The Shielding of Engla Land against the Normishmen

Deleted member 97083

As a translation:

"Sweyn went back to Denmark, while Harold the Stalwart fared to Winchester, where he held a great winningstride. Having ended not two, but three unlike onslaughts from outlandish lords, Harold’s sway over Engla Land was highly strong. No man dared to rise against the King, not that he wanted to, because all men knew that the King Harold was fit to be King. And so, Harold was might to make true any of his wishes as the leader of Engla Land."

to:

"Sweyn ȝode eft to Denmark, while Harold the Stalward farde to Wincester, where he helde a greate *winningstride.* Havend not twain iended, but þrie unlike Onslohten fram utlandischen Laferden, Haroldes Sway over Engla Land was hiȝhlie strang. Nan Mann dorste to risen against þe King, not þat he wolde, forþen alle Menn wissten þat Harold King was fit to been King. And so, Harold was miȝht to maken trewe aniȝ of his Wischen as þe Leader of Engla Land."

durren - to dare (darr, dorste, idorst)
willen - to want to (will, wolde, iwold)
witten - to know (wat, wisste, iwisst)
goen - to go (goeþ, ȝode, igone)
Some very interesting analysis and ideas here. Your posts are certainly a more accurate projection of what Old English may have evolved into, and I welcome the translations. However I want people to easily be able to understand the story, so I will probably continue with "Anglish" writing (in the style of Uncleftish Beholding), even if it is more convergent.
 
@JJohnson? That's an incredibly clever look at how Old English May have evolved without the French and Latin influences. Unfortunately, it does strike me that it might be inaccessible to many readers.

There is, however a case to be made for including a few more of the important words, such as griþ and friþ, if the OP feels like sprinkling thorns about the place. Depending on how versed the chronicler is regarding Danish matters, he could also specify whether Sweyn's troops were his liþ or lidang. But that's getting a bit anal. Most chronicles would just have "Danes fall on the land, with many ships". Lots of foemen. They did often number the ships arriving, though.
 

Deleted member 97083

Since Harold had a ton of sons, and the 1080s are around the time Matilda of Canossa of Tuscany was looking for another royal marriage, I think I found a way involve England in the continent before the First Crusade. However, as the timeline diverges, tell me if this update is any less plausible than the previous. I am always open to criticism.
 
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Deleted member 97083

English Sway in the North and Vandal Seas

When Godwin Haroldson became King Godwin the First of Engla Land, a new great undertaking was put on his shoulders: that of living up to the sway of Harold, and keeping going the strength of the Kingdom. To make trusty such goals, Godwin would have to best foes both in Engla Land and abroad. Luckily, Godwin had gathered brethren, both in truth among his Godwinson kin by blood, and in word among his Witenagemot, wise friends of the King. But the going would not be easy, for there were untrusty earls and kings ready to bring doom among Godwin and his brethren, with no love for Engla Land or the bliss of God.

For the reader, some foreknowledge may be needed. From 1066 to 1085, the lands of Engla Land were split as such:
  • King Harold was the greatest landholder in England, owning the earldoms of Cornwall, Devonshire, Wessex, Sussex, Dorset, and Gloucestershire before 1070. After 1070, he took Yorkshire, southern Northumberland, and the bulk of Mercia from the untrusty Earls Edwin and Morcar. In full, Harold owned all of south, west, and mid-north Engla Land, from Hastings to Exeter to Durham.
  • Gyrt Godwinson, younger brother of Harold, had sway in Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire, and all of East Anglia, as a prominent Earl.
  • Leofwine Godwinson, also a younger brother of Harold, was the holder of Essex, Kent, and Middlesex, the strongest lord in the southeast of the land.
  • Oswulf was the earl of Bamburgh in northern Northumberland, only landholder in the North who was not Harold’s earl-in-stead.
  • Waltheof was the earl of Northamptonshire, the only earl other than Harold who owned land in Mercia.

Harold the Stalwart had a strong sway due to his winnings, but also by way of being a good friend of his brothers Gyrth and Leofwine, who alongside him, had sway over most all of Engla Land. If Godwin could keep his house together, he could keep his Kingdom together, and so he did, for most of the years. The big worry that could bring infighting betwixt the house, was the breaking of land between Harold’s sons.

