From my blog...

The Last Kingdom 4, Episode 9

Posted on May 8, 2020 by Patricia

Episode 9 opens in Aylesbury where Edward is lingering (too long) to witness Aethelflaed become Lady of Mercia in what looks like a wedding ceremony.

Eventually we learn that the king is going to return to Wessex (finally) and Aethelflaed will lead an army in the opposite direction to secure Mercia’s northern border.

Meanwhile, Brida and Sigtryggr are attacking Winchester. In his novels Bernard Cornwell doesn’t make much use of archers (that I can recall), but they were an essential part of viking warfare, and Sigtryggr has used them against the Welsh and now against Winchester. Also, the vikings’ favorite strategy was to pop up unexpectedly and strike swiftly before an alarm could be raised, and we see that here, too.  In King Edward’s absence, Aethelhelm is in charge of the royal city’s defenses, and he finds himself surrounded and forced to yield. What surprised me in this scene was the slaughter of the kneeling Saxon warriors even though Aethelhelm has yielded. Normally, vikings were out for loot, and once a town surrendered they took everything of value, including slaves, and went on to hit the next target. But Brida isn’t out for plunder. What she wants is vengeance against everything Saxon. She wants to rip out the Saxon heart, and she pursues that goal with gleeful malice. Sigtryggr seems content to let her have her way for now, but we wonder how long it will be before he sours on her. We sure have!

Uhtred and company are camping in a forest in Wessex on their way to Lady Aelswith’s estate at Bedwyn. Aelswith is trying to bond with Uhtred, but she’s going about it all wrong and irritating him and everyone else because, well, she’s Aelswith. Then we have another viking coup de main, with Haesten’s men popping up almost out of nowhere to surround Uhtred’s band. Actor Jeppe Beck Laursen makes such a great Haesten because he’s so deliciously nasty and stupid and we hate him so much. He reveals with fiendish relish that Sigtryygr has captured Winchester; he strings Uhtred and his men upside down from tree limbs; and he hauls Aelswith, Athelstan and Stiorra with him to Winchester, leaving 2 men behind to watch the warriors dangle slowly to their deaths.

And they would have died, (the lungs start to fail if the body is hung upside down for too long) except that Eadith, who is really good at lurking in the shadows, comes to their aid. It’s not easy for her, but she manages to free them, and then they’re off at a run because Uhtred is frantic about what might happen to Stiorra if she’s discovered to be his daughter. Poor Pyrlig is sent to find Edward and, once again we see him climbing up a dang hill.

Aelswith shows that her good angel can be somewhat cunning because before entering Winchester she removes the cross that marks Athelstan a Christian from around the boy’s neck. And there’s a sweet verbal knife thrust when she’s led to Brida and Sigtryggr:
Aelswith: “I want to speak with whoever leads you.”
Brida: “I lead here.”
Aelswith: “No. I mean the MAN in charge of this.”

Aelswith holds her own in this little byplay, and she gets high marks for lying to protect Stiorra and Athelstan. But sparrow-brained Eardwulf is there and he reveals who Stiorra is.  It’s a wonderful scene, with Sigtryggr alert to every word, every dire threat that spills ever so calmly from Aelswith’s mouth. It made me remember what Leofric used to say about King Alfred: “The bastard thinks.” Sigtryggr is thinking, and he intervenes when Brida orders Stiorra’s head sent to Uhtred. It’s the first crack in his alliance with Brida.

‘Know your enemy’ is an ancient military strategy, and Sygtryggr must realize that he’s going to have to fight Uhtred. So far, all he knows of Uhtred is what he’s heard, presumably, from Brida. So when he questions Stiorra about the Saxons, the Danes, and her father, he sees a different picture.

Stiorra tells him that the enmity between Saxons and Danes is foolish. It’s a game for old men. And Sigtryggr, who we are reminded over and over is a young, new breed of Dane and is not out for revenge like Brida but wants to settle in Britain, listens.

Outside the walls of Winchester, hidden among the trees, Uhtred recognizes that the Danes are preparing for a siege and he is searching for some strategy that will help him defeat Sigtryggr and rescue his daughter.

Eadith shows her mettle again by offering to enter the city because she’s the only one who won’t be recognized. They send her in, and then they have an agonizing wait. Uhtred blames himself for Beocca’s death, and it’s taught him to be cautious, especially with this young, cunning Dane.

Pyrlig finds Edward and alerts him to what’s happened at Winchester, and Edward reverts to his 2-year-old self. It’s all about him. MY heirs are captives! Someone must have betrayed ME! And the worst of it is, he’s realizing that he’s done exactly the same thing that Aethelred did: he left his stronghold in Wessex for too long and didn’t leave enough troops behind to defend his people. He’s furious and hot headed and doesn’t give himself the time that he needs to think about what he should do next.

Edward shouts that to re-take Winchester he’ll even raise the dead and, Oh Look! That’s exactly what Brida is doing as she digs up a graveyard to spite the Saxons and their religion. Eardwulf protests, and Brida takes this opportunity to tell him that he’s despised by everyone.

That sends him to the ale house, and once he’s drunk he decides it might be fun to abuse Stiorra. Sigtryggr catches him at it, and when he learns from Stiorra that Eardwulf murdered his oath lord, Athelred, and thus can’t be trusted, it’s all over for Eardwulf. Sigtryggr has him dragged out to the courtyard to listen as the brash young warlord harangues against the dangers of anger and ambition, and against men of the old generation who pursued their own glory and went down to defeat. Brida doesn’t like what she’s hearing, and another crack appears in the Sigtryggr/Brida alliance.

Eadith, who has been doing a good job of lurking in secret so far, sees her brother about to be executed and gives herself away. She can’t help it; she pleads for mercy. Eardwulf earns some redemption by telling Sigtryggr scornfully that she’s just a whore he once knew, possibly saving her life.

Haesten, though, stupid as he is, intuits that she’s Eardwulf’s sister, and just when she’s found Aelswith, Haesten nabs her, for purposes of his own no doubt.

In the final scenes, Edward arrives with his army and despite Uhtred’s protests he throws his men recklessly and pointlessly against the walls of Winchester. Somewhere in heaven, Alfred is weeping.

 

Posted in The Last Kingdom | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The Last Kingdom 4, Episode 8

Posted on May 6, 2020 by Patricia

Episode 8 of The Last Kingdom 4 begins in Wales. And by the way, these Welsh segments of the series are unique to the tv drama. They are not based on events in Bernard Cornwell’s books, and this is one time when having read the books makes it more difficult for me to be objective about what’s happening on the screen. Personally I found most of the scenes in Wales this episode hard to watch, but they do accomplish several important things.

