This is a guest post by Gareth Humphreys (user Windy Miller on the WWPD Forum)
The Battle of Maldon
Marauders
from the Sea
It was late summer in
991. The people of Essex, mostly Anglo-Saxon farmers, were looking forward
anxiously to harvest, watching their crops every morning for any sign of an
early frost. But at least one man realised that this year, a shortage of grain
was not the only threat to their land.
On August 10th, Viking
raiders sailed up the Blackwater, and landed on Northey Island, a strip of land
separated from the mainland only by a river, near to the town of Maldon. The
Earl of Essex, Brythnoth son of Beorthelm, had anticipated the invasion, and
raised an army of his fellow Saxons to oppose them. Most of what we know about
the battle that followed comes from a poem written by an unnamed monk, shortly
after the battle, which has become one of the best known pieces of literature
of the age.
The
Earl
Brythnoth was,
according to an examination of his bones in 1769, an incredibly tall man at
approximately 6’9”. By 991 he was old and hoar and had seen his share of
fighting. However, he was by no means disillusioned and battle-shy as a result
of his experiences, and was extremely confident in his men’s
ability to throw the raiders back into the cold clutches of the North sea.
At the outset, the
Vikings offered their usual terms – peace in exchange for gold. Brythnoth’s
reply was fierce – “Hearest thou, sea-robber, what these people say? They are
ready to give you their spears as tribute!”
The Vikings would have to pay for their gold in blood. The
stage was set for a battle.
Stalemate
The Vikings soon discovered
that their tactical situation was far from perfect. The only way off Northey
Island was via a narrow ford called the causeway, which Brythnoth had blocked
with his best troops. These raiders were probably used to having their victims
pay gold out of hand, so forcing a river crossing against a shieldwall of
veteran Saxon warriors, determined to defend their homeland, was not what they
had in mind. The attack was pushed back and the Vikings tried a parley.
Whatever his reasons,
the outcome was decisive. At first the Saxons held firm, with Brythnoth
personally fighting in the front rank and exhorting his men not to give an inch
to the enemy. However, despite his bravado, he could not avoid the strokes of
the enemy's weapons for long. With his spear broken, his gut pierced and his
arm shattered, Brythnoth fell and with his dying breath encouraged his men to
fight on.
The
Last Stand
It was then that
Godric, the son of Odda, panicked and took to the Earl's horse to retreat.
Seeing what they took to be Brythnoth in full flight from the enemy, most of
the Saxons broke. The battle began to turn into a rout. However, it was not
over yet. Brythnoth's huscarls surrounded his body and prepared to defend their
lord to the death. Brythwold, an old comrade of Brythnoth's, encouraged them in
the most famous words of the poem: “Thought must be the harder, heart the keener, spirit the
greater, as our might lessens.” The warriors of Brythnoth's house fell to the last man
rather than abandon him.
Aftermath
In the aftermath of
the battle, the Saxon king Æthelred granted the Vikings 10,000 pounds of silver to leave
his land in peace, a practice which became known as paying Danegeld. It was a habit that he found difficult to get out of as
his reign went on, earning him the ignoble title of 'Æthelred
the Unready'. Brythnoth's hubris ultimately led to disaster for the Saxon
Kingdom. One could say that never in the history of human conflict had so much
woe been caused, to so many, by so few.
The
Battle of Maldon in SAGA
If you wish to
re-fight the battle of Maldon, I recommend fighting the three distinct stages
of the battle as three different games:
1)
The Vikings attempt to
take the causeway. Use the Battle at the Ford scenario from the main rulebook.
2)
The Vikings and the
Saxons face off in open battle. Use the Clash of Warlords scenario from the
main rulebook.
3)
The final stand of the
Saxon huscarls. Use the Sacred Ground scenario with only one objective
(Brythnoth's body), and the Saxons can only field units of Hearth Guards. NB:
Their Warlord is not Brythnoth any longer but Brythwold.
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