Read Hosker, G [Wolf Brethren 02] Saxon Revenge Online
Authors: Griff Hosker
Hosker, G [Wolf Brethren 02] Saxon Revenge (34 page)
Historical note
All the kings named and used in this book were real figures, although the actual events are less well documented. Most of the information comes from the Welsh writers who were used to create the Arthurian legends. It was of course,
The Dark Ages
, and, although historians now dispute this, the lack of hard evidence is a boon to a writer of fiction. Ida, who was either a lord or a king, was ousted from Lindisfarne by the alliance of the three kings. King Urien was deemed to be the greatest Brythionic king of this period.
While researching I discovered that 30-35 was considered old age in this period. The kings obviously lived longer but that meant that a fifteen year old would be considered a fighting man. If the brothers appear young then I suspect it is because most of the armies would have been made up of the younger men without ties.
The Angles and the Saxons did invade towards the end of the Roman occupation and afterwards. There appear to be a number of reasons for this: firstly the sea levels rose in their land inundating it and secondly there were a series of plagues in Central Europe. This caused a mass movement towards the rich and peaceful lands of Britannia. Their invasion was also prefaced by the last Roman leaders using Saxon mercenaries to fight the barbarians to the north and the west. At the same the time Irish and the Scots took advantage of the departure of the Romans and engaged in slave raids and cattle raids. It was not a good time to live in the borders. Carlisle, by all accounts, was a rich fortress and had baths and fine buildings. It exceeded York at this period. Rheged stretched all the way from Strathclyde down to what is now northern Lancashire. Northumbria did not exist but it grew from two British kingdoms which became Saxon, Bernicia and Deira and eventually became the most powerful kingdom until the rise of Alfred’s Wessex. Who knows what might have happened had Rheged survived?
Morcant Bulc was king of Bernicia and he was jealous of King Urien who was considered the last hope of Romano-Britain. All of the writings we have from this period come from Wales which is some way from Rheged and perhaps they were jaundiced opinions. In the years at the end of the Sixth century the kingdoms all fell one by one. Rheged was one of the last to fall.
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 if Roman Britain and I have given them all of the characteristics they would have had. This period was also the time when the old ways changed and Britain became Christina but I have not used this as a source of conflict but rather growth. I mainly used two 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. 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. My apologies if I have made a mistake.
The story will continue as the Saxons inexorably take over what was Britannia and make it, what became England.
Griff Hosker May 2013
Other books by
Griff Hosker
If you enjoyed reading this book then why not read another one by the author?
The Sword of Cartimandua Series
(Germania and Britannia 50A.D. – 128 A.D.)
Ulpius Felix- Roman Warrior
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
They are all available in the Kindle format.
The Aelfraed Series
(Britain and Byzantium 1050 A.D.- 1085 A.D.)
Book 1
Housecarl
Book 2
Outlaw
Book 3
Varangian
These are available in the Kindle format.
The Wolf Warrior series
(Britain in the late 6
th
Century)
Book 1
Saxon Dawn
Book 2
Saxon Revenge
Also available in paperback and Kindle is the book aimed at 12-15 years olds,
Great Granny’s Ghost
Carnage at Cannes
is a modern thriller and is available in the Kindle format
.
Travel
Adventure at 63-Backpacking to Istanbul
Coming in Summer 2013
Saxon Rule (Book Three in the Wolf Warrior Trilogy)
Coming in Autumn 2013 (Working titles)
The Irishman in the grey - a trilogy set in the American Civil War
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.
Table of Contents
Published by Griff Hosker 2013Copyright © Griff Hosker First Edition