Tostig, Alfgar and the Earl of Northumbria

 

by Sons of the Wolf on Thursday, 03 March 2011 at 22:16

 The Scandinavian Earl Siward, held the post of Northumbria throughout much of Cnut's reign, the whole of Harold Harefoot and Harthacnut's up until the early years of Edward the Confessor's reign. There is much recorded of him in legend but in reality, one would have to believe that there was little difference in the character of the man of the sagas and the man of reality. When he died in 1055, he must have been a great age and although he had converted to christianity, the story goes that his dying wish was that he be given a traditional Viking ceremony. his body sailing out to sea on a burning boat with his sword placed in his hand. He was actually buried at St Olaf's church in york. Possibly the death of his son Osbjorn and his wife's nephew at the battle of Dunsinane may have spurred an already old man to his grave. I like to think that perhaps his wife, in tribute, might have sent one of his boats, alight and furnished with his gear, out into the sea for him, whilst his body lay buried in the Christian manner. He left one surviving son, Waltheof, who was a child of only about 5 or 6 years old at the time, born of his young wife Aelfflaed, obviously not his first liason. Due to Waltheof's young age, the vacancy of earl was now open. Who should think themselves up for the job?

Contender No 1 was Tostig Godwinson, younger brother of Earl Harold of Wessex. Tostig was, like his brother Harold, a seasoned warrior and had married Judith of flanders, half sister to Baldwin V who was father of William of Normandy's wife Matilda. It would be easy to imagine that he may have harboured a childhood jealousy against his older more popular brother Harold, which may explain his later resentment toward Harold as grown ups, that would lead to their tragic confrontation in 1066 at Stamford Bridge. He seems to have been portrayed as more serious of character than his elder brother who was described as affable, gracious to all men and possessed charm and wit. Nonetheless, he appears to have been the favourite of both the King and Queen. Edith certainly was fond of him and because of this, he most likely got the post instead of Alfgar. For Edith, who had not that long ago been cast aside and sent away to a nunnery in shame, it would have been more expedient to have both her brothers in strong postions, so that never again would she ever be treated in such a degrading manner.


Contender No 2 was Alfgar Earl of East Anglia, son of Earl Leofric of Mercia. The old Earl was a sort of Mercian version of Siward. By the time he died in 1057, he was quite aged. He was married to Lady Godgifu/Godgyva of  legendary fame, notorious for her supposed naked ride through the streets of Coventry. Leofric and Godgifu's wayward son Alfgar was a bit of a rebel and by all accounts had trouble controlling his temper which seemed to have got him officially exiled at least twice for uttering treasonable words. It was in 1055 at a council to cast votes for the new Earl of Northumbria that he was first in trouble.  No source tells us exactly what he had done wrong  but the AS ms C&D states that he was 'outlawed without any fault of his' . In the ms E, Alfgar was said to have been 'traitor to the king and all the people of the land. And he admitted this before all the men that were gathered there, although the words shout out against his will.'  One can imagine him blurting out some terrible insult against the king and then realising that he had put his foot in his mouth somewhat to his detriment and rather publicly. What ever it was, and one can only imagine, it led to him being exiled. Most likely, when he heard that Tostig was to recieve the earldom, he did not take  kindly to it and in a fit of pique lost his temper and spoke out against it. You can imagine the intesity of his feelings, after all,  the Godwin brothers appeared to be the king's current favourites and were already in charge of a large portion of the kingdom's earldoms, not to mention the role that Harold Godwinson now played as Dux Anglorum. With Tostig now entrenched in the North, the balance was now definitely tipped in their favour.

How it feels to write the last word

Having written the last word in my novel Sons of the Wolf, less than three days ago, despite it not really being the end  (for obviously now comes the editing) it has left me with a kind of feeling of deflation. Like the person who seeks spiritual enlightenment, disappointed when the moment comes and it fails to be accompanied by the customary sound of trumpets and flashes of ethereal light one imagines happens in these experiences,   I felt a sense of emptiness, the kind of feeling a mother gets when her offspring have flown the coup. To be honest, I don’t know what I thought I would feel like, but one thing is for sure, I was glad to wrote that last word, because I have never finished a novel before, and I had started a few, so to have actually written nearly 500 pages is quite an achievement, still, there is this damned feeling of Je ne sais pas porquois.

