by M J Porter
No one turned to mark his passage, but he recognised enough bowed heads to know he was in the right place, the coffin at the front of the Church adding confirmation.
He listened, and he prayed, and he reflected on the life of the man he’d known so well and yet, sometimes not at all. Earl Leofwine, how would he wish to be remembered, as a man of his faith, his word or his honour, or simply as a husband, father and grandfather? Cnut would remember him as a man of honour, a man who’d learnt too many harsh lessons and who’d managed to overcome them all to remain his own man. Adversity hadn’t changed him.
A breath of air at his hand, and he glanced down to see the rheumy eyes of one of Leofwine’s old hounds. He would never admit to another soul, but he knew the hound was Healer, the beast who’d helped Leofwine back onto his feet after his son’s death. Yes, he’d cared enough to find out. If he could have rewarded the hound for excellent services to the kingdom, then he would have done.
“What is it girl?” he whispered, but the beast was watching him, not offering anything further, and then he heard his name spoken, perhaps not for the first time. The hound had given him away.
“My Lord King,” the priest at the front of the Church, was watching him. “The family wondered if you wished to speak? Your unexpected presence honours them.”
He intended to shake his head in denial, apologise for intruding, but then Healer tugged on his gloved hand, and suddenly he needed to speak, to share his remorse and his gratitude.
Letting Healer guide him, as he’d seen Leofwine do so often in the past, he walked down the aisle of the Church, his eyes focused only on the coffin before him, functional and bare of any ornamentation, so like Leofwine it almost hurt to look at it.
He ran his hand along the smooth length of the coffin; head bowed as he said his personal farewell to his friend. His eyes glimmered once more with tears, and as he turned to face those assembled, he decided that there was no dishonour in his tears, but rather the opposite.
He focused on Leofric, then Godwine and then Eadwine before his face flickered to Ealdgyth and then the young sons of Northman, Wulfstan and Ælfwine. He held their gazes for a long moment, focusing his thoughts before he spoke.
“Leofwine was a man I respected, held in awe, admired and aspired to be, all in equal measure. He led men by example. He led me by example. But more, he was a man for whom his family was everything, his wife, his sons, his daughter, grandchildren and all those who had the honour to serve him in his household or be fostered under his care. I … I could say so many platitudes, offer so many more words, but this is all I have to say. I loved Leofwine like a father and I will miss him, as we all will.”
His voice cracked as he spoke, a tear falling silently down his cheek. But he no longer felt ashamed or embarrassed as all those around him did the same.
He’d spoken the truth. He could do nothing more.
He only hoped the values that Leofwine had enshrined would continue without him. If not, Cnut feared for the future of his united kingdom of England and Denmark.
Head bowed he walked back to his place at the back of the Church accompanied by Healer. He could only pray that when his death took him, men would speak of him so simply and with such love.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle For AD1023
This year returned King Knute (Cnut) to England; and Thurkyll (Thorkell) and he were reconciled. He committed Denmark and his son to the care of Thurkyll (Thorkell), while he took Thurkyll's (Thorkell’s) son with him to England.
Historical notes
Well, after the flurry of information surrounding the end of Æthelred’s reign, the Anglo Saxon Chronicle falls strangely quiet again. We get a few snippets of information but not quite enough to truly know what’s happening. Was there a huge rebellion against Cnut’s kingship orchestrated by Prince Eadwig or was it a minor inconvenience? Was Eadwig exiled in 1018 and lived to try again in 1020 or was it a different person entirely, a supporter of Eadwig, the ‘Coerl Eadwig’ mentioned in the ASC?
Likewise no one actually knows why Thorkell and Cnut fell out in 1021, although much has been made of their reconciliation as almost equals. Perhaps even more frustratingly, we don’t know when many of the great Earls died because there’s a dearth of charter information between 1023 and 1025 onwards. What happens afterwards will be the scope of the next (as yet untitled) installment in the Earls of Mercia series.
If Cnut had the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle rewritten or written to reflect his own wishes, there is no evidence to support this, but the total white washing of Æthelred’s reign makes me think it’s very possible, just as the Tudors did with Edward IV and Richard III. It might have been unintentionally done by men remembering the past as they wished it had happened. I think it’s just as likely to be a source of political propaganda much as the Enconium Emmae was a few years later. (Not that I can say why as it’s a bit of a spoiler). Nothing that has survived from 1000 years ago has done so purely because someone thought it should be remembered for the sake of prosperity. Bias and self-interest govern every morsel of information we know about, just as interpretation and bias govern how each of those morsels of information is interpreted and presented to willing readers today, it might be to sell a book, or because someone has an affinity for a certain historical figure but for whatever reason it is, it won’t be altruistic reasons.
Neither is this story just about England, but must, through necessity, take in what was happening in Denmark. Danish history at this time feels as ephemeral as Anglo-Saxon England during the time of Haedfeld in the seventh century. It’s hard to grasp events, it’s hard to decipher the complicated family relationships, and it’s just more difficult because I’m a UK citizen. As rubbish as my grasp on geography is, I have a vague understanding of where everything is within the UK, not so Denmark. That said, involving Denmark gives me the opportunity to do fresh research, and that I always enjoy.
