Norseman Raider (The Norseman Chronicles Book 4) (40 page)

HISTORICAL RE
MARKS

Godfrey Haraldsson and his brother Magnus pillaged their way around the Irish Sea and even around the entire island of Ireland itself for much of the second half of the Tenth Century.  For clarity, I’ve eliminated brother Magnus so that he was not confused with my character, the helmsman, who bore the same name.  Godfrey’s brother is thought to have spent time attacking the west coast of Ireland – which is where Godfrey in my story gathered up Aoife – while Godfrey battered the Irish Sea.

There are some who say the brothers’
base of operations was the Isle of Man.  Other historians say no, Godfrey more likely operated out of the Hebrides, further north.  There is, of course, a correct answer that is as of yet unknown with certainty. A new document find or a new archaeological study may one day give us the right answer.  I chose Man simply because it was central to the places that Godfrey and Magnus raided and has a rich history all its own.

The Isle of
Man has had more Viking hacksilver hoards discovered on its lands than all of Ireland – astonishing when you think of the size differences.  But, the finds demonstrate the economic power and gravity that this weigh-station on so many northern trade routes wielded.  Man has many interesting Norse graves, constructed of stones arranged in the shape of a ship’s hull.  Some of these can be found at Balladoole and Ballateare.  The stone I described with the mixture of Christian and Norse theologies is real and exists to this day.  Similarly, the stone dedicated to the traitor named Horse Ketil still sits on Man, though no one knows who Horse Ketil was or what he did to be so maligned for eternity.

The Norse peoples in Norway and abroad in Iceland and Greenland and Man were free compared to their English
or other medieval counterparts.  It took much longer for kings to consolidate their power over the large stretches of difficult terrain in the mountains and fjords and independent peoples.  Under these conditions one of the governing mechanisms that evolved was the Thing, or local assembly.  The Thing was called occasionally to settle disputes between participants in the open.  The Thing on the Isle of Man has become known as the Tynwald.  Its roots go back to the Viking sea kings over 1,000 years ago.  Tynwald is still what the island’s parliament is called, allowing the small island to claim to have the oldest parliament in the world with an unbroken existence.  I am certain that the proud descendents of Iceland’s first settlers may want to argue the claim when it comes to their Althing.  But that is another story.

Exactly who was
Godfrey Haraldsson’s father is not known with certainty.  Many believe it was Harald Bluetooth, famous son of Gorm the Old from Denmark and the man for whom we’ve named Bluetooth communication technology today.  Others say, as have I, that Godfrey’s father was Harald of Bayeux, a Norman Viking.  For an in depth discussion of this topic and much of the history in
Norseman Raider
, read
Viking Pirates and Christian Princes
by Benjamin Hudson.  It contains a wealth of information.

Godfrey was known as a King of the Isles.  Exactly which islands were among those Isles was something that was in
constant flux.  It ebbed and flowed with the despairs and fortunes of its kings and the strength of the peoples that surrounded the islands kingdom – Irish, Welsh, and the Scots.

Dal Riata was founded by an Irishman
back when Scotland was known as Pictland during the Dark Ages.  Like the Kingdom of the Isles, its borders expanded and contracted many times over the years.  Generally speaking, Dal Riata included a smidgen of northern Ireland in the Ulster region and the western reaches of Scotland, Argyll today.

Our hero, Halldorr, is fictional.  Leif Eriksson is not.  Tyrkr, the German thrall is not.  Both were very real men who lived extraordinary lives, but it is unlikely that they were involved with Godfrey in any way.  You may
want to read the original three of
The Norseman Chronicles: The Norseman, Paths of the Norseman, and Norseman Chief
if you wish to have a better understanding as to why they wound up where they did in my tale.

The incidents that set Godfrey’s actions in motion were real.  In 986 A.D. Godfrey attacked Dal Riata
; we’re not sure where, but I assumed Lismore and its monastery.  During the raid, 140 of his warriors were caught and hanged.  Godfrey went away, but came back in the dark of Christmas night.  He and his company killed the bishop, the abbot, and 13 monks who prayed in the monastery’s church before his army scurried away.  In my mind he got ample revenge, but I figured Godfrey, an up-and-coming Viking king, would want more.

Godfrey
is thought to have raided the Welsh island of Anglesey many times during his career.  The raid I highlighted actually did take place in 987 A.D.  In that raid his band of unknown numbers took 2,000 captives while soundly defeating the Welsh ruler Maredubb ab Owain.  Maredubb had to flee from the island to the heart of Wales.  He didn’t return to pay the ransom of treasure for his people until 989 A.D.

