Oswald: Return of the King Read online

  This book is for my boys, Theo, Matthew and Isaac: may their shieldwall never break.

  Text copyright © 2015 Edoardo Albert

  This edition copyright © 2015 Lion Hudson

  The right of Edoardo Albert to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Published by Lion Fiction

  an imprint of

  Lion Hudson plc

  Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Road,

  Oxford OX2 8DR, England

  www.lionhudson.com/fiction

  ISBN 978 1 78264 116 2

  e-ISBN 978 1 78264 117 9

  First edition 2015

  Acknowledgments

  Extract p. 259 taken from The First Poems in English by Michael Alexander, copyright © 2008 Michael Alexander. Used by permission of Penguin Random House UK.

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  Cover illustration: Beehive Illustration, Eric Smith

  “A spirited and enjoyable canter through Conversion-Age Northumbria, which breathes life into the dry bones offered by the Venerable Bede regarding the hero-figure of King Oswald, stays in touch with modern histories of the period and offers a homage to Tolkien’s love of this same landscape and period.”

  Nick Higham, author of The Anglo-Saxon World

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dramatis Personae

  Glossary

  Map of the Kingdoms of Britain, c. 635

  Pronunciation Guide

  Oswald: Return of the King

  Part I: Return

  Part II: Mission

  Part III: Rule

  Historical Note

  Dramatis Personae

  Names in italics are invented characters

  House of Ida (the Idings), kingdom of Bernicia

  Oswald Lamnguin (the Whiteblade) King of Northumbria, the combined kingdom of Bernicia and Deira. Son of Æthelfrith and Acha.

  Oswiu Younger brother of Oswald; son of Æthelfrith and Acha.

  Æbbe Sister to Oswald and Oswiu.

  Acha Mother to Oswald, Oswiu and Æbbe. Sister to Edwin, of the royal house of Yffi of Deira; married Æthelfrith, Oswald’s father.

  Eanfrith Half-brother to Oswald and Oswiu, via Æthelfrith’s first wife, Bebba, after whom Bamburgh is named. Only known child of this marriage.

  Æthelfrith Father to Oswald, Oswiu and Æbbe through Acha, princess of Deira, and to Eanfrith through Bebba. Became king of Bernicia in 592 and king of the joint kingdom of Bernicia and Deira, Northumbria, in 604. Killed in 616 at the Battle of the River Idle by the combined forces of Rædwald, king of the East Angles, and Edwin, exiled king of Deira, whom Æthelfrith had been pursuing for the previous decade.

  Bran Oswald’s raven.

  Cyniburh Daughter of King Cynegils of the West Saxons. Wife to Oswald.

  Æthelwald Baby son of Oswald and Cyniburh.

  Rhieienmelth Daughter of King Rhoedd of Rheged. Wife to Oswiu.

  Ahlfrith Baby son of Oswiu and Rhieienmelth.

  Drest Warmaster to Eanfrith.

  Corotic Chief of the Brigantes.

  House of Yffi (the Yffings), kingdom of Deira

  Edwin King of Northumbria from 616 to 633 when he was killed in battle with Cadwallon of Gwynedd and Penda of Mercia. His story is told in Edwin: High King of Britain.

  Acha Sister to Edwin. See heading under House of Ida.

  Osfrith Eldest son to Edwin through his first marriage to the daughter of the king of Mercia. Killed with his father at the Battle of Hatfield Chase in 633.

  Eadfrith Younger son of Edwin’s first marriage. Taken prisoner after the Battle of Hatfield Chase and held captive by Penda of Mercia.

  Æthelburh Edwin’s second wife. Fled with their children to Kent and then France after Edwin’s death.

  Osric Cousin to Edwin. Claimed the throne of Deira following Edwin’s death.

  Oswine Son of Osric, so ætheling (that is throne-worthy) in Deira.

  Coifi Pagan priest to Edwin. Played a large part in the conversion of the kingdom to Christianity.

  Acca Scop to Edwin.

  Bassus Thegn to Edwin. Became warmaster to Oswald.

  James Missionary sent to Edwin. He remained in Deira after Edwin’s death.

  Paulinus First bishop. Fled with Æthelburh after Edwin’s death. Became bishop of Rochester.