To begin with, Brida’s baby bump gives us an idea of the passage of time. At least 3 months, maybe 4, have passed since we saw her in Episode 2 before the Battle of Tettenhall when she was newly pregnant. And I think that another month goes by over the course of this episode. None of this is a surprise, given the distances that the characters have had to travel this season, but it helps to have the time frame reinforced.

The Welsh segments introduce the character of Sigtryggr, who is not quite as boyish and exuberant as I imagined him when I read the novels. I hope he lightens up.

The violence and viciousness of Brida, the Welsh, and Sigtryggr are a pretty heavy-handed contrast to the discussions about God, sacrifice, leadership and responsibility taking place in Aylesbury. Even as I understood what the writers were doing here, I didn’t really enjoy it. It’s a little like having to take a bad-tasting medicine. Nevertheless, the character of Brida is the Brida that we know from the novels. The difference is, we’re witnessing her descent into savagery, while in the novels it was sprung on us.

I have a couple of quibbles about that unlikely nighttime battle between the Welsh and the Danes. Back in Season 2 there was a nighttime battle beneath a full moon, remember that?

The full moon made that earlier battle somewhat believable, although in reality battles would have ended when night fell. This time King Hywel is using darkness to cover his movements, and that’s REALLY stretching believability for me. Go take a walk in the woods in the dark and see how far you get without tripping over something or bumping into a tree. Still, Sigtryggr’s response makes for exciting watching, with its flaming pit and fire arrows, (and he didn’t even need Melisandre to ignite that trench). Coal would have been abundant in Wales, and coal tar fumes are highly flammable; the Danes (and the script writers) are making use of that, although that looks like oil in the trench, but okay. This reveals Sigtryggr’s cleverness and ingenuity. It’s the longbows, though, that bother me. Sigtryggr shouts for his men to raise their longbows and, yes, it’s a quibble, but it is the Welsh who used longbows, not the Danes. Just sayin’.

At the end of the Welsh segments sparrow-brained Eardwulf shows up like a bad penny, and the Danes are heading into Wessex to take Winchester and make Brida happy.

Meantime, in Aylesbury, the search for a new Lord of Mercia is playing out in a way that’s different enough from the books to make me a little regretful that the series didn’t stick closer to Cornwell’s story line. Aethelflaed has more agency and more ambition in the novel, and in this series I missed the conversations and the collaboration between Aethelflaed and Uhtred about putting her on that empty throne that took place in the book. Here, Uhtred’s decision to relinquish the throne to her seems to be something he thinks of on the spot. It’s a surprise to everyone, including Aethelflaed, and it makes her seem far less assertive than I’d like to see her.

The theme of royal family politics is in play again, with Edward deciding that Uhtred should rule Mercia, Aethelflaed opposing it, and Aelswith telling her daughter to accept her lot as a woman with no voice in the decisions of men. Aelswith’s expression of astonished approval when Aethelred takes the throne is priceless.

Edward, of course, behaves like a jealous kid whose big sister has just snatched his favorite toy, Uhtred has to raise the Mercian fyrd to support Aethelflaed, and when Edward is still grumpy his mom has to step in once again and reason with him. She persuades him, too, that it would be dangerous to take Athelstan to Winchester, and Edward approves of her plan to take the boy to Bedwyn and raise him there.

Uhtred’s son and daughter, who’ve only just been re-united, are bidding each other farewell. Young Uhtred is following his priestly calling and returning to his abbey in Wessex, so now instead of being Uhtred’s warrior son, he is going to be the priestly son. Young Uhtred has to play two roles at once. Stiorra has been hanging out in the tavern with Finan and company, a bit of a wild child and the polar opposite of her brother. Young Uhtred regretfully refuses to take her with him into Wessex, and she watches him leave, convinced she’s going to be married off to someone she despises. Stiorra has no illusions about the fate that awaited most young women in the 10th century: marriage or a convent.

Eadith is rewarded for her care of Aelfwynn with a bag of silver and Aethelflaed’s promise of a comfortable cell in a convent. She takes the coins but turns down the convent and instead asks Finan to let her travel with Uhtred’s merry band when they leave Aylesbury. Eadith is no dummy.

So at the end of the episode, Young Uhtred is riding alone into Wessex. Uhtred and company will be escorting Aelswith and Athelstan into Wessex. Presumably, Edward will soon be returning into Wessex. And what they don’t know  is that Brida, Sigtryggr and an army of Danes are also making for Wessex. Hold on tight. There’s trouble ahead.  

And just in case you’re wondering, I very much doubt that catechumens in Anglo-Saxon England had to get buck naked when they were baptized.

 

 

Posted in The Last Kingdom | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Last Kingdom 4, Episode 7

Posted on May 4, 2020 by Patricia

Early in Episode 7 of The Last Kingdom 4 Uhtred arrives in Aylesbury, a town beset by hunger, fear, sickness, mistrust and a lack of leadership. The ealdormen who should be running the place are at odds with the king and with each other. Uhtred interrupts their wrangling to announce that Aethelred was murdered by sparrow-brained Eardwulf and that Aethelflaed’s daughter is safe, but he won’t say where she is.

Poor Aelfwynn is ninety miles away, lying sick in the Wyre Forest and being treated with a mixture of wormwood and holy water. Osferth is concerned that the concoction will kill her.

But although wormwood sounds creepy, it is still used today for stomach ailments. Its German name is vermouth, so basically Eadith was giving Aelfwynn a martini without the gin. But when Aelfwynn can’t be wakened, Eadith insists that they take her back to Aylesbury where a healer can treat her. So back they go, on a very long hike. Several scenes later Sihtric (Arnas Fedaravicius) finds Aethelflaed (Millie Brady) and leads her to the Wyre Forest, where the woman who sheltered the girl tells them that Aelfwynn died and was taken to be buried at Aylesbury. So Aethelflaed, stricken, rides toward Ayelsbury.   

Edward is busily blaming Uhtred for the problems he’s currently facing with the Mercians. He insists that there would have been a smooth transition of power if Uhtred and Aethelflaed had not fled Aylesbury. He conveniently forgets that the man he chose to take power was a murderer and a thief. Yet even as he sends Uhtred to be caged until he reveals Aelfwynn’s whereabouts, Edward is thinking ahead, showing some signs that he is his father’s son—and his mother’s. He orders the Wessex guards to take grain from the ealdormen that are hoarding it and distribute it among the townsfolk. When Ealdorman Burgred shows up to confront the king about it, Edward not only pulls rank (“I’m anointed by God and I’m a son of Alfred”), he informs Burgred that his son is on the way to Wessex to be held hostage for Burgred’s good behavior.  Edward: 1, Burgred: 0

Uhtred has been placed in the gentle hands of slimy Aethelhelm who orders his man Cenric to beat the whereabouts of Aelfwynn out of Uhtred while Aethelhelm just sits and enjoys the show.

