Alliances and Battles

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Sandra Wagner-Wright

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Saxon Heroines

Literature & Fiction

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Synopsis
Seventh century England is a hodgepodge of warring Anglo-Saxon states filled with shifting alliances and treacherous grabs for royal power. Kings rise and fall, depending on Woden's Luck. Northumbria, the damp kingdom north of the River Humber, is a state riven with rivalries and kings determined to expand at any cost. Women have no obvious role in a warrior society, but by using their wits, four women—two queens and two abbesses—make monumental changes. One woman marries a pagan king and successfully converts him to Christianity before he dies in battle. One becomes the most powerful abbess in Northumbria and holds the Great Synod at Whitby Abbey, which brings the kingdom back to the Roman Church. Another becomes queen and keeps political alliances strong despite different religious denominations. The fourth woman ushers in a new age by negotiating with kings and churchmen to establish one united church in the Northumbrian kingdom. Based on true events and people, this is the story of Northumbria through the eyes of the most important women of their time.

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Author Biography

Sandra writes historical fiction. Her latest book, "Ambition, Arrogance & Pride" focuses on 18th century Salem MA. Sandra also blogs about history, travel, and other topics that catch her attention. For more information about Sandra, visit her website https://www.sandrawagnerwright.com

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Alliances and Battles

To cement an alliance, King Egfrid arranges for this sister to marry King Ethelred of Mercia. Perhaps the offer and acceptance was sincere, but it didn't stop Ethelred from attacking his new brother-in-law. Allies are summoned, including Egfrid's brother Elfwin. The Queen Mother of Northumbria is distraught. She prays constantly that her children on both sides will be spared. When the battle was joined King Egfrid won. His brother Elfwin died. And what, one wonders, became of their sister who was married to the defeated king? The record doesn't say.

Book Excerpt

Saxon Heroines

Three months after the wedding, Ethelred attacks Egfrid’s men in Lindsey—the province my brother took from Mercia. Egfrid summons his chiefs. My brother, Elfwin, brings men from Deira.

My two brothers ride into battle, as my mother despairs. She has two sons fighting on one side—and a daughter held in suspicion by the enemy—and stays on her knees from dawn to dusk, scarcely pausing to rest.
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