  House of Icel (the Iclingas), kingdom of Mercia

  Cearl King of Mercia. Grandfather to Eadfrith and Osfrith, Edwin’s eldest sons, through his daughter.

  Penda Warmaster to Cearl. Took throne of Mercia after Cearl’s death, although he was not of the House of Icel.

  Eowa Brother to Penda.

  Wihtrun Pagan priest to Penda.

  Hroth Warmaster to Penda.

  House of Wuffa (the Wuffingas), kingdom of the East Angles

  Rædwald King of the East Angles and patron of Edwin. See Edwin: High King of Britain for his story.

  Sigeberht Joint king of the East Angles with Ecgric. Abdicated the throne to enter monastery.

  Ecgric King with Sigeberht, his kinsman, and then sole ruler.

  House of Cerdic (the Cerdicings), kingdom of Wessex

  Cynegils King of the West Saxons.

  Cyniburh Daughter to Cynegils; wife to Oswald.

  Birinus Missionary, sent by Pope Honorius to the West Saxons.

  House of Cunedda, kingdom of Gwynedd

  Cadwallon King of Gwynedd.

  Briant Abbess, sister to Cadwallon.

  Cian Bard to Cadwallon.

  Hwyel Warmaster to Cadwallon.

  Cadafael King of Gwynedd after Cadwallon.

  House of Coel (“Old King Cole”), kingdom of Rheged

  Rhoedd King of Rheged.

  Rhieienmelth Daughter of King Rhoedd; wife to Oswiu.

  Monks and people of Iona, the Islands and Lindisfarne

  Ségéne Abbot of Iona.

  Aidan Monk of Iona, friend to Oswald and Oswiu and first bishop of Lindisfarne.

  Corman First missionary sent to the Northumbrians from Iona.

  Diuma Warrior monk of Iona.

  Talorc Warrior of the Seal People. Accompanies Oswald from Iona.

  Gunna Fisherman’s daughter.

  Glossary

  Ætheling A throne-worthy prince.

  Angles One of the three main peoples that migrated to Britain in the fifth to seventh centuries. The Angles settled in the east and north.

  Bernicia Anglian kingdom centred on Bamburgh.

  Britons Original inhabitants of Britain. Ruling families, and possibly much of the populace, displaced by incoming Anglo-Saxons.

  Dal Riada Sea-spanning Gaelic kingdom, linking Ulster and Argyll.

  Deira Anglian kingdom, centred on York.

  Dumnonia Kingdom of the Britons corresponding to Cornwall.

  Gododdin A tribe who lived in what is now the south-east of Scotland and the north-east of England.

  Gwynedd Kingdom of the Britons in north-west Wales.

  Hide The area of land required to support a family.

  “Hwæt” The traditional way to begin a recitation or song. Can be translated as listen, hear this.

  Picts The original inhabitants of what later became Scotland.

  Rheged A kingdom of the Britons, roughly centred on Carlisle.

  Saxons One of the
three peoples that migrated to Britain. The Saxons settled along the Thames and to its south and west.

  Scop A bard and poet – the keeper of the memory of his people.

  Seax A short sword/long knife, worn by all Anglo-Saxons (indeed, it gave the Saxons their name).

  Strathclyde A kingdom of the Britons, with its chief stronghold upon Dumbarton Rock.

  Thegn A nobleman – that is, a warrior.

  Witan A gathering of the chief men of the kingdom.

  Wyrd Key Anglo-Saxon concept. Can be translated as fate or destiny.

  The Kingdoms of Britain, c. 635

  Pronunciation Guide

  How do you pronounce Æ?

  In Old English, Æ (or “ash” to call the letter by its name) represented a vowel that sounded like a cross between “a” and “e”. Try saying it like the “a” in “cat”.

  A note on names

  The names in this book are difficult to say. Two conquests – the slow motion one of the Anglo-Saxons and then the lightning bolt of the Normans – have consigned most of the personal names in use during the seventh century to obscure history books. The only exception is Oswald himself, a king whose cult became so widespread and famous that it was able to weather the Norman storm and continue into medieval and modern English, alongside Edwin and Alfred, two other great Anglo-Saxon kings. But of the rest, almost all were swept away, as Robert and Richard and, most of all, William shouldered Leofric and Godwine away from the baptismal font.