Aelswith, under the influence of both her bad and her good angels, tells her son that although he was callous to send Burgred’s son away, it was a smart move. Edward has averted a fight and shown himself to be decisive. But don’t try to conquer the Mercians, she advises. They will resist. Slimy Aethelhelm interrupts to report that despite their efforts to persuade him Uhtred refuses to reveal where Aelfwynn is. Alarmed, Edward goes to see what condition Uhtred is in.

We are about 30 minutes into the show at this point, and now we have come to what I think is one of the very best scenes of this season so far. It is a conversation between King Edward and a battered but defiant Uhtred. In his earlier dealing with Burgred, Edward played his ‘I’m the king’ card. But in this scene with Uhtred, Edward shows his vulnerability. He starts by entering Uhtred’s cage and sitting on the floor to face him. And THAT was astounding.

These two men, remember, have a long history. Uhtred taught a young Edward how to wield a sword; Edward observed, for years, his father’s struggles with Uhtred; Edward knows that Uhtred loves Aethelflaed; and clearly, Edward respects this man. In this scene Edward is given the opportunity to think out loud about courage, fate, Alfred’s dream of a united England, and Edward’s own mistakes. In the end, he gives Uhtred his freedom and asks him to keep Aethelflaed and her daughter safe until the conflict in Mercia is settled, because he’s afraid that things are going to get bad.

Edward also sends that snake Aethehelm away, a sure sign that the king is wising up. When he is alerted that his niece is outside the gate he orders her brought inside and sends for every healer in the town.

 

In the scene that follows Edward watches, unseen, as Uhtred contains a growing riot by telling the Mercians that they must work as one. Aelswith, her bad angel on her shoulder, is standing behind Edward muttering, “See how he influences them. He will make them rise against you.” Edward’s response is to have Uhtred brought to him.

And now Edward and Uhtred have another heart to heart that appears at first to be confrontational, but Edward has something else in mind. He needs a good man to act as interim ruler in Mercia, and he makes Uhtred an offer that Uhtred can’t refuse. It would mean, though, that Uhtred would once again have to give his oath to a Saxon king, and he’s reluctant. While Uhtred is thinking it over, even Aelswith agrees with Edward that it may be the only good solution. And although Aethelflaed’s name has been mentioned several times in this episode, the penny hasn’t dropped yet that she is the obvious choice to lead Mercia.

Aelswith brings Athelstan to his father, telling Edward that the boy needs his protection.

Edward is angry because he has a queen and a son by her to deal with, and he orders Aelswith to take the boy back to wherever he was hidden. But he hasn’t really refused to do what his mother has asked. And we are learning that Edward needs to process things, so stay tuned.

In Wales Brida (Emily Cox) is rescued by Cnut’s cousin Sigtryggr (Eysteinn Sigurdarson). I laughed out loud at what happened when Rhodri (Nigel Lindsay) insisted that Brida was dead. Once out of her pit Brida tells Sigtryggr that she has a score to settle with Uhtred for allowing her to be taken by the Welsh, and then she tosses her tormentor Rhodri into the pit. Turn about’s fair play.

Aethelflaed is reunited with her daughter who is cured of her illness and Aelswith tells us that The Sickness is fading.

Uhtred meets with Edward and agrees to become the temporary lord of Mercia. On learning of this, Uhtred’s companions are jubilant. Uhtred, though, is not happy. What, we wonder, is he thinking?

 

Posted in The Last Kingdom | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

The Last Kingdom 4, Episode 6

Posted on May 3, 2020 by Patricia

Episode 6 brings us right into the present day as Uhtred and his company, on the road to Chester with 4 children in their midst, discover that folk in Mercia are dying of The Sickness. The showrunners couldn’t possibly have known when they wrote this script that their audience would be watching this episode while sequestered in their homes due to Covid-19. Oh, the irony!

I was surprised by the decision to use the phrase, The Sickness, to describe the contagion wreaking havoc in Mercia. Pestilence is the first word that comes to my mind, and The Sickness sounds odd to me. But I did some research and discovered that the words pestilence and plague derive from Old French and do not appear in the English language until the 14th century. Sickness, though is an Anglo-Saxon word, seocnesse, and absolutely appropriate for this 10th century setting. That’s some pretty impressive research on the part of the writing staff!

There is still political unrest in Aylesbury even as Aethelred is laid to rest because the Mercian ealdormen suspect that King Edward wants to conquer Mercia. His troops are inside the city, and why else would they be there? When refugees fleeing The Sickness arrive at the city gates Edward believes that they should be given refuge, but he has to bow to the wishes of the ealdormen who insist on closing the gates against their own people to save the town. The political unrest worsens when Edward’s mum arrives and, denied entry into the city, insists on seeing her son.

The ealdorman, along with slimy Aethelhelm (Adrian Schiller), want her to go back to Wessex, but Edward overrides them all and orders the gates opened, which confirms the ealdormen’s fears that he wants to take over Mercia.

As if Edward doesn’t have enough problems, his mother tells him that Aethelhelm is scheming against her and must have ordered her confined in Winchester. Edward insists it was all a mistake, and when Aelswith asks why Aethelflaed has left Aylesbury he uses a child’s time-honored tactic to avoid getting into trouble with his mother: he lies to her. It’s all Aethelflaed’s fault, he says. She’s run off with Uhtred and abandoned her life as a widow. His tactic might have worked, except that Aelswith searches out Fr. Pyrlig (Cavan Clerkin) and gets the true story, that his sister fled because Edward had imprisoned her. Even worse, Edward’s insistence on Aelfwynn’s marriage to Eardwulf has put two of Aelswith’s grandchildren on the road and in harm’s way because of the sickness abroad in the land. Edward is not in his mother’s good books right now.

Meantime, in Wales, Brida is being mistreated by King Hywel’s brother. 

Her lot is pretty dismal until word arrives that a Danish fleet has landed. Brida pricks up her ears—rescue might be on the way!

So, several scenes in, we have the Welsh about to face a Danish infestation. We have Mercian ealdormen, some of them pretty surly and threatening, at odds with King Edward. We have the all too politically innocent Edward still believing that slimy Aethelhelm can be trusted. We have Aethelflaed and Aldhelm riding north hoping to meet up with Uhtred and company. We have armed men searching for Aethelflaed and her daughter Aelfwynn per Edward’s command. We have weaselly Eardwulf (Jamie Blackley) disobeying the king’s instruction that he stay in Ayelsbury by setting out to find Aelfwynn himself because he’s so eager to marry her and become Lord of Mercia that he can’t sit still. And we have Uhtred (Alexander Daemon) riding toward Chester with a few men and four children.

It is those children and their defenders who are really at the heart of this episode because bonds are being forged among them.

