Book Review: The Lords of the North

I just finished the 3rd book in Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Series, The Lords of the North. Published in 2006 the book continues with the story of Uhtred of Bebbanburg and his adventures across Anglo-Saxon England. Following the Saxon victory at the Battle of Edington, Uhtred has traveled north to reclaim his land. However as the theme suggests, "fate is everything", and he is sent on a very unexpected journey. I zipped thru this book fairly quickly and can say that it was enjoyable, however the historical content was not quite as intriguing as the previous two. 

The Premise

Following the Battle of Edington (878 AD) Alfred and Guthrum have agreed to peace. Uhtred is now free of his service to King Alfred and decides to travel to Northumbria with his lover the former nun, Hild. Uhtred has several matters to resolve in the northern lands including a bloodfeud with Kjartan the Cruel and his one-eyed son Sven. As a child Kjartan killed his adopted Danish father Ragnar and kidnapped their daughter Thyra. Aside from this quest, Uhtred seeks to reclaim the land of Bebbanburg that was stolen by his uncle Aelfric. 

He first arrives to the city of Eoferwic (modern day York) where he discovers a city in total disarray. Divided by Danes and Saxons there is no proper leader yet constant threats of Danish warlords. Uhtred is hired by a wealthy family to escort them thru dangerous lands at which point they meet up with Sven the One-Eyed. Uhtred hides his face and claims to be a dead soul from Niflhelm out to hunt him and his father. Uhtred allows Sven to flee yet frees some of his prisoners which include some monks and a lord name Guthred who claims to be king. Uhtred joins their band as they return to Eoferwic with the holy corpse of Saint Cuthbert. Guthred converts to Christianity and is declared king of Northumbria.

However in order to defend this claim, Guthred knows he will have to fend off the Danish warlords which include Kjartan and Ivarr Ivarrson (son of Ivar the Boneless). Uhtred falls for Guthred's sister Gisela and decides to stay with the group and command their army. They are able to fend off an assassination plot by Kjartan and send the severed heads back to him as a warning. However in a sudden surprise Uhtred is captured and discovers that Guthred has made an alliance with Aelfric with the only condition being that Uhtred be sold to slavery. 

Uhtred is sent to a trading ship where he works as a rower for the cruel merchant Sverri. For two years he hangs on to hope, and befriends an Irish slave named Finan. One day they are rescued by a red ship, who they discover to be Ragnar and Steapa. Ragnar informs Uhtred that King Alfred has sent them to find and free him. Uhtred is beyond pleased to be free and at first seeks vengeance against Guthred but then reconsiders it to have been a smart trade-off. Uhtred is briefly reunited with King Alfred, who once again asks of his service. They are to escort Father Beocca to Northumbria to establish an alliance with Guthred. Alfred also decides to free their Danish hostages Ragnar and Brida to join their journey.

It is not long until Uhtred and Ragnar highjack the mission and gather Ragnar's army. Both Uhtred and Ragnar are hungry for vengeance against Kjartan and decide to ally with Guthred to attack Kjartan's stronghold. Upon returning to Eoferwic, Uhtred is most happy to see Gisela again yet infuriated when he discovers she is to be married to his uncle Aelfric. He declares that this marriage has yet to be consumated and against the will of the priests, takes Gisela for himself. Guthred is speechless, overcome with guilt for having sold his friend to slavery. Uthred forgives him and explains to him that they are to wage war against both Kjartan and Ivar.

There first attack is on Kjartan's fort of Dunholm where they strike at night. Uhtred leads a band of 12 to the back side of the fort at night to break into the settlement and open the front gate. The plan goes terribly wrong however when they are discovered and Kjartan sets his hounds on them. At this point Thyra, the imprisoned sister of Ragnar, is able to siren the dogs into submission. Uhtred is then able to open the gate where Ragnar arrives with his men to face Kjartan's men. With the chaos of the hounds, the battle goes to Uhtred's favor. Thyra takes vengeance by killing Sven, while Kjartan takes his vengeance by killing Kjartan. 

