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
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
This week I am involved in another blog tour, this time looking at the main character of my novel. I was invited to join by Edoardo Albert, author of many fiction and non-fiction books including "Northumbria: The Lost Kingdom" which was co-written with Paul Gething, "Professor Tolkien of Oxford", "Call to Prayer: The Story of… Continue reading Blog Hop: Meet my main character
After nearly six months of warfare with Wessex, the pagan army went to London in Mercia for their winter quarters to recuperate. Burghred, the King of Mercia at that time and brother-in-law of King Alfred, purchased a truce from them for a sum of money. Halfdan and his army had already sworn that they would… Continue reading Northumbrian rebellion in 862 and the exile of King Burghred of Mercia
As I have touched on in a few of the earlier posts, Anglo-Saxon society was based on a hierarchy of kings and their families at the top and everyone else underneath them. So what was keeping these men (and let’s not underestimate their women either) from doing as they liked and terrorising their own people… Continue reading The Witan: Trying to keep kings in their place since 5th century AD
Palm Sunday is an important date in the Christian calendar. As the first Sunday before Easter it is the beginning of holy week and the lead up to Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. The week started with Jesus arriving into Jerusalem on the Sunday, followed by his arrest by Thursday, his crucifixion on the Friday, and… Continue reading Palm Sunday
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