Uhtred’s men are in good humor, bantering with each other to our amusement as, like mother ducks, they guide their young charges northward.

The mood darkens when the company is abruptly made aware of the contagion, and Finan, who has seen it before, is so agitated he’s practically beside himself. Forced to abandon the road and travel overland, their journey becomes more and more grim, and Aelfwynn (Helena Albright) sickens. She is the youngest, and there is nothing quite so heartrending as a young child in danger. Just when the little group finally reaches the outskirts of a village where they can rest, Eardwulf and his warriors spot them, and Eardwulf promises the terrified Aelfwynn that if she doesn’t come to him he’ll kill all her friends and her mother, too. Why wouldn’t any little girl run into the arms of a guy like that?

The children are plucky, though, and Uhtred’s men are ready to defend them to the death.

But before blood is spilled, Eadith (Stefanie Martini) has finally had it up to here with her brother, and she turns on him. Eadith’s accusation that he murdered Aethelred, confirmed by the ring he stole from the body, sends her brother packing, although we can’t be certain where he’s going or if he’s utterly defeated. Nor can we be certain that the children will get to Chester or that Aelfwynn will survive.

But the children are safe for now, and Uhtred and Finan are returning to Aylesbury to bear witness against Eardwulf, and to keep the men of Mercia and Wessex from turning on each other.

 

Posted in The Last Kingdom | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

The Last Kingdom 4, Episode 5

Posted on May 2, 2020 by Patricia

The first four episodes of this 4th season were based on Bernard Cornwell’s novel The Pagan Lord, and they followed its two major story lines: Uhtred’s attempt to seize Bebbanburg and Cnut’s attempt to seize Mercia. The Netflix series, however plays fast and loose with the plots and the characters. Why? Because it must. Cornwell’s novels are narrated by Uhtred, which means that he has to witness everything. He cannot relate in detail what is happening in Winchester while he is in Bebbanburg. But because the narrator of the tv series is, essentially, the all-knowing camera, it can be in both places and explore the personalities and motives of a large number of characters in much greater depth than we get in the novels. For example, King Edward and Lord Aethelred are distant figures in this book. We never really get inside their heads. We only see them, when we see them at all, through Uhtred’s point of view. Neither character makes more than a brief appearance in the pages of The Pagan Lord, but in the tv series we see them up close and personal, revealing themselves through their dialogue, their actions, their expressions and body language. The acting is top notch. Is one medium richer than the other? Not in my mind. They are both rich, just in different ways.

At the end of Episode 4, the Battle of Tettenhall is over and we’ve reached the conclusion of the two story lines of The Pagan Lord. (By the way, that battle ended very differently in the novel. If you haven’t read the book, you should. You will be astounded!)

Now, in Episode 5, the story line concerns the decision about who will rule Mercia, based on Cornwell’s book, The Empty Throne. The theme of royal family politics is still in play, complicated by the grievous injury and impending death of Lord Aethelred (Toby Regbo) and the marriage prospects of his young daughter who, he reminds Aethelflaed (Millie Brady), is not his (at least, not in this Netflix series).

Unrest among the nobles, always a factor in the face of regime change, is vexing both Lady Aethelflaed and King Edward (Timothy Innes), and there are two snakes in this thorny garden in the form of Ealdorman Aethelhelm (Adrian Schiller) and Commander of the Mercian Guard, Eardwulf. They are both deadly, but Aethelhelm is sinister and intelligent while Eardwulf is mean-spirited and sparrow-brained. Eardwulf’s sister Eadith tries to persuade him that they should leave before Aethelred dies, but her brother scoffs at the suggestion. He sees opportunity in the chaos that will result from the death of the Lord of Mercia.

A younger generation has already been introduced in the characters of young Uhtred and of Edward’s son Athelstan, and now Uhtred’s daughter Stiorra and Aethelflaed’s daughter Aelfwynn join them. All the children are sheltered at one of Aethelflaed’s estates, and Uhtred leaves men there to protect them while he and Aethelflaed go with Aldhelm to deal with the political mess in Aylesbury.

King Edward and that snake Aethelhelm are making their way to Aylesbury, too, because Edward wants to make certain that there will be no more instability in Mercia. Aethelred needs to be reprimanded for deserting his people, Edward opines, and in response to a query from Aethelhelm, Edward casually mentions that his mother must be publicly rebuked for asking the Welsh for help. 

Several scenes later, slimy Aethelhelm, who has it in for Aelswith (Eliza Butterworth), will twist Edward’s remark and use it for his own treacherous ends. Down in Winchester, Aethelhelm’s daughter Queen Aelflaed, in a showdown with Edward’s mother, has Aelswith locked up, per Aethelhelm’s order which goes way beyond what Edward wanted.

Aelswith, undeterred, speaks to a palace guard, hands him a bag of money and tells him he will be well rewarded if he follows her instructions, but we don’t know what those instructions are. What is Aelswith plotting?

Back in Aylesbury Edward discovers that he can’t reprimand Aethelred because he’s dying, and Aethelred’s character is given some grace in his final scenes because his head injury prevents him from remembering very clearly what a creep he was.

We even feel a little sorry for him, especially when he agrees to Aethelflaed’s request that she will have approval over who her daughter will marry. Edward, though, hasn’t agreed to any such thing, and under the influence of slimy Aethelhelm he declares that his niece will marry Eardwulf which will make Eardwulf the next ruler of Mercia.

Eardwulf, sparrow-brain that he is, goes jubilantly to Aethelred’s bedside to share this wonderful news with him and is astonished when Aethelred, who can’t remember much of anything, but does remembers something about Eardwulf that he doesn’t like, says, “You have a stench about you. You will never rule Mercia.” And those are his final words. Eardwulf’s sister Eadith sees her brother murder Aethelred and, because he is venal as well as stupid, Eardwulf takes a ring from the dead man’s hand and slips away.

No one, except Eadith, sees anything suspicious about Aethelred’s death because his wound was mortal. Edward, despite his sister’s protests, is determined to wed his niece to Eardwulf. He sends men to fetch Aelfwynn. When Aethelflaed learns of this, she still thinks she can dissuade her brother, but she doesn’t want her daughter in Aylesbury. She sends Uhtred to take the children to Chester where she will meet him.

The men sent to fetch Aethelflaed’s niece are outwitted by Stiorra without any help from her father, revealing a character that is brave as well as clever.

Edward, under the insidious influence of Aethelhelm, has his sister locked up so no one will see her lack of grief at her husband’s death. But although Aethelflaed has been abandoned by her brother and by the Mercian ealdormen, she still has friends. Eardwulf’s sister Eadith, who knows that her weaselly brother cannot be controlled and will bring nothing but disaster, works with Aldhelm to spring Aethelflaed. “I’ll ensure you never go penniless for this,” Aethelflaed says as she sends Eadith to find Uhtred so they can all meet up at St. Milburg’s Priory where no one will think to look for them.

