“1058. This year Alfgar,
the earl, was banished; but he soon came in again, with violence, through
Gruffudds' aid. And this year came a fleet from Norway: it is tedious to tell
how all these matters went.”
So wrote a scribe, his
opinion preserved for all these long ages since in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
“Tedious to tell”? Not at all, as we revisit C11th Horstede in Sussex and
reacquaint ourselves with Wulfhere and his household, who we met in Sons
of the Wolf.
Wulfhere is a man tormented by inner demons,
suffering from combat stress, his relationship with his pregnant mistress
putting implacable strain on his marriage to his wife, Ealdgytha. While his
children squabble incessantly, the long running blood feud with his neighbour
Helghi bubbles away, despite his lord Harold Godwinson ordering his two Sussex
liege men to bury their hatchets, by way of marriage. The one bright ray of
sunshine is the impending marriage of his eldest daughter to the Aemund son of
his friend Leofnoth… as long as her dalliance with Helghi’s son hasn’t ruined
her chances of a fortuitous union, that is.
Meanwhile in the strategically important earldom
of Mercia, the elderly Earl Leofric is dying. His son Aelfgar should inherit
the earldom but is tainted by his previous exile and subsequent ransacking of
Hereford in the company of his ally, Gruffudd of Wales. Will Aelfgar’s hatred
of the growing power and influence of the Godwinsons overpower his loyalty to
King Edward? What of Aelfgar’s first born son Burgheard? He condemned his
father over Hereford, where do his loyalties now lie?
Wolf Banner is a
real page turner, through the eyes of the characters we can see the unfolding
drama of the C11th. It is extremely well researched as all the
threads of the time begin to create the tapestry leading up to inevitable
conflict and destruction of this world. The characters are fleshed out and
flawed, not one is a perfect hero, each has their weaknesses or will take
advantage of others in their pursuit their goals.
Having enjoyed Ms Lofting’s first book of this
series it was a joy to return to the C11th. Her storytelling goes
from strength to strength. This is an author whose craft is becoming as sharply
honed as the blades wielded in the battles she admirably describes.
Words of the time are skilfully entwined in the
dialogue making the world all the more real. All life is here; love, desire,
hope, distrust, betrayal, war, triumph and achingly painful loss. There is
humour in Aemund’s battle with his wife’s aunt Gunhild, as a reader I
thoroughly enjoyed the old battleaxe‘s humiliation - well deserved I think! The
war of words between Burgheard and his adversary Ragnald in Wulfgar’s hall was coarsely
realistic but absolutely enjoyable; I felt like I was there listening to the
increasingly ill-tempered debate and trading of insults.
Surely you can tell an author’s worth if you feel
emotionally invested in the characters, and you do in The Wolf
Banner. I felt sorry for Burgheard, and sympathetic to his growing
bitterness but it was good for him to have a storyline to be told, as he is a
mere footnote, briefly mentioned in the writings of the time. Another character
you feel for his Wulfhere’s youngest son, Tovi. Sacrificed in an attempt to
heal the rift between his parents, his dreams trampled and abandoned, I feel he
may yet be the one to save his father from his deep and crippling despair.
1058, tedious to tell? To the scribe perhaps but
not for our characters in The Wolf Banner; their fates are set
on their courses and their tales will continue in The Wolf’s Bane, there is the none-too-small matter of
a blood price that requires payment; I can’t wait.
The Wolf Banner is available at Amazon
The Wolf Banner is available at Amazon
