When I was a lad I lived in a council house in Conisbrough, an industrial township in the West Riding of Yorkshire. There was nothing special about the house – except the view, because right across the valley was one of the best-preserved castles in Yorkshire. It inspired me, at ten years old, to write a book about the castle, but not knowing much about history or archaeology, I ended up copying out Thompson's guidebook (1959) with a few changes and additions. It was not until 2014 that I ...

"We did not come to plunder, but to help. We heard your king needs warriors. We will break your foes and cast them back into the sea. We bring swords."The second volume of the Englaland Pentalogy tells the dramatic story of Hengest and Horsa, whose epoch-making landing in Britain marks the arrival of the first Anglo-Saxons and the birth of what would become Englaland.

When Waldere escapes from Attila with Hildegyth, his bride-to-be, Attila sends 11 warriors after him. But Waldere, a master of Nordic martial arts, beats nine of them in single combat with the help of the legendary sword, Mimming. But can he, exhausted as he is, beat off the remaining two assailants?Waldere was admired by the Anglo-Saxons as the ultimate warrior, and the epic that bears his name stood on equal terms with the only surviving Anglo-Saxon epic, Beowulf, though...

Want to go back to the stirring times of the Middle Ages? In this interactive poem, you can. You play the part of Eubulo, a squire, who takes up service with William de Warenne at Conisbrough Castle and falls in love with Lady Alice, wife of the powerful Earl of Lancaster -- trouble follows, lots of it, involving a siege, a flight through Sherwood Forest and an insurrection against the authority of the king. The events of the poem are based on what actually happened in the years around 131...

"Take Lions' reins and run to safety to the nearby wood. I'll welcome these warriors with Weland's work – no words are sharper!"Attila—the devil made flesh, a savage, a warlord, a king. He killed his own brother to seize the kingship of Hungvar. That tale alone made Rome tremble. But one man stands up to him—Waldere, master of Nordic martial arts, and possessor of the fabled sword, Mimming. Atilla takes him hostage, but when he escapes, Attila sends 12 of his fine...

Blessed by Odin, cursed by Thor, Starkaðr is the greatest of all Viking warriors. This version of his story is closely based on the original sources, mainly the Gesta Danorum by Saxo Grammaticus and Gautrek's Saga.

A bitter feud between the Angles and Frisians begins with a raid on Wederby. Hengest, a young dreng, takes revenge and is exiled for it. He enters service with the Half-Danes, who are also feuding with the Frisians, but doing their best to build bridges. However, at a Yuletide feast in Finnesburh in the year 449, all hell breaks loose.

"I'll do anything," she said, smiling seductively. "Anything," she emphasised the word, "if you will plead with Vortigern, and persuade him to come back to me."Bishop Germanus is sent to Britannia to fight heresy and heathenism. But powerful forces are ranged against him, the most irresistible being Hengest's daughter, Rowena, who tries to break his power by seducing him.

The story of Rouwennë, Hengest's daughter. As a tomboyish girl, fond of stories of shieldmaidens, she gets involved in a Viking raid led by her older brother. The raid goes wrong and her stepmother tries to teach her that her 'womanly weapons' have more power. She uses those weapons to bring down two kings of Britannia and to win her lover—a handsome dreng named Wulf.

Aelle, a Saxon from Saxony, is one of the founders of England, and responsible in part for the word "Saxon" in the ethonym, "Anglo-Saxon" (Latin, Angli-Saxones). In 477, Aelle and his three sons set out from Saxony to settle in what was to become Sussex (Suth-seax). This is his story. Note that the previous edition was entitled, Sword of Saxony.

Egbert was king of Wessex from c. 770 to 839. His achievement is that he brought about the unification of England under the house of Wessex, and paved the way for the successes of Alfred the Great (his grandson). Historical information is thin on the ground, so I have elaborated many scenes from my own imagination, hoping to bring to life this underappreciated Anglo-Saxon monarch.

Hrothgar is best known from the Anglo-Saxon epic poem, Beowulf, where he appears in a background role as the king whose hall is attacked by the troll, Grendel. This book aims to put Hrothgar in the foreground. His story is fleshed out with information from other sources, particularly the Gesta Danorum of Saxo Grammaticus. Other famous figures from Nordic legend appear in Hrothgar s story, some of them briefly alluded to in Beowulf, making this book something like...