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| Hereward yields to William the Conqueror |
With his first novel "The Time of the Wolf: A Novel of Medieval England" (also titled as "Hereward"), author James Wilde has presented us with a new take on the
legend that is Hereward the Wake. Hereward
has been represented in the past as something of an ideal anti-hero along the
lines of Robin Hood – he is the saviour of the Anglo-Saxons from the terrors
of the Norman invaders. His use of violence is but a means to an end and is –
on par - most acceptable according to the constructs of the time.
James’ Hereward takes on a darker persona
(think modern-day Batman) where the legend is given a more human face and not
one many may find themselves comfortable with.
He is a man who in the heat of battle is more akin to a Viking Berserker
than family friendly superhero.
Essentially the first book is set in the
immediate years leading up to the Norman invasion 1060s – England is beset
still from Viking raiders and the Anglo-Saxon Earls are jockeying for power
around the aged Edward the Confessor.
The House of Godwin is in the ascendant but is not without its
rivals. And it is into this scenario we find Hereward the outlaw – a man who
is no longer under the protection of the community.
“In the Common Law of
England, a "Writ of Outlawry" made the pronouncement Caput
gerat lupinum ("Let
his be a wolf's head," / "May
he bear a wolfish head") with respect to its subject .. and equating that person with a wolf in the
eyes of the law: Not only was the subject deprived of all legal rights of the
law being outside of the "law", but others could kill him on sight as
if he were a wolf or other wild animal.” (source: Wikipedia) - and hence the title is rather apt.
Hereward travels to and is welcomed at the court of
Tostig Godwinsson, Earl of Northumbria and brother of Harold Godwinsson, the most powerful man in England. But in a turn of events, both are forced
to flee to Flanders where Hereward becomes a mercenary. He returns to England after the Battle of
Hastings and so we are lead onto Book Two.
A crash course in pre-Conquest England politics is a must for those for whom this period in history is not their forte - for this is a period of violence, political scheming, personal ambitions and deadly rivalries. It is also a time when the Church is attempting to flex its political arm by trying to curb the violence of the era (see Peace and Truce of God).
Synopsis - The Time of the Wolf: A Novel of Medieval England:
To some a brilliant warrior, to others a devil in
human form, Hereward is as adept in the art of slaughter as the enemies that
gather to claim England's throne. But in his country's hour of greatest need,
he has been declared an outlaw. To stay alive - and a freeman - he must carve a
bloody swathe from the frozen hills of Northumbria to Flanders' fields and the
fenlands of East Anglia. The tale of a man whose deeds will become the stuff of
legend, this is also the story of two mis-matched allies: Hereward the man of
war, and Alric, a monk and a man of peace. One will risk everything to save the
land he loves, the other to save his friend's soul...
Synopsis - Hereward: The Devil's Army:
The battle of Hastings has been lost. Harold
Godwinsson is dead. The iron fist of William the Bastard has begun to squeeze
the life out of England. But there is one who stands in the way of the
invader's savagery. He is called Hereward. He is a warrior and master tactician
and as adept at slaughter as the imposter who sits upon the throne. And he is
England's last hope.
Further Reading:
Hereward the Last English Gentleman - Peter Rex
Hereward the Last of the
English - Charles Kingsley
Hereward the Wake - trans Michael Swanton
Some Links:
Article from the Independent in 2005 in which David Keys writes of the new evidence on the ancestry of Hereward - and it is this theory that Wilde adopts for his Hereward.
One of history's "greatest
Englishmen" wasn't really English at all. Hereward the Wake, the guerrilla
leader who fought William the Conqueror for five years from 1066, was,
according to new research, a high-ranking Dane.
The research by the historian Peter Rex sheds a fascinating
light on the political circumstances of the time. Ever since the late
ninth-century Viking raids, parts of eastern England had often come under
Danish control - and for some of the 11th century the whole of England became
part of a vast Danish empire, which also included Norway, southern Sweden.
England became the subject of a
geopolitical tug-of-war between the Scandinavians and the Normans. The
half-Norman English king Edward the Confessor was intensely pro-Norman, while
his half-Danish successor Harold was supported by the Anglo-Danish community.
In 1066 the country was invaded by
both the Scandinavians and the Normans, both of whom were determined to seize
permanent control of England.
As an ethnic Dane, Hereward was
intensely anti-Norman, probably even more so than many Anglo-Saxons.
He was able to enlist military
support from Denmark itself, the new research reveals, and in 1069 the Danish
royal family and the Danish church sent a small army across the North Sea to
assist Hereward.
As a result of his long guerrilla campaign and by avoiding the
attentions of the William's soldiers he earned the popular title "the
Wake", meaning "the watchful".
The title of the book "Tree of Pearls" by Jurji Zaydan is said to be based upon the first Muslim Queen of Egypt - Shagrat al-Durr, concubine to Al-Salih and mother of his son, who came to rule Egypt at the time of the Crusades under Louis IX. She was said to have gained power with the aid of her favourite, 'Izz al-Din Aybak the Turk - who was also her confidant and lover.
And this really is the last we hear of Tree of Pearls until the fall of Baghdad to the Mongols when we learn the fate and future of all the main characters.
