by M J Porter
He’d be earl of Mercia.
Godwine would be earl of Wessex.
Siward would be earl of Northumbria.
And Cnut would be king.
England would be peaceful and ruled with justice and through the word of God.
Cnut met his eye, gestured him forward and Leofric proudly stood and walked forward.
He’d been dreaming of this moment for far too long.
Cast of Characters
Leofric’s Family
Leofric, born 998
Marries the Lady Godgifu in 1018 – son Ælfgar born in 1018
Ealdgyth, his sister 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 brother born 1002
Eadwine, his brother born 1006
Beauty, Leofric’s hound (now dead)
Hund, Leofric’s new hound, female
Leofwine, Ealdorman of the Hwicce/Earl of Mercia under Cnut although difficult to pinpoint where his power was based (dies 1023)
Æthelflæd, Leofwine’s wife (Leofric’s mother)
Northman, Leofwine’s oldest son born 996, executed 1017
Marries Mildryth in 1011 – two sons born 1012 – Wulfstan and 1014 – Ælfwine
Leofric’s Household
Wulfstan (commended man and war leader of Leofwine/dies 1012)
Horic (commended man and second in command, originally a member of Olaf Tryggvason’s warband) his wife, Agata, dies 1016.
Orkning (his son)
Olaf (his son)
Oscetel (part of the warband/household troop/ Leofwine’s commander)
Jon, Leofric’s Ship Commander
Kings/Princes
Jakob Anund, King of Swein, Olof Skotkonung’s son.
Olaf Haraldson, King of Norway (Olaf of Norway/St Olaf)
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).
Olaf Tryggvason, King of Norway, dies 1000 at the Battle of Svølder (ties with the House of Leofwine)
Malcolm, King of Scotland
Cnut’s Wives
Emma (King Æthelred’s second wife – renamed from Ælfgifu – mother of Edward and Alfred) (King Cnut’s wife from Summer 1017 – mother of Harthacnut (son) and Gunnhilda (daughter))
Ælfgifu (King Cnut’s first wife, even though also married to Emma – sons Harald and Swein.)
Her brothers are Ufegat and Wulfhead who were blinded by Æthelred II when their father was murdered.
Ealdormen
(may have already died but important to know who they are/were)
The title of Ealdorman was replaced by Earl (Jarl) under Cnut
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
Æthelmaer 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) dies c.1023-25
Earl Erik (Northumbria) dies c.1023-25
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 Godwine (of Kent and later Wessex)
Earl Siward of York
Earl Ealdred of Bamburgh
Misc
Brothor – member of Cnut’s household troop
Snorri – priest in Trondheim
Bjorn – Axe’s son (Axe was one of Olaf Tryggvason’s warriors in The Earl of Mercia’s Father) (in Trondheim)
Loki – Olaf Haraldsson’s messenger in Trondheim
Brithmaer – Cnut’s messenger
Armand – friend in Oxford, whose house they often stay in
Historical Notes
I rather foolishly thought this novel would write itself, but actually, there’s little information available regarding England during the time period covered by this novel. While my intention was to make it an England-centered piece of writing, it proved impossible to do. Whether we like it or not, at the period England was intricately linked with Denmark, and for some of the period to the later kingdoms of Norway and southern Sweden, or Skåne.
King Cnut’s focus may initially have been on England only, but once his brother (and King of Denmark) unexpectedly died at a young age, his focus had to turn to the empire his father had built, encompassing the kingdoms of England, Denmark, Norway and Skåne.
England’s earls at this stage were mostly Danish men, and intriguingly, and not much mentioned in this novel, her bishops were often sent to Denmark and the wider continent, to preach and spread the word of English Christianity. Cnut embraced Christianity, as his father had before him, as a legitimizer and potent force to further his own ends, hence his visit to the Papacy to witness Emperor Conrad’s coronation.
Cnut’s focus was truly continental, and although his Danish ancestry helped in this regard, he was by no means the first English king to have his attention turned by events elsewhere. Athelstan, King Alfred’s grandson, was a prime example of this, fostering the children of Scandinavian kings as well as his sister’s son who was the heir to the Frankish empire. Even Æthelred, the much-maligned, looked outside England for his second wife. It seems to me that even a thousand years ago, England’s kings knew that England needed a wider focus than just the insular.
