Godric

“ Godric's cold gray eyes were fixed on the giant form of Subotai; a growing fury stirred in him, not a tangible hatred of the Uriankhi but the fighting rage one strong man feels when confronted by a foe his equal in prowess. The knight expected a parley but evidently the Mongols were of a different mind. They came sweeping across the boulder-strewn plateau like a wind from Hell, a swarm of mounted bowmen preceding them. ”

“ It is hard. I do fear for you," said Godric and turned away from her.
Then one of the bent brooding men lifted up his head and said: "What strikes one strikes all," and there was rumbling and muttering.
"Sooth, sooth," Bran nodded. "But who strikes here?"
Godric turned on him and said fiercely: "Eudo, fool."
"Friend Eudo, who is the forester of friend Gilbert?" Bran thrust out his leg and stirred Godric's bulk. "Tell on, brother." ”

“ When the first transports of joy at meeting again were over, they gazed on each other and rejoiced at the changes they saw, from weak boys to be sold and beaten, to powerful young warriors who were able to defend themselves. Forthere was nearly mad with rage and anxiety when he heard of the abduction of his young cousin. He had become a strong and muscular youth, a most formidable antagonist, as impulsive as ever, and otherwise unchanged—a vigorous foe, but a true and faithful friend. Little Godric was still a boy. ”

“ Chapter III
"To grow old cowed in a conquered land, With the sun itself discrowned, To see trees crouch and cattle slink -- Death is a better ale to drink, And by high Death on the fell brink, That flagon shall go round." -- Chesterton Godric's armor had been mended cleverly, he found, the rents in hauberk and helmet fused with such skill that no sign of a gash showed. ”

“ The whole armor showed the trend of the times -- chain and scale mail giving way gradually to plate armor.
Godric experienced a fierce resurge of power as he felt the familiar weight of his mail and fingered the worn hilt of his long, two-handed sword. The languorous illusive dreaminess of the past weeks vanished; again he was a conqueror of a race of conquerors. With old Roogla he rode to the main gates, seeing on all hands the terror that had seized the people. Men and women ran distractedly through the streets, crying that the Mongols were upon them ”

“ And surely no mortal man could have made that cast! Godric, towering above them on the barricade, like a man of iron, suddenly assumed supernatural proportions in the eyes of the warriors behind him. How could they be defeated when such a man led them? The quick fire of Oriental battle-lust blazed up and sudden courage surged through the veins of the wavering warriors.
With a shout they pulled shaft to ear and loosed, and a sudden hail of death smote the charging Mongols. At that range there was no missing. Those long shafts tore through buckler and hauberk, transfixing the wearers. ”

“ Godric stared at him. "I thought you false," he growled. "You have said what a true man should say. To the court I will go." He trust out his big hard hand and took Bran's.
"Godric, Godric," the woman clutched at him. "This is a fool's word. It is to go to your death. There is another way, Godric Here we rest safe. Hide here in the hills."
"You are no friend to me," Godric said and she cried.
ON THE low green hill which stands out from the great hills into the vale, the folk of the manor were met. Over against it the new castle of Watlington glimmered white in the dawn. ”

“ Sivel is the adopted son of your valorous father, Brand of Ulfskelf. You must follow the quest for him until his rescue is achieved. The loss to me is greater than I can tell you. But our Godric is growing to be a man, and a brave one. He will be my faithful companion and true soldier in your absence." Young Godric's face flushed with pleasure, while Hereric and Forthere clasped each other in a long, silent embrace. "But," added the Atheling, as he gazed into Forthere's [Pg 198] eyes, "you must follow the rede of Porlor, and the guidance of Coelred and Lilla. ”

“ Godric growled. "I come of a race that sell their swords for gold -- but we are no jackals to turn on men that have bled beside us. These warriors and I have already killed more than our own number and wounded many more of your warriors. There are still three hundred of us left and the strongest of the barricades. We have slain over a thousand of your wolves -- if you enter Jahadur you ride over our corpses. Charge in now and see how desperate men can die." ”

