II - The
Fall of Gunnblasdt
Searching for more Viking gold
The Franks sailed north o'er oceans cold.
To the furthest corner of the map.
Into the land Gunnblasdt controlled,
Slaves there to kidnap.
At Svinafell their ships made land
From whence they marched to take a stand
Before a lonely tower.
Where sanctuary might be safely found
By peasants in their desperate hour.
Charlemal, King
of the Franks, shivered again. It had been an immense journey, from one corner
of the civilized world to the other, it seemed. Here, standing on the desolate
shore of this frozen land, it was as if they had travelled to another world.
Then again, he could see the positive side. Anyone who lived here would have to
be strong and resilient, and would therefore be perfect slave material. Just
what he needed to bring in the grape harvest, amongst other things. And that
tower was certain to be filled with gold as well, and Charlemal liked gold a
lot.
Once the ships had
safely beached in a secluded bay, and the Franks had organised
themselves, they moved inland. This tower was apparently some sort of sacred
site, and it was likely that the peasants would head there in search of
sanctuary now that the word was out that a hostile warband had landed nearby
and was searching for slaves to take home with them. Charlemal hoped that was
the case - it would be a lot easier to capture slaves if you knew where they
would be. And so, his warband advanced, their intent to intercept and capture peasants finding their
way toward the sanctuary of the tower.
But before the
Franks had reached the tower they saw Gunnblasdt's warband taking defensive
positions on the plain ahead, ready to meet them. The Icelandic Jarl stood in
the centre, his huscarls and berserkers beside him, a screen of archers in
front. Behind them, peasants were already making their way towards the tower,
passing close by the Vikings in the hope that they might protect them.
Gunnblasdt, beleaguered Icelandic Jarl
Having seen many brave Vikings fall
Declared that every Frank should die.
His archers standing like a wall
Poised to let their arrows fly.
But Charlemal, cunning Frankish Lord
Seeing Vikings readying swords
Carefully deployed his Franks
Foot warriors faced off Gunnblasdt's horde
While horses took the flanks.
Before the Franks
could act, the enemy began to shoot, concentrating their fire on the Frankish
warriors bearing Charlemal's banner. Many arrows fell on this unit, and many
men fell, until only a handful of archers remained clustered around the banner.
Only then did they realise that this was not the correct flag - someone had
left the proper one at home, and heads would roll about that for sure when
their Lord found out. But it was too late to do anything about that now. These
Frankish archers wisely drew back, out of range of the exhausted enemy, while
the second unit of archers, under Charlemal's personal command, advanced into
the comparative safety of a small building, while Charlemal, mounted on his
horse, stood alone on the right flank. Following up on this success, Gunnblasdt
was keen to finish the job, and charged his berserkers into the building to
destroy the second unit of Frankish archers.
Bu meanwhile, out of
sight of the enemy, on the left flank the Frankish knights circled around
behind Gunnblasdt's men, hunting down civilians, while on the right flank
Charlemal was moving gradually closer to the peasants in that part of the
battlefield.
Arrows launched from Viking bows
Felled many Franks with many blows
Forcing them to withdraw
Though the centre was a feast for crows
Twas just as Charlemal foresaw
They followed up on this onslaught
Berserkers into the building fought
Focused on killing Franks
They did not spare a lot of thought
For the horsemen behind their flanks
But the berserkers
failed to take the building, as the defenders held sway. The berserkers were
all slain, though leaving only a handful of Frankish archers behind. Only then
did Gunnblasdt realise the true danger - while his men had been winning the fight
in the centre, the Franks had slipped around their flanks, and were already
rapidly gathering peasants for slaves. The Jarl ordered his hearthguard to
chase after the enemy horsemen, but it was too late and they were too slow to
be able to catch the mounted knights, who escaped into the distance with their
prize.
Gunnblasdt was late to realise
The threat of Franks around both sides
Peasants just too far to save;
And Franks now quickly grabbed their prize
Of villagers as slaves.
Running out of
options, Gunnbasdt decided to take matters into his own hands. Seeing Charlemal
isolated, on the far right flank, chasing down peasants on his own, he charged.
But in his desperation the Jarl had underestimated the challenge. By the time he
reached Charlemal, he was already heavily fatigued, and thus left vulnerable to
the Frankish Lord. What is more, Charlemal was prepared for this attack. With
faith in his armour and in the surety that God was on his side fighting these
northern pagans, he met Gunnbasdt's charge with vigour.
With Charlemal isolated on his right
Gunnblasdt chose this time to fight
One last chance to win the day
But 'gainst the man Steel Cannot Bite
He'd need good dice in this melee
But, unfortunately
for the Viking Lord, the duel was short, and Gunnblasdt fell, severely wounded,
to the ground. And so Charlemal hopped down from his horse and duly trussed up
the wounded Gunnblasdt and slung him across the back of his horse to be taken
for a slave himself, along with a selection of assorted peasants.
But alas Odin was not on his side
Gunnblasdt fell and Charlemal survived
The fate of Iceland now looks grave
For wounded Gunnblasdt was hogtied
To find himself enslaved.
So home to France Franks sail at last
With gold and slaves that they amassed
Coffers fully stocked.
As for the fate of poor Gunnblasdt?
He serves as Charlemal's mounting block.
"I could do
with a footstool to get on and off my horse," Charlemal declared.
"The King of Iceland will serve very nicely in that role." And so, it
is told, the fate of the former Jarl of Iceland was sealed.
