The
Letter
Part Eight
The next evening Paul the Elder initiated the conversation on his own.
"John the Frank taught me my letters. I was quite a good scribe by the time I was twelve."
Father Anthony was interested in this fact. "I wonder if we could figure out a way for you to write in the scriptorium on the new text we are copying... we could use more help on it. Why haven't you said anything before about this?"
"I haven't written anything since I was blinded, Father. I doubt if I could do a proper job."
"Could you do it?"
"I remember how."
"We really don't need a formal job of it. It's a huge document, and we just want to make a quick copy for now. We have to return the original this spring. It's the rest of the Chronicle."
"Well, I'm willing to try. But let's not waste vellum on me."
"We'll use a parallel bar setup on the scroll, with a notched cross bar for setting it at each line. It should work for you."
Paul was immensly pleased with this idea. He smiled, "Thankyou, Father. I'll try it out."
"Want a cup?" It was another feast day. Ealdmund handed two cups out, one to each of the older men.
"Anyway," said Paul, "as I said, when I was young I had a very fine hand with writing. It saved a man's life once. A man who's life I probably shouldn't have saved. But I did."
"Who?"
"Godwine."
The brothers couldn't wait for the story. Paul took a long draught from the cup and began...
"Well, it was about two years after Cnut became King. Young Godwine was an Earl of the new regime by then, but he was already up to his usual rough ways. He had total control of the English administration, and the Danes were getting to know him better. They began to resent him, and distrust him. Cnut was urged to get rid of him, but he didn't. Not outright. But he was a crafty bugger himself. So he thought up a plan, involving young Godwine, and we were all sent along to carry it out. I was working as physician and tudor in the London area, but my skill as a scribe drew Godwine's attention, and so sometimes I was called in to do work for him. On special charters and such. The monks didn't mind, since I was already almost one of them. because of the work I did. We worked side by side all the time. If it wasn't in the hospital, it was in the scriptorium. Anyway, Godwine was sent on a trip to Denmark, on Cnut's embassy. He took me along as his personal physician."
"We were pretty close. I knew he was a hard man, but I was no fool. We left London in a fabulous Danish longship, rigged for the embassy. It had sumptuous fittings, and we had a large private cabin all to ourselves. That proved fortunate for Godwine."
"Cnut sent along about a dozen letters for the Regent of Denmark, sealed with the Royal seal, of course. These were specifically entrusted to Godwine. He was to hand them personally to the Regent, or one of the Regency Housecarls upon arrival, and to wait for an answer in person. Both of us thought this was somewhat interesting, in an uncomfortable sort of way. I mean, Godwine was really sweating it. I was getting anxious about it because he was getting nervous."
"So, about halfway across the sea, we discussed in private the possibility of breaking one of the seals without damaging it. That was the easy part. Sealing the letter again with the same seal presented the problem."
"I practised re-sealing our own letters for one afternoon, and got the hang of it. I just had to use the right amount of new wax and set the old seal into it before it dried, without squishing any wax out the sides. It was dicey, but I managed it. Fortunately for Godwine, I had my scribe's case with me, with a full supply of England's best waxes. One of them was the same as the wax used in the Royal Seal."
"So, the next day, during our afternoon rest, I broke the first Royal Seal. Godwine read the letter and told me to re-seal it. We sweated blood until we saw that the job of re-sealing was perfect. We relaxed and laughed about it. Godwine put his finger to his lips and put his other hand firmly around the hilt of his sword. I got the message."
"He fumed for a while and then instructed me to break open the rest of them. I told him he must guarantee no interruptions while I carried out each cycle. He assured me that his authority was so absolute during this embassy that he could kill any man on board without pretext and nobody would question him. For once, this attitude of his reassured me."
"Three of the letters proved to be fatal. They were instructions to whoever was first to read the letter, clearly ordering them to kill Godwine on the spot." Paul was getting excited. He took a sip from his beer to wet his lips.
"Godwine instructed me to get out my vellum and prepare forged letters in the same handwriting, and he dictated the most astounding letters I have ever written... or read for that matter."
"What did they say?"
"I'll tell you... They said that... and I recall this clearly, that Godwine was to be received with great and universal rejoicings... to 'receive in marriage the King’s sister', and that they all were 'to yield him obedience in what concerned the King’s business, as they would the King himself if he were present'. Can you believe it? What audacity! Funny thing is... it worked. That's exactly what the Regent of Denmark did! He married Cnut's sister Gytha off to Godwine, and sent her whole household back to England with us! It was bloody fantastic!"
Father Anthony couldn't believe this story. He objected, "Oh come on now, Paul! Do you really expect us to believe that story?"
Old Paul grinned from ear to ear, and said "No Father, I do not! But I will tell you only once, as I live and breath, it is true." He finished his beer.
