Merry Christmas one and all! A quick reminder that The Northumbrian Saga is now available in paperback as well as in ebook formats such as Amazon, Kobo and ibooks. For a full list of retailers check out The Northumbrian Saga page in the menu. If your country or favourite retailer aren't there let me know.… Continue reading The Northumbrian Saga out now
Seven years ago I had the opportunity to visit the Jorvik Viking Festival and ever since I have been dying to return. It has grown over the years to be one of the largest Norse-themed festivals in Europe, attracting over 40, 000 international visitors each year and providing education as well as a whole heap… Continue reading Return of the Vikings
Very excited to let you all know that The Northumbrian Saga will soon be available in paperback form through Amazon.com I really wanted this to have been finished last November in time for the 1150th Anniversary of the first recorded attack on York by Ivar the Boneless and his vikings, however it has taken a… Continue reading Coming Soon to Paperback
The Northumbrian Saga follows the life of Aethelwin, a fictional niece of King Osbert of Northumbria and Aelle the usurper of the Northumbrian throne. Whilst these two men were real figures in Northumbrian history, there is one more member of Aethelwin’s family who is based on a real person. Aethelwin is the youngest child of… Continue reading Historical Figure Profile: Eadwulf of Bamburgh
The most prominent type of settlement associated with trading activities in the Anglo-saxon period was the Wic, an Anglo-Saxon loan word from the Latin Vicus meaning a dwelling, farm, hamlet, or subsidiary settlements. The Wics were communities very similar to those found in rural areas with the distinction of servicing trade and industry. Most communities… Continue reading Wic wic is wich? The Anglo-Saxon trading settlement
As part of my plans of outlining aspects of early medieval life I was going to write a post on Trade. In The Northumbrian Saga, Leodgar and Aethelwin are both traders of Anglo-Saxon Northumbria and with the invasion of the Vikings comes a whole new orbit of trade and trade partners, including Thorstein. As usual… Continue reading Trade
Welcome to Part two of the history of Lindisfarne. If you have missed the first part in which Lindisfarne was founded and became a religious, cultural and scholarly mecca, you can read the article here. Unfortunately for Lindisfarne, its rise to prominence also made it a target. The climax of the centre’s history came in… Continue reading Lindisfarne, Holy island of the north: Part 2
I recently saw an article pop up on my facebook page that immediately had me excited.Better Identification of Viking Corpses Reveals: Half of the Warriors Were Female.This was followed of course by a very aptly chosen picture of Lagertha from Vikings... which I have also used... shamelessly.But the more I read the article and all… Continue reading Sisters doing it for themselves?
In the early 7th century, the death of King Edwin caused the kingdom of Northumbria to split amongst rival groups. This weakened state made it easier for Cadwallon the King of Gweynedd (northern Wales) to attack the land and under his influence the people had quickly reverted back to their pagan roots. Aided by a… Continue reading Lindisfarne, Holy Island of the north: Part 1
Jeanette Harvey is the Author of Sisters of the Bruce, the tale of Isabel (Queen of Norway) and Christina (The Countess of Mar) who helped mould the history of Scotland and the world as much as their famous brother, Robert the Bruce. In this re-post from May 2014, Jeanette explains her visit to Durham Cathedral… Continue reading Durham – An amazing World Heritage Site
A H Gray 