Beginnings英国起源(35)

So now we know that the Vikings did come bearing something other than a nasty attitude. They came carrying amber, and fur and walrus ivory. But somehow, though, this vision of the Vikings as rapid-transit, long-distance commercial travellers, singing their sagas as they sail to a new market opening. I don't think it would have cut much ice with the priests here at the cathedral of Bradwell-on-Sea, just a crab scuttle away from the area where I grew up as a child on the ***** shore. There'd been a church here, Bradwell-on-Sea for over 200 years. It'd originally been built on the remains of an old Roman fort. And I can't help thinking that the priests would have found those stone defenses reassuring as they waited nervously for the Viking raids that they knew could strike hard and fierce at any moment.

而如今我们知道维京人的船上装载的，不光是卑劣狼籍的名声，还有琥珀皮草以及海象牙。然而不知为何，维京人作为快捷的远洋旅行商，一路高歌着英雄传奇前往新市场的形象。我想并未影响到牧师对他们的印象。在我长大的埃塞克斯郡的海滨，海滨布拉德韦尔，这一形象只是昙花一现。在海滨布拉德韦尔，坐落着一间拥有二百余年历史的教堂，最初建在罗马堡垒的残骸之上。我不禁想到，当牧师们在惶恐中等待随时可能破门而入残暴劫掠的维京海盗时，这些石筑的防御工事应该会带来一丝安慰。