Buried Crown

by Ally Sherrick

  Though my story is set in a real time and place, it is a piece of fiction. So I hope readers will forgive me for taking a few liberties with local scenery and real personalities, together with the creation of imagined characters and events, in the interests of telling as exciting a story as possible.

  Treasure, dragons, runes and ravens

  The treasures discovered in the Sutton Hoo ship burial date from a time when, although people were beginning to convert to Christianity, many still held to traditional pagan beliefs. It is from elements of these beliefs that I have woven my own myth linking the fate of wartime Britain to a piece of undiscovered treasure – the so-called Kingdom-Keeper or dragon-headed crown.

  There is no actual evidence that early Anglo–Saxon kings such as Redwald wore a crown; the helmet in the ship burial is considered the closest thing to it. But though no trace of one has been found at Sutton Hoo, I have enjoyed imagining what it might have looked like if it had existed.

  The giving of treasure was an important part of early Anglo–Saxon warrior society. Ring-giving in particular signified the bond of loyalty between a king and those who fought for him. This theme is echoed in my own story when my hero, George Penny, promises to keep safe the ring his brother, Charlie, gives him as he goes off to join the RAF and fight.

  Courage, loyalty and the importance of staying true to your word, or oath, were all central to the relationship between a king like Redwald and his warriors. They are also qualities displayed by both the fictional Pennys and Regenbogens in the story, and the real servicemen and women and ordinary people who lived through the dark days of the Second World War.

  Dragons were believed by the Anglo–Saxons to love treasure, keeping jealous guard over hoards of gold buried beneath the ground. This may be why they have been used to decorate many of the objects found at Sutton Hoo – including the helmet, the shield and the sword belt.

  At the end of the Anglo–Saxon epic poem, Beowulf, we learn of how a great dragon takes terrible revenge on King Beowulf ’s kingdom after the theft of a golden cup from its treasure hoard. This was the inspiration for The Legend of the Dragon-Headed Crown which Ernst Regenbogen recounts to George and Kitty. And, of course, dragons appear elsewhere in the story too. Real or imagined? I’ll let you decide.

  The runic inscription in the story is based on real runes, or letters of the ancient Germanic alphabet used by both the Anglo–Saxons and the Vikings. It is thought that such inscriptions on Anglo–Saxon weapons, rings and other precious objects were used as charms to give them magical and often protective properties.

  The runic charm on the Kingdom-Keeper links it back to another mythic character familiar to both Anglo– Saxons and Vikings: Wayland the Smith. In my story, Wayland uses the charm, written in dragon’s blood, to invest the crown with the magic which will make the person who seeks to possess it the all-powerful ruler of the country; though as Kitty suggests after George cuts his hand on the crown, perhaps the dragon’s blood itself is capable of other magic too.

  Kitty also thinks the charm might be a riddle. Anglo–Saxons certainly enjoyed inventing and trying to solve these cleverly worded puzzles. And perhaps she is right . . .

  As for ravens, the Anglo–Saxons believed they were birds of ill omen that, together with their fellow ‘Beasts of Battle’, the eagle and the wolf, foreshadowed great slaughter. In Norse mythology, which is strongly linked to the early Anglo–Saxon pagan belief system, a pair of ravens, Huginn and Muninn, acted as messengers for the god Odin. There’s a sense of both these characteristics in the raven in my story, though it brings good luck too.

  Finally, a quick word about ghosts. Anglo–Saxons believed that spirits from the Lowerworld were able to travel into the Middleworld, or world of men. Is the ghost in The Buried Crown real or imagined? Again, I’ll leave you to decide . . .

  Miracles, Spitfires and invasion plans

  The Buried Crown opens not long after what is considered one of the lowest points in the war for Britain when the Allies lost the battle for France and nearly 340,000 British and Allied troops had to be rescued by the Royal Navy and hundreds of private boats – the so-called ‘little ships’– in what became known as the ‘Miracle of Dunkirk’.

