THE SCENE: Besieged by a superior number of “barbarian” tribes, the Saxons finally resolve themselves to give battle. The result is described here in all its detail – blood, mud, and sweat.
THE TEXT: As it had been commanded, the Saxons stood by their arms all that night, and at the first signs of dawn, at a given signal the oath was taken, and each one bound himself by an oath, first to the leaders and then to each other, to devote himself to the coming battle. At sunrise – for after the rainstorm the sky was clear – with banners aloft they marched out of camp. And in the front line rode the king’s legate to make a frontal attack on the barbarians, but since so few could not prevail against such a multitude, he fell back to the main body of the army, noting however that the barbarians did not have very many horsemen but did have a great multitude of foot-soldiers who were so impeded by the night’s heavy rain that they could with difficulty be urged on by the horsemen to the battle.
And the rays of the sun, falling on the damp garments of the barbarians, made a cloud of vapor rise up to the heavens, inspiring hope and trust in the people of God, the clarity and serenity of whose countenance shone upon them. Therefore, at a given signal, and after a word of exhortation from the legate, they rushed with a loud cry upon their enemies. And since by reason of the thickness of the crowd, they could see no way of passing through the hosts, they drew their swords right and left and slew anyone whom they did not recognize as one of their comrades.
And while this heavy fighting was going on, and many were falling on every side, but the barbarians still held their lines, the legate asked his colleague if he might have the aid of his legions. The latter therefore sent an officer with fifty heavy-armed soldiers against the enemy’s flank and broke up their battle-line. After this the enemy saw nothing but slaughter and flight all that day. And when they saw that they were being cut down everywhere in the fields, they tried to escape to a nearby city. But when the colleague prevented them from doing this, they entered a nearby body of water, and so it happened that all that great multitude was either slain with the sword or drowned in the lake.
– The Deeds of the Saxons, Widukind of Corvey, 10th Century AD