Having secured this victory the army of Guthred does not rest for long, for they know they have an even bigger task to face Ivar. While they are heavily outnumbered Uhtred convinces Guthred that he can lure their leader Ivar to a one-on-one faceoff. At the war council Uhtred is able to irritate Ivar enough into open battle at which Uhtred easily defeats him. With their leader dead the Danish army decides not to attack and Guthred strengthens his power over Northumbria. However Uhtred's work is still not finished and he still seeks to reclaim Bebbanburg.

Book Review

While the first two books dealt more with the historical events of King Alfred and the Heathen Army, this one moves away to more fictional accounts. However the story is still quite intriguing now that we now all the characters. Uhtred has major unfinished business in Northumbria against Kjartan and his uncle Aelfric and this made for an exciting premise. However the story took a bit of a turn when he was recruited by a nobody, named Guthred. I found this character to be very dim without much historical content. What was interesting was the holy corpse of Saint Cuthbert, in which was used by Guthred's priests as a relic to strengthen their cause. 

I found the twist of Uhtred being sold into slavery as a refreshing change-up from Uthred's battles and womanizing. Here he was put into an entirely different situation and had to overcome dire hope thru it all. At this point I was back on Uhtred's side and hoped to see him take vengeance on all the lords of Northumbria, including Guthred now. To think that at one point Uhtred had four proper enemies in this book including Kjartan, Ivar, Aelfric, and Guthred made for some real open possibilities. I thought it was great when he was reunited with Ragnar and Steapa for yet another warrior clash against Kjartan.

I felt like the final two battles were somewhat rushed and the author has overused the shadow-walking tactics. It was refreshing for a change to see that things did not go as Uhtred had planned when he was surprised by the hounds. I especially thought the following battle against Ivar was the most unrealistic and disappointing part yet of this book. To think that a leader of far superior numbers would throw himself into battle like that is just far-fetched and lazy writing. That being said I think Bernard Cornwell has still captured the setting of Ango-Saxon better than could be imagined. He clearly knows his history and has created some very intriguing characters. I will now take a break from the Saxon Series, and wrap up my Viking phase. Maybe some day I will continue reading books 4 thru 13 in which Uhtred finally captures Bebbanburg.     

Historical Look: The Great Heathen Army

I am halfway thru Lords of the North, the 3rd book in the Saxon Series by Bernard Cornwell. The book series has brought on yet another fascination with the history of Vikings and medieval England. I have written about the Vikings before (see Study of Vikings) yet would now like to make a more detailed focus on the Danish Invasions. The book series particularly deals with the Great Heathen Army that spanned from 865-878 AD. This topic was also the premise of the video game Assassins Creed Valhalla. It's a very interesting point in history where England was nearly on the brink of collapse to the Danes. Had it not been for King Alfred of Wessex, England today would be known as Daneland (and Danish would be the most common language in the world).

In this post I want to focus on the Great Heathen Army and the establishment of the Kingdom of England. Since the Roman Empire had collapsed in 500 AD, the land of Britain had been broken up into various tribes and kingdoms. Viking assaults from Scandanavia had begun by the 700s, but it was the Great Heathen Army of the 860s that came closest to conquering the land. The defeat of the Viking Danes in 878 by King Alfred marked a key turning point in Anglo-Saxon England. From this point on King Alfred no longer considered himself just the king of Wessex but the king of Anglo Saxons. And the campaign to reunite the English kingdoms from Danish control continued until Alfred's grandson Athelstan did so in 927. 

Heathen Army Establishes Danelaw

To be clear the term "Vikings" represents the pirates/raiders that came from Scandinavia and not so much their people. While the Scandinavia people had their own rich culture of Old Norse customs and pagan religions, their land was quite barren. They quickly came to realize there was much better soil and treasure to plunder in Britain and thus their piracy began in the late 700s. They had much superior warriors and ships compared to the Saxons, and did not fear death and battle. This was surely a part of their Norse religion in which warriors were celebrated in the afterlife in the halls of Valhalla. 

