THE LORDS OF THE NORTH
Bernard Cornwell
Medieval Magic and Mystery
> the Weird Sisters, spinners of destiny
> the ancient Nordic religion as still practised by the Danes (and still believed in by many of the English)
> a witch
Medieval Outsiders
> an English boy brought up among the Danes - our hero
In The Last kingdom, the book which opened this trilogy, we saw the Danes conquer most of England apart from Wessex, then in The Pale Horseman, saw Alfred lose Wessex too, and fight back and reestablish himself as King of Wessex.
He could not have done that without Uhtred.
Yet afterwards he treats Uhtred shabbily, giving more (much more!) to those who failed to support him in his hour of need but who are nominally Christian than to those who stood by him but are, like Uhtred, known to be pagans.
Hating Alfred, Uhtred wants to get away from Wessex, to return to the clean air of the north and there avenge his father's death and assert his own claim to Bebbanberg (modern Bamburgh Castle), now held by a usurping uncle.
But there is no escape for Uhtred. Alfred says he will send him north with an embassy, only he must take an oath binding himself to Alfred before he leaves. Ironically saluting the Three Weird Sisters and accepting his fate, Uhtred does so.
In Northumbria, he saves Guthred, the Danish-Christian would-be king of this only marginally Danish kingdom, and helps make him king in reality. He also meets and falls in love with Guthred's sister, Gisela.
Then follows a story of terrible betrayal, of slavery, and of survival and living to avenge oneself on one's enemies. It is also a love story. And it is a worthy sequel to The Last Kingdom and The Pale Horseman. I won't say "the final book of the trilogy" because it is implied at the end of this book that there is a fourth to come. I hope so.
JM