“ Godric's face darkened, "I rode east with a hundred heavily armed horsemen -- the pick of the Norman warriors. By Satan, we hacked our way through! Once past Trebizond we had to fight almost every mile. We were assailed by Turks, Persians and Kirghiz, as well as by our natural foes of heat, thirst and hunger. A hundred men -- there were less than a score with me when I heard your screams and rode out of the defiles. Their bodies lie scattered from the hills of Black Cathay to the shores of the Black Sea. Arrows, spears, swords, all took their toll, but still I forged eastward." ”

“ A man could scarce be killed, not easily wounded, but he might be beaten to the ground or wearied out with bruises, and the man who fell, the man who gave up the fight, was adjudged craven and infamous.
So with their wooden weapons the two fell on and fought fiercely and fast, and Godric had something the advantage, for though the forester was strong and stubborn, Godric had a longer reach than he. ”

“ Our knowledge is immeasurably greater than that of our people. This is not due to any merit of our own, but simply to what has happened. But it is a fact. We are as if we had been born in some later age."
"I do not think that Godric and I know very much more than our countrymen," said Forthere. "It is true," replied Porlor, "that there are differences amongst us. Hereric is as learned as any monk. ”

“ You too are a hero such as all men were once in the days of our ancestors, with your courage and loyalty!"
The sting of his healing wounds bit into Godric.
"Loyalty?" he snarled. "To that devious-minded assassin, Montferrat? Bah! Do you think I intended giving up my life to carve out a kingdom for him? He had naught to lose and all to gain. He gave me a handful of men, expecting to receive the rewards of what I did. If I failed, he was still winner, for he would be rid of a turbulent vassal. The kingdom of Prester John is a dream and a fantasy. ”

“ The steward started up in a hurry. "Hold, hold. We judge him vanquished. Eudo is proven true man and Godric is craven."
But Bran flung himself upon the forester and wrenched up the hand which was fumbling to put away the knife and held it with the bloody knife in it aloft in the sun. "The steel! He has used the steel. He is false and dastard."
That shattered the court. Men cried out: "The steel! The steel!" and broke from their places all talking together.
Bran fell down on his knees by Godric and began to bind about his neck the bandage which had held his hand, and to him came the priest. ”

“ He was commissioned by Prior Thomas of Durham (1156–1162) and by Ailred of Rievaux [see Ethelred, (1109?–1166) ] to visit the hermit Godric [q. v.] at Finchale, near Durham, with a view to writing the hermit's life. Godric reluctantly allowed Reginald to undertake the task. When Godric's end drew near, Reginald took care of the bed-ridden saint, and wrote down all that he said while it was still fresh in his memory. Godric blessed Reginald's completed work, and forbade any one to see the biography before his death in 1170. ”

“ They brightened slightly as Roogla and Godric rode up. The tale of the Norman's battle with the Hian bandits had lost nothing in the telling. But Godric was surprized to note their fewness.
"Are these all your soldiers?"
Roogla shook his head.
"Most of them are at the Pass of Skulls," he growled. "It's the only way a large force of men can approach Jahadur. In the past we've held it easily against all comers -- but these Mongols are devils. I left enough men here to hold the city against any stray troops that might climb down the cliffs." ”

“ He had a brother who served the brethren of the monastery in the secular habit, and upon this brother's sudden death by drowning, Ralph begged a monk of Durham to inform the hermit Godric [q. v.] of his misfortune. Godric recommended prayers to release the brother from purgatory, and these were ordered to be said by monks and nuns all over England (Vita Godrici, p. 360, Surtees Soc.) ”

“ So the steward, seeking safety still, wrote a letter to Sir Gilbert in Risborough saying that the matter was tangled, for Godric had come boldly into court and the court had been hard to drive and strange folk watched it, so that he could do no more than put Godric to the ordeal, whereof he hoped a good issue.
The while Bran sat in Watlington Church, and when the priest came into vespers, out of the half light Bran plucked at his gown. The priest cried out.
"Fie, fie, what should a priest fear but God?" said Bran.
"In the name of God, what is it that you are?" The priest shrank from him. ”