So it looks like, in the next episode, many of the major characters will be hitting the road while the throne of Mercia sits empty among squabbling Mercian ealdormen who might add even more trouble to what’s already in play.

 

Posted in The Last Kingdom | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Last Kingdom 4, Episode 4

Posted on May 1, 2020 by Patricia

In this episode of The Last Kingdom, women are the prime movers behind the events that lead to the Battle of Tettenhall. Kudos to this production for imagining the role of women as something more than hapless victims needing rescuing.

The first thing we see, though, is Fr. Pyrlig (Cavan Clerkin) making his way to the Welsh king Hywel. And although the image of Pyrlig climbing a hill toward a massive fortress is stunning, it seems pretty harsh that the poor guy has to get there on foot. It’s 150 miles from Winchester to Deheubarth! Couldn’t Lady Aelswith give the man a horse?

In any case, it’s Lady Aelswith, not King Edward, who’s sent Pyrlig to Wales in secret to ask for help against the Danes. She’s promised her daughter Aethelflaed that an army would come to her aid at Tettenhall. And because Aelswith’s son Edward refuses to lead his men into Mercia, she has to get help elsewhere. Fr. Pyrlig finds himself in a tough spot, though, when King Hywel (Steffan Rhodri), assuming that the priest has Edward’s authority, demands all the war spoils in return for his help. Pyrlig knows he’s already in trouble with Edward just by being in Wales without the king’s permission, and we’re left not knowing whether he agrees to Hywel’s demand or not.

In Winchester, Lady Aeslwith (Eliza Butterworth) takes heat from Edward as soon as he learns from that snake Aethelhelm where Pyrlig has gone. Edward (Timothy Innes) wasn’t able to stop his sister from going to Mercia to fight the Danes, and now his mother is making alliances behind his back! “You’ve made us look divided!” he rails at his mother. “The Welsh will think we are weak!”

Poor Edward. He is always worried about his reputation, and his mother, who has always adored her son, nevertheless is aware of his weakness. She lets him have it right between the eyes for refusing to come to Mercia’s aid.

“If you wanted men to speak your name in awe,” she tells him, “this was not the way.”

Summing up: Lady Aelswith has advised Aethelflaed where in Mercia to make her stand against Cnut. She has sent Pyrlig to the Welsh for help. And although Edward doesn’t know it yet, she has reached out to Edward’s estranged wife and son.

Lady Aelswith: 3.  Edward: 0.

Lord Aethelhelm (Adrian Schiller), though, knows that Aelswith has been visiting Athelstan and his mother. The man must have a flock of little birds who keep him informed on all his enemies’ activities. He shares some of what he learns (although probably not all of it) with his whiney daughter, Aelflaed (Amelia Clarkson). She’s given Edward a son, and he’s given her a crown, but he’s already bored with her. This is a little surprising, since she’s the only woman who actually obeys him. She is clearly daddy’s girl, though, and we don’t trust her.

The Danish gang that Cnut sent to Ayelsbury to grab Aethelflaed (Millie Brady) wasn’t expecting to find Uhtred and his men with her. Aethelflaed’s refusal to flee forces Uhtred (Alexander Draemon) to perform a little sleight of hand that convinces the Danes that he’s beheaded Cnut’s eldest son.  That will certainly draw Cnut from the place he’s chosen for the upcoming battle and bring him roaring after Uhtred to take his revenge. Uhtred has bought the Mercians some time and a more favorable battleground, while Aethelflaed is hoping that her brother will meet them at Tettenhall.

At King’s Lynn Aethelred (Toby Regbo) is wearing his pointy crown and playing at king while that handsome weasel Eardwulf (Jamie Blackley) has been busy subduing East Anglia.

Aethelred is still unaware that Cnut’s army has been ravaging in Mercia, but Eardwulf knows, although he’s too afraid of Aethelred to tell him. Eardwulf’s sister, though, has gritted her teeth and submitted to Aethelred’s lust just to soften him up. Eadith (Stefanie Martini), sends Eardwulf to Aethelred to break the bad news about the Danes and the upcoming battle.

 

Like Edward, Aethelred is mostly worried about how he’s going to look if he misses the battle. “My reputation will be ripped to shreds while my wife is revered as the savior of my kingdom!” Nevertheless, he orders his army to head back to Mercia. It will take a while. It’s 123 miles from King’s Lynn to Tettenhall.

Brida, meanwhile, is at the Danish camp with Cnut (Magnus Brun), and as she tries to tell him that she’s carrying his child they are interrupted when the men he’d sent to capture Aethelflaed return, tongue-tied. It’s Brida (Emily Cox) who strides forward, ordering their leader to speak.

 

When Cnut hears that Uhtred has beheaded his son he goes predictably crazy. Although Brida tries to reason with him, pleading with him not to give up their battle position, Cnut is too enraged to listen. He wants Uhtred’s blood.

So, the battle for Mercia will take place at Tettenhall, just as Aelswith and Aethelflaed wanted.  But when Aethelflaed, Uhtred and their handful of men arrive, there is no sign of Edward. King Hywel’s Welshmen appear, though, and the Mercian fyrd, responding to Aethelflaed’s summons, is waiting in the nearby woods. But Cnut has a thousand men, and Uhtred worries that even with the aid of the Welsh, the Mercians can’t win. “What should I tell my men?” Aethelflaed asks him. “Say that Edward is coming. They need to have hope.” Uhtred and his men set a trap that will give Aethelflaed’s troops some advantage in the battle to come, and Aethelflaed is watching, and learning.

When Cnut’s army arrives, it is Brida who senses that something is wrong, Brida who shouts at the Danes to stop while Cnut leads them straight into Uhtred’s trap. What we see here is not the meeting of shield walls that we’ve seen before. It’s more of a melee, and quite wonderfully choreographed and filmed. The late arrival of Aethelred and Edward adds to the tension.

The bad news: Steapa (Adrian Bouchet) is one of the casualties, (No!!!!) and his death gives Edward more bitter accusations to throw at Aethelflaed when the battle is over.

Brida learns of Cnut’s part in the murder of Ragnar, and Cnut falls to her sword. She is captured by the Welsh, and although she pleads with Uhtred to kill her because she cannot bear to be a slave, he hesitates and she is dragged away. If we see Brida again, which I suspect we will, this will likely be yet another crime that she will hold against her old friend and lover.

Finally, just before the episode ends, we see Aethelred carried off the field with a massive head wound. So hey! Happy ending.