Part Eight
The next evening Paul the Elder initiated the conversation on his own.
"John the Frank taught me my letters. I was quite a good scribe by the time I was twelve."
Father Anthony was interested in this fact. "I wonder if we could figure out a way for you to write in the scriptorium on the new text we are copying... we could use more help on it. Why haven't you said anything before about this?"
"I haven't written anything since I was blinded, Father. I doubt if I could do a proper job."
"Could you do it?"
"I remember how."
"We really don't need a formal job of it. It's a huge document, and we just want to make a quick copy for now. We have to return the original this spring. It's the rest of the Chronicle."
"Well, I'm willing to try. But let's not waste vellum on me."
"We'll use a parallel bar setup on the scroll, with a notched cross bar for setting it at each line. It should work for you."
Paul was immensly pleased with this idea. He smiled, "Thankyou, Father. I'll try it out."
"Want a cup?" It was another feast day. Ealdmund handed two cups out, one to each of the older men.
"Anyway," said Paul, "as I said, when I was young I had a very fine hand with writing. It saved a man's life once. A man who's life I probably shouldn't have saved. But I did."
"Who?"
"Godwine."
The brothers couldn't wait for the story. Paul took a long draught from the cup and began...
"Well, it was about two years after Cnut became King. Young Godwine was an Earl of the new regime by then, but he was already up to his usual rough ways. He had total control of the English administration, and the Danes were getting to know him better. They began to resent him, and distrust him. Cnut was urged to get rid of him, but he didn't. Not outright. But he was a crafty bugger himself. So he thought up a plan, involving young Godwine, and we were all sent along to carry it out. I was working as physician and tudor in the London area, but my skill as a scribe drew Godwine's attention, and so sometimes I was called in to do work for him. On special charters and such. The monks didn't mind, since I was already almost one of them. because of the work I did. We worked side by side all the time. If it wasn't in the hospital, it was in the scriptorium. Anyway, Godwine was sent on a trip to Denmark, on Cnut's embassy. He took me along as his personal physician."
"We were pretty close. I knew he was a hard man, but I was no fool. We left London in a fabulous Danish longship, rigged for the embassy. It had sumptuous fittings, and we had a large private cabin all to ourselves. That proved fortunate for Godwine."
"Cnut sent along about a dozen letters for the Regent of Denmark, sealed with the Royal seal, of course. These were specifically entrusted to Godwine. He was to hand them personally to the Regent, or one of the Regency Housecarls upon arrival, and to wait for an answer in person. Both of us thought this was somewhat interesting, in an uncomfortable sort of way. I mean, Godwine was really sweating it. I was getting anxious about it because he was getting nervous."
"So, about halfway across the sea, we discussed in private the possibility of breaking one of the seals without damaging it. That was the easy part. Sealing the letter again with the same seal presented the problem."
"I practised re-sealing our own letters for one afternoon, and got the hang of it. I just had to use the right amount of new wax and set the old seal into it before it dried, without squishing any wax out the sides. It was dicey, but I managed it. Fortunately for Godwine, I had my scribe's case with me, with a full supply of England's best waxes. One of them was the same as the wax used in the Royal Seal."
"So, the next day, during our afternoon rest, I broke the first Royal Seal. Godwine read the letter and told me to re-seal it. We sweated blood until we saw that the job of re-sealing was perfect. We relaxed and laughed about it. Godwine put his finger to his lips and put his other hand firmly around the hilt of his sword. I got the message."
"He fumed for a while and then instructed me to break open the rest of them. I told him he must guarantee no interruptions while I carried out each cycle. He assured me that his authority was so absolute during this embassy that he could kill any man on board without pretext and nobody would question him. For once, this attitude of his reassured me."
"Three of the letters proved to be fatal. They were instructions to whoever was first to read the letter, clearly ordering them to kill Godwine on the spot." Paul was getting excited. He took a sip from his beer to wet his lips.
"Godwine instructed me to get out my vellum and prepare forged letters in the same handwriting, and he dictated the most astounding letters I have ever written... or read for that matter."
"What did they say?"
"I'll tell you... They said that... and I recall this clearly, that Godwine was to be received with great and universal rejoicings... to 'receive in marriage the King’s sister', and that they all were 'to yield him obedience in what concerned the King’s business, as they would the King himself if he were present'. Can you believe it? What audacity! Funny thing is... it worked. That's exactly what the Regent of Denmark did! He married Cnut's sister Gytha off to Godwine, and sent her whole household back to England with us! It was bloody fantastic!"
Father Anthony couldn't believe this story. He objected, "Oh come on now, Paul! Do you really expect us to believe that story?"
Old Paul grinned from ear to ear, and said "No Father, I do not! But I will tell you only once, as I live and breath, it is true." He finished his beer.