The Vikings came from numerous parts of Scandinavia mostly to plunder the British coastlines, monasteries, and castles. It was not until 865 that there came an organized effort to conquer the inland. The Danish Viking armies (also known as the Great Heathen Army) were led by the children of the legendary Viking king Ragnar Lodbrock (who led the Siege of Paris in 845 AD). This included Halfdan, Ubba, and Ivar the Boneless. At the time the Anglo-Saxon land was split into 4 main kingdoms; Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, and Wessex. The Danish invasion began in the northern kingdom of Northumbria and easily conquered by Halfdan Ragnarrson in 866. From there the Vikings easily spread control into the central kingdom of Mercia and the eastern region of East Anglia. 

The only kingdom that was able to stand against the Danish aggression was that of Wessex. King Aethelred of Wessex died in 871 and his brother Alfred became king. He was a devout Christian and felt this was not only a war for their land but a war of religion. The West Saxon army achieved it's first major victory over the Danes in 878 defeating their leader, Ubba at the Battle of Cynwit. The Viking army then led a 2nd campaign by Guthrum from East Anglia. They were able to drive the Saxons back into the swamplands of Somerset. However King Alfred was able to regroup and organize a full scale battle at Edington. This became a decisive victory for the West Saxons by which a treaty was agreed upon. The Kingdom of Wessex was left free while the Danes established Danelaw in the northern kingdoms. The big catch however was their leader Guthrum was to convert to Christianity. 

King Alfred the Great

The English monarchy essentially began with Alfred the Great when he declared himself king of Anglo-Saxons in 878. He is the only proper English monarch to have the title "Great", (excluding Cnut the Great who was a Danish king that conquered England in 1016). It is also quite surprising that he was not canonized a saint, considering his devotion to the Christian faith. He was a scholarly leader driven to cleanse the lands of the Danish pagans, and establish a united English kingdom in the Christian faith.     

Three of Alfred's brothers ruled Wessex before him and his predecessor King Athelred did not favor his son to be king. So upon his death in 871 Alfred became King of Wessex. During his reign his primary concern was defending his land from the Viking invasions. Upon his victory over Guthrum at the Battle of Edington, the kingdom of Wessex was reorganized into a kingdom of Anglo-Saxons. This included reforming the legal, economic, military, navy, and education system. He established a new militia system that created strongholds scattered all throughout the southwest region of England. This served beneficial in defending new waves of Viking attacks throughout the 890s. Although he did not live long enough to see a united English kingdom, his son, and grandson continued the work he started to achieve this ultimate goal. 

Fall of the Danish Vikings

Having conquered most of northern England, the Danes began to settle the region and coexist with the Saxons of Northumbria, Mercia, and East Anglia. Following the Treaty of Wedmore in 878 a new system of Danelaw was agreed upon for those regions. While Danes established a new system of authority in these conquered regions they were still coexisting with Saxons. Furthermore with their leader Guthrum having converted to Christianity, the Pagan ways began to fade and were replaced by Saxon customs. Meanwhile Alfred continued to strengthen and expand the kingdom which recaptured London in 886 AD.

Despite their peace arrangements the Anglo-Saxon kingdom still dealt with Danish raids throughout the 880s. However there was no major war until Guthrum died in 890. By 892 new Viking ships came from Denmark with the brunt of their force arriving at Kent. Under the leadership of Hastein, the Vikings intended to march to London and fought in several battles against the Saxon armies. They were decisively defeated at the Battle of Buttington in 893 and forced to settle in abandoned sites. They attempted several more attacks but due to lack of supplies fell short and eventually decided to return to Denmark. By 896 the Viking invasion had finally come to an end and Alfred died several years later in 899. However the work to unite the English kingdom was still not done. 

Alfred's son Edward the Elder carried on his father's vision to recapture the conquered English lands in the north. In 910 both Mercia and West Saxon united in defeating the Danish armies of Northumbria at the Battle of Tettenhall. This essentially liberated the kingdoms of Mercia and East Anglia from the Danelaw and back to the Saxon kingdom. It was Edward's son, Aethelstan who finally defeated the Northumbrian Danes in 927. This marked an end to Danelaw and the beginning of a fully united English kingdom. Historians often refer to Athelstan as the first proper English king. The House of Wessex reigned for nearly 100 years, until their Danish friends returned yet again to cause trouble led by the Cnut the Great.