 

Posted in The Last Kingdom | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Last Kingdom 4, Episode 3

Posted on April 30, 2020 by Patricia

Episode 3 of Season 4 of The Last Kingdom is permeated with threat, devastation and loss. There is no place in the dialogue for ribald humor or even wry jests among Uhtred’s companions. The father/son theme continues, and the contrast between Uhtred and his cousin Wihtgar could not be greater.  

It begins at Bebbanburg. The cliff hanger we were clinging to, wide-eyed, at the end of Episode 2 is almost immediately resolved when both Uhtred and Beocca try to defuse the tense situation between Uhtred and his cousin, who apparently has never learned to play nicely with others. We do not know why the father he’s just murdered had expelled him from Bebbanburg in the first place, but perhaps it was because of an overarching ego, ambition, cruelty, and a total lack of compassion and reason. We’ve been getting those vibes from Wihtgar, and now they’re confirmed. Uhtred’s response when Beocca throws himself in front of Wihtgar’s arrow aimed at young Uhtred is one of maddened outrage and despair, and as his men make their desperate escape, with Finan dragging Uhtred from the slaughter yard, it starts to rain. Or maybe I was just getting all teary-eyed.

Shipwrecked, sick, and wounded, the men finally make landfall. Uhtred is heartsick and devastated. Even Finan can’t comfort him, at least not right away. I was impressed with the dialogue here, especially Uhtred’s despair that he could not retrieve Beocca’s body, that the priest would lie among strangers. Burial rites were important to all peoples in this age, and we are reminded of Uhtred’s rage when his pagan wife Gisela was given a Christian burial, and how he exhumed her body to place it on a pyre as she would have wished. (Historical aside: 100 years later King Swein Forkbeard’s body, buried in England, would be exhumed and borne to Denmark for fear the English would find his English grave and desecrate his corpse.)

We don’t know where in England Uhtred and his companions are, and neither do they. Uhtred is lost—physically and emotionally. He has lost Bebbanburg, and he has lost Beocca, who was the one constant in his life. Over the course of the episode, as he and his men appear to wander aimlessly, Uhtred grapples with his loss, with his role as a leader of men that he believes he can no longer fill, and with his strained relationship with his son. Finan is now the one constant in his life from the days when they were slaves together, and it’s Finan who holds the team together and seeks to ease the antipathy between young Uhtred and his father.

Finan finally gets through to Uhtred, too, as he buries the cross Hild gave him because he cannot bury Beocca. “If Beocca were here he would tell you this is not the end,” Finan insists. “We’ll get more men and return to Bebbanburg. We’ll batter down the gates!” The insertion of scenes of Beocca with Uhtred from earlier episodes was quite moving. Ian Hart, we will miss you!

 

In Winchester the father/son theme is playing out in an altogether different way as family politics continue to roil. King Edward is attempting to out-think Cnut, and he’s spot-on, actually. Cnut is trying to lure him into a battle that Edward knows he can’t win, not without Aethelred’s Mercians who are in East Anglia where Aethelred is pretending to be a king. (Have you noticed how Aethelred is almost always wearing that pointy crown, yet he’s not a king?) Wessex, though, not Mercia, is Edward’s first concern. His mother, a Mercian, insists that his father Alfred would go to Mercia’s aid, and that only puts Edward’s back up. The most he’ll do is send a messenger to demand that Aethelred hightail it back to Mercia, which doesn’t please the Mercians in the family one bit.

Aethelflaed, remembered historically as a Mercian leader whose close and constant cooperation with her brother Edward against the Danes was a brilliant coordinated strategy, at this point in our story decides that she has to force Edward’s hand. She sets out for Mercia to raise the fyrd against Cnut. When Edward finds out what she’s doing he’s angrier than ever because she’s forcing him to send troops to help her. Father-in-law Aethelhelm, though, counsels that there’s an advantage to just sitting back and allowing Mercia to lose to the Danes and letting Aethelflaed meet whatever fate awaits her, thus revealing himself to be the snake that Beocca said he was.

Concerned for her daughter and frustrated by her son’s refusal to lead his army against Cnut, Aelswith sends Fr. Pyrlig to the Welsh king to enlist his aid against the Danes. She perceives this as a battle for the soul of England—Christians against pagans. And if Fr. Pyrlig gets in trouble with King Edward for bringing the Welsh into the mix, well, it’s God’s will. Oh Aelswith! You are so hard to love!

Edward’s messenger to Aethelred runs into that handsome weasel Eardwulf first and is murdered before he can tell the ealdorman that Mercia is in trouble and that Eardwulf was an idiot for trusting Haesten’s information about Cnut’s departure for Ireland. Speaking of Haesten, we’ve known for some time that he had to spill the beans to someone about Cnut’s involvement in Ragnar’s murder, and it’s no surprise that when Haesten and Uhtred meet on a trail in a forest somewhere in England (what are the chances of that?) he fills Uhtred in on all that’s been happening in Mercia and Wessex, he gleefully vilifies Aethelflaed, then slyly reveals Cnut’s crime to prevent Uhtred from gutting him.

Haesten’s news that Aethelflaed is in trouble sends Uhtred toward Aylesbury, with Cnut’s sons in tow as hostages. On the way he has a heart to heart with his own son, and they come to an understanding.

 

In Aylesbury Uhtred finds that Aethelflaed is desperately short of defenders. She doesn’t know if Edward is coming. She doesn’t know if Aethelred is coming. She doesn’t have a clue about Pyrlig’s mission to the Welsh.

 

And on a ridge outside of Aylesbury, a gang of Cnut’s men are preparing to attack, with orders to capture the Lady of Mercia.

 

Posted in The Last Kingdom | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The Last Kingdom 4, Episode 2

Posted on April 29, 2020 by Patricia

Episode 2 of this season’s The Last Kingdom picks up right where the first episode left off, following the two story lines of 1) Uhtred’s effort to re-take Bebbanburg and 2) Cnut and Brida’s effort to conquer Mercia and Wessex. But there is a third storyline that lies beneath both of these: family politics that impact royal succession and decision-making. And while much of what we are watching here is fiction, the family politics regarding succession were very real, although greatly simplified here and woven through with fictional interactions.

Historically, because King Edward’s first marriage, to Ecgwynn, brought him little dynastic advantage, she was sent from court, and no doubt placed in an abbey, so he could marry Aelflaed who had a royal bloodline. (An historical aside: remember that murdering little weasel Aethelwold? Well, Aelflaed was the real Aethelwold’s niece.) Anyway, when Edward’s new wife gave him a son, his firstborn son Aethelstan had to leave court. Edward’s second wife was indeed anointed queen of Wessex—an honor and title that Edward’s mother was never given, and The Last Kingdom plays on that by portraying Aelswith’s resentment and her vain efforts to stop the coronation. Aelswith has always been a complicated character, and Eliza Butterworth does a marvelous job of showing us every facet of her personality.