  Although the retreat of the Allied Army was a significant defeat, the successful evacuation of so many troops from the beach at Dunkirk paved the way for a new determination to stand up to Adolf Hitler and to do everything to stop him from conquering Britain and winning the war.

  The south and east coasts of England, including Suffolk, were heavily fortified at this time due to heightened invasion fears. Beaches were mined and covered with barbed wire; a chain of radar stations had been constructed along the coast to detect enemy aircraft; and civilian volunteers working in the Royal Observer Corps helped keep a track on planes once they were over land.

  In reality, the area around Sutton Hoo became a restricted zone because of the fear of a German glider-led invasion and there were anti-glider ditches built across the mound field.

  In addition to the fortifications and the creation of the Home Guard to act as a secondary defence force in case of invasion, the Government used posters and information leaflets to warn ordinary people to be on the lookout for German spies and ‘enemies within’.

  As everyone in Britain held their breath during the summer of 1940, waiting to see if Hitler would invade, the Royal Air Force (RAF) was engaged in a desperate battle to keep the German air force, or Luftwaffe, at bay in what the Nazis called Operation Eagle Attack, but which became known as The Battle of Britain.

  At the start of the story, George’s brother, Charlie, is about to complete his pilot training and earn his ‘wings’. In reality he would have trained at a specialist training centre before joining a squadron to go up and fight, but in the interests of keeping the story tight, I have him finishing his training at an active combat airbase.

  Charlie is a Spitfire pilot. In reality, Spitfires weren’t very well suited for night flying and in spite of special adaptations the RAF stopped using them for this purpose in June 1940. But I have used a little dramatic licence to suggest that perhaps one or two might still be in service when my story opens in September that year. Coincidentally, I discovered as I was writing the story, that the word ‘spitfire’ comes from the Anglo–Saxon word meaning a fiery person.

  It is due in large part to the bravery of the RAF aircrew who fought in the Battle of Britain – nearly 600 of whom were killed and many more injured – that Hitler eventually decided to cancel his seaborne invasion plan – codenamed Operation Sea Lion – and the country lived on to fight another day.

  Although the attempted landing of Nazis troops in The Buried Crown didn’t happen in real life, there were rumours that a failed German invasion attempt had actually occurred at around the same time as my story takes place at Shingle Street, a few miles from Woodbridge, on the Suffolk coast. However this was never proved and it’s now regarded as a piece of wartime propaganda.

  What is true is that Hitler tried to destroy British morale by ordering a campaign of intensive bombing of London and many other cities and industrial targets by the Luftwaffe. This blitzkrieg or ‘lightning war’ began on 7 September 1940 and continued for eight months until May 1941. The Blitz was responsible for the deaths of over 43,000 civilians, the serious injuring of tens of thousands more and the destruction of huge numbers of homes, factories and other buildings up and down the country.

  Evacuees and refugees

  Wars and conflicts force countless numbers of ordinary people to flee their homes and to travel many miles, often at great risk, in desperate search of a safe refuge. The Second World War was no different, and the idea of exile and being parted from your loved ones is an important theme in The Buried Crown.

  Both George and Kitty experience this first-hand, George as an evacuee from London and Kitty as a German Jew, who has to leave her homeland to escape persecution and, ultimately, almost certain death at the hands of Adolf Hitl
er and his Nazis during what became known as the Holocaust – the mass murder of millions of Jews and other groups of people the Nazis deemed ‘undesirable’.

  Kitty is one of the ‘lucky ones’, given safe passage thanks to the Kindertransport (German for ‘children’s transport’). This was a series of organized rescue efforts, developed in response to widespread violence against Jews in Germany by Nazi paramilitaries and German civilians on 9–10 November 1938 during what became known as Kristallnacht (German for ‘Crystal Night’ after the mass of broken glass from damaged properties on the streets afterwards). The transports brought approximately 10,000 mainly Jewish children and young people from Occupied Europe (mainly Germany, Austria, Poland and Czechoslovakia) to safety in the UK principally between December 1938 and the outbreak of the war in September 1939.

