Adalwulf: The Two Swords (Tales of Germania Book 1)

by Alaric Longward

  Later, I placed the hammer on the small mound, built under ancient firs. There, Iodocus had buried poor Ingrid, and there I left the hammer, its purpose spent. “Wolf Breaker,” I whispered, and then I left with Harmod, servant to Hulderic and Tiberius, whom I’d serve in the shadows, until I could go and find Gisil. It would take time, and it involved the return of Maroboodus, Hraban’s downfall, and the death of Hulderic.

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  AFTERWORD

  Adalwulf was meant to be a lighter reading, a lead up to the other books that delve deep into the matters of Maroboodus, son of Hulderic and Hraban, son of Maroboodus, but also seemed to develop into its own storyline during the writing. Meaning a book that was meant to be 40,000 words is now 120,000 words. Mea culpa. I cannot make short stories.

  I’ve been often asked how accurate the books are. Are they historically accurate, that is.

  I’m afraid we are left with guesses and assumptions. I don’t write the story of some well-documented king or queen, a noble of note, but the stories of lesser known people. They do walk in the shadows of the great events and famous heroes, but as a fictional writer, my job is to entertain, not to recreate events in a way where a professor might be left smiling with pride. I will not dot the books with foreign words, lengthy explanations of customs, though I will mention many of them, give hints at others and that is it. Yes, the events are there, but I do leave a lot of room for fiction. Hope this is ok. If not, I can point my finger at several, excellent non-fiction books.

  Considering how very little is knows of the Germani of the time, the books are accurate enough. Since the Roman army never conquered the Germani, not really, not truly, though they came close during those years leading to the Varus incident, they failed to take the lands, and so, they never bothered recording the histories of the untamed people. The Romans knew some of the customs, the tribes, their names, the history of the wars they fought with them, but little else.

  I’ve read extensively on the archeological studies and historical theories of the era, know what the people ate, what they drank, how they lived, what they likely worshipped, how close they were to each other culturally, how they waged war and what for, and kind of political issues they would have had during this timeframe. We know a lot more, if we allow ourselves to take hints from how the Viking era Norse, Danes and Svea lived like. The life would have changed, but many of the basic economic and cultural facts would still dictate how people lived. Since the ancient Germani and the Viking era nations were all of the same blood, we are going to have a fairly good picture of the lives of Germanic people of this time frame.

  Adalwulf, like Maroboodus and Hraban, lived during the time of Augustus, the supreme lord of Rome who changed Rome from a Republic into an Empire, even if the trappings of Republic were always hiding the obvious truth. Augustus, despite his immense power, was not a perfect man, and his struