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Authors: Griff Hosker

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BOOK: Saxon Bane
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Ireland in the Sixth Century

Maps courtesy of Wikipedia

 

For those who like their maps embedded in the text I am still working on that. However my technical skills are basic and I devote more time to the writing than the formatting.  When time allows I will make the books more interactive; please bear with me.

 

Historical note

I mainly used four books to research the material.  The first was the excellent Michael Wood’s book “
In Search of the Dark Ages
” and the second was “
The Middle Ages
” Edited by Robert Fossier.  The third was the Osprey Book- “
Saxon, Viking and Norman”
by Terence Wise. I also used Brian Sykes book, “
Blood of the Isles
” for reference. In addition I searched on line for more obscure information.  All the place names are accurate, as far as I know, and I have researched the names of the characters to reflect the period.  My apologies if I have made a mistake.

There is evidence that the Saxons withdrew from Rheged in the early years of the seventh century and never dominated that land again. It seems that warriors from Wales reclaimed that land.  I have used Lord Lann as that instrument.  King Edwin did usurp Aethelfrith.  Edwin was allied to both Mercia and East Anglia.

There is a cave in North Yorkshire called Mother Shipton’s cave.  It has a petrifying well within. Objects left there become covered, over time, with a stone exterior. In the seventeenth century a witch was reputed to live there. I created an earlier witch to allow the Roman sword to be discovered and to create a link with my earlier Roman series.

The Saxons and Britons all valued swords and cherished them.  They were passed from father to son.  The use of rings on the hilts of great swords was a common practice and showed the prowess of the warrior in battle. The Irish were known for having poor quality brittle blades.

I do not subscribe to Brian Sykes’ theory that the Saxons merely assimilated into the existing people.  One only has to look at the place names and listen to the language of the north and north western part of England. You can still hear anomalies. Perhaps that is because I come from the north but all of my reading leads me to believe that the Anglo-Saxons were intent upon conquest.  The Norse invaders were different and they did assimilate but the Saxons were fighting for their lives and it did not pay to be kind. The people of Rheged were the last survivors of Roman Britain and I have given them all of the characteristics they would have had. They were educated and ingenious. The Dark Ages was the time when much knowledge was lost and would not reappear until Constantinople fell.  This period was also the time when the old ways changed and Britain became Christian but I have not used this as a source of conflict but rather growth.

King Cadfan was succeeded by his son when he was still alive and he retired to a quiet life.  I have used this battle with the Mercians as the reason for that retirement.  It was also about this time that Aethelfrith was killed in battle.  His sons, Oswiu and Oswald became famous and outshone their father and Edwin. At the time of my story they were in Ireland.  Their assassination of Lann and the theft of Saxon Slayer are pure fiction. As both of them were canonised after their deaths their people thought highly of them.  I am writing from the viewpoint of their enemy. One man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist. They were hard times. They did have a brother called Eanfrith. He died without becoming king and is a shadowy character.

King Cadwallon became the last great British leader until modern times.  Alfred ruled the Saxons but no one held such sway over the country from Scotland to Cornwall in the same way that King Cadwallon did.  Of course I have him aided by Lord Lann the Warlord.

The practice of sacrifice was an old one in the pagan religions.  There is evidence of it taking place even in the time of the Romans. The victim was usually a volunteer. It would not be a surprise for Lord Lann to know the identity of his killer but be willing to give his life for his country: Dulce et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori!

Penda and the other kings, Cearl and
Fiachnae mac Báetáin
were real and contemporaries of each other.
Fiachnae mac Báetáin
is named as having been to Din Guardi.  There is some confusion over the reigns of both Cearl and Penda.  Some people think that they ruled jointly for a while. Certainly Penda was the last pagan king of Mercia and he did defeat Edwin as well. His reign saw the ascendancy of Mercia and the demise of Northumbria.  The theories about his age are laughable. It is said that he gained the throne at 50 and ruled for 30 years before dying in battle! I have accepted the 30 years theory but not his age. I have him as younger, in his thirties when he meets Lord Lann so that he dies in battle in his sixties.  As with all my books I have researched as much as I can but I am a writer of fiction.  I have chosen the facts to suit my story.

I stole the idea of the multiple fires to fool the Northumbrians from Genghis Khan- always steal from the best! He used them when fighting a superior force of Mongols.

Saxon ships were relatively small; it was the Norse and their Drekar or Dragon ships that created ships capable of carrying larger numbers of warriors.

Caledfwlch is the original name of Excalibur.  Excalibur was created by the French and Norman writers but the legend of Arthur and his sword in what is known as the Dark Ages is Welsh in origin.

The Warlord and King Cadwallon will return and they will meet the Saxons once more on the field of battle.

 

Griff Hosker August 2014

Ot Other books
By
Griff Hosker

If you enjoyed reading this book then why not read another one by the author?

Ancient History

The Sword of Cartimandua Series
(Germania and Britannia 50A.D. – 128 A.D.)

Ulpius Felix- Roman Warrior (prequel)

Book 1 The Sword of Cartimandua

Book 2 The Horse Warriors

Book 3 Invasion Caledonia

Book 4 Roman Retreat

Book 5 Revolt of the Red Witch

Book 6 Druid’s Gold

Book 7 Trajan’s Hunters

Book 8 The Last Frontier

Book 9 Hero of Rome

Book 10 Roman Hawk

Book 11 Roman Treachery

Book 12 Roman Wall

 

The Aelfraed Series
(Britain and Byzantium 1050 A.D. - 1085 A.D.

Book 1 Housecarl

Book 2 Outlaw

Book 3 Varangian

 

The Wolf Warrior series
(Britain in the late 6
th
Century)

Book 1 Saxon Dawn

Book 2 Saxon Revenge

Book 3 Saxon England

Book 4 Saxon Blood

Book 5 Saxon Slayer

Book 6 Saxon Slaughter

Book 7 Saxon Bane

Book 8 Saxon Fall: Rise of the Warlord

 

The Dragon Heart Series

Book 1 Viking Slave

Book 2 Viking Warrior

Book 3 Viking Jarl

Book 4 Viking Kingdom

Book 5 Viking Wolf

Book 6 Viking War

 

Modern History

The Napoleonic Horseman Series

Book 1 Chasseurs à Cheval

Book 2 Napoleon’s Guard

Book 3 British Light Dragoon

Book 4 Soldier Spy

Book 5 1808: The Road to Corunna

Waterloo

 

The Lucky Jack American Civil War
series

Rebel Raiders

Confederate Rangers

The Road to Gettysburg

 

The British Ace Series

1914

1915 Fokker Scourge

1916 Angels over the Somme

1917 Eagles Fall

1918 We will remember them

 

Other Books

Great Granny’s Ghost
(Aimed at 9-14 year old young people)

Adventure at 63-Backpacking to Istanbul

 

For more information on all of the books then please visit the author’s web site at
http://www.griffhosker.com
where there is a link to contact him.

BOOK: Saxon Bane
12.76Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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