Chapter 12 – The Battle of Noreia

Glum and the volk arrived in the afternoon. I hailed him and showed him the ferry.
“Well done! How did you get it, Gunnar?”
“Err, I found it upstream.”
“Where is the owner?”
“I do not know! It was forlornly.”
“Did you meet any natives?”
“No. The area I passed was deserted.”
Glum looked at the sword hanging at my side, but he did not say a word.

The volk rested for the night and at the next morning, we started to cross the river. Of course, Velleda wanted to know every detail of my trip. Unlike Glum, she was not so easy to please. I had to tell her every detail. When I told her about the meeting with the swan maidens, she shook her head and said: “Gunnar, you did not act very smart. It is not advisable to swan maidens on. It invites trouble.”
I felt that she was right, but I said: “Common, you are too pessimistic, aren’t you? What can a swan maiden do to us? We are strong, we can determine our fate.”
Then I told her how I had gotten the ferry.
“Gunnar, what have you done? You killed a subject of the Noreian king. Don’t you think he will bring us to book? Why didn’t you tell Glum about it?”
“I did what I had to do. We needed the ferry. I did not want to kill him; he forced me to do it. He is the one to blame. Anyway, he was nothing but a ferryman. He is not important at all. We can pay for atonement. And if their king does not accept.”
“Gunnar, show me the sword!”
“This is not the sword of a poor ferryman. Gunnar, I tell you, your act will cause misery.”

Despite of her words we crossed the river without any problems. The weather was fine and everyone felt happy that we passed another hurdle on our way to Alberich’s realm.

It took four days to cross the river, but finally all our people and all chariots were on the southern bank and we advanced into the land of Noreia.

Three days later, our reconnaissance spotted a big army. They were at the other end of a big plane. The plane gently inclined. On both sides, there were woods. Glum ordered the warriors to deploy for the battle. We had learned a lot in the passed months and the warriors knew there positions in the formation. The Ambrones formed our right wing, the Cimbrii the center and the left. Ger-men formed the first three rows. Behind them, there were the archers. The Teutons were our reserve. Behind them the old warriors and women built our camp. On the very right side, there was a small distance between the Ambrones and the wood. Glum sent our cavalry there, most of them former wild saw men, who had joined our volk during the last months. On the left, the Cimbrii leaned against the other wood. Inside the wood Magni and his werewolves took position.

Glum called me. “Gunnar, if possible, I want to avoid this fight. There is nothing to gain if we have to fight our way through Noreia. I send you to the other commander. Tell him that we do not want to make trouble; we just want to pass his country on our way to Alberich. Offer him a toll, if necessary. However, if he does not agree, tell him we will fight.”

Therefore, I climbed on my horse, called two comrades to follow me. We crossed the plain. I heard the sound of the upcoming battle. The Ambrones had started their war chants. From the left I heard inhumane cries; Magni’s following worshipping to Modi, the god of battle wrath.

From the other side a group of riders crossed the plane, too, and we finally met in their middle. The enemy delegation consisted of twelve men. They stopped at a distance of several hundred yards. Three riders separated from the rest. The man in the middle was quite old, maybe 45 years old. He was wearing a rich armor and was riding a noble horse. Obviously, this was the leader of our enemies. On his right, there was a young man of about 17 years. His equipment and his attitude showed that he was a nobleman, too. His face was somewhat familiar to me, although I did not remember why. The third rider was different. He looked meager and the way he sat on the horse showed that he was no warrior.

After the two groups had met, I said to the leader: “Why do you stop us here? Take your men and step aside or you will regret it.”

My opponent looked at me with anger: “I do not know who you are, young man, or where you come from. However, I tell you that it is accepted custom here at Noreia that the young men listen to the old and noble ones before they speak. I am Kvasir and I am King of Noreia. I am here to demand atonement. Someone killed my ferryman and I call for retribution. If you turn the murderer over and pay enough gold to balance the dead body you may leave this country and return to your home alive.”

