Heroes of Asgard Thor ? ' said Una . She had been reading the book . ` Perhaps , ' answered Puck . ` None the less , when bad times came , he did n't beg or steal . He worked ; and I was lucky enough to be able to do him a good turn . ' ` Tell us about it , ' said Dan . ' I think I like hearing of Old Things . ' They rearranged themselves comfortably , each chewing a grass stem . Puck propped himself on one strong arm and went on : ` Let 's think ! I met Weland first on a November afternoon in a sleet storm , on Pevensey Level -- ' ` Pevensey ? Over the hill , you mean ? ' Dan pointed south . ` Yes ; but it was all marsh in those days , right up to Horsebridge and Hydeneye . I was on Beacon Hill -- they called it Brunanburgh then -- when I saw the pale flame that burning thatch makes , and I went down to look . Some pirates -- I think they must have been Peofn 's men -- were burning a village on the Levels , and Weland 's image -- a big , black wooden thing with amber beads round his neck -- lay in the bows of a black thirty-two-oar galley that they had just beached . Bitter cold it was ! There were icicles hanging from her deck and the oars were glazed over with ice , and there was ice on Weland 's lips . When he saw me he began a long chant in his own tongue , telling me how he was going to rule England , and how I should smell the smoke of his altars from Lincolnshire to the Isle of Wight . I did n't care !
I 'd seen too many Gods charging into Old XXXXX to be upset about it .
Asgard England Horsebridge Level Pevensey Puck Una Weland first oars