It took me a while to get to grips with it, well at least a couple of hours. It really hit me moments after I had closed the finished document on my computer and I got into my car and was driving to pick up my daughter from school. I suddenly realised I had tears in my eyes and felt really sad. Though not an unusual feeling for me (I am often emotionally incontinent for no reason), I wondered what on earth had brought it on and berated myself for being such a misery, after all, I had just achieved something that would have been highly improbable for me ten  years ago when I was in a very dark place.  But why wasn’t I joyously screaming from the rooftops? Then it dawned on me. I had started the grieving process.  My baby, my creation, my epic master-piece was fully developed. No longer an embryo, or foetus or infant or teenager, Sons of the wolf had now matured into a 500 computer page novel and like it or not, the end had arrived.

My friends all told me that this was quite a normal feeling, that I was not strange or going mad, or some sort of nutter (well that’s debateable) but something that a lot of writers experience.  Funny, because when I carry out academic assignments as a nurse, I have never felt that way about a piece of work, but obviously this is different. Ending my book after 5 years in the making, I suddenly realised that it had become like a person to me, a fully grown one at that and now, I was about to enter into a new relationship with it called editing. So, it’s not really yet over after all is it? At least not for some time anyway.  

My Guests: Welcome to Paula Wilcox - Regia Anglorum re-enactor

My Guests: Welcome to Paula Wilcox - Regia Anglorum re-enactor

My Inspiriation

 The idea for a novel had always been there since I first read Dawn Wind by Rosemary Sutlcliffe as a kid. She was the first author to inspire my interest in historical fiction. Later, it was Jean Plaidy and the books for young people by Leon Garfield set in the 18thc caught my attention too. Somewhere during my teens I chanced upon some novels that would re-kindle my interest in the Anglo Saxon/ Viking period,the story of the Godwinsons and Harold's rise to power by Hope Muntz and Avalon by Anya Seyton. Further on, Mary Stewart's Arthurian series sparked an interest in the post Roman era and Michael wood was also a great inspiration. On from that I found Sharon Kay Penman, the first book that really left an impression upon me was The Sunne in Spleandour and after that, I could not get enough of Richard Plantaganet, a much maligned sovereign. Sharon's books have kept my interest on and off ever since, as have Elizabeth Chadwick and Helen Hollick. I am now also a great fan of Bernard Cornwell, especially his Uhtred of Bebbanburgh series.

My dream of writing a novel had been kept at bay by the paths I took on the journey that is life. Over the years I have learned that everything happens when it is supposed to happen; everything is, at every moment in time, as it should be and I hope that this is now the time I can realise my dream.

New to Blog

I am author of Sons of the Wolf, a work in progress, currently working on the last chapters. I enjoy history and specialise in the late Saxon period. Here is an overview of what my novel is about.

1054, pious King Edward sits on the throne, spending his days hunting, sleeping and praying, leaving the security and administration of his kingdom to his much more capable brother-in-law Harold Godwinson, the powerful Earl of Wessex.

Against this backdrop we meet Wulfhere, a Sussex thegn who, as the sun sets over the wild forest of Andredesweald, is returning home victoriously from a great battle in the north. Holding his lands directly from the King, his position demands loyalty to Edward himself, but Wulfhere is duty-bound to also serve Harold, a bond forged within Wulfhere’s family heritage and borne of the ancient Teutonic ideology of honour and loyalty.

Wulfhere is a man with the strength and courage of a bear, a warrior whose loyalty to his lord and king is unquestionable. He is also a man who holds his family dear and would do anything to protect them. So when Harold demands that he wed his daughter to the son of Helghi, his sworn enemy, Wulfhere has to find a way to save his daughter from a life of certain misery as the daughter-in-law of the cruel and resentful Helghi, without comprising his honour and loyalty to his lord, Harold.
Following the fortunes of his family, we meet Ealdgytha, his golden-haired wife, attractive, neurotic and proud. Her lust for success and advancement threatens to drive a wedge between her and her husband, while Wulfhere’s battle with his conscience and his love for another woman, tears at the very heart of their relationship. Also central to the story are his children; Freyda, his eldest daughter, reckless, defiant and beautiful; Tovi, his youngest son, his spirit suppressed by the pranks of the red-haired twins, Wulfric and Wulfwin; Winflaed, a younger daughter, whose submissive acceptance of womanhood belies a stronger spirit and a longing to hold a sword in battle like her warrior father.

Sons of the Wolf is snap shot of medieval life and politics as the events that lead to the downfall of Anglo-Saxon England play out, immersing the reader in the tapestry of life as it was before the Domesday Book. With depictions of everyday life experienced through the minds of the people of the times; of feasts in the Great Halls to battles fought in the countryside, it cannot help but enlighten, educate and entertain.