Elizabeth McBride

Elizabeth McBride

-WILLIAM BLAKE

In the far north of the island of Britain, there once lived a
people called the Picts. We know only a few things about
them. They created huge standing stones, heavily engraved
with elaborate designs. They chose their kings from a line
of royal women rather than men. And their warriors were
so fierce that the Romans could not conquer them.

The Picts had many enemies. Chief among them were
the Britons, who lived to the south and fought with the
Picts generation after generation. There were also the
Scots-invaders from Ireland who had settled on the western coast of Britain hundreds of years earlier and named
their territory Dal Riata. Then, one day, a new enemy arrived in dragonships: the Danes. With a horrible savagery,
the Danes burned fields, raped women, and enslaved children. And prompted events that changed the course of
history.