The barrow grave I used as my model for the one on Anglesey, the one told of by Eyvind in my story, is called Bryn Celli Ddu.  It rests to this day on the southeastern edge of Anglesey Island. 
The mound is in an open field, but it is thought to have been surrounded by trees at some time in its history.  The grave was robbed long ago.  It was built for a man of importance in the Stone Age.  Different phases of its construction are thought to have taken place as far back as 4,000 B.C.

In 988 A.D. Godfrey’s army
is thought to have raided the mint at Watchet.  This is conjecture, sound perhaps, but still a guess.  Godfrey was one of the most active Vikings in those waters during that time.  Since the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
is silent on exactly who wreaked the devastation on Watchet that year, scholars assume it was King Godfrey.  Devon nobles, Goda and Strenwald, were killed during the attack.  You can still see remains, albeit meager, of the mint on the cliffs west of the modern day town of Watchet in what is today Somerset.  At the time our story takes place it was considered part of Devon.  The mint on the hill was active from 979 to 1050 A.D.  It was abandoned for a time due to the erosion on the cliffs.  Its location moved westward and it again began producing coins in 1080.

Immediately after the raid in Watchet and across the Irish Sea in Dyflin (today’s Dublin) English coins began to circulate.  Obviously
, many coins were stolen from the mint.  However, at the same time, the first coins to be minted in all of Ireland began to appear.  They were English pennies stamped by dies taken from Watchet.

Godfrey was actually killed in a raid in Dal Riata in 989 A.D.  The exact circumstances are unknown, but I thought it a nice yarn to spin to have him still hunting for his revenge.  The climactic battle at the ancient fort of Dunadd is pure, made-up fun.  But the fort did exist and it was the capital of Dal Riata for centuries.  At the time our tale took place, it would have been surrounded by swamps
known as the Moine Mohr, making it difficult to reach by anything other than the main road.  You can visit the ruins today.

I spent some time in the story talking about strange Frankish blades.  I intentionally spelled the names with slight variation.  Modern science has proven that the blades marked with +ULFBERH+T are of a quality of steel superior to any steel in Europe until the Twentieth Century.  Those blades are strong, durable, light,
and flexible.  They were perfect for battle.  Blades marked with +ULFBERHT+ are thought to be weak copies.  Their steel is of a typical low grade for the times.  They were brittle.  Just like manufacturers must contend with intellectual and trademark piracy today, so did the Frankish sword smiths.  In 2013 Nova and National Geographic produced a fine documentary called
The Viking Sword
which lays out a strong case for the two types of blades.

The
readings I used to prepare for
Norseman Raider
included the previously mentioned work by Mr. Hudson as well as the
Poetic Edda
and
Prose Edda
, which are Icelandic writings from the Thirteenth Century.  The latter two works were penned by Snorri Sturluson, but included oral tales carried down through the ages by the poets of the day, skalds.  The stories written by Snorri would have been familiar to all of the broader Scandinavian culture.  As in my previous Halldorr novels, I utilized
Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga
, edited by Fitzhugh and Ward. 
Viking Poetry of Love and War
by Judith Jesch gave great ideas for the types of things the people of my tale held dear.  The two verses recited by Eyvind the Troublesome in our story are translations from Icelandic poems.  The first was originally recited on the night Porir Jokull died, August 21, 1238.  I found the verse in a paper by Professor Anthony Faulkes who is at the University of Birmingham.  For the Kormakr poem I used a combination of translations from Rory McTurk, Emeritus Professor at the University of Leeds and Lee M. Hollander.  Finally, Aoife’s speech near the beginning of the novel was based upon a Tenth Century poem by Egil Skallgrimsson.  In it a young boy dreams of going a-Viking and killing a man or two.

It is likely that Halldorr has more life in him. 
As a rule, if Halldorr breathes, then adventure follows.  I encourage you to read more of his tales.  The first three of
The Norseman Chronicles
may be found on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  In his next work he will come face-to-face with famous historical figures such a Kvaran, Gytha, Silkbeard, Iron Knee, Mael Sechnaill, Olaf Tryggvason, and many more.

Lastly, i
f you desire a change of pace from the rampaging Norsemen, check out my three-book series entitled
The Wald Chronicles
.  It follows the struggle of a rag-tag group of Germanic tribesmen against mighty Rome under Augustus.

ABOU
T THE AUTHOR

Jason Born is the author of
The Norseman Chronicles
, a multi-volume work of historical fiction detailing the adventures of the Viking, Halldorr, who lived during the time of Erik the Red and Sweyn Forkbeard. 
The Wald Chronicles
series of historical novels centers on the conflict in Germania between the Roman legionaries and their tribal adversaries over 2,000 years ago.  He is an analyst and portfolio manager for a Registered Investment Advisory firm.  Jason lives in the Midwest with his wife and three children.  If you enjoyed this work and would like to see more, Jason asks you to consider doing the following:

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