  Meanwhile, in 1940, when invasion fever was at its height, Germans, Austrians and Italians living in Britain were labelled ‘enemy aliens’ and many were sent to internment camps or deported to penal colonies in countries like Canada and Australia. Incredibly, this included Jewish refugees, amongst them some of those who had arrived via the Kindertransport. Due to protests in the British Parliament, the first internees began to be released from August 1940 until eventually only those believed by the authorities to present a serious risk continued to be detained.

  I hope in some modest way, besides being an entertaining story, The Buried Crown helps to shine a light on the bravery and resilience of the real Georges, Kittys, Charlies and Ernsts of this world, who, in the face of great and seemingly overpowering odds, have the courage to accept and stand up for what they know to be right and true.

  A note about the real people who feature in The Buried Crown

  In real life, Adolf Hitler and some of the other leading Nazis were indeed treasure-thieves: they even created a special Nazi theft unit to steal artworks from the countries they invaded to build their own collections. The Nazis were also interested in runes and ancient myths for their propaganda value. If the crown had really existed, and if Hitler had managed to have it stolen, I think there is a strong chance he would have made use of it in the Nazi propaganda war against Britain.

  (Note: there is some debate about Hitler’s eye-colour – blue or brown? Based on my own research, I have plumped for blue, but it is worth noting that this is the subject of some controversy.)

  Prime Minister Winston Churchill is credited with leading the country to eventual victory against Hitler and his Nazis, with the help of its allies. But this victory was not a foregone conclusion. At the time when The Buried Crown is set, Britain stood alone against what seemed impossible odds. Churchill recognized the significant challenge the country faced, as did the reigning king, King George VI. Between them they gave ordinary people the courage to stand firm in the face of great hardship and loss. I like to think that if the crown had existed, and had come into their hands, it would have helped further strengthen their resolve to win the war.

  More information

  Read:

  About the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial:

  Sutton Hoo by Steven J. Plunkett – National Trust Guidebooks

  The Sutton Hoo Helmet by Sonja Marzinzik – British Museum Objects in Focus Series – British Museum Press British Museum web pages on Sutton Hoo

  http://www.britishmuseum.org/visiting/galleries/europe/room_41_europe_ad_300-1100.aspx

  About the Second World War:

  BBC websites:

  The Battle of Britain – http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/histories/battle_of_britain

  The Blitz – http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/world_war2/air_raids/

  Dunkirk – http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/dunkirk/

  Evacuees – http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/world_war2/evacuation/

  Other websites and publications:

  The Association of Jewish Refugees – www.ajr.org.uk (for information on the Kindertransport initiative)

  Imperial War Museums pages on the Second World War – http://www.iwm.org.uk/history/second-world-war

  The National Archives – http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/sessions-and-resources/?time-period=second-world-war

  Evacuees of the Second World War by Mike Brown – Shire Publications Ltd

  The Home Front by Guy de la Bédoyère – Shire Publications Ltd

  Visit:

  ‘Kindertransport – the arrival’ memorial sculpture by Frank Meisler – Liverpool Street Station, London

  RAF Museums (Cosford and London) – https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/

  Second World War exhibits at The Imperial War Museums – http://www.iwm.org.uk/

  The Sutton Hoo Ship Burial Site – https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sutton-hoo

  The Sutton Hoo Treasures at the British Museum – http://www.britishmuseum.org/

  Acknowledgements

  Researching and writing a story is a bit like going on an archaeological dig – you might have some idea of what you are looking for, but you are never quite sure what you will find. That has definitely been my experience with The Buried Crown. And of course, like the business of uncovering buried artefacts and treasures, writing a book is a highly collaborative process too. So I have many people to thank for helping me excavate this story from the shadowy cave of my imagination and bring it out into the light.

