I have read two more books on the anglo saxon period as my interest in the Normans in the South continues to drift northwards unexpectedly.
As I have previously explained as a prelude to starting on my Normans in the South I read up on the Normans in general. Before I knew it I was reading about Saxons and coupled with my eternal interest in the Carolingians encountering the Vikings. You cannot travel far in the “dark ages” without the Vikings putting in an appearance. Although really we are talking about Danes, Norwegians and Swedes. Vikings is so much more attrcative to the modern ear than these nationalities or the collective scandanavian when it comes to gazing into the past. After all they were in the mediterranean at times and of course the Normans, northmen if you like were but Vikings a few generations on. And that proves the point? Normans are top trumps “warring name” even for the Vikings!
I returned to an earlier period with my first book – a novel. Written by Annie Whitehead, “Cometh the Hour” starts with the conquest of Diera in AD604. We meet Edwin who seems to be the likely hero escaping by the skin of his teeth from the Bernicians. The story then weaves its way across the country following Edwin’s attempts to recover his brothers kingdom. This eventually takes us fully into the lands of what is known as Mercia. And it is here that we meet the real character the story revolves around – Penda. On the journey we visit Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland and King Redwalds East Anglian Rendlesham – ok Sutton Hoo land.
The story ends in AD655. It is an entertaining story. It is only recently that I returned to any fictional novel reading with some difficult stories about the post conquest england. Difficult in the sense that I wanted to enjoy them, appreciate the great knowledge behind the words yet I could not fully embrace the style of writing nor the characters. They were awkward, somehow jarring.
James Aitcheson takes us through “Sworn Sword, the Splintered Kingdom, finishing with Knights of the Hawk”. I have read two of the three books in what is a trilogy: No Bernard Cornwell multi series I suspect – maybe a good thing – the story stays tight? Tancred is the hero and the stories are told through him. And they cover a fairly short period of the 5 years after 1066. The fighting is frequent and tends to be small incidents. Big battles do happen and are treated well in my view.
You do get a little bit of a feeling that the design of the story places combat at convenient staging points with journeys in between. Perhaps inevitable when viewed through one person – they need to get around. Tancred rides his luck and is blessed. I enjoyed the books enough to complete two and will read the third. But I guess I did not feel like I was amongst Normans in England around the 1060’s. Yes the descriptions felt accurate, yet it seemed to be to much of a “first person shooter” at times, so despite all the scenery it was somehow empty.
Cometh the Hour was far better and I read the book continously. Maybe because it dealt with intervening stories through more than one pair of eyes it suited both the subject and the story better. This was a story about wealth and power whereas Tancred had started at the bottom and was always climbing a greasy pole.
The author showed her understanding of the period in my view. And somehow a greater empathy as the characters came more alive for me. And despite the wealth and power the storyline ensured the characters showed they were one step away from losing it all and this condition connected with this reader.
And travelling or rather breaking up the story happened by time travel with each section dated for you to know things had moved on 2 years here or 10 years there.
Power and wealth was tenuous and the span of time allowed this to be played out.
So while James Aitchesons’ first two books were good, Annie Whiteheads “Cometh the Hour” was even better and left me wanting more stories like that.
So I was going to read another fiction story and yet I picked up (well downloaded the e book version) “Founder, Fighter, Saxon Queen – Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians. The author Margaret C Jones is one of a numerous set of modern authors who have set their eyes on this very special person.
The book is non fiction, although given the paucity of the records any book on Aethelflaed has a lot of prediction and propositions about what was meant by subsequent records and the contemporary record such that it is.
What you can say is that, contrary to the West Saxon mantra of women being well behind their male counterparts or completely absent from affairs of state Aethelflaed shines like a beacon in Mercian History. It is her curse to have ruled as she did a part of what became more remembered as Wessex’s england. Like her father Alfred she humbled the Vikings and successfully fought the Welsh and even Irish Norsemen.
