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Then Guthrum's men gave back one pace, and howled, and won their place again, and again lost it. Then forward went Alfred and his shield wall, and I was on one side of him and Ethered of Mercia on the other, while after him came Heregar, bearing the banner.
"Hither came King Ranald and his two friends and bade us make holes in the ice and fish through them. So we did, and this is what came thereof," said Ethered. "Therefore King Ranald and his coming are by the hand of God," said Denewulf. "Therein lies the miracle."
I was with Alfred, with Ethered of Mercia and Ethelnoth, and more nobles whom I knew; and my few men were in the shield wall, among the best warriors of the Saxon levies. None grudged that honour to those who had made the point of the wedge that broke Hubba's ranks and won the Raven banner.
"Ranald knew well how this would cheer you, King Alfred," said Ethered, thinking that I had spoken of this as a proof that all was not lost, in some way. "Ranald said nought; but the sign came from above, thus," the king said gravely.
His younger brother, Alfred, seconded him in all his enterprises, and generously sacrificed to the public good all resentment which he might entertain on account of his being excluded by Ethered from a large patrimony which had been left him by his father.
Most of all I liked Ethered, the young ealdorman of Mercia, and Ethelnoth, the Somerset ealdorman, and Heregar, the king's standard bearer, an older warrior, who had seen every battle south of Thames since the long ago day when Eahlstan the bishop taught his flock how to fight for their land against the heathen.
Now of ourselves I will add that Thora and I have many friends, but the best and closest are those whom we made in the days when Hubba came and fell under the shadow of the Quantock Hills, and they do not forget us. Into our house sometimes come Heregar and Ethered, Denewulf the wise and humble, Odda, and many more, sure of welcome.
Egbert. Ethelwolf. Ethelbald and Ethelbert. Ethered. Alfred the Great. Edward the Elder. Athelstan. Edmund.-Edred. Edwy. Edgar. Edward the Martyr Ethelred. Settlement of the Normans. Edmund Ironside. Canute. Harold Harefoot. Hardicanute. Edward the Confessor. Harold First Saxon Government. Succession of the Kings. The Wittenagemot. The Aristocracy. The several Orders of Men. Courts of Justice.
"Save us from starvation, Ranald," said Ethered, laughing ruefully, "and we will raise a big stone heap here in your honour." "Kolgrim will show you," I said; "let me go to the king." "I am a great ice fisherman," said Harek; "let me go also." Then Heregar laughed in lightness of heart. "Ay, wizard, go also. There will be charms of some sort needed before Ethered sees so much as a scale."
I knew they were to meet on some business that I had nought to do with. Ethered went to the king without any ceremony, and speaking low told him my message. Whereon the king's face grew white and then red, and he flashed out into terrible wrath: "Forsworn and treacherous!" he cried, in a thick voice that shook with passion. "The hostages chain them and bring them here.
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