I come from a poor family in the crags of the East Geats. I left home in search of adventure and heard that Wiglaf, the Atheling, was searching for willing men to join him in an attack on the isle of Leastney. He had heard that the Malan islanders had gathered men in order to put Aescwine, chief of the Osredings on the throne of the Geats. Although I lacked any experience, I was able to convince one of his war leaders that my skill with a sling would be valuable.
Wiglaf needed lightly armed men to form the first part of a dawn attack. Armed with just my scramasaex and trusty sling I joined the advance party. We left the ships as quietly as we could and made our way ashore just before dawn broke. As we waded carefully through the surf, we could see the first rays of the sun to the east, barely visible through the morning mist. With my comrades, I crept quietly up to the palisade surrounding the enemy quarters.
Fortunately, the Malan islanders had been feasting and celebrating into the night and those few on sentry duty were hungover and dozing. Our approach was not spotted. A companion boosted me up the palisade and I was able to clamber over and then haul him up after myself, before dropping down very quietly on the far side. All was still quiet, we had not been heard. We made our way stealthily towards the gates. About 20 yards from the gates we saw a sentry slumped drunkenly against the palisade, but I was able to slit his throat before he even stirred.
Myself and my companion and two other warriors arrived at the gate simultaneously and two of us carefully lifted the bar and pushed open the gates, while the others watched for any signs that we had been discovered. The gates creaked as we opened them, but the first of Wiglaf’s spearmen had already arrived and ran softly through. I got in to position to shoot anyone who tried to leave the Great Hall and Wiglaf and his men surrounded it. Wiglaf is a man with a stentorian voice and he put it to good use, calling forth any women or children and then those who were just there to feast and would swear they did not support the Osredings and knew naught of their plans.
Now cursing and turmoil could be heard from within. Many women and children were allowed to emerge and then flee, followed by some men who were made to discard their arms and formed up ready to swear an oath to Wiglaf. Half a dozen armed men tried to follow on the heels of those who had surrendered, but these were quickly and efficiently cut down. In the meantime, myself and others were sent to gather firewood and pile it up around the Great Hall. As I was gathering wood, I had time to think about killing my first man. It didn’t feel as momentous as I expected, but the whole attack had been very exciting.
Once the piles of wood were in place, Wiglaf set fire to it and we waited for the occupants to die, or come out and be killed. I stood in place with my sling ready to shoot down any who burst through the ring of armed men. The piles of wood were soon ablaze and the Hall started to burn, there were shouts of terror from within. As the flames leapt higher men started to burst out, but were immediately engaged by Wiglaf’s warriors. A handful of escapees managed to break through the line, but I despatched one with my sling and the others were also killed in a hale of missile fire. The flames destroyed the hall and then died down and all was silent. Among the dead seemed to be many Sweons, as well as Aescwine the leader of the Osredings and his household guard.
Wiglaf soon moved us to the Spile. This is an island protecting the northern part of Malanmere, and would be the way a Sweon fleet would approach. It was already fortified, but Wiglaf had us bring more wood to repair any gaps in the fortification and to stockpile arrows and javelins. I made sure I had plenty of stones for my sling.
Three days after the burning of the Great Hall at Leastney the Sweon fleet arrived and were very disappointed not to find their Osreding allies awaiting them. As they approached, a fleet of ships led by Theign Siggir of Sigiston fell on the rear of the Sweon fleet. The Sweons landed the men from their leading ships on Bardsey Island as the rear ships were attacked by Siggir. There was a causeway from Bardsey to the Spile and I was among the forces there when the Sweons attacked. I was able to fire slingshots into the massed ranks as they approached and was happy to see some of my targets go down. Many others went down under bow, sling and javelin fire from my fellow missile men. As the Sweons approached we slipped back through our ranks and the shield wall formed up behind us.
Wiglaf had prepared us well and the Sweons had to approach up an incline. We pushed downhill to meet them and although the Sweons fought courageously they were soon overcome by our brave warriors. Many were killed or badly wounded and the rest tried to flee back to their ships, only to find that these were being burnt or stove in by Siggir’s men. We pursued them back to the ships where many surrendered and the rest then tried to flee into the interior of Bardsey Island. I managed to bring down a couple more Sweons with my sling during the pursuit, to be finished off by my companions.
The battle was over and we gathered the loot for Wiglaf to distribute and I had time to think about the battle. This was all so much more exciting than life in the crags, I am hoping that in the future I will be able to form part of the shield wall. I was able to grab myself a spear, and then received a silver armring as part of my share of the loot – I felt like a wealthy man!