And so Godwin, to stay the worry of infighting between brothers, called for the Witanagemot to split the lands fairly and goodly, so that if any brother became untrusty, and began an uprising against the Kingdom, he would be outbreaking not only against the sole Man that was the King, but also against the many men of the Witan and the brother Earls. In this way, his uprising would be seen as by greed rather than by right, and by such faithless deeds, the untrusty earl would fall and the bliss of the land would be brought back.

It being fact that the Witanagemot had chosen Godwin as King, and that the Witan mighty liked this plot, the Witan were kind and fair to Godwin. They agreed that with Godwin as King, his lands should make up half or more of the lands of the Haroldsons, and the other half was to be split among his brothers, and in this making, the Kingdom would stay strong, with the King still holding a good share of the land, yet the sons of Harold would also be happy, making a lusher Engla Land. And so they said to the lords and the folks, that Godwin would keep the western share of Mercia, and the bulk of Wessex, which made a good share of the whole kingdom, about a third. And then they said that Edmund would be the earl of Yorkshire, Magnus the earl of Cheshire, Harold the earl of Sussex, and Ulf the earl of Lincolnshire.

This plot was trusty at first. But bringing worries to this plot was the death of Harold Haroldson, which left Sussex with an unknown holder, and the brothers almost went to fighting in a row, at least by what was known from hearsay. Godwin, with the backing of the Witan who had been given plenty of gold, made a call to the lords and said: “Our brother Harold who was earl of Sussex has died, and as his brethren, we should be mourning at this loss. We should not be fighting over his lands like greedy wolves, but make deals as faithful, lordly men. Thus, the Witan have made it known that Sussex will again become a holding of the King, and any Lord, whether Haroldson, Godwinson, or of some other house, who becomes untrusty, and makes uprising against the king, his lands will be taken forever, and any of his sons forbidden from holding land. Such mendings will be known as Law of the King, or by other words, the Law of Godwin.” And by this new Law, King Godwin the First made it clear to any untrusty brothers that any outbreaking would also be their undoing. And they saw that the king was unyielding but fair.

With this done, Godwin turned to Europe. In Frankland, King Philip had ended his fight with the Normish earls for the time being, but kept having rows with his other earls, such as the earl of Vexin, whose land was taken by the Frankish king. Godwin sent a meager backing to infighting earls in the Bretonish Land, but kept the plot of his father to not take Normish Land. For taking Normish Land would make the Frankish King the overlord of the English King, which was not something the King had in mind, regardless of the wealth of the Normish Land.

In the South, King Godwin did learn of a wealthy Queen of Tuscany, Matilda of Canossa, who owned many lands in Italia, the northern share of the Italish Land. This Queen, who held many earldoms, had split from her husband, who was called Godfrey the Hunchback. So Godwin sent his brother, Edmund, in an offer to wed Matilda of Canossa and form a bond between Engla Land and Tuscany. Matilda, who did want a way to fight the Holy Romish Kaiser, had heard of the Harold’s winning against two outlandish onslaughts, and did think Engla Land was a strong Kingdom which could raid the shores of the Teutish Land. In such a way, Edmund Haroldson of the House Godwin, who was Earl of Yorkshire, did become the husband of the Queen Matilda, and Engla Land began to look outward to Europe.

When Edmund left for Italish Land, he said that his earldom of Yorkshire could belong to the King Godwin, and Godwin became stronger in Engla Land. And the bond between Engla Land and Tuscany meant that the King could make onslaught of the coast of the Low Lands, and so in 1088, when Matilda’s lands were raided by Henrich the Fourth, who was the Teutish King or Holy Romish Kaiser, King Godwin gathered a fleet and fyrd which went to Friesland. This fleet and fyrd was raised in Yorkshire, where some of the folks called themselves Danishmen and Englishmen, and knew how to make boats and were skilled boatmen and fyrdmen, so they were brought along by the King.

In Engla Land, the King’s brother Magnus became the King-in-stead, and continued to keep the law in the kingdom. Back in Teutish Land, Godwin had set foot in Friesland with his fyrd, which did have many housecarls and thegns, some bowmen, and a few Knights, who were mostly thegns. Godwin built a stronghouse, where he sent pathfinders to find burgs to raid. He also heard that Saxon earls were uprising against the Teutish King, which was a blessing to the onslaught. Notwithstanding, Godwin’s pathfinders had speed in finding a burg which was called Groningen, so the English fared to that burg, and beset it on all sides. The burg yielded, and Groningen was now held by Godwin. But word had come from the South, that the lord of Holland was hiking to the land around Groningen, and wanted to kill the English.