Much of the information in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for this period, and there isn’t that much (as I’ve shown), focuses on Cnut’s activities outside England, and I must follow other historians in thinking that Cnut was an absentee king. His voyage to the Papacy must have taken many long months, and his repeated military engagements in the Scandinavian lands throughout 1025/6, 1027/9 and 1030 must have meant that England was very much self-managed. The lack of charter evidence for the period is striking, making it difficult to use with any great accuracy (although as it’s all I have, I have, by necessity, relied upon it when determining who were the movers and shakers at the court).
And then, to add oil to the fire, there is the matter of Cnut’s two wives. I’ve read works of fiction that have made Emma incredibly jealous of Cnut’s first wife, and I’ve read works of non-fiction which has barely mentioned the slightly strange relationship that must have existed. This to me, seems to white-wash, what must have been a tricky state of affairs at the best of times, but one which an intelligent and ambitious man such as Cnut must have considered as his asset, in most regards.
With Ælfgifu of Northampton, Cnut had two sons, Swein and Harald (both with very strong names based on Cnut’s ancestry – they were the names of his father and his grandfather – kings of the House of Gorm of Denmark), with Emma of Normandy he had a son and a daughter, Harthacnut and Gunnhilda. Given the length and breadth of the empire Cnut eventually ruled, it comes as no surprise to me that he tried to use all of his children and connections to his best advantage. Whatever agreement he must have reached with Emma about his heir’s in England, it must be remembered that Cnut’s outlook was much more than just the island of England. He had far greater ambitions. He was after all, his father’s son. (Neither should we forget that Emma had two earlier sons from her marriage with Æthelred, secreted away at the Norman co
urt, perhaps out of sight, but not out of mind.) He was a warrior, a conqueror who’d claimed England as his own after countless bloody attacks, but he’d done so because his father had held it before him, and because he thought his brother would always hold Denmark. He needed to claim his own kingdom rather than be brother to a king.
Essentially this is a story of ambition and family. If you read non-fiction work about Cnut, much of it is concerned with his conquering of England, and then his reclaiming of Denmark, Norway and Skåne. Amongst all of that, Cnut as a man is often overlooked and Earl Godwine is gifted a prominence which was real, but which is actually based more on what he would achieve in future years and the subject of later books in the series.
Why it took Leofric so long to be named earl is difficult to explain. It may well be that with Earl Hrani, Hakon and Eilifr already in the Mercian kingdom, Cnut genuinely had little need of him until he lost his core Danish earls, through death and also treachery, and realized he had little other choice. Alternatively, it may be (and I do not enjoy saying this) that Leofwine’s history has been back-filled to give his son a more impressive pedigree to rival that of Earl Godwine’s. My own understanding must be that somewhere amongst the disjointed charter evidence available (there are no charters that remains between the period 1026-1031) that Leofric may have been a more powerful man from an earlier period but that this can’t be proved or disproved.
Leofric’s story is really only just starting and I look forward to continuing it in the very near future.
Meet the Author
I'm an author of fantasy (viking age/dragon themed) and historical fiction (Earl English, Vikings and the British Isles as a whole before the Norman Conquest). I write A LOT. You've been warned! Find me at http://mjporterauthor.com and @coloursofunison on twitter.
Books by M J Porter (in series reading order)
Gods and Kings Series (seventh century Britain)
Pagan Warrior
Pagan King
Warrior King
The Tenth Century
The Lady of Mercia’s Daughter
Kingmaker
The King’s Daughters
Chronicles of the English (tenth century Britain)
Brunanburh
Of Kings and Half-Kings
The Second English King
The Mercian Brexit (can be read as a prequel to The First Queen of England)
The First Queen of England (can be read as a prequel to The Earls of Mercia)
The First Queen of England Part 2
The First Queen of England Part 3
The King’s Mother
The Queen Dowager
Once A Queen
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
Cnut: The Conqueror (full length side story)
Wulfstan: An Anglo-Saxon Thegn (side story)
The King’s Earl
The Earl of Mercia
The English Earl
The Earl’s King
Viking King
The Dragon of Unison
Hidden Dragon
Dragon Gone
Dragon Alone
Dragon Ally
Dragon Lost
Dragon Bond
As JE Porter
The Innkeeper