| Translation |
a. 873: In the year of the Lord’s incarnation 873, an inestimable multitude of locusts came from the east in the month of August and devastated almost all of Gaul. They were bigger than other locusts and had six pairs of wings; and, amazing to say, they flew through the air in distinct units and after landing on the ground made their camp like divisions of an army. With a few others, the leaders traveled one day ahead of the army as if to scout out suitable places for the multitude. Around the ninth hour they settled in the place where the leaders had been the day before, and they did not move from there until sunrise. Then they set out in their squadrons, so that one would think these small creatures had military discipline. They fed on the crop-fields, which were so completely devoured by them that they seemed to have been destroyed by an immense storm. A day’s traveling for them consisted of four or five miles. Covering the surface of the earth, they came as far as the British sea, into which by God’s will they were blown by the violent gusts of the winds and, carried away into its vast expanse, they were immersed. The seething and flooding of the ocean cast them back up and filled the beaches. Such piles of them were made that they were heaped up like mountain peaks. The air was corrupted by their stench and foulness, causing a dire plague from which many who lived nearby perished.
Around that same time Charles besieged the town of Angers. After they had killed Robert and Ranulf and several other well-born men who were defending with arms the frontiers of their homeland, because God was angry with the inhabitants of the land and since nobody could be found to resist their violence, the Northmen became excited by the pillaging of a few cities and territories and realised from the plunder available in each how much wealth they could get from all of them. They entered the city of Angers and found it empty because its inhabitants had scattered in flight. When they saw that it was impregnable because of its very strong fortifications and due to where it was sited, they were filled with joy and decided that it would provide a secure refuge for their people and their troops against those peoples who might be provoked to war. Immediately they brought their ships up the River Mayenne and moored at the walls, went inside with their wives and children as if they were going to live there, repaired the damage and rebuilt the ditches and palisades. From there they launched surprise raids and devastated the surrounding regions. When Charles had been told that such a pernicious plague had implanted itself in the heart of the kingdom, he immediately gathered there an army from all the kingdoms under his control as if to put out a fire that threatened them all, and pitching his camp in a circle he laid siege to the city. And because the Mayenne flows past the walls of the city on the Breton side, he ordered Salomon king of the Bretons to summon his forces and come quickly, so that they could defeat their common enemy with a united force. Bringing with him many thousands of Bretons, Salomon pitched his tents on the bank of the Mayenne. The city was thus surrounded by besiegers from all parts. For many days it was beleaguered from all sides with the greatest effort, and new high-quality kinds of siege-machines were brought to bear. But the king’s efforts did not produce a happy outcome, because the layout of the place did not permit easy access and the strong force of pagans resisted with the greatest spirit, because they were fighting for their lives. The immense army was worn down by the long tedium of the siege, by hunger and by a grave pestilence. When the Bretons saw that the town was unconquerable they tried to divert the river from its course so that, when its natural channel was dried out, they could attack the Northmen’s ships. They therefore started to dig a trench of amazing depth and width. This filled the Northmen with such dread and fear that without delay they promised Charles a huge amount of money if he would raise the siege and allow them free passage out of his own kingdom. The king, overcome by base lust, took the money, withdrew from the siege and showed the enemy a clear road. Boarding their ships, the Northmen returned to the Loire and by no means left his kingdom as they had promised. Instead, they remained in that same place and committed acts that were far more evil and monstrous than before. |