  Another factor in the loss of Anglo-Saxon names was the conviction among the Anglo-Saxons that a name was personal property and, as such, should be unique to the person and not handed out to later generations, even if related. A notable example of this is that while Cerdic founded the kingdom of the West Saxons, the most long-lasting of all the Anglo-Saxon realms, none of his successor kings ever bore the name of their legendary forefather. As generations passed, and original names became harder to come by, the solution was to combine words in compound forms, so producing names like Godgifu (Gift of God) and Sigeberht (Victory Bright). But while names had to be unique they also, particularly in the case of noble or royal families, had to indicate family relationship. This was done by alliteration and using the same stem. Thus Alfred the Great, the youngest of five brothers and one sister, was the only one whose name did not begin with Æthel. Presumably, once his parents had got through calling on Æthelbald, Æthelberht, Æthelred, Æthelstan and Æthelswith they decided they could not face another Æthel in the hall (Æthel means “noble” – an appropriate name stem for an ætheling) and plumped for Ælfræd (which means “elf wisdom” or “counsel”). Although modern English is the direct descendant of Old English, the sound of the old language strikes the present-day hearer as akin to that of Danish – search on YouTube for readings of Beowulf in Old English to hear how it sounds.

  To make matters more difficult, many of the names in this book come from Brittonic and Goidelic, the related languages that diversified from the original proto-Celtic, with Brittonic going on to produce Welsh, Cornish, Cumbric and Breton, and Goidelic giving us Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic and Manx.

  To help readers (and the writer!), Dr Alex Woolf, senior lecturer in history at the University of St Andrews, has very kindly transcribed the most difficult names into the International Phonetic Alphabet and modern English. Here they are:

  Of the Events in Edwin:

  High King of Britain

  King Edwin, having taken refuge in exile with Rædwald, the king of the East Angles, learns that his host has agreed, under pressure, to hand him over to the man who has been pursuing him across Britain for the previous decade: Æthelfrith, king of Northumbria, and his brother-in-law. Unsure whether to flee or face his fate, Edwin goes out into the night, and in the darkness meets a stranger who promises him that he will overcome his enemy and gain greater power than any king since the days of the emperors. But this promise comes with a price: when the sign the stranger shows him is repeated, he must accede to the wishes of whoever shows the sign.

  Desperate, but now with a smidgeon of hope, Edwin agrees and returns to the hall of King Rædwald to learn that Rædwald has decided not to forswear his obligations as host: with Edwin at his side, Rædwald decides to ride out and attack Æthelfrith, even though the king of Northumbria is the most powerful man in the land.

  Æthelfrith is taken by surprise, but he just has time to send his young son, Oswald, away with a retainer. However, once safe, Oswald refuses to run further and the boy, twelve, watches from afar as Æthelfrith’s small band of men is overrun and his father is executed, slowly, by Rædwald, whose own son died in the battle.

  Rather than await the mercy, or otherwise, of her brother, Acha, Æthelfrith’s wife, flees into exile with her children, Oswald, younger brother Oswiu and sister Æbbe. Edwin is now unchallenged king of Northumbria and, when Rædwald dies after falling from his horse, he becomes paramount, the High King of Britain. While in exile, Edwin had married Cwenburg the daughter of Cearl, king of Mercia, and she had borne him two sons before succumbing to illness, but he had not remarried. Now, to help secure his kingdom, Edwin contracts to marry Æthelburh, the sister of the king of Kent. As part of the marriage agreement, Edwin, a pagan, agrees that Æthelburh, who is Christian, may continue to practise her religion and that she may bring a priest with her when she travels to Northumbria.

  On her way north, Æthelburh is ambushed by a raiding party led by Cadwallon, king of Gwynedd, one of the kingdoms still ruled by the native Britons. Learning that she is betrothed to Edwin, Cadwallon enjoins her to ask Edwin how he betrayed Cadwallon and his family when he sheltered with them during his exile. Speaking to Æthelburh alone, Cadwallon accuses Edwin of raping his sister while he lived in Gwynedd.

