Viking Dragon

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by Griff Hosker


  I use Roman forts in all of my books. Although we now see ruins when they were abandoned the only things which would have been damaged would have been the gates. Anything of value would have been buried in case they wished to return. By ‘of value’ I do not mean coins but things such as nails and weapons. Many of these objects have been discovered. A large number of the forts were abandoned in a hurry. Hardknott fort, for example, was built in the 120s but abandoned twenty or so years later. When the Antonine Wall was abandoned in the 180s Hardknott was reoccupied until Roman soldiers finally withdrew from northern Britain. I think that, until the late Saxon period and early Norman period, there would have been many forts which would have looked habitable. The Vikings and the Saxons did not build in stone. It was only when the castle builders, the Normans, arrived that stone would be robbed from Roman forts and those defences destroyed by an invader who was in the minority. The Vikings also liked to move their homes every few years; this was, perhaps, only a few miles, but it explains how difficult it is to find the remains of early Viking settlements.

  The Isle of Man(n) was one of the first places settled by Norsemen. The names on the island reflect their long Viking history. The world's first parliament, the Tynewald was held there. The Calf of Man is a small island off the south western coast. The three legs of Man which makes up their flag still came from an early Jarl on the island. I have used Jarl Erik as that warrior. It is, of course, fiction of my own creation.

  The place names are accurate and the mountain above Coniston is called the Old Man. The river is not navigable up to Windermere but I have allowed my warriors to carry their drekar as the Vikings did in the land of the Rus when travelling to Miklagård. The ninth century saw the beginning of the reign of the Viking. They raided Spain, the Rhone, Africa, and even Constantinople. They believed they could beat anyone!

  There was a King Egbert who did indeed triumph over King Coenwulf. He founded the power base upon which Alfred the Great built. It was also at this time that the Danes came to take over East Anglia and Yorkshire. The land became, over the next 50 years, Danelaw. Its expansion was only halted by Alfred and was finally destroyed when King Harold defeated his brother and King Harald Hadrada at Stamford Bridge in 1066. Until Alfred the Danes were used as hired swords. They fought for gold.

  I have made up Elfrida and Egbert’s marriage to her but the kings of that time had many liaisons with many women. Some kings sired up to twenty illegitimate children and many legitimate ones. The practice continued into the late middle ages. Wives were frequently taken for political reasons. The inspiration for the abduction comes from the story of the Welsh Princess Nest (Nesta) who, in the 12th century had two children by King Henry 1st and was then married to one of his friends. She was abducted by a Welsh knight who lived with her until her husband recaptured her and killed her abductor. Harald Klak became King of Denmark in 826 but I made up his brother.

  The Danish raids on the east coast began in the late 700s. However the west coast and Hibernian were raided by Norse and Rus warriors who also went on to settle Iceland. There is less recorded evidence of their raids, attacks and settlements. The records we have are the Anglo Saxon Chronicles and they tend to focus on the south and east of what was England. The land that is now the Lake District was disputed land between Northumbria and Strathclyde however the Norse influence on the language and its proximity to the Isle of man and Dublin make me think that the Norse there would not have been part of what would become Danelaw.

  There were many Viking raids on London in the ninth century. They increased dramatically after 825. Dragonheart's raid is the first. 842 and 851 saw the largest raids. One was reputed to have 350 drekar! It was in the ninth century when the Danes finally conquered what is now East Anglia, Essex and, of course, Northumbria. They were not uniquely Danes. Some were Norse from Norway while others were the Rus or Swedes. However Denmark and the lands of the Low Countries were the closest and they had the majority of the raiders. Rising sea levels at this time meant that much of their own lands were becoming submerged. The warriors came first; made homes and then brought their families.

  I used the following books for research

  British Museum - ‘Vikings- Life and Legends’

  ‘Saxon, Norman and Viking’ by Terence Wise (Osprey)

  Ian Heath - ‘The Vikings’. (Osprey)

  Ian Heath- ‘Byzantine Armies 668-1118 (Osprey)

  David Nicholle- ‘Romano-Byzantine Armies 4th-9th Century (Osprey)

  Stephen Turnbull- ‘The Walls of Constantinople AD 324-1453’ (Osprey)

  Keith Durham- ‘Viking Longship’ (Osprey)

  Anglo-Danish Project- 'The Vikings in England'

  Anglo Saxon Thegn AD 449-1066- Mark Harrison (Osprey)

  Viking Hersir- 793-1066 AD - Mark Harrison (Osprey)

  Hadrian's Wall- David Breeze (English Heritage)

  Griff Hosker February 2016

  Other books

  By

  Griff Hosker

  If you enjoyed reading this book then why not read another one by the author?

  Ancient History

  The Sword of Cartimandua Series (Germania and Britannia 50A.D. – 128 A.D.)

  Ulpius Felix- Roman Warrior (prequel)

  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

  Book 12 Roman Wall

  The Wolf Warrior series (Britain in the late 6th Century)

  Book 1 Saxon Dawn

  Book 2 Saxon Revenge

  Book 3 Saxon England

  Book 4 Saxon Blood

  Book 5 Saxon Slayer

  Book 6 Saxon Slaughter

  Book 7 Saxon Bane

  Book 8 Saxon Fall: Rise of the Warlord

  Book 9 Saxon Throne

  The Dragon Heart Series

  Book 1 Viking Slave

  Book 2 Viking Warrior

  Book 3 Viking Jarl

  Book 4 Viking Kingdom

  Book 5 Viking Wolf

  Book 6 Viking War

  Book 7 Viking Sword

  Book 8 Viking Wrath

  Book 9 Viking Raid

  Book 10 Viking Legend

  Book 11 Viking Vengeance

  Book 12 Viking Dragon

  The Aelfraed Series (Britain and Byzantium 1050 A.D. - 1085 A.D.)

  Book 1 Housecarl

  Book 2 Outlaw

  Book 3 Varangian

  The Anarchy Series (England 1120-1180)

  English Knight

  Knight of the Empress

  Northern Knight

  Baron of the North

  Earl

  King Henry's Champion

  The King is Dead

  Warlord of the North

  Modern History

  The Napoleonic Horseman Series

  Chasseur à Cheval

  Napoleon’s Guard

  British Light Dragoon

  Soldier Spy

  1808: The Road to Corunna

  Waterloo

  The Lucky Jack American Civil War series

  Rebel Raiders

  Confederate Rangers

  The Road to Gettysburg

  The British Ace Series

  1914

  1915 Fokker Scourge

  1916 Angels over the Somme

  1917 Eagles Fall

  1918 We will remember them

  Combined Operations 1940-1945

  Commando

  Raider

  Behind Enemy Lines

  Dieppe

  Other Books

  Great Granny’s Ghost (Aimed at 9-14 year old young people)

  Adventure at 63-Backpacking to Istanbul

  For m
ore 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

  Part 1 The Saxons

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Part 2 The Danes

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Part 3 The Dragon's Roar

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

 

 

 


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