Margaret Jones clearly likes her character as you would expect and is careful not to over play what can be said. I liked what was said although I struggled midway through the book. It became a bit repetitous over emphasising the plausibility of arguments.
I liked the discussions about how historians have sacrified Aethelflaed to use people like Alfred for their own contemporary audiences leading to her suppression from the records. The book brings us up to date with a very useful review of modern authors and also where to phycially visit Aethelflaeds Mercia.
I can definitely recommend this book if you want to know about a female leader with charisma who had to overcome numerous problems to give her part of england peaceful times during the “viking raiding era”.
The lead image in this post is a danish woman given lithographic life by the hand of William Morris. It is ironic (today) that someone like William Morris illustrated Ragnar Lobroks apparent Queen of Denmark and then Norway (at different times). The context is everything – the early 1900’s were awash with dark ages interest – King Alfred front and centre of course. And while Aethelflaed may have featured in various turn of the century millenial midlands celebrations it appears VIKINGS turned heads on a bigger stage.
Some things just don’t change do they?
And then of course there is the Dark Ages themselves.
Writing this post has distracted me again and set me thinking – time as a context – I have glibly written about three authors covering over 400 years!
Timeline context – if we set the timeline then with now what do we get?
| time line today | back then – very very roughly!!! |
| 2020 today | Hereward is run to ground ending the english fight against norman invaders (last book of James Aitcheson) |
| 2016 brexit | 1066 William the Great great great grandson of viking norsemen defeats King Harold (half danish viking anyway) and the English |
| 1815 battle of waterloo – napoleonic wars | 878 – Guthrum and the Great Heathen Army defeated by King Alfreds anglo saxons (Margaret C Jones Aethelflaed – Founder, Fighter, Saxon Queen starts here in her childhood + Bernard Cornwells last kingdom starts in 866 Bernicia) |
| 1642 battle of edgehill – english civil war | 694 – King Ine of Wessex attacks Kent |
| 1620 battle of the white mountain in the thirty years war including english and scots | 671 – Northumbrians defeat the Picts at the battle of the two rivers |
| 1588 the spanish armada – elizabethan wars with catholic europe | 633 – Battle of Hatfield Chase where Penda of Mercia and King Cadwallon a British King defeat Edwin of Northumbria (Annie Whiteheads book runs from 604 – 655 AD) |
| 1346 english defeat the french at the battle of Crecy | 383 Magnus Maximus critically takes the most Roman troops from north and western Britain as well as Gaul to fight civil wars in Italy – the penultimate attempt of emperor making |
| from Crecy to today | the “dark ages” timespan roughly 5th to 11th centuries |
So maybe its a bit unfair to compare these authors given the span of time they cover.
These three authors have in their different ways made my interest in the dark ages british isles greater, shining good lights on it. So I am embarking hesistantly on another fictional account. Bernard Cornwells mammoth last kingdom series. Book 1 is called the Last Kingdom.
I have talked here about both fiction and non-fiction. I expect fictional authors first and foremost to entertain me and maybe pique my interest in the history. I cannot scrutinise a fictional account for historic error. However I think for this period the author must have some connection with the stories, characters and sources without which the narrative might as well be west side story or gang warfare in any era.
I do not expect Last Kingdom to be any more historically correct than say the Tancred Trilogy by James Aitcheson. What I expect is that for someone who has authored so many popular books I will find it an entertaining read.
Cornwells story conveniently starts in 866, 200 years or so after the Penda novel and 200 years before Tancred appears.
If nothing else 400 years is a very long period in this islands history, something I think is often forgotten and possibly almost encouraged – oh the Romans have gone so lets swiftly move on to the Normans after all what did the Saxons ever do for us except let the Vikings in?
And finally by a quirk of fate I now possess a copy of Learn Old English with Leofwin. I gave up learning languages decades ago yet here I am buying a book about a dead language!
Where will this anglo saxon story go next I wonder?
The Wargaming Erratic 