Beowulf - Curse of the Dreygurs - Chapter 15

Leofe

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Chapter 15

After a while, Sigibert sat near his wounded comrades. Then he heard footsteps passing by the building from the back. Soon, Corpre returned. He carried a long bundle, wrapped in an animal pelt in his hands. He gave it to Malo, who nodded, thanking the man for his generosity. The old man smiled, showing a single upper tooth, as Malo gave him a blessing. Malo turned to Sigibert and gave him the bundle.

“Corpre claims he found it in a village destroyed by the dreygurs. He explained Corpre found it in a village destroyed by the dreygurs. He believes merchants retrieved the weapon from the monks killed by the Saxons raiders. The Saxons called it Eotenisc.”

“Interesting, that means giant killer,” replied Sigibert, who unwrapped the weapon.

“You must know your swords,” Malo said with a bemused smile. “Someone blessed this blade. Look at the blade, and you can see the engraving consummatum est put into the steel.”

“Our savior’s last words?” Sigibert asked. He quickly slid the sword from its scabbard. As Malo stated, the Latin inscription was there, along with the image of the cross. “It is no wonder the pagan Saxons refused to keep it,” Sigibert replied, then he hesitated as he glanced around. Finally, he slid the weapon back into the leather scabbard.

“I know what you are thinking,” Malo told him. “Why give a pagan leader such a sword? Listen to me carefully. I’m not sure, but I felt inspired by my prayers this morning. Pagan or not, I know this sword as the giant killer for a reason and needs a warrior worthy of it.”

“But this is for a Christian king,” the monk told him. He gave the weapon back to Malo. “Beowulf has little respect for our beliefs. He prays to pagan gods.”

“Well, I don’t see any true Christian kings around here,” the priest replied with a smile.

He wrapped the item and pushed it into the thegn’s arms.

“Take it to Beowulf. Who knows? The power of such a weapon may help to convert the barbarian who wields it. Remember, Constantine marked Christ on the shields of Roma fighters which carried the day.”

He glanced around at his followers.

“It will be far better to see such a weapon in battle than to be found by Morcant Bulc’s fighters. These villagers might suffer for not giving such a weapon to the king,” he explained in Latin.

“Why didn’t you give it to Morcant Bulc?” Sigibert wondered aloud.

“Bulc may leave us alone, but I don’t trust his queen as far as I can spit,” Malo explained. “She’s not as she wishes us to believe. But that’s all I can tell you.”

Sigibert gave his new friend a curious look before thanking Malo. He immediately headed for the door. As he passed by his wounded comrades, he told them he would take the sword to Beowulf.

“Let me see this sword,” Weohstan stopped him.

With a frown, Sigibert unwrapped the item from the wolf. The blade flashed in the thin stream of light from the door, the rare metal appearing grained, like hundreds of tiny snakes dancing in shadows. Weohstan held it in his hand, testing it for balance. Whipping it around, the warrior could feel the sword acting as an extension of his arm. It impressed him, although he did not like the two-sided weapon.

“You want to give a sword like that to our atheling? Offering him a feeble blade from a weak god, do you want your death?” Osberht scoffed while unable to test the weapon for himself.

Still, he showed an interest in the weapon while he positioned himself closer.

“Call it a test,” replied Sigibert. “While it is an unusual weapon compared with the single-sided blades we use, I can see advantages to this sword. It’s longer than the scramasax we carry so I could stand back from my opponent. And I can use the other edge of the blade at times in battle. We’d need to adjust our methods to use it properly.”

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