Beohrtsige Gothelm

Beohrtsige 'Bellringer' Gothelm was the third Cyng of Talor, reigning from 418 to 422.He was the first of two Gothelm kings, the other being Taetwulf Sunhammer fifty years later.

## Description

Beohrtsige was said to have been a man of medium height and medium stature. He had light brown hair, as do the rest of the Gothelm line, and sported a moustache from when he rose to the throne at the age of twenty-six.

In terms of personality, Beohrtsige was proactive and concerned with the welfare of his people; he is one of few Cyngs to make a tour of the realm, though this is mainly because, following his assassination during the tour, later Cyngs connect such an event with bad luck.

Beohrtsige was reportedly good with a sword and preferred to fight alone rather than as part of a shield wall. This may explain how he held the Fenwich belltower for so long against his assassins - the width of the tower steps only allowed one-on-one combat.

## Reign

Beohrtsige's reign was too short to have had a large effect on Talor. The Cyng attempted to keep the royal houses under more control than his predecessors, resulting in resentment among several houses, most prominently house Higwalding. This resentment manifested in several armed standoffs between broups of Fyrdmen and, eventually, resulted in Beohrtsige's assassination, seemingly at the hands of house Higwalding.

## Epithet

Beohrtsige's epithet stems from a deed committed at the end of his reign. In 422, Cyng Beohrtsige was nearing thirty years of age and was undergoing a tour of his realm. A a certain point, he was resting in the town of Fenwich with his retinue. The head of house Hardwalden, Ornwulf, was showing Beohrtsige the view from Fenwich's high belltower when the pair of men spotted a dust cloud on the horizon.

The cloud revealed itself to be a party of horsemen, some few hundred strong. They flew the banner of house Higwalding, then a prominent noble house, so the men in the belltower saw no need to raise their retinues - the Harwalden retinue was two hundred strong and billeted inside Hardwalding Hold on the other side of the town while the Gothelm retinue was around forty strong and camped outside the town. The Gothelm retinue was reduced in size as a larger party of bodyguards while on tour would detract from Beorhtside's personal honour and would be problematic to feed and house.

When the horsemen came into clearer view it became obvious that the Higwalding men were not there on a peace mission - they wore armour and their lances and swords were drawn. Beohrtsige was rightly uneasy and, seeing that no lord rode with the Higwalding men, began to ring the bell in the tower to rouse the retinues.

The horsemen were subsequently drawn to, and thus surrounded, the belltower. Ornwulf and Beohrtsige had only arming swords and, taking advantage of the stairs in the stone belltower, were able to hold their position against overwhelming odds until the retinues arrived and cut a path through the Higwalding men.

Beohrtsige met his end shortly afterwards - when rescue was upon him and his assailants were being forced away, he brashly exposed himself at the base of the belltower and was struck in the stomach by a thrown spear.

## Legacy

Beohrtsige's death was met with outrage in the capital, directed against house Higwalding by the numerous Fyrdmen, both Gothelm and Hardwalden, who saw its banners fly among the assailants' ranks. The accused house, of course, denied the claims and, though the Higwaldings were struck from the roster of royal houses and exiled (finally finding refuge in eastern Faramond), modern scholars are beginning to question Higwalding's involvement in the assassination - they argue that true Higwalding Fyrdmen would not have been so crass as to expect no survivors and as such, would not have flown their banners.