifu when we was yonge cildren when he was tellan us in his great hus the tale of the smith and his allwise and wulfdale and the yfels of cyngs. my yonge sistor she was in awe of my grandfather as was i but i was the first son of my father and so for my grandfather i was to be cyng of his cynn to cum and he loccd at me this way. after he telt me this tale of weland he stood and he tocc from the beam his sweord what is now my sweord and slow he toc it from its sceath and he mofd it about in the light from fyr and door and from it cum lihts of its own that swam about the hus lic fisc in the water
    cilde he saes this sweord thu sees but sceal not grip till thu is man this is welands sweord. this sweord was gifen to me by my father who was called guthrum a great man and he was gifen it by his father and this sweord it was macd by weland him self in the myrcwud fyrs this sweord was born in the year angland was born and the year my grandfather was born for these was all the same. weland he cum to my grandfather at night for he was a great man my grandfather and he telt me this when i too was a cilde lic thu he telt me of when weland cum to him and of the fear he was in for this great smith he cum one night when my grandfather was cuman baec from the fenn. and locan up he seen cuman out from the holt a great gold man scinan with fyr in the cuman night
    this man he cum to him and he was tall lic the treows and on him he wore clothes of gold scinan with stans and on his heafod was a great helm lic that of the eald cyngs all carfan with boars and wyrms and raefns and scinan too and all that colde be seen of his nebb was his eages what was strong lic the sunne itself
    and there by the fenn in the dyan light of the daeg and in the cuman night this great man he saes i is weland smith ealdor of this land gifer of tools and waepans and to thu i has cum and why thu will nefer cnaw but thu moste tac what i gifs to thu and not asc and this will be a good wyrd for thu and thy cynn
    and my grandfather he colde sae naht for he was afeart and this great ent of gold then he specs mor he saes these is new times now for all folcs in these lands is one folc and to cepe thy hus free of denes and other ingengas thu sceal be gifen this great sweord what is macd in fyr and with the blud of many in its macan. and from his baec he tacs this sweord what thu now sees and he gifs it ofer to my grandfather who was still afeart and small
    and there is one other thing also saes my grandfather locan at me and also at my sistor there is one other thing weland saes to my grandfather he saes that this sweord thu moste cepe on thy land always for it is thine alone and this sweord it is for thy cynn to cepe their selfs free. and this may be free from ingenga folc from denes or it may be free from others in angland from anglisc folc who wolde mac thu small it may be from those who wolde put them selfs ofer thu who wolde