“ I will make good upon his body. That is my claim," and he flung down his forester's leather glove.
"Stand, man, stand," Bran hissed as Godric started forward. But Godric picked up the glove.
"He takes your challenge, Eudo. You are answered," the steward smiled. "By the saints, a bold fellow and sure. Nay, then, we may not deny him. You go to the ordeal of combat."
Then Bran laughed "God have mercy, is this a court? Is this England? By the thorn, you have strange customs in this manor."
"We suffer no fools, fellow. ”

“ Godric gone; and not one in ten thousand, perhaps, who visit those crumbling walls beside the rushing Wear, has heard of the sailor-saint, and his mother, and that fair maid who tended them on their pilgrimage.
Meanwhile there were hermits for many years in that same hermitage in Eskdale, from which a Percy expelled St. Godric, possibly because he interfered with the prior claim of some protégé of their own; for they had, a few years before Godric’s time, granted that hermitage to the monks of Whitby, who were not likely to allow a stranger to establish himself on their ground. ”

“ Roogla answered. "I warned Chamu Khan to collect all the warriors in the empire here, but he refused to do so. Why, Erlik alone knows. Well, a man can always die."
He rose in his saddle and his great voice roared through the hills: "Men of Black Cathay, you know me of old! But here beside me is one you know only by word of mouth; a chief out of the West who will fight beside you today. Now take heart, and when Genghis comes up the defile, show him Black Cathayans can still die like men!"
"Not so fast," growled Godric. "This pass looks impregnable to me. ”

“ The wild King crossed the Don and marched across the country of the Gainas, direct for Sleaford.
"We must be satisfied with our present force, and with the aid that Godric will bring us, as time will not allow us to wait for further reinforcements," said Bassus, in consultation with the two Kings. "I know the wild King, and he will do everything in haste. We should advance rapidly to Godric's home at Markham, near the river Idle. There will the blow be struck." His advice was taken, and in two days Redwald's army was massed at Markham. ”

“ The fight rages. Byrhtnoth is wounded. He slays the foe. He is wounded again. He prays to God to receive his soul, and is hewn down by the heathen men. Godric flees on Byrhtnoth's horse. His brothers follow him. Ælfwine encourages the men to avenge the death of their lord. So does Offa, who curses Godric. Leofsunu will avenge his lord or perish. Dunnere also. Others follow their example. Offa is slain and many warriors. The fight still rages. The aged Byrhtwold exhorts them to be the braver as they become the fewer. So does another Godric, not he who fled. * * * *
The Dream of the Rood. ”

“ To avoid his friends he withdrew to the neighbouring woods, having taken John the Baptist for the model of his wandering life. At Wolsingham (ten miles north-west of Bishop Auckland) an aged hermit, Ælrice, allowed him to share his dwelling. Some two years later, when Ælrice was dead, a vision bade Godric visit Jerusalem a second time (c. 1106) : on his return St. Cuthbert would find him another hermitage, Finchale, in the woods round Durham (ib. cc. 11–13) . Not till he had worshipped in the holy sepulchre and bathed in the Jordan did Godric take his rotten shoes from his ulcerated feet. ”

“ Goderic was perhaps the commonest of this class—its usual dress in our registers being ‘Gooderick,’ ‘Goderiche,’ ‘Godrick,’ and ‘Godric.’ An early Saxon abbot was exalted into the ranks of the saints as ‘St. Goderic,’ and this would have its influence in the selection of baptismal names at that period. ‘Guthlac,’ not without descendants, too, though less easily recognisable in our ‘Goodlakes’ and ‘Goodlucks,’ and ‘Geoffrey,’ or ‘Godfrey,’ whom I shall have occasion to mention again, belong to the same category. ”

“ Roogla slumped slowly to the earth and Chepe Noyon wheeled to meet the knight's furious charge. He flung up his sword to parry the whistling mace, but the giant Norman in his berserk rage dealt a blow that made nothing of skill or tempered steel. The scimitar flew to singing sparks, the helmet cracked and Chepe Noyon was dashed to earth like a pole-axed steer.
"Bear Roogla back!" roared Godric, leaping forward and swinging his mace up again to dash out the prostrate Mongol's brains as a man kills a wounded snake. ”