King Godwin hired sellswords from Groningen to make his fyrd stronger against the Hollandish onslaught. Then the strengthened English went to the nearby Friesish burg of Utrecht, which they beset like Groningen, and it also yielded to Godwin. The Under-Earl of Holland, who was called Dirk the Fifth, and was mighty skilled in fighting, went to Groningen and began to raid it. The small share of fyrdmen left there were not enough to stop the earl, and so the burg yielded quickly. Godwin took his men and tried to find upperhandsome ground with which to web and slay the fyrd of Dirk the Fifth, in the farmland betwixt Utrecht and Groningen. He also made friends with the Bishop Conrad of Utrecht, who had a stake to Utrecht and was a foe of the Lord of Holland. So Bishop Conrad raised more fyrdmen, who gathered with the English fyrd, and Godwin oathed the burg of Utrecht back to Conrad if Dirk was beaten.

Godwin saw Dirk’s fyrd in the distance, so he hid one share of his army behind a broken forest and another share atop a hillock. Dirk made his way across the fightingfield speedfully, and had strong horsemen and crossbowmen along with his fyrdmen. Then the Row of Utrecht began. The Hollandish crossbowmen began to lay their bolts at the English who were on the hill, and the English bowmen answered by sending a storm of arrows back at them, but many Englishmen died. Godwin told his men to form a shieldwall, and to bait the foe in striking up the hillock, as Harold had managed at Hastings. Dirk was not so foolish, and he made his way around the hill, wanting to lead the English into a trap in the forest. But the Englishmen who were already in the trees began to strike the Dutchmen, and bloody fighting began, with both sides falling out of rank in that spot. But the English on the hillock, who were still in a mighty straight, rushed towards the Dutchmen and smote them from the side, and many of the Dutch were killed, with Dirk the Fifth yielding to King Godwin.

Dirk gave to Godwin plenty of gold and thralls, and he gave up the burg of Utrecht and its hinter land to Bishop Conrad, then was set free. Godwin then kept on raiding the hinter land east of Friesland, besting small fyrds from the burgs, and besetting and ransacking those burgs. When Henrich the Fourth of Holy Rome began to head north to meet Godwin in a row, Godwin fell back to the shore, and fearing that the Teutish fyrd would be too strong, sailed back to Engla Land. In Winchester, he held a winningstride, boasting that he had beaten back the Teutish. Meanwhile, a hearsay that the King-in-stead Magnus was favored over Godwin began to spread through the land, but Magnus said nay, and Godwin went back to his sway in Winchester.

Matilda of Tuscany fought in Italia against Henrich the Fourth, while Godwin sent raiders to Friesland from time to time, and another Saxon uprising broke out in Teutish Land. By the last, Matilda gained the upper hand, but fighting went on. In 1091, a Norwegish raid struck Lincolnshire and Humber, but was pushed back to the sea. In 1092, both Leofwine and Gyrt died, succeeded by Edward Leofwineson and Harold Gyrtson. In 1093, by wedding between Ulf and the daughter of Oswulf, Ulf Haroldson of Lincolnshire had managed to acquire Bambergh.

In the Year of Our Lord 1095, word came to Engla Land that the Kingdoms of Europe were going to take up the cross, and fight to win Jerusalem from the Turks. Godwin plotted to send his Earls to this faraway burg, to win worthiness for Engla Land, but also to strengthen his sway of the holdings in his kingdom in his lords’ stead.
 
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Deleted member 97083

Map of England in 1066. In 1070, the earldoms of Edwin and Morcar go to Harold, and then in 1085, Harold's realm is inherited by Godwin, who allots the northeastern parts to his brothers. By that point, only Bambergh and Northampton are not under the control of the Godwinson house.

1066harold.png


Map of England in 1087, after Godwin inherits Sussex:

1087godwin.png
 
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I love your use of language and I love a timeline of Saxons defeating William. Seems all very plausible to me so far. Subscribed. :)
 
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