EN113.23 Grievances
Ott 2025
S. Frethorik
1. Second Bad Time
Grievances
113.23 My name is Frethorik, surnamed Oera Linda, which means ‘over the Linden’.[1] I was elected magistrate at Liudwardia, a new settlement within the ring dyke of the burg Liudgarda, the name of which has fallen into disrepute.
During my time, much has transpired, about which I have kept an extensive record. But many things were also reported to me later. Of the one and [114] the other, I will add a selection to this book, to honor the good and to shame the bad.
In my youth, I heard grievances all over: Bad times would come — bad times had come. Frya had forsaken us; she had withheld her watch maidens because idolatrous images had been found within our borders. I burned with curiosity to see these images. In our neighborhood, there was an old maid who marched in and out of the houses, always heralding bad times. One day, I came up alongside her. She stroked my chin. Now I was emboldended and asked her to teach me about the bad times and the images. She gave a goodly smile and brought me to the burg. An alderman asked me if I could read and write. “No,” I said. “Then first you must go and learn,” he replied, “or else you cannot be taught.” So I went daily to the scribe and studied.
Eight years later, I heard that our burgmaid had been promiscuous and that some of the lords had betrayed us to the Magy. Many people, it was said, were on their side. Dissension grew everywhere. Children revolted against their parents. Righteous folk were murdered in cowardly fashion. The old maid who was revealing it all [115] was found dead in a ditch. My father, who was a judge, wanted her avenged. One night, he was murdered in his home.
Three years later, the Magy ruled unchallenged. The Saxmen had remained faithful and prudent, and all good men fled to them. My mother died in the midst of this, so I fled to the Saxmen like the others.[2]
Notes
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EN108.28 Rhine ᐊ previous/next ᐅ EN115.10 Swamped
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Other English translations
Chapters S1 and S2: Sandbach 1876