If primary sources for England are rare, they’re even rarer for early Danish history, and sadly, there’s nothing like the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to guide my steps.
On a personal note. Saying goodbye to Leofwine has made this novel hard work. It’s a curse for historical fiction writers when they know the ending!
Cast of Characters
Leofwine’s Family
Leofwine, Ealdorman of the Hwicce/Earl of Mercia under Cnut although difficult to pinpoint where his power was based
His hounds – Hunter (dead), Hammer (dead), Cyneweard from 1014 (means royal guard) and Healer (from 1017).
Æthelflæd, his wife
Northman, his oldest son born 996, executed 1017
Marries Mildryth in 1011 – two sons born 1012 – Wulfstan and 1014 - Ælfwine
Leofric, his son born 998
Marries the Lady Godgifu in 1018 – son Ælfgar born in 1018
Ealdgyth, his daughter born 1000
Marries Olaf son of Horic (this is not historically attested, but neither is his daughter – just the vague understanding that he had five children, one of whom is unnamed.)
Godwine, his son born 1002
Eadwine, his son born 1006
Wulfie, Wulfstan’s hound
Beauty, Leofric’s hound
Kings/Princes
Æthelred II (dies 1016)
Swein of Denmark (dies 1014)
Cnut of England and Denmark (from 1016 with Edmund/1017 sole ruler of England).
Harald of Denmark (from 1014 when his father, Swein, dies in England until 1018 when he dies).
Eadwig (surviving son of King Æthelred).
Olof Skotkonung, King of Sweden and Swein’s step-son.
Jakob Anund, King of Swein, Olof Skotkonung’s son.
The Court
Emma (King Æthelred’s second wife – renamed from Ælfgifu – mother of Edward and Alfred) (King Cnut’s wife from Summer 1017 – mother of Harthacnut and Gunnhilda)
Ælfgifu (King Cnut’s first and continued wife, even though also married to Emma – sons Harald and Swein.
)
Ealdormen (may have already died but important to know who they are/were)
Ælfric (of Hampshire – Kent, Sussex, Surrey and Berkshire and Wiltshire)
Leofwine (of the Hwicce)
Eadric (of the Mercians, executed 1017)
Ulfcytel (of the East Angles from 1004 marries Wulfhilda – King Æthelred’s daughter) Killed in battle 1016
Uhtred (of Northumbria marries King Æthelred’s daughter). Killed in battle 1016
Æthelmær of the Western Provinces dies 1015
Godric
Earls
Earl Thorkell (East Anglia) – married to Wulfhilda (widowed wife of Ulfcytel, Ealdorman of the East Anglians and the daughter of Æthelred)
Earl Erik (Northumbria)
Earl Hakon (Worcester) son of Erik of Northumbria (Swein and Cnut’s ally)
Earl Hrani (Herefordshire)
Earl Ulfr (Married to Cnut’s sister – Estrid – father of Earl Bjorn and Swein Estrithsson – His sister marries Earl Godwine).
Earl Eilifr (of Gloucester) brother of Earl Ulfr
Earl Æthelweard (of Wessex) son-in-law of Æthelmær and therefore related to the older Æthelweard of the Western Provinces who dies in 998 (whose wife would have been his grand-daughter).
Earl Godwine (of Kent and later Wessex)
Leofwine’s Household
Wulfstan (commended man and war leader/dies 1012)
Horic (commended man and second in command) his wife, Agata, dies 1016.
Orkning (his son)
Olaf (his son)
Oscetel (part of the warband/household troop)
Misc
Eadrid – Reeve of Lichfield
Armund – Reeve of Cirencester
Meet the author
M J Porter is an author of historical fiction novels set in Early England.
M J Porter also writes fantasy roughly based on Viking Age Iceland.
M J Porter can be found on twitter @coloursofunison, at www.mjporterauthor.com
Books by M J Porter (in series reading order)
Gods and Kings Series
Pagan Warrior
Pagan King
Warrior King
The Tenth Century
The Lady of Mercia’s Daughter
A Conspiracy of Kings (coming soon)
Kingmaker
The King’s Daughters
Chronicles of the English
Brunanburh
Of Kings and Half-Kings
The Second English King
The Mercian Brexit
The First Queen of England
The First Queen of England Part 2
The First Queen of England Part 3
The Earls of Mercia
The Earl of Mercia’s Father
The Danish King’s Enemy
Swein: The Danish King (side-story)
Northman Part 1
Northman Part 2
Wulfstan: An Anglo-Saxon Thegn (side-story)
Cnut: The Conqueror (full length side story)
The King’s Earl
The Earl of Mercia
The English Earl
The Earl’s King
Viking King
The English King (coming soon)
The Dragon of Unison Series
Hidden Dragon
Dragon Gone
Dragon Alone
Dragon Ally
Dragon Lost
Dragon Bond