There was once a man of incredible wealth and power. His name was Amanath. He was known throughout the village that he lived near. He could often be heard telling people about faraway lands where he was also known, and where the people also feared his power. No one in the village had ever seen these faraway lands, but they knew the powerful man mentioned them often and felt that they could not challenge him.

In the same village was a man who was a sycophant and was especially weak. His name was Hodor. He would walk around the village reminding people about the wealth and power of Amanath. The other people would grow tired of hearing Hodor’s words, but knew that attacking him might make Amanath angry.

For many years, the people were frustrated at Hodor but had to listen and smile, weakly. Because he said such nice things about Amanath, Hodor would receive medicine which allowed him to live more healthily and longer than the others. The villagers didn’t steal the medicine, though, because they knew right from wrong.

Occasionally Amanath would go to other lands, but life in the village went on as normal. The people were not especially wealthy and struggled on, as people often do. None were especially good, and none were especially bad.

One day, Amanath called Hodor to his mansion on the hill overlooking the village. He told him that he intended to destroy the village and everyone in it. Hodor fawned to Amanath and then agreed to leave the village.

Hodor walked down to the village from the mansion and, without saying a word to his fellow villagers, gathered his family and walked straight out the other side and up to the other side of the valley. He watched for a while, with no emotion, as a fleet of automated bulldozers drove through the village, destroying everything there. Everyone in the village was killed.

Hodor knew that he was special (and his wife realised that a sycophantic husband can sometimes be a good thing) but he also wondered whether he had done the right thing. Had he allowed his fellow men to die needlessly? Or if he had tried to save the others, would he and his family have died too?

He didn’t wrestle with this for long, though, and soon became content to settle the lands that had previously belonged to the villagers. After he had settled down, ensured enough food for him and his family, he organized a great party.

Amanath, destroyed all the other villages and left only Hodor and his family alive. Hodor continued to fear Amanath, but now knew he was a terrible and powerful man. Amanath himself was rarely seen from then on, only coming and going occasionally.

In the future, I may tell other stories of Amanath, and how Hodor’s descendants survived.

Notes from the author:

Amanath is a rough transliteration of Anglo Saxon “ámanian” – to demand exact require. – Weak definition. From http://www.oldenglishtranslator.co.uk

Hodor is a rough transliteration of Anglo Saxon “hrodor” – “comfort”. From http://www.oldenglishtranslator.co.uk

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