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192 pages

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The next bloody and thrilling instalment in MJ Porter's The Brunanburh Series.

Can the King of the Scots and the Dublin Norse triumph against a united England?

AD934
King Athelstan of the English has been successful in uniting the many kingdoms of Britain against one enemy, the Viking raiders.
But men who are kings don’t wish to be ruled.
Constantin, King of the Scots, rebelled against the Imperium and was forcibly brought to bend the knee to Athelstan and England at Cirencester.
His son Ildulb seeks bloody vengeance from Athelstan following the battle at Cait and the death of his son.
Olaf Gothfrithson, king of the Dublin Norse, having asserted his power following his father's death has his sights set on reclaiming Jorvik.

Can the united might of the Scots and the violence of the Dublin Norse, descendants of the infamous Viking raiders, bring King Athelstan and his vision of the united Saxon English to her knees?
An epic story of kingsmanship that will result in the pivotal, bloody Battle of Brunanburh, where only one side can be victorious.

Praise for The Brunanburh Series.

'An epic tale of the birth of a nation. Truly mesmerising. Game of Thrones meets The Last Kingdom' - Gordon Doherty

'MJ effortlessly draws you into early Medieval England with this fascinating tale.' - Donovan Cook

'A very good read and MJ Porter is at her best bringing flesh to the facts and giving the main players personalities. Great way to read about the history of this time. Enjoy.' - Goodreads

'Another of this author’s brilliant books. A good read and excellent characterisation of the men involved.now onto the next book.' - Reader Review

'Completely compelling read set out to combine all the main characters stories in an free flowing style. Interesting how the character of each character is developed through the novel.' - Reader Review

'Another brilliant tale of old England. M.J.Porter tells an intreguing tale of kings and warriors, when age old rivalries are temporarily settled. I presume that the tale of old England will continue.I hope so' - - Reader Review

Sujets

Mashups

Historical Fiction

Historical

Reino Unido

Battle of Brunanburh

Ancient history

United Kingdom

Great Britain

Ancient

War

Royaume-Uni

Informations

Publié par	Boldwood Books
Date de parution	12 juillet 2023
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781837511907
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,1500€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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KINGS OF WAR
BOOK 2 THE BRUNANBURH SERIES

MJ PORTER
For EP, CS and MC who believed in this one from the beginning.
‘Never yet in this island was there a greater slaughter.’
ANGLO-SAXON CHRONICLE, A TEXT, FOR 937
CONTENTS

Map

Cast of Characters

Note on Names

Prologue

I. An Uneasy Peace

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

II. Never Greater Slaughter

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Author’s Notes

More From MJ Porter

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Also by MJ Porter

Warrior Chronicles

About Boldwood Books

CAST OF CHARACTERS
(ALL HISTORICAL UNLESS UNDERLINED AND THEN FICTIONAL CHARACTERS)

The English

The English Ealdormen

Ealdorman Wulfgar
Ealdorman Athelstan of the East Angles (from 932), married to Ælfwynn, the lady of Mercia’s daughter
Ealdorman Ælfstan of Mercia (from 930–934), Ealdorman Athelstan’s brother
Eadric, Ealdorman Athelstan’s brother, not yet an ealdorman
Æthelwald, Ealdorman Athelstan’s brother, not yet an ealdorman
Ealdorman Guthrum
Ealdorman Oswulf
Ealdorman Uhtred
Wulfheard, archbishop of Canterbury from 926
Wulfstan, archbishop of York from 931
Hakon, son of Harald Fairhair of Denmark, Athelstan’s foster son
Oda, bishop

Flodwin, King Athelstan’s warrior
Sigelac, King Athelstan’s warrior

The Scots

The succession strictly alternated between two noble lines
Constantin, son of Aed, king of the Scots (reigned 900 onwards)
Ildulb, son
Amlaib, grandson, son of Ildulb, died in 934
Aed, son
Cellach, illegitimate son
Alpin, son, hostage at the English king’s court
Mael Muire, daughter of Constantin (name is fictional, although we know she existed)
Mael Coluim, Constantin’s designated successor, the son of his predecessor, Domnall

Strathclyde

Donald, previous king of Strathclyde (once allied with Constantin of the Scots)
Owain, king of Strathclyde
Dyfnwal, Owain’s son

The Welsh kings

Hywel, king of the South Welsh, (Deheubarth) known as Hywel Dda
Owain ap Hywel, Rhodri ap Hywel and Edwin ap Hywel, Hywel’s sons
Cadwgan ap Owain, son of Owain ap Hywel
Idwal, king of Gwynedd
Morgan ap Owain, king of Gwent
Tewdwr ap Griffi ab Elise, king of Brycheiniog
Gwriad, king of Glywysing

The independent kingdom of Bamburgh

Ealdred, king of Bamburgh (died 934)
Ealdwulf, his son

The Dublin Norse and their allies

All claimed to be descended from Ivarr the Boneless, the Viking raider who led the Great Heathen Army of the 860s. Some would have been grandsons, others perhaps great-grandsons. The genealogy is particularly complicated .
Ragnall, died c.921, a grandson of Ivarr, claimed Jorvik (York), once allied with Constantin and Donald II of Strathclyde
Sihtric, king of York, died c.926, married Athelstan’s only natural sister, Edith
Anlaf Sihtricson, his son, not the son of Edith
Gothfrith, king of Dublin, grandson of Ivarr
Olaf Gothfrithson, son of Gothfrith, great-grandson of Ivarr
Rognavaldr, Olaf Gothfrithson’s brother
Blakari, Olaf Gothfrithson’s brother
Halfdan, Olaf Gothfrithson’s brother, died 926
Gothfrith, Olaf Gothfrithson’s brother
Camman, Olaf Gothfrithson’s son

