Category: Rachel’s Random Resources

The Dark Ages?

As a bit of a history nerd, I’m not always comfortable with the term ‘Dark Ages’ for my books, mostly because the ‘real’ Dark Ages took place between about 410 and 600 in England, and so, until NOW, my books haven’t strictly fallen into that category. (Also, as a very literal child, I entirely mistook what was meant by the Dark Ages, and I was always perplexed as to why it was so damn dark.)

Admittedly, many apply the term to almost all of the period of Saxon England, which is somewhat incorrect (and indeed it was once applied to the entire Middle Ages). The idea of the Dark Ages stems from a belief there was no scientific or cultural advancement during this period (according to Wiki), but particularly in regards to England it references the lack of surviving written records from the period. 

Archaeology is massively changing this interpretation, and there is now an accepted view that much can be understood about the era, just not in the way ‘historians’ might think – the merging of archaeology and history (and other sciences) is rewriting the period. We’re no longer entirely reliant on two written sources, Gildas, and his De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae – On The Ruin of Britain (who may or may not have a cameo in Men of Iron), or Bede, (amongst historians often called ‘Bloody’ Bede) and his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum – History of the English People (as well as a few ‘odd’ earlier sources. Check out my blog post for more details.) It might be impossible to apply dates to developments, but it is possible to postulate what was actually happening during these ‘lost’ two hundred years, even if much of our knowledge must rely on finds from graves. It is also increasingly understood that this period was complex and that rarely does ‘one narrative’ adequately explain what was happening throughout England. This is a time before the major Saxon kingdoms, when much was in flux with cultures merging and endeavouring to survive with the loss of the Roman economy.

A new trilogy

And this is where my new trilogy enters stage left. This period fascinates me. I’ve been reading extensively about it for some time, and eventually managed to convince my editor (thank you) to let me tell ‘a‘ story of what ‘might‘ have been happening in this period. It can’t be based on any ‘named’ historical individuals (well, apart from one or two I’ve snuck in there as fictional creations) but it can attempt to populate this complex and little-understood period with people who lived and breathed, and I’m so excited to share it, with my readers. And guess what, it’s about what was ‘Mercia’ before it was ‘Mercia.’ (If you think you’re going to get me away from Mercia, you’re very mistaken.) 

So how then to tell this story with so many cultures? I’ve taken the decision to offer a dual narrative, one from Meddi, my seeress in the west of England (close to Gloucester), and the other, Wærmund, my would-be-warrior from the east of England (the Fens). These two main characters allow me to explore the continuity and change taking place in what would become England. Their experiences as a seeress, as a warrior, and with the added complications of family discord driving their actions, ensure the characters from Men of Iron feel like ‘real people’ even in this distant, hazy landscape so similar and yet so different to everything we experience today. I really hope you’ll enjoy it. (I’m also very excited as I have dual narrators for this trilogy.)

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