Author
This series of books is set in 651 AD, in the eastern kingdom of East Anglia. Three lost souls explore their world and discover themselves, growing as they face an increasingly testing set of problems, each the result of their previous success.
Interlude
The acts of kings and emperors have shaped history. Books are filled with deeds. In the lull between their great games, their subjects are left to heal and rebuild, ultimately surviving and prospering despite the endeavors of the great men. Their stories are remembered in tales told by the fireside.
This tale is set during the early Anglo-Saxon years when petty wars were rife but the unfilled space between the old pagan and the new Christian worlds provided unexpected opportunities.
The Morning Gift
Blind fear can be persuasive in opening a dialogue with God. For people of the early mediaeval times, where certainty of the world was in short supply, religious relics were no mere mementos. They were a tangible link to the distinguished few who had passed from this world to the next and now sat at God’s side. Relics could bring wealth to those who owned them, being gatekeepers for those who had God’s ear.
Aelfric had benefited from this lesson on his first journey. He would now learn that the connection with the wise men of old came not only from their bones, but also from their words. And these would draw him, and his friends, out of the isolated safety of his home.
Interview with a Giant
Folkright, the common law of early Anglo-Saxon times, laid out the rules of community life, controlling property and succession as well as the criminal codes. Enforcement would come from the privileged who took their authority from the king. This is how Aelfric’s father described it, but he then continued with the reality that justice was half a kingdom away and a month too late.
The fortunes had been kind to Aelfric. After a testing few months, they had allowed him to return home with the opportunity to start a life of his choosing. He quickly realized the truth of his father’s words, that his fortune was enough to buy an estate but not to keep it. Making it a home for those he cared for most, could simply put them in danger. The wits he had used on his previous ventures were not enough. He knew he was not yet prepared.
Denial of Gilt
Anglo-Saxon settlements were isolated by nature,
requiring a high degree of self-sufficiency for survival.
Life was hard, also by nature, but the ties of community
allowed burdens to be shared, and joys to be amplified. It
was not difficult to persuade communities to fight for what
was theirs; they had common purpose and local loyalties.
When distant kings, with increasing aspirations, demanded
these communities fight for them, common purpose
was harder to establish and unquestioned loyalty was
not always enough. Treasure was usually an effective
inducement but it was an inexact currency. For two hundred
years, armies had been small and coin had been rarely
needed or used to raise them. It would only be a matter of
time before ambitious kings would realize that the business of
war would be simplified if the minting of coins was revived.
Two coins had set in motion Aelfric's first adventures
away from home. The fates had protected him during that
time, allowing him to establish a community of his own
during an interlude in the wars between kings. But these fates
demanded a price for their support.
He had been noticed,
and the task they set him was to delay that revival.