Olaf Cenncairech – Scabbyhead, king of Limerick – captured by Olaf Gothfrithson in 937, fought for him at Brunanburh
Ivarr, son of king of Denmark, Gorm
Gebeachan, king of the Islands (as named in sources of the period)
Snorri the Black
Aodh
Dara

The Irish clans

The Southern Ui Neill, led by Donnchad
The Northern Ui Neill

The notable families of West Frankia

Charles III m. Eadgifu, daughter of Edward and Æfflæd
Louis, their son, king of West Frankia from 926
Hugh the Great, married Eadhild, daughter of Edward and Ælfflæd
Heribert of Vermandois, Charles III captor and jailer
NOTE ON NAMES

The unwary traveller to this period of time will be faced with a profusion of names for the men and women in this story. Names may be given in Welsh, Gallic, Old Norse, Old English or with modern spellings. As such, you may find Olaf/Anlaf/Amlaib and be surprised to discover these are all the same person. You may find the name Eadward used, although the most common form is Edward. Equally, Æthelstan is the correct form of Athelstan. You will find names used interchangeably if you consult different sources, and secondary sources. The choice taken will depend, quite often, on the main sources the writer uses and on their own personal preference. I have attempted to use the names that are most recognisable for the individuals involved. Welsh and Norse convention usually names someone as the son of their father, e.g. Olaf Gothfrithson is Gothfrith’s son; Owain ap Hywel is the son of Hywel. Names are often reused throughout the generations in all societies and, in England, families often name all of their children with names that begin with similar letters, e.g. Athelstan, Athelwald, etc.
All quotes from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle are taken from The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles , M. Swanton ed. and trans.
PROLOGUE
SEPTEMBER 934, CIRENCESTER, ENGLAND

Eadgifu, the lady of Wessex

The feast’s spectacular. As always, the cooks have outdone themselves, yet the food tastes like dust in my mouth. While I watch all in the hall, my focus remains on King Constantin of the Scots. The ealdormen, bishops, and those of the king’s household warriors honoured with a seat in the king’s hall, remain on the periphery. Occasionally, I summon a servant to my side with a hasty word or remonstrance for something not done to my satisfaction. But it’s King Constantin that I gaze at, time and time again.
He’s an old man, grey and haggard, more monk-like than a warrior king; even his fine clothes seeming tarnished, as though he spends his days on his knees and not ruling a kingdom. But I know his bearing masks much. As soon as I laid eyes on him, a shiver, not of triumph but of foreboding, rippled through my body.
King Constantin isn’t at all the image of my late husband, Edward of England, and yet, had Edward lived and not died a decade ago, the two would have been of age. Seeing Constantin brings back unwelcome reminders of my, thankfully short, marriage but makes me realise that this enemy of King Athelstan isn’t to be lightly dismissed. My husband, alongside his sister and brother by marriage, fought their entire adult lives to reunite the part of their kingdoms lost to the advance of the Viking raiders, the Norse, as it’s now easier to name them. The kingdom of the East Angles, the lands to the east of Mercia and, of course, my birth kingdom of Kent, were all handed over to the Norse by King Alfred, who some laud as saving the Saxons from being overrun.
King Constantin has done the same. Athelstan, my husband’s son but a man older than me, has picked up his father’s warrior-helm and accomplished even more, intending to drive the Norse permanently from Britain. And yet, in doing so, it seems apparent that Athelstan has created a new enemy for himself. King Constantin. King Constantin was meant to be an ally, but instead he’s been brought to his knees after the battle at Cait, in the far northern lands of the kingdom of the Scots, his punishment for meddling in the succession to the northern kingdom of Bamburgh. Athelstan is victorious. Constantin is here, at Cirencester, to bend the knee.
This worries me, but more than anything, the part that my beloved son has played in the expedition to the land of the Scots concerns me more. I didn’t embrace Edmund riding to war with his much older stepbrother. I welcomed the news even less upon receiving word that Edmund is forging battle renown for himself. Not just any battle renown either. No, my son killed King Constantin’s grandson in a fair fight.
But the young lad’s dead whether it was fair or not.
While I’m grateful that it wasn’t Edmund who bled his last on that faraway battlefield in the northernmost region of Cait, one of the ancient kingdoms making up the land of the Scots, I know more than any other about the unending bond that’s formed between my son and King Constantin. I know what it is to crave revenge. To need it more than anything. The Norse killed my father before my birth. For all that, I hold dear to the memories others share about him, even if they come from my detested mother and uncles. I know my father was a great man, a firm ally of the House of Wessex. And now, I fear for my son because I understand what it is to be driven by vengeance.
Again and again, I pull my eyes away from the craggy face of King Constantin of the Scots. Again and again, I try not to look at my son, seated beside his stepbrother, the king, at the feast. Athelstan couldn’t have made it any clearer that he holds young Edmund in high regard.
Again and again, I try to quell the thudding of my rapidly beating heart and enjoy the labours of the cooks for this fine feast, in Cirencester, deep in the core of the English kingdom. And yet, my unease won’t dissipate.
The battle has been won against the kingdom of the Scots. King Constantin’s here, in the middle of England. But there’s no solace to be found in that. If King Constantin can be here, in the heart of England, my son will never be safe from those seeking vengeance ag