alfred, 871-899

Chronicles the life of ninth-century English king Alfred the Great, who saved the country from a Danish takeover and contributed greatly to the translation of Latin texts into Old English.

At the end of the ninth century, the Danes see a chance for victory and attack King Alfred of Wessex, who is ill; after Uhtred, Alfred's reluctant warlord, defeats the Vikings, he turns his back on service to the Saxon king and joins the Vikings with the intent of reclaiming his ancestral fortress.

"At the onset of the tenth century, England is in turmoil. Alfred the Great is dead and Edward his son reigns as king. Loyalties will be divided and men will fall, as every Saxon kingdom is drawn into the bloodiest battle yet with the Danes; a war which will decide the fate of every king, and the entire English nation"--Provided by publisher.

At the end of the ninth century, Alfred the Great is on his death bed and unified England is on the brink of chaos, and Saxon-born, Viking-raised warrior Uhtred is forced to choose between his vows to Alfred and England or to lay down his sword to reclaim his long-lost ancestral lands in the north.

Presents a fictionalized account of Uhtred, the son of an English nobleman, kidnapped by a Danish chieftain, Earl Ragnar, in A.D. 866, during the Vikings wars against England.

With a fragile peace between Wessex, Mercia, and East Anglia loyalties and ambitions are put to the test when forces gather against the kingdom's greatest warrior, Uhtred of Bebbanburg.

Uhtred, having helped the Saxon king Alfred defeat the Danes, heads for Dunholm intending to free his stepsister who is being held prisoner in the Danish stronghold, and along the way falls in with Guthred, the self-proclaimed King of Northumbria, who has much to learn from Uhtred about battle, politics, and the ways of a monarch.

In ninth-century England, Uhtred of Bebbanburg is ordered by King Alfred to secure the borders of London and resist the attacks of the Norse Viking brothers Sigefrid and Erik Thurgilson, but his uncertain loyalties toward the crown, and his daughter's recent marriage, make it difficult for him to carry out the command.

In ninth-century Britain, fifteen-year-old Aethelflaed, daughter of King Alfred of West Saxony, finds she must assume new responsibilities much sooner than expected when she is betrothed to Ethelred of Mercia in order to strengthen a strategic alliance against the Danes.

In ninth-century England, Uhtred of Bebbanburg is ordered by King Alfred to secure the borders of London and resist the attacks of the Norse Viking brothers Sigefrid and Erik Thurgilson, but his uncertain loyalties toward the crown, and his daughter's recent marriage, make it difficult for him to carry out the command.