  Æthelburh arrives in Northumbria, with Paulinus, her priest, and James, a deacon, where they find that Edwin’s sons from his first marriage, Osfrith and Eadfrith, are grown men and, naturally, suspicious that any children from this new marriage of their father will compromise their own chances of gaining the throne. Edwin’s pagan priest Coifi regards Paulinus with considerable suspicion, but he is struggling with the failing of his own spiritual vision, which before had allowed him to read the patterns of wyrd in the chance happenings of everyday events, from the fall of leaves to the crackle of logs on the fire.

  On their wedding night, Æthelburh asks Edwin if he raped Cadwallon’s sister. Edwin refuses to answer, but asks his new wife to trust him.

  Enraged by the attack upon his betrothed, and Cadwallon’s theft of the dowry Æthelburh had brought from Kent, Edwin launches a seaborne attack upon Anglesey and, catching Cadwallon unaware, takes him prisoner. But, at the entreaty of Cadwallon’s sister, Edwin spares his life and instead sets him adrift upon the sea, without sail or oar, expecting the ocean to do his work for him.

  As Edwin’s power grows, other kings grow fearful and the king of the West Saxons sends an assassin to try to kill him. Only the self- sacrifice of Edwin’s oldest friend saves the king, but even so Edwin is seriously wounded. The attack happens on the same day that Æthelburh gives birth to their first child, a daughter, and in pledge for his recovery and for victory over the West Saxons, Edwin offers his daughter for baptism and suggests that he too will follow her into the new religion.

  Following his recovery, Edwin defeats the West Saxons and forces them into alliance. That leaves only the kingdom of Mercia as a potential threat to him, but King Cearl is grandfather to Edwin’s elder sons and without heir himself. Going to Cearl’s hall, Edwin extracts a pledge from the old king that Eadfrith, the younger son, shall be his heir and king of Mercia, while to his elder son, Osfrith, Edwin promises the Northumbrian throne. However, Cearl’s warmaster, Penda, has grown powerful in defence of Mercia, his power increasing as the king ages, and Edwin sees that Penda will not lightly give up that power when Cearl dies.

  Returning to Northumbria, Edwin calls a witan, a council of his thegns, to discuss the pledge he made: that he would acc
ept the new faith, brought by Paulinus, should he achieve victory over the West Saxons. Edwin’s decision to bring this matter to his people is strengthened by Paulinus giving him the sign that the stranger in East Anglia had shown, and asking him to accept the new religion. Many men speak in the witan, in favour and against the new religion, but the decision is made to adopt Christianity when Coifi, priest of the old religion, stands within the witan and abjures the old gods as unable to deliver to those most devoted to them any true blessings in this life or the next. The decision made, Coifi, in an iconoclastic frenzy, rides to the nearest sacred grove and profanes it.

  Edwin and his sons and his thegns accept baptism in the newly built and as yet incomplete church in York, and Paulinus travels around Northumbria with the king, preaching and baptizing.

  His overlordship now accepted by most of the kings of Britain, Edwin decides that he must secure the throne of Mercia for his son. While Cearl is happy to declare Eadfrith his heir, Edwin is sure that Penda will not relinquish the crown, even though he is not a descendant of Icel, the founder of Mercia’s royal house. So Edwin decides that Penda must be removed. Summoning all the kings to York, that they might do homage to him, Edwin plans to kill Penda and ensure a smooth transition to the throne for Eadfrith. But, unknown to Edwin, Penda has entered into alliance with Cadwallon. For the king of Gwynedd had survived his ordeal by ocean and returned to his kingdom to rebuild his strength. So, when Edwin rides with his sons, in stealth, to cut down Penda, they are themselves surprised by the trap that Penda and Cadwallon have prepared. In the battle, Edwin, High King of Britain, is killed, and Osfrith too, while Eadfrith is taken prisoner.

  When news of this reaches Æthelburh she takes her children and, with Paulinus, flees into exile, taking ship to her kin, first in Kent and then to her mother’s people in France. James the deacon remains to minister to the people of Northumbria, but Cadwallon ravages the kingdom, exacting revenge for the humiliations suffered by him and his people.

  News of the High King’s fall travels through the land and eventually reaches a small island off the west coast of Scotland, where a community of monks has established a monastery and where a young prince, in exile, has for a while found peace…