Ulfheonar-an elite Norse warrior who wore a wolf skin over his armour
Vectis- The Isle of Wight
Volva- a witch or healing woman in Norse culture
Waeclinga Straet- Watling Street (A5)
Windlesore-Windsor
Waite- a Viking word for farm
Werham -Wareham (Dorset)
Wintan-ceastre -Winchester
Withy- the mechanism connecting the steering board to the ship
Woden’s day- Wednesday
Wyddfa-Snowdon
Wyrd- Fate
Yard- a timber from which the sail is suspended on a drekar
Ynys Môn-Anglesey
Maps and Illustrations
Map courtesy of Wikipedia
Map courtesy of Wikipedia
The island the Raven Clan use. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
Port Tudy is where the haunted farmhouse is located and Locmaria is the bay they landed upon. As you can see there is little beach!
Charlemagne's Empire
Courtesy of Wikipedia –Public Domain
The Loire
Courtesy of Wikipedia
Courtesy of Wikipedia –Public Domain
Historical note
My research encompasses not only books and the Internet but also TV. Time Team was a great source of information. I wish they would bring it back! I saw the wooden compass on the Dan Snow programme about the Vikings. Apparently it was used in modern time to sail from Denmark to Edinburgh and was only a couple of points out. Similarly the construction of the temporary hall was copied from the settlement of Leif Eriksson in Newfoundland.
Stirrups began to be introduced in Europe during the 7th and 8th Centuries. By Charlemagne's time there were widely used but only by nobles. It is said this was the true beginning of feudalism. It was the Vikings who introduced them to England. It was only in the time of Canute the Great that they were widespread. The use of stirrups enabled a rider to strike someone on the ground from the back of a horse and enabled the use of spears and later, lances.
The Vikings may seem cruel to us now. They enslaved women and children. Many of the women became their wives. The DNA of the people of Iceland shows that it was made up of a mixture of Norse and Danish males and Celtic females. These were the people who settled Iceland, Greenland and Vinland. They did the same in England and, as we shall see, Normandy. They were different times and it would be wrong to judge them with our politically correct twenty first century eyes. This sort of behaviour still goes on in the world but with less justification.
The Vikings began to raid the Loire and the Seine from the middle of the 9th century. They were able to raid as far as Tours. Tours, Saumur and the monastery at Marmoutier were all raided and destroyed. As a result of the raids and the destruction castles were built there during the latter part of the 9th century. There are many islands in the Loire and many tributaries. The Maine, which runs through Angers, is also a wide waterway. The lands seemed made for Viking raiders. They did not settle in Aquitaine but they did in Austrasia.
At this time there were no Kings. There were clans. Each clan had a hersir or Jarl. A Hersir was more of a landlocked Viking while a Jarl usually had ship(s) at his command. Kings like Canute and Harald Hadrada were rare.
Hermund the Bent is an actual Viking name but I do not know why he was called Bent. It seemed appropriate for my villain. Harald Black Teeth is made up but the practice of filing marks in teeth to allow them to blacken and to make the warrior more frightening was common in Viking times.
Books used in the research
British Museum - ‘Vikings- Life and Legends’
‘Saxon, Norman and Viking’ by Terence Wise (Osprey)
Ian Heath - ‘The Vikings’. (Osprey)
Ian Heath- ‘Byzantine Armies 668-1118 (Osprey)
David Nicholle- ‘Romano-Byzantine Armies 4th-9th Century (Osprey)
Stephen Turnbull- ‘The Walls of Constantinople AD 324-1453’ (Osprey)
Keith Durham- ‘Viking Longship’ (Osprey)
Anglo-Danish Project- 'The Vikings in England'
The Varangian Guard- 988-1453 Raffael D’Amato
Saxon Viking and Norman- Terence Wise
The Walls of Constantinople AD 324-1453-Stephen Turnbull
Byzantine Armies- 886-1118- Ian Heath
The Age of Charlemagne-David Nicolle
The Normans- David Nicolle
Norman Knight AD 950-1204- Christopher Gravett
The Norman Conquest of the North- William A Kappelle
The Knight in History- Francis Gies
The Norman Achievement- Richard F Cassady
Knights- Constance Brittain Bouchard
Knight Templar 1120-1312 -Helen Nicholson
Griff Hosker
April 2016
Other books
By
Griff Hosker
If you enjoyed reading this book then why not read another one by the author?
Ancient History
The Sword of Cartimandua Series (Germania and Britannia 50A.D. – 128 A.D.)
Ulpius Felix- Roman Warrior (prequel)
Book 1 The Sword of Cartimandua
Book 2 The Horse Warriors
Book 3 Invasion Caledonia
Book 4 Roman Retreat
Book 5 Revolt of the Red Witch
Book 6 Druid’s Gold
Book 7 Trajan’s Hunters
Book 8 The Last Frontier
Book 9 Hero of Rome
Book 10 Roman Hawk
Book 11 Roman Treachery
Book 12 Roman Wall
Book 1 Saxon Dawn
Book 2 Saxon Revenge
Book 3 Saxon England
Book 4 Saxon Blood
Book 5 Saxon Slayer
Book 6 Saxon Slaughter
Book 7 Saxon Bane
Book 8 Saxon Fall: Rise of the Warlord
Book 9 Saxon Throne
The Dragon Heart Series
Book 1 Viking Slave
Book 2 Viking Warrior
Book 3 Viking Jarl
Book 4 Viking Kingdom
Book 5 Viking Wolf
Book 6 Viking War
Book 7 Viking Sword
Book 8 Viking Wrath
Book 9 Viking Raid
Book 10 Viking Legend
Book 11 Viking Vengeance
Book 12 Viking Dragon
Book 13 Viking Treasure
Norman Genesis Series (820-1020 A.D.)
Hrolf the Viking
The Aelfraed Series (Britain and Byzantium 1050 A.D. - 1085 A.D.)
Book 1 Housecarl
Book 2 Outlaw
Book 3 Varangian
The Anarchy Series (England 1120-1180)
English Knight
Knight of the Empress
Northern Knight
Baron of the North
Earl
King Henry's Champion
The King is Dead
Warlord of the North
Enemy at the Gates
Modern History
The Napoleonic Horseman Series
Chasseur à Cheval
Napoleon’s Guard
British Light Dragoon
Soldier Spy
1808: The Road to Corunna
Waterloo
The Lucky Jack American Civil War series
Rebel Raiders
Confederate Rangers
The Road to Gettysburg
The British Ace Series
1914
1915 Fokker Scourge
1916 Angels over the Somme
1917 Eagles Fall
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For more information on all of the books then please visit the author’s web site at http://www.griffhosker.com where there is a link to contact him.