Hayling Island, in 956, was written as both Heilincigae and Haeglingaiggae. Doubtless some readers will prefer other versions of the names listed below, but I have usually employed whichever spelling is cited in either the Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names or the Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names for the years nearest or contained within Alfred's reign, 871-899 AD, but even that solution is not foolproof. Thus London was variously rendered as Lundonia, Lundenberg, Lundenne, Lundene, Lundenwic, Lundenceaster and Lundres. PLACE NAMES The spelling of place names in Anglo Saxon England was an uncertain business, with no consistency and no agreement even about the name itself. Uhtred, a Northumbrian raised as a Viking, a man without lands, a warrior without a country, has become a splendid, heroic figure. It is a powerful story of betrayal, romance and struggle, set in an England of turmoil, upheaval and glory. The Lords of the North, like Bernard Cornwell's two previous novels in this tale of England's making, is based on real events. In the end it is Alfred the Great of Wessex who sees profit in Northumbria's despair and looses Uhtred and Ragnar onto Dunholm, the invincible fortress on its great spur of rock in the lawless north. His rescue comes through an unlikely alliance of his friends and enemies. Uhtred ends up on a slave voyage to Iceland. Guthred, though, is weak and yields to treachery. If Guthred is to rule Northumbria he needs Uhtred and Ragnar, the Dane who is Uhtred's sworn brother. He will need the assistance of other warriors if he is to attack Dunholm and he finds Guthred, a slave who believes he is a king. His only ally is Hild, a West Saxon nun fleeing her calling, and his best hope is his sword, with which he has made a formidable reputation as a warrior. Uhtred arrives in the north to discover rebellion, chaos and fear. He needs to find his old enemy, Kjartan, a renegade Danish lord who lurks in the formidable stronghold of Dunholm. He flees Wessex, going back north to seek revenge for the killing of his foster father and to rescue his stepsister, captured in the same raid. Uhtred, the dispossessed son of a Northumbrian lord, helped Alfred win that victory, but now, as The Lords of the North begins, he is disgusted by Alfred's lack of generosity and repelled by the king's insistent piety. The Lords Of The North By Bernard Cornwell The year is 878 and Wessex is free from the Vikings.
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