“I do not know what you are talking about, old man. I do not know anything about a dead ferryman, but I know that there will be many dead men at Noreia if you will not get out of our way. If you want to keep your realm, step aside, old man.”

The king wanted to reply, but the man on his left interrupted him at his left: “It’s you! You are the murderer! You killed Honir! I stood on the other bank. I recognize you!”

“Keep your trap shut! You do not know what you’re talking! Who is Honir? I do not know any Honir at all!”

The king said: “Honir is my son. He was the strongest man in the realm. I do not know how you managed to killed him. It must have been deceitfulness.”

“I do not know what you are talking about.”

The young man on the left turned to the king and said: “Father, look at the sword at his side. Doesn’t it look like Honir’s sword Tyrfing? Stranger, give me the sword; I want look at it!”

“You want to make acquaintance with my sword. Don’t hesitate, my boy, it’s waiting here for you!”

The boy spurred his horse and attacked me. I did not know whether he recognized the sword when it penetrated his throat right below his chin. He fell from his horse and was dead without another word or even a sigh. When I turned around again, the king and the other enemy were on the run. One of my companions threw his ger at the king. It penetrated his back. He hurried to his own lines and his entourage covered his retreat.

We returned to our lines, too. When I reached Glum, the Noreians were already approaching. While they were running down the plane, they shouted their war cries. Our archers sent them the first greetings, however without any visible effect. The second volley did cause some confusion and the third one tore holes in the formation. Then the enemy reached our lines.

On the right, our cavalry tried to attack the flank of the Noreians. However, the Noreian cavalry intercepted. Our cavalry dispelled and the riders escaped into the wood. The Noreians did not follow. They attacked the Ambrones, which started to loose ground.

Our center stopped all attacks. At the right, the enemy sent cavalry, too. I stood side by side with Glum. He said: “Common, Magni. Now it is time to start your attack. Hit their flank and hit them hard.”
At that moment Magni and his men appeared, screaming and roaring. They were now in the mood for their Berseker’s raid. They were filled with wrath; they hardly noticed what was going on all around them. Glum sighed with relief until he saw that they were not attacking the Noreians but chopping the bushes.

Glum was shocked. He just could not believe his eyes. His elite formation was busy chopping trees! A messenger called him back into reality: “Glum, our left wing! The Ambrones are retreating!”

A look to the left showed that he was right. However, our right wing was not doing much better. The men there, shocked by the behavior of the werewolves, lost ground.

Seeing the danger for both flanks made Glum master of the situation again. He turned to me and said: “Gunnar, take five clans of the Teutons and turn to our right flank. You have to stop the enemy. I will go to the left and repel the enemy there.” I turned to go but he called me once more: “Gunnar, all depends on you, now. Make the Ambrones make a stand. The left wing has to stand.” Then he turned away and disappeared in the battle turmoil.

I went to the Teutons and told them my intention. We hurried to the left. Fortunately, the Ambrones had already picked up courage again and when they saw us coming, they started to attack the enemy. Together with my Teutons, I headed for the cavalry of the Noreians just as they tried to get into the back of the Ambrones. Suddenly they found themselves between the shafts of the Ambrones and Teutons and were slaughtered. Next, the fight between our infantry and the Noreians was fought with maximum rage. Success was going up and down. Suddenly, completely unexpected, our cavalry appeared at the edge of the wood and attacked the rear of the enemy. They had gathered themselves, again, and had waited for the right moment to interfere again. The enemy, attacked from both sides, gave up and run away. While our cavalry was chasing them, I gathered the Ambrones and Teutons and aimed for the center of the enemy.

Our attack made the enemy shiver. From the other side, I could hear the screaming of Glum and his men. They had cleared the situation at their side and were heading for the center, too. That was too much for the enemies. They turned around and run as fast as possible.

It had been a hard fight for all of us. Nevertheless, our casualties were relatively low. We had proven that we were no longer a robber band but a disciplined army.