Just finished, 'The Burning Land',
the fourth book in Cornwell's 'Saxon Tales' series, of the 9th century, when the Vikings fought the Saxons for the control of England. Had always heard of Normandy, that section of France, and the Normans, but never realized the term came Norsemen or Northmen, another name for the Vikings. Also, as I have said before, Viking was originally a verb, as in going viking, or plundering. England came REAL close to becoming a Norse settlement, when the Norsemen controlled nearly all of England, including London and the Thames, but Alfred, the only king with 'the Great' added to his title, saved the day, with a couple of battles that could have gone either way. Pretty tough time to live, but it wasn't boring.
Comments