In this episode her frustration at seeing her young grandson’s preference for his maternal grandpa over her sends her in search of her other grandson; and anyone watching who has never heard of King Aethelstan now knows who he was. I loved that moment of revelation.

 

There is, too, an excellent scene in which King Edward is pummeled with conflicting advice from his father-in-law, his mother, his sister and a couple of advisors all at the same time. It’s a veritable cacophony that highlights how family politics impacted royal decision-making. Edward is not amused, and seems almost frozen with indecision.  

Now let’s consider the Cnut and Brida ‘Let’s Kill Aethelred to draw King Edward into a trap’ story line. The mindless slaughter—of Saxon families by Cnut’s Danes and of Danish families by Aethelred’s Saxons—is making Season 4 horrifyingly violent. Mind you, Bernard Cornwell can write a battle scene that covers five or six pages, but they are battles between armed forces, not the mindless slaughter of unarmed townsfolk. I get it that this is an effort to portray the cruelty of both Cnut (Magnus Brun) and Aethelred—and of Brida, who becomes more bloodthirsty with every scene—but I hope that we don’t have to watch much more of this kind of bloodshed.

Brida reminds me of Lady Macbeth: Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me, from the crown to the toe, topfull of direst cruelty. She and Cnut are getting on famously right now, so much so that there appears to be a baby on the way. But if she finds out that Cnut was behind the murder of her beloved Ragnar, Cnut had better watch out, and that seems to be where this plot line is heading.

Aethelred’s determination to conquer East Anglia, which takes him all the way to England’s eastern coast when he should have been protecting Mercia is adding to Edward’s woes. It saves Aethelred, though, from the butchery the Danes are wreaking at Aylesbury. He doesn’t know how fortunate he is, though. He’s busy trying to seduce Eadith while she’s busy trying to avoid his bed. And she’s really worried that Aethelred is going to order her brother to kill Aethelflad which, give Eadith credit, she does not want.

While the Danes are rampaging in Mercia, while Aethelred is rampaging in East Anglia, and while King Edward is trying to figure out what to do about them, our hero Uhtred is on his way home to Bebbanburg.

He only has about 20 men to attack this impregnable fortress, but Uncle Aelfric only has 40 men within the walls to defend it, right? Umm, no. Two ships have arrived in the very nick of time, filled with warriors led by a surprise guest named Wihtgar (Ossian Perret), and we can tell that they are going to throw a monkey wrench into Uhtred’s homecoming.

As Uhtred’s ship approaches Bebbanburg he worries that he is taking his men toward defeat, that it is not the right time to attempt this. Fr. Beocca, though, assures him that he will succeed, and Uhtred has already set in motion his plan for getting into the fortress. Young Uhtred is integral to that plan’s success, and he does what his father has told him to do (he’s been raised by monks, and he knows about obedience).

He lies through his teeth to get himself and his monkish companions into Bebbanburg, and he displays courage, defiance and determination when his father’s plan goes all to hell.

The scenes at Bebbanburg are full of plot twists and the slow build-up of tension, with a final, stunning, cliffhanger of a reversal. When the credits rolled I was still holding my breath.

 

 

Posted in The Last Kingdom | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Last Kingdom 4, Episode 1

Posted on April 28, 2020 by Patricia

The first episode of the long-awaited Season 4 of The Last Kingdom covers a lot of ground—re-connecting us with on-going characters and introducing some new faces. It appears to be following the two major story lines from Cornwell’s 7th novel, The Pagan Lord. The first plot involves Uhtred’s return to Bebbanburg and his attempt to retake it. The second focuses on the Danish armies under Cnut and their efforts to conquer Mercia. How the story lines play out on the show, though, differs greatly from what happens in the novel.

The episode opens with a desperate, bloody battle in Northumbria between our hero’s nasty uncle Aelfric, (Joseph Millson), who stole the fortress and its lands from Uhtred, and a Scottish horde that is eager to dislodge him. Aelfric escapes with his life, but his repellent nature is on full display as he vilifies his men.

Meantime, miles away in southern Mercia, the very opposite of a battle is taking place in Uhtred’s bedchamber. Anyone who is not familiar with Bernard Cornwell’s brilliant novels which are the basis for this series might be surprised to see Uhtred making passionate love to the Lady Aethelflaed, but this scene pretty much mimics Cornwell’s first reference to their coupling back in The Burning Land (Book 5) when one morning we discover that she is with him in his bedchamber, her feet bare as she joins him to gaze out the window. There were plenty of hints that this romantic liaison was coming, of course, but nothing explicit, not even a kiss, until now. Nevertheless, in the space of a single scene we learn that Uhtred (Alexander Draemon) and Aethelflaed (Millie Brady) are now lovers, and we are reminded, when they’re interrupted by her supporter Aldhelm (James Northcote), that she is married to Ealdorman Aethelred who hates her and who has not just one lover, but many.

Speaking of Aethelred (Toby Regbo), his newest near-conquest is a beauty named Eadith (Stefanie Martini) who is playing a ‘come hither’ game that is frustrating the ealdorman. She appears to be out for whatever she can get from him without giving anything in return.

We hope she wins, but her brother, Eardwulf (Jamie Blackley) is worried that Aethelred will slip from the hook if she’s not a little more forthcoming. As the commander of Aethelred’s household guards, Eardwulf has been talking with the Dane Haesten who’s been feeding him information about the movements of Cnut’s Danish army.

At this point longtime TLK fans are shouting at the screen “Haesten is a spavined weasel. Don’t trust him!” But Eardwulf can’t hear us.

Haesten (Jeppe Beck Laursen), of course, is in cahoots with Cnut (Magnus Brun) and Brida who are hungry for conquest and are happily misleading the Saxons about their plans. The character of Brida—the spunky girl who was Uhtred’s love in Season 1 and later Ragnar’s woman—has been slowly evolving into a bitter creature who hates all Christians. It’s an accurate reflection of her character development in the books, and Emily Cox’s portrayal of Brida is spot on.

Down in Winchester there is unrest within the royal family. King Edward’s mother, Lady Not-A-Queen Aelswith (Eliza Butterworth), resents her son’s dependence on his father-in-law, Aethelhelm (Adrian Schiller) while she’s been demoted to a new position as the king’s annoying and ignored mother.

It’s true that she was annoying when Alfred was alive, but at least he listened to her counsel. Her son merely sends her to her room (near the kitchens) and when she complains to Fr. Beocca about Aethelhelm’s ambition he tells her, “You cannot invite a serpent into the garden and be surprised when it slithers on the ground.”