  First and foremost my parents: my dad, George Burt, whose memories of his time spent as an evacuee during the Second World War are one of the archaeological layers in our own family history, packed full of shiny nuggets of inspiration. And my late mum, Beryl, also an evacuee, who, through her own love of books, encouraged me into reading, so giving me the tools to begin uncovering my own stories.

  As ever, I am also indebted to my writing friends – especially the members of the two critiquing groups I belong to – who encouraged me in the early days to think that this particular patch of ground was worth further exploration.

  I also owe a very big thank you to the people who have freely and very generously given of their time to share their expert advice and insights into the key historical elements of the story: my former university professor, Professor Richard N. Bailey for checking the details relating to the Sutton Hoo ship burial and providing me with the runic and Anglo–Saxon versions of the Kingdom-Keeper’s inscription; Kindertransport refugee, Bernd Koschland, who left his home and family in Bavaria to seek shelter in the UK from Nazi persecution all those years ago and who has kindly reviewed and commented on my representation of the Kinder experience in the story, and also to Chairman, Sir Erich Reich and all the other members of the Kindertransport special interest group of the Association of Jewish Refugees who I had the privilege of meeting with and talking to about their experiences, and to Susan Harrod, Lead Outreach and Events Co-ordinator, for the invitation; Bryan Legate, Assistant Curator (Archive and Library) at the Royal Air Force Museum Hendon and Bill Reid, former wartime pilot in the Fleet Air Arm for their insights into the recruitment and training of pilots during World War Two and the design and handling of Spitfires; Bob Merrett at Woodbridge Museum, for information about the town during the war; Sally Metcalf, Volunteer Programme Manager at the National Trust, Sutton Hoo, for information relating to the ship burial site and Tranmer House (the ‘big house’ in the story) and the staff at Wood-bridge Library for making available archive material relating to the original Sutton Hoo discovery. And finally to our good friend, Till Ruessmann for his advice on my use of German phrases and terms.

  While I have tried to stay true to the historical background and geography of the area where possible, the book is, of course, a work of fiction and so I hope I will be forgiven for taking certain liberties in the interests of telling a good story. All errors and inaccuracies are my own!

  My sincere thanks too to the brilliant and passionate story excavators extraordinaire, Chicken House Books and in particular: Treasure-Seeker-in-Chief, Barry Cunningham for encouraging me to dig deep and bring The Buried Crown to the surface; my wise and eagle-e
yed editor, Kesia Lupo for helping me cut through the layers of grime to discover the treasure beneath and to Rachel Leyshon, Esther Waller and Sue Cook for helping to make it shine. Also to Rachel Hickman, Jazz Bartlett, Laura Smythe and Elinor Bagenal for showing it to its best advantage and to the talented trio of Rachel H., artist Alexis Snell and designer Steve Wells for the glittering and gorgeous cover.

  And above all, my deep and heartfelt thanks to my husband, fellow adventurer and best friend, Steve, whose support, encouragement and love are, for me, the most precious treasures of all.

  TRY ANOTHER GREAT BOOK FROM CHICKEN HOUSE

  BLACK POWDER by ALLY SHERRICK

  England, 1605

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  This historical tale is steeped in intrigue, mystery and danger.

  BOOKTRUST

  . . . a wonderfully explosive adventure . . . I loved reading about (and rooting for) Tom, though I have to admit developing a rival soft spot for his mouse.

  JULIA GOLDING

  Paperback, ISBN 978-1-910655-26-9, £6.99 • ebook, ISBN 978-1-910655-65-8, £6.99

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  MY FRIEND THE ENEMY by DAN SMITH

  1941. It’s wartime and when a German plane crashes in flames near Peter’s home, he rushes over hoping to find something exciting to keep.

  But what he finds instead is an injured young airman. He needs help, but can either of them trust the enemy?

  . . . an exciting, thought-provoking book.

  THE BOOKSELLER