Alric and the Wolf Ch I

By Robbie Ashmore

This story is for my grandson Joshua. So that he may remember those who have gone before. So that he may know the blood of those brave warriors still flows through his Saxon veins.

“Die alten Götter sind nicht tot. Sie sind nur einsam.”

This story begins like all great stories should: Once upon a time, there was an evil King named Charlemagne. Charlemagne wanted everyone to be under his control. He took money and support from a foreign religion to help him conquer his own kin. In return for this money and power, Charlemagne promised the foreigners that he would make everyone worship their foreign god, in their foreign ways.

There were some very brave people called the Saxons who kept fighting Charlemagne; because they wanted to be free and worship the way they always had. They didn’t want to worship a god from the desert. They loved the old gods, and the old gods loved them. They were their kin.

Charlemagne told everyone that the Saxons were worshiping devils. But the Saxons knew better. They knew that their gods were good and all around them every day. They could see them in the rising Sun, they could hear their voices in the running streams. They felt their touch upon their skin with a gentle breeze, drops of rain or the first snows of winter. They were in the rocks, the trees, the earth beneath their feet and the very air they breathed.

One day Charlemagne’s army captured 4500 Saxon Nobles. Charlemagne knew that if he could make the Nobles accept the new religion then the common people would follow. But the Nobles refused! Even though they knew they would be killed when they did. They would rather spend eternity with their ancestors, than a lifetime on their knees.

So Charlemagne killed them. He cut their throats and had their bodies thrown into a river at a place called Verden. The river ran red with the blood of the Saxons that day.

Now the children of these brave Nobles were taken prisoner. Some were sold as slaves, others were sent to monasteries where they were beaten daily and made to learn the new religion. One of these children was a ten year old boy named Alric. Alric was a strong young man, with red hair and bright blue eyes. He had been his mother’s heart and his father’s pride. Alric was sent to live at a monastery. The monks there treated him very badly. They wanted Alric to forget his family, his mother and father. They even made him call them ‘brother’. They taught Alric that his family was evil because they didn’t believe in “the One True God” and instead worshipped the gods of their ancestors.

They taught Alric that to have pride in his self was a sin, and to stand up for himself was wrong. Every day they would send Alric into the nearby town to beg for money. At first Alric resisted, but being alone in the monastery was just too sad, so without even realizing it Alric began to change. He no longer thought of himself as a young wolf, but tried to become like a lamb, for that is what he was told “the One True God” wanted him to be. He tried to follow all of the commandments of the new religion, but fell short time and time again. Alric was beaten, humiliated and made to feel humble, until the raging Saxon fire, that pride that had driven his people for generations was finally gone.

After a couple of years Alric became a true believer and the monks treated him kindly. He became convinced that his father was an evil devil worshipper. He didn’t mind begging for money from the people in the village, for he had no pride. He was beat up often by the other boys because when they hit him, he turned his cheek so they could hit him on the other side. He was miserable most of the time because he knew he was an unworthy sinner. The only time he knew happiness was when he was on his knees begging for forgiveness. After all if you are told something often enough, it becomes a kind of truth.

Alric was on his way back to the monastery from begging in town one day. He heard a noise in the woods to the side of the trail. Something was following him! He closed his eyes to say a silent prayer; when he opened them a giant wolf was standing on the trail in front of him. The wolf’s head was huge; it had yellow eyes and thick grey fur. Each of his teeth seemed nearly as long as Alric’s arm.

Alric fell to his knees, dropping his bowl of coins, trembling he bowed his head and starting praying furiously. “What are you doing boy?” growled the wolf. Opening one eye and peeking at the wolf, Alric answered, “I’m being mm-meek…like a l-lamb.” “Get on your feet boy. Don’t you know that I eat lambs?” Alric climbed slowly to his feet. “You c-c-can t-talk?” he asked nervously. “Of course I can talk, you foolish boy” The wolf answered. “My name is Soden and I was asked to come here from Asgard, by the spirit of your father. He is afraid that you have been led astray. He asked me to come and help you find your path.” “But my father was an evil man and he worshipped the devil. He is in hell and I am a True Believer.”

Soden the Wolf lowered his huge head and narrowed his yellow eyes; “Your father was a good man and followed the gods of your people.” growled the wolf, “He was a brave warrior and true to his folk. He dines with his ancestors in Valhalla. You, my boy, have been lied to and beaten down until you have forgotten that. I am here to help you remember your father and the ways of your people. I will show you the path, but it will be up to you to walk it…… if you cannot….well then, I may just eat you like the lamb you have become.”