Good old Fr. Beocca (Ian Hart). We’re so glad he’s still around, along with Hild (Eva Birthistle), Fr. Pyrlig (Cavan Clerkin), Steapa (Adrian Bouchet), and Uhtred’s merry gang of loyal followers Finan (Mark Rowley), Sihtric (Arnas Fedaravicius) and Osferth (Ewan Mitchell).

Uhtred’s son, Uhtred, makes his appearance near the episode’s end. There were two sons in the novels, and the show runners have decided to combine them into one figure. He and dad do not get along, which is not surprising, given that the boy was raised by monks to be a fervent Christian per Alfred’s command. I loved Uhtred’s grumbling aside that Alfred still torments him. Uhtred the elder really tries to reach out to the boy, but Uhtred the younger is a typical teenager—resentful, surly, defiant, and mouthy for a monk—to the great amusement of Uhtred’s merry band. His personality is very different from either of the sons in the novels. He’s actually a lot like his father, and adorable. Played by actorFinn Elliot.

There seems to be a father/son theme running through the episode. In a lovely moment Uhtred calls Beocca ‘father’, and he doesn’t appear to be using it as a title but as a relationship. Edward seems to have accepted Aethelhelm as a father figure, despite trying to be his own man. Edward’s rejected son, Athelstan, is mentioned, and as he is important I think we’ll be seeing him soon. Cnut’s two sons have joined him from Ireland. Aelfric is in trouble because his only son is dead, another digression from the novels. And Uhtred reclaims his own son from the abbey, although the jury is still out about how that relationship is going to go.

It’s a wonderful beginning to a new season. And now, on to Bebbanburg!

 

Posted in The Last Kingdom | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Æthelred the King

Posted on April 22, 2020 by Patricia

King Æthelred II, from The Life of King Edward the Confssor. 13th c. Cambridge University Library

On 23 April 1016, Æthelred, king of England, died in London. He was about 50 years old, and he’d ruled England for 38 years. At his death he’d not yet been given the byname, Unræd, (ill-counseled, a play on the Old English meaning of his name, æthel ræd – noble counsel). That would come some years later. Eventually Unræd would be corrupted into Unready, and he would be known as Æthelred the Unready for centuries. As the bynames suggest, his reputation has been anything but enviable:

“His life is said to have been cruel at the outset, pitiable in mid-course, and disgraceful in its ending.” William of Malmesbury, History of the English Kings, 12th century;

“He is the only ruler of the male line of Ecbert whom we can unhesitatingly set down as a bad man and a bad king.” Edward Freeman, The History of the Norman Conquest of England, 1867.

According to historian Simon Keynes’ entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography he was “unequal to the challenge that confronted him, and unfortunate in the circumstances that engulfed him…”

But what do we really know about the man himself?

Biographer Ann Williams, in Æthelred the Unready, the Ill-counselled King, cautions: “We do not and cannot know what kind of a man Æthelred was, only what he did and what happened to him.”

Nevertheless, the things that Æthelred did would seem to indicate that he could be in turns ruthless or diplomatic, vindictive or forgiving, energetic or irresolute. One historian refers to his reign as bi-polar. Even the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entries for this period are as puzzling as they are gripping (and depressing).

Æthelred took the throne under a cloud of suspicion and foreboding. His half-brother, King Edward, had been attacked and murdered, and that crime paved the way for Æthelred’s coronation.

As the queen greets her stepson, his murderers creep up behind him. Wikimedia Commons

That no one was punished for King Edward’s murder hints at a cover-up, if not collusion, by someone in power; if not the  young Æthelred, aged ten, then others quite close to him–perhaps even standing right behind him as he was anointed king.

Coronation of the young AEthelred, watched over by his mother, the queen. From a 19th century popular history. Wikimedia Commons

William of Malmesbury wrote that Æthelred was “haunted by the shade of his brother, demanding terribly the price of blood.” He seems to imply that the troubles that Æthelred faced were brought on by that unpunished murder of King Edward, and that the English suffered because of it. But what happened over the next 30-odd years was far more complicated than that.

When Æthelred attained the throne, England had been a united kingdom for a mere forty years, and allegiances to kin were still far stronger than any oaths made to a distant king. The murder of Æthelred’s half-brother King Edward by men who had sworn loyalty to him is a sign of unrest that didn’t end with the new king’s coronation. When he came of age, Æthelred resorted to steel-gloved efforts to rein in his nobles. These included confiscation of property, exile, blinding, execution, and outright murder. 

It wasn’t easy being king.

Æthelred’s sullied reputation rests mostly, though, on his failure to protect his people from the ravages of the northmen. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, of the 38 years of his monarchy, only 14 were free from devastation inflicted by ever larger viking armies. Æthelred’s efforts to protect England failed utterly. The armies he raised were vanquished. His attempts to bribe the vikings bought England only brief respites. His alliance with Normandy in 1002 brought him a new queen who gave him three children to add to his tally of six sons and 4 daughters by his first wife, but it did not rid him of his ship-borne enemies, one of whom would drive him from his kingdom. Only Swein Forkbeard’s sudden death would allow Æthelred to re-take his throne. 

Swein Forkbeard, who conquered AEthelred’s England in 1013. Photo: Nigel Davies / Viking detail in Swansea Guildhall. Wikimedia Commons

Was Æthelred any more ruthless or cruel than other rulers of his time? Probably not. His was a world that was governed by the sword despite the laws that he enacted and presumably sought to enforce. In the final, dark years of his reign, with a Viking army ravaging the land, all loyalties were strained to the breaking point, and English unity was fractured more than ever. “…there was not a chief that would collect an army, but each fled as he could: no shire, moreover, would stand by another.” (The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle)

Nevertheless, Æthelred’s success at holding his kingdom together for nearly 40 years–except for his 4-month exile in Normandy–meant that art and culture could flourish despite the unrest that plagued the land. Benedictine abbeys patronized by wealthy nobles produced metalwork, sculptures, and gloriously illuminated manuscripts.

The Benedictional of St. Aethelwold. Winchester. 10th c. British Library (Wikimedia Commons)

Many of the greatest works of Old English literature were written at this time including lives of saints and the homilies of Ælfric and of scholar/statesman Archbishop Wulfstan. The only copy of Beowulf in existence was produced, it’s believed, while Æthelred was king.

Such accomplishments as these, though, must be weighed against murders, executions, misplaced trust, bad decisions and desperation that characterized his reign. Æthelred died a reinstated king, but he was a king who had been ill-equipped to cope with the enormous challenges he faced. Even if he was not literally haunted by his brother’s ghost, he must have been, in his final days, haunted by his failures as a ruler.

“He ended his days on St. George’s day; having held his kingdom in much tribulation and difficulty as long as his life continued.” The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 11th century

Wikimedia Commons

 

Posted in History | Tagged | 2 Comments