"John the Frank taught me my letters. I was quite a good scribe by the time I was twelve."
Father Anthony was interested in this fact. "I wonder if we could figure out a way for you to write in the scriptorium on the new text we are copying... we could use more help on it. Why haven't you said anything before about this?"
"I haven't written anything since I was blinded, Father. I doubt if I could do a proper job."
"Could you do it?"
"I remember how."
"We really don't need a formal job of it. It's a huge document, and we just want to make a quick copy for now. We have to return the original this spring. It's the rest of the Chronicle."
"Well, I'm willing to try. But let's not waste vellum on me."
"We'll use a parallel bar setup on the scroll, with a notched cross bar for setting it at each line. It should work for you."
Paul was immensly pleased with this idea. He smiled, "Thankyou, Father. I'll try it out."
"Want a cup?" It was another feast day. Ealdmund handed two cups out, one to each of the older men.
"Anyway," said Paul, "as I said, when I was young I had a very fine hand with writing. It saved a man's life once. A man who's life I probably shouldn't have saved. But I did."
"Who?"
"Godwine."
The brothers couldn't wait for the story. Paul took a long draught from the cup and began...
"Well, it was about two years after Cnut became King. Young Godwine was an Earl of the new regime by then, but he was already up to his usual rough ways. He had total control of the English administration, and the Danes were getting to know him better. They began to resent him, and distrust him. Cnut was urged to get rid of him, but he didn't. Not outright. But he was a crafty bugger himself. So he thought up a plan, involving young Godwine, and we were all sent along to carry it out. I was working as physician and tudor in the London area, but my skill as a scribe drew Godwine's attention, and so sometimes I was called in to do work for him. On special charters and such. The monks didn't mind, since I was already almost one of them. because of the work I did. We worked side by side all the time. If it wasn't in the hospital, it was in the scriptorium. Anyway, Godwine was sent on a trip to Denmark, on Cnut's embassy. He took me along as his personal physician."
"We were pretty close. I knew he was a hard man, but I was no fool. We left London in a fabulous Danish longship, rigged for the embassy. It had sumptuous fittings, and we had a large private cabin all to ourselves. That proved fortunate for Godwine."
"Cnut sent along about a dozen letters for the Regent of Denmark, sealed with the Royal seal, of course. These were specifically entrusted to Godwine. He was to hand them personally to the Regent, or one of the Regency Housecarls upon arrival, and to wait for an answer in person. Both of us thought this was somewhat interesting, in an uncomfortable sort of way. I mean, Godwine was really sweating it. I was getting anxious about it because he was getting nervous."
"So, about halfway across the sea, we discussed in private the possibility of breaking one of the seals without damaging it. That was the easy part. Sealing the letter again with the same seal presented the problem."
"I practised re-sealing our own letters for one afternoon, and got the hang of it. I just had to use the right amount of new wax and set the old seal into it before it dried, without squishing any wax out the sides. It was dicey, but I managed it. Fortunately for Godwine, I had my scribe's case with me, with a full supply of England's best waxes. One of them was the same as the wax used in the Royal Seal."
"So, the next day, during our afternoon rest, I broke the first Royal Seal. Godwine read the letter and told me to re-seal it. We sweated blood until we saw that the job of re-sealing was perfect. We relaxed and laughed about it. Godwine put his finger to his lips and put his other hand firmly around the hilt of his sword. I got the message."
"He fumed for a while and then instructed me to break open the rest of them. I told him he must guarantee no interruptions while I carried out each cycle. He assured me that his authority was so absolute during this embassy that he could kill any man on board without pretext and nobody would question him. For once, this attitude of his reassured me."
"Three of the letters proved to be fatal. They were instructions to whoever was first to read the letter, clearly ordering them to kill Godwine on the spot." Paul was getting excited. He took a sip from his beer to wet his lips.
"Godwine instructed me to get out my vellum and prepare forged letters in the same handwriting, and he dictated the most astounding letters I have ever written... or read for that matter."
"What did they say?"
"I'll tell you... They said that... and I recall this clearly, that Godwine was to be received with great and universal rejoicings... to 'receive in marriage the King’s sister', and that they all were 'to yield him obedience in what concerned the King’s business, as they would the King himself if he were present'. Can you believe it? What audacity! Funny thing is... it worked. That's exactly what the Regent of Denmark did! He married Cnut's sister Gytha off to Godwine, and sent her whole household back to England with us! It was bloody fantastic!"
Father Anthony couldn't believe this story. He objected, "Oh come on now, Paul! Do you really expect us to believe that story?"
Old Paul grinned from ear to ear, and said "No Father, I do not! But I will tell you only once, as I live and breath, it is true." He finished his beer.