Historical Setting: Jarrow, 794 C.E.
On the horizon towers are rising — bell towers rise up from churches, but also, watch towers rise up here and there, as rocks are stacked higher and higher into babel towers to reach the heavens.
Watching the sea once gave monks a spiritual tranquility. Once gazing at the horizon at sunrise set a new day right. The dawning edge where sea meets sky brightens tenderly, softly, silently waking until the saffron sun rises, and immediately day is all.
But in these times, the watchers aren’t monks in private prayer; they are military guards, eyeing the breakers moving toward the shoreline searching for the shadows between the foaming edges in search of the stealth longships of the Norsemen lying low among the shore waves hiding in plain sight on the sea.
Returning to the monastery, I find Ousbert waiting to meet with me. I’ve already told him all I know of the Viking raid at Lindisfarne. And now the people of this land live by warfare — moving rocks, setting guards, gathering swords and spears enough for every hand to hold a weapon. Ousbert has been to Lindisfarne since we last talked, and now he commends me on my accuracy.
“Eleazor, your observations are well collaborated. I was fortunate to find you, a clear-headed witness, here.”
I have to wonder what Ousbert’s purpose is in seeking me out now. A military advisory to King Ethelred isn’t likely to be sent on a mission to compliment a witness.
“So, Captain, now everyone thinks of nothing but the possibilities for devastation. In that way a violent raid has already taken a toll here even without actual Vikings.”
“How so?”
“All this preparation is driven by imagining an enemy. And it is fear that sets our hearts on battle, the exact opposite of God’s love that is the holiness of a monastery.”
“Fear? No, the people should find comfort in the safety measures we take.”
“Safety measures are wearing leather shoes in a berry patch. Setting guards, supplying weapons, setting traps, that is warfare, not safety.”
“These are uneasy times. Every day I wake and wonder if we still have a king. Ethelred has his own brutality.” [Footnote]
“I guess that is the risk of following temporal masters.”
“You sound more like a monk than a layman. Maybe you’re already under the influence of them. But I’m here to appeal to your secular interests.”
“Have I secular interests?”
“Everyone does, of course. We live in the real world.”
[Footnote] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86thelred_I_of_Northumbria (retrieved 2-9-26)
(Continues tomorrow)
Lazarus Ink 