Kings of War, the sequel to King of Kings, is now available in audio, narrated by the fabulous Matt Coles. This is the story of the battle of Brunanburh fought in 937. (Check out my post on where exactly Brunanburh was fought).
Here’s the blurb:
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.
The scop song that is so important to events in both King of Kings and Kings of War existed, although I have manipulated it to my purposes and changed some of the more obscure references within it. That said, the poem, Armes Prydein (The Prophecy of Britain) is itself fascinating and is believed to have been a Welsh response to the imperium of King Athelstan of the English, and Hywel’s, of the South Welsh, close connection to the English and Athelstan. It has been dated to about 940, although it might be slightly earlier or later.
In King of Kings and Kings of War, my version reads,
‘And after peace, commotion everywhere,
Brave, mighty men, in battle tumult.
Swift to attack, stubborn in defence.
Warriors will scatter the interlopers as far as Cait
The Welsh and the men of Dublin, the Scots and the Norsemen,
Those of Cornwall and Strathclyde will reconcile as one.
Kings and nobles will subdue the interlopers, drive them into exile
Bring an end to the dominion, and make them food for the wild beasts.
There will be no return for the tribes of the Saxons.’
In its entirety, it foretells a uniting of the Welsh, with all the other kingdoms then in Britain, against the English, or Saxons, those people who had run roughshod over the island at some point between 400-600, when the Saxon kingdoms emerge with more clarity.
Somewhat similar to the legendary figures of Welsh literature, (although not Arthur at this stage) – Cynan and Cadwalladr ap Cadwallan are named – it was a call to arms to defeat the Saxons/English. (I’m going to share a post about Cynan as well).
It’s been nearly a decade since I first conceived of this storyline, but reading it all over again, and adding a whole host of new details, I confess, I feel pretty proud of myself for weaving the poem into my story of Britain in the 920s and 930s, and appreciate that the suggestion the poem dates from this period does indeed make perfect sense, even if there are also other suggestions about its origins.
King of Kings and Kings of War are now available, telling the story of the greatest battle on British soil that many have never heard from (or at least hadn’t before Seven Kings Must Die was filmed), Brunanburh.
First things first, no one actually knows where the battle of Brunanburh took place. No one. There are a number of different sites that historians have suggested from the one I’ve chosen in Kings of War, indeed, upwards of forty of them, although Bromborough in Cheshire, Brinsworth in South Yorkshire and Burnswark in Dumfries and Galloway are the most well-known. It’s worth noting that these different locations range all over Britain, from Devon to Scotland from the east coast to the west.
Frontispiece of Bede’s Life of St Cuthbert, showing King Æthelstan (924–39) presenting a copy of the book to the saint himself. 29.2 x 20cm (11 1/2 x 7 7/8″). Originally from MS 183, f.1v at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. (Wikimedia Commons)
As one historian has commented, more discussion has taken place about where Brunanburh was located than about its actual historical significance, which is often seen as much less important in the grand scheme of later events. Much of these difficulties arise because of the variety of names given to the location of the battle. Brunandun, in Æthelweard’s Chronicon (a later tenth century Latin copy of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle), Symeon of Durham suggested Weondune, although known by the name Brunnaneerc or Brunnanbyrig, while Geoffrey Gaimar (another post Conquest source) names it as Bruneswerce. To add to the confusion, are some of the descriptions given about the battle. John of Worcester ( a later source) asserts that Olaf and Constantin entered the mouth of the River Humber something that Symeon of Durham echoes. It’s been suggested that John of Worcester (an Anglo-Norman writing long after the events of 937 took place) took the knowledge that the River Humber was where Harald Hardrada landed in 1066 and Svein Forkbeard in 1069 and extrapolated from it.
As part of the discussion about where the battle took place, another problem needs to be addressed, that of the belief that the English rode down the Norse as they were fleeing from the battlefield to reach their ships. A word, eorodcistum, has been taken to be a reference to horses. Paul Cavill has shown that this word actually refers to gatherings of men and need not mean that horses were involved . This therefore does away with the argument that the Norse ships were far from where the battle took place.
As well as the various sources mentioned above, the battle is also referenced in Welsh, Scottish and Irish sources. It was deemed to be significant. The Chronicles of the Kings of Alba gives a very brief account: ‘And the battle of Dun Brunde in his xxxiii year in which was slain the son of Constantin.’ While the Annals of Ulster tell us: ‘AU 937.6. A great, lamentable and horrible battle was cruelly fought between the Saxons and the Northmen, in which several thousands of Northmen, who are uncounted, fell, but their king, Amlaib, escaped with a few followers. A large number of Saxons fell on the other side, but Æ∂elstan, king of the Saxons, enjoyed a great victory.’ (Alex Woolf, From Pictland to Alba, 789-1070, p.169) (Amlaib was an Irish version of the name Olaf). A later source, that of the Historia Regum Anglorum by Symeon of Durham, tells that ‘Onlaf’ came with 615 ships. There are also many later sources that tell of the battle of Brunanburh, the distance in time to them being written, tending to add more and more details which can’t be confirmed with any accuracy.
Map design by Flintlock Covers
Pauline Stafford, who has written an extensive account of the actual writing of what we know as The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, After Alfred:Anglo-Saxon Chronicles and Chroniclers 900-1150, (which survives in nine recensions/or versions, all with slightly different details and emphasis) states that perhaps the most famous account of the battle, the Brunanburh poem, was a retrospective addition, probably written in the twenty years after Athelstan’s death, and certainly before the death of the last son of King Edward the Elder, Eadred, in 955. Some have suggested that Edmund may not actually have been present at the battle but that it was deemed expedient to assign him a part in it, perhaps after his death, to show the sons of King Edward the Elder working together for England.
And there is one final source, which I’ve made no use of, but which many may be aware of, that of the accounting of the battle, named as Vinhei∂r in Egil’s Saga, a thirteenth-century Icelandic saga, which of course, is a tale of Egil’s involvement in the battle and tells us very little about the battle itself.
In recent years, and indeed, before I wrote the initial drafts of this book and its predecessor, there has been a move to accept the Wirral as the possible location. Bernard Cornwell has been instrumental, as has an archaeology group based in Wirral, in trying to find corroborating evidence for this. The results of the work can be found in Never Greater Slaughter by Michael Livingstone. Even now, I find it amusing that it wasn’t until Bernard Cornwell made Brunanburh one of the burhs built by the House of Wessex that I quite realized the significance of that element of the name.
In my role as writer of historical fiction, I chose the site that I thought offered the best opportunity to develop the storyline and the one that intrigued me the most. After all, it does sort of make sense that any battle for York would have taken place close to York, but equally, why would the Dublin Norse have sailed all the way around the tip of Scotland to get to York from the East Coast? If they used one of the portage routes overland then again, we must ask why. And so, I opted for the position which would be the closest way of them stepping foot on English soil.
Britania Saxonica, 17th Century Map, showing Brunanburh north of Bamburgh
Kings of War is available now in ebook, paperback, audio and hardback.
It’s release day for Kings of War, the sequel to King of Kings. This is the story of the battle of Brunanburh fought in 937. (Check out my post on where exactly Brunanburh was fought).
I’m so excited to share this story with my readers, and the cover is fantastic.
Here’s the blurb:
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.
Read the release day posts on Boldwood Books Facebook account
Kings of War is on blog tour with the fabulous hosts of Rachel’s Random Resources. I’ll be sharing their reviews throughout the next week. A huge thank you to Rachel, and the hosts.
My new book, Kings of War, is a multi-viewpoint novel telling the story of events in Britain from 925-934. I thought it would be good to share details of the historical people my character are based on.
My portrayal of Constantin, the king of the Scots, is of course fictional in King of Kings, but he is based on a historical individual, Constantin (e) II, so who exactly was he?
Constantin is a fascinating character. Again, and as with Athelstan, his exact date of birth is unknown, but it must have been, at the latest, by 877/8, when his short-reigned father died.
By 900, Constantin was the king of the Scots (we think – there is some confusion about this). This wasn’t yet quite Scotland, but it was getting there. The ancient kingdoms of Cait, Fortriu, Atholl and Dal Riata, were ruled by one king, Constantin. But, he hadn’t succeeded his father, Aed, but rather a man named Domnall II, his cousin. At this time there were two rival dynasties and they strictly alternated the kingship.
Affairs in the kingdom of the Scots often intermingled with those of the independent kingdom of Bamburgh, Strathclyde, and of course, the Norse, or Viking raiders, if you will. Indeed, the entry recording Constantin’s death in the Annals of Ulster, reads as though there was often strife.
‘Constantinus son of Ed held the kingdom for xl years in whose third year the Northmen plundered Dunkeld and all Albania. In the following year the Northmen were slain in Strath Erenn…And the battle of Tinemore happened in his xviii year between Constantin and Ragnall and the Scotti had the victory. And the battle of Dun Brunde in his xxxiiii year.’ (Alex Woolf, From Pictland to Scotland, 789-1070,p.126)
Constantin, ruling for decades, and I mean decades, seems to have brought much needed stability to the kingdom, as affairs there very much mirrored the emerging ‘England’ to the south.
‘Constantin’s reign has increasingly come to be see as one of the most significant in the history of Scotland. Not only was it very long, at least forty years, but it was also the period during which conflict and diplomatic relations between a kingdom recognisably ancestral to Scotland and one recognisably ancestral to England first occurred.’ (Alex Woolf, From Pictland to Scotland, 789-1070, p.128)
Constantin allied with the rulers of Bamburgh, and York, and also, on occasion, both Æthelflæd of Mercia and Edward the Elder, after her death. But, he seems to have been quite flexible in his thinking, and was prepared to pick and choice as he saw fit.
By the beginning of King of Kings, Constantin would have been in his mid-forties, and he was still to rule for many years to come, and he was certainly a more than adequate counterpart to Athelstan, king of the English, no doubt helped by his sons and grandsons, as his reign continued.
Athelstan is one of the main characters in my new book, Kings of War, a multiple point of view story, recounting affairs in Britain from 925-934. Here’s a post about Athelstan I wrote for the release of King of Kings.
Based on a historical person, my portrayal of him, is of course, fictitious, but there are many details known about him. However, we don’t know for sure who his mother was, it’s believed she might have been called Ecgwynn, and we don’t know, for certain, the name of his sister, but it’s believed she might have been named Edith. What is known is that his father was Edward, the son of King Alfred, and known to us today as Edward the Elder. Athelstan is also rare in that he is one of only two Saxon kings for who a contemporary image is available. (The other is Edgar, who would have been his step-nephew)
It must be supposed that Athelstan was born sometime in the late 890s. And according to a later source, that written by William of Malmesbury in the 1100s (so over two hundred years later), Athelstan was raised at the court of his aunt, Æthelflæd of Mercia. David Dumville has questioned the truth of this, but to many, this has simply become accepted as fact.
‘he [Alfred] arranged for the boy’s education at the court of his daughter, Æthelflæd and Æthelred his son in law, where he was brought up with great care by his aunt and the eminent ealdorman for the throne that seemed to await him.’[i]
[i] Mynors, R.A.B. ed and trans, completed by Thomson, R.M. and Winterbottom, M. Gesta Regvm Anglorvm, The History of the English Kings, William of Malmesbury, (Clarendon Press, 1998), p.211 Book II.133
Why then might this have happened? Edward became king on the death of his father, Alfred, and either remarried at that time, or just before. Edward’s second wife (if indeed, he was actually married to Athelstan’s mother, which again, some doubt), Lady Ælfflæd is believed to have been the daughter of an ealdorman and produced a hefty number of children for Edward. Perhaps then, Athelstan and his unnamed sister, were an unwelcome reminder of the king’s first wife, or perhaps, as has been suggested, Alfred intended for Athelstan to succeed in Mercia after the death of Æthelflæd, and her husband, Æthelred, for that union produced one child, a daughter named Ælfwynn.
There is an acknowledged dearth of information surrounding King Edward the Elder’s rule of Wessex. He’s acknowledged as the king of the Anglo-Saxons. His father had been the king of Wessex. Historians normally use the surviving charters to unpick the political machinations of the Saxon kings, but for Edward, there’s a twenty year gap between the beginning and end of his reign, where almost no known genuine charters have survived. What isn’t known for sure, is how much control, if any, he had in Mercia. Was Mercia subservient to Wessex or was it ruled independently? It’s impossible to tell. And this makes it difficult to determine what Athelstan might have been doing, and also what his father’s intentions were towards him.
Frontispiece of Bede’s Life of St Cuthbert, showing King Æthelstan (924–39) presenting a copy of the book to the saint himself. 29.2 x 20cm (11 1/2 x 7 7/8″). Originally from MS 183, f.1v at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. (Wikimedia Commons)
What is known is that following the death of King Edward in 924, Athelstan was acknowledged as the king of Mercia; his stepbrother, Ælfweard was proclaimed king in Wessex. As with all events at this time, it shouldn’t be assumed that just because this is what happened, this is what was always intended.
‘Here King Edward died at Farndon in Mercia; and very soon, 16 days after, his son Ælfweard died at Oxford; and their bodies lie at Winchester. And Athelstan was chosen as king by the Mercians and consecrated at Kingston.’[i]
[i] Swanton, M. trans and edit The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, (Orion Publishing Group, 2000), D text p.105
But, if Athelstan was raised in Mercia, it’s highly likely he was a warrior from a young age, helping the Mercians defeat the Viking raiders who still had control of the Danish Five Boroughs of Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby, Nottingham and Leicester.
And the events of 924 are where King of Kings begins, and so I will leave him there. By now, he would have been perhaps thirty years old, give or take a few years. What sort of man was he? What sort of king might he be? Do please read King of Kings to find out. And, if this intrigues you, then do please have a look at Sarah Foot’s wonderful monograph on him, Athelstan, from Yale Publishing.
There are a few new characters in Kings of War, the sequel to King of Kings. Here I’ll explain who the historical individuals probably were, and what’s known about them, if anything.
Olaf Gothfrithson is the son of Gothfrith, who King Athelstan of the English, beat to the kingdom of York or Jorvik in King of Kings.
Olaf, perhaps a great-grandson of Ivarr the Boneless (it’s difficult to piece together the family connections, and indeed, in an initial draft I named Olaf’s brothers entirely incorrectly). Ivarr was the famous Viking raider who led part of the Great Heathen Army in the 860s before meeting his death in 870 or 873, depending on which contemporary source you read.
Olaf claimed Dublin following his father’s death, although not without some fighting. In Ireland, he had many enemies, including Olaf Cenncairech (Scabbyhead) of Limerick and Donnchad of the Southern Ui Neill.
Olaf is known to have been one of four brothers. Halfdan, who died in 926, according to the Irish Annals, Blakari and Rognvaldr being the other two, who both play a role in future events.
Affairs in Ireland at this time were complex. Dublin was largely a Norse enclave, involved in almost constant warfare with the Irish clans. Claire Downham has written extensively on this period. ‘The rivalry between Limerick and Dublin marks an important chapter in the history of vikings in Ireland. The number of viking campaigns recorded in these years rivals any other period of Irish history. The influence of the vikings is reflected in the range of their campaigns across the island and in the involvement of Irish overkings in their wars.’ (Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland: The Dynasty of Ivarr to A.D. 1014, C. Downham, p. 41)
Affairs in Ireland fall far outside my expertise, but I hope I’ve correctly portrayed what events are known from this period and which concern Olaf Gothfrithson (you’ll find his name also written as Óláfr Gu∂rø∂sson and Amlaib), Olaf Cenncairech – Scabbyhead (a wonderful name for the man – again my thanks to C. Downham for including this in her work) – and Olaf’s brothers and sons.
In Kings of War, Olaf is staunchly determined to claim back ‘his’ lost kingdom of Jorvik.
Read King of Kings for FREE for a very limited time on Kindle, Kobo and Apple in the UK, US, Australia and Canada (3rd -10th July ’23).
I’m excited to share the cover for book 5 in The Eagle of Mercia Chronicles, Protector of Mercia.
Releasing on September 5th 2023, here’s the blurb.
A deathbed oath leaves the lives of two infants hanging in the balance.
Tamworth AD833
After successfully rescuing her husband from the Island of Sheppey, Icel hears the deathbed confession of Lady Cynehild which leaves him questioning what he knows about his past, as well as his future.
In the unenviable position of being oath sworn to protect their two atheling sons when Lord Coenwulf is punished and banished for his treason against the Mercian ruler, King Wiglaf, Icel is once more torn between his oaths and the secret he knows.
When the two children are kidnapped, Icel, good to his word, and fearing for their safety, pursues their abductors into the dangerous Northern lands, fearing to discover who is behind the audacious attempt on their lives: the queen, the king’s son, or even Lady Ælflæd, a friend to him in the past, but now wed to the king’s son and aunt to the two abandoned children.
Alone in the Northern lands, Icel finds himself facing his worse fears. Can he rescue the children from their captor, or will he fail and lose his life in the process?
As with all things kindle and ebooks related, I was not quick to adapt to audiobooks. In fact, I really struggled with them for some time. I was happy to have my books available as audiobooks, but I didn’t really like or understand the allure of it.
Until.
Well, there’s always an until.
I’d listened to a few audios on my daily walks before I hit upon how it really worked for me. They help me sleep. What? I know, it sounds rather counterproductive. So, I don’t listen to many ‘new’ audios, but I love to listen to an audiobook for a book I’ve already read, and then I listen to them at night, comfy in my bed, although some do question my headphones, which are big chunky things, but I can’t wear in-ear ones – I have a funny ear. Actually, I think it’s more to do with my spectacles – so many things trying to make use of my ears at one time. So, with my big chunky headphones, and my phone, I sleep better than I ever have, thanks to my audiobooks.
I know you want to know why. So here goes. My brain is always ‘on the go.’ It’s always thinking. Teasing out plot lines, thinking about stuff going on in my personal life. Thinking, thinking, thinking. It’s a pain. Do you know how hard it is to ‘think’ when you’re listening to an audiobook. You have to REALLY want to not be listening to what you’re being told.
It also helps that I listen to my ‘classics,’ the stories I love. Discworld – they’re all in the process of being rerecorded, and while I was a bit grumpy about this, I’m just grateful that I now have two versions to listen to. Anne McAffrey’s PERN books, and Katherine Kerr’s Deverry books are also up there. These are stories I know well, and I get to enjoy them all over again. And, by setting a timer on my audio, I know I don’t actually miss much when I fall asleep.
Now, not all books work. Some you need to listen to during the day – some narrators are a bit too excitable, but as an alternative way of enjoying my reading, audiobooks are fabulous. Why not give them a try?
Audiobooks are also great for driving, exercising and just chilling out without needing to engage with any other sense than my hearing. Mind – I recommend some noise cancelling headphones as well.
With my author head on, I also love hearing my characters brought to life, hearing them with all the inflexion I imagine in my mind when I’m writing them.
Listen to the fabulous Matt Coles bring King Athelstan of the English to life from King of Kings.
‘An epic tale of the birth of a nation. Truly mesmerising. Game of Thrones meets The Last Kingdom’ – Gordon Doherty
In the battle for power, there can be only one ruler.
AD925 Athelstan is the king of the English, uniting the petty kingdoms of Wessex, Mercia, the Danish-held Five Boroughs and York following the sudden death of his father, King Edward. His vision is to unite the realms of the Scots and the Welsh in a peace accord that will protect their borders from the marauding threat of the Norse Vikings. Whilst seemingly craving peace and demanding loyalty with an imperium over every kingdom, Athelstan could dream of a much bigger prize. But danger and betrayal surround his best intentions, namely from his overlooked stepbrother, Edwin, who conspires and vies for what he deems is his rightful place as England’s king. As ever, powerful men who wish to rule do not wish to be ruled, and Constantin of the Scots, Owain of Strathclyde, and Ealdred of Bamburgh plot their revenge against the upstart English king, using any means necessary. An epic story of kingsmanship that will set in motion the pivotal, bloody Battle of Brunanburh where allies have to be chosen wisely…
‘MJ effortlessly draws you into early Medieval England with this fascinating tale.’ – Donovan Cook
Yep, you’ve read that right. King of Kings is currently reduced in select territories, and select platforms, to just 99p/99c/$1.99 and equivalent. With book 2, Kings of War, and its fabulous cover, due for release next month, now is the perfect time to grab book 1.
Did you watch Seven Kings Must Die? Then this is the series for you. This is my retelling of the famous battle of Brunanburh, in all its complex political machinations and quest to be ‘king’ over all of Britain, not just England.
The tale began life in 2014 – long before anyone knew (perhaps other than Bernard Cornwell) that the Uhtred tales would culminate in the battle of Brunanburh. It’s my attempt to give a ‘wide’ view of the build-up and the battle, and to tell a story of Great Britain in the 920s and 930s instead of just picking a side.
These ambitious men tried to rewrite the map of Great Britain, and wow, they caused some carnage along the way.
I’ve written some blog posts to help everyone know who the characters are, and to give an idea of what was happening in what would be England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland at the time. Check out the posts from the main Brunanburh Series page on my blog. Enjoy:)
MJ Porter 
