Matthew Harffy, author of the Bernicia Chronicles novels, finds unexpected similarities between the seventh-century siege of Bebbanburg and his life in 2020, whether it’s coping with lockdown or making a television trailer. The world is under a cloud of sickness. People despair at ineffectual politicians as more of the global population fall ill and succumb […]
A life of war in Anglo-Saxon Britain
The skeleton of an unknown 7th-century warrior buried near Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland seemed to have nothing to tell historian and novelist Edoardo Albert… until tests showed a link to a Scottish holy island and the original returning king: Oswald of Northumbria. The bones were silent. That’s the problem: they usually are. They are the […]
Oswald: Exile, King, Saint
If you were to ask most people to name an Anglo-Saxon king, they might mention Alfred (he was Great, after all!), or Harold (with the infamous arrow in the eye). A few might even bring up names like Ethelred the (mistranslated) Unready, or, if they are a bit more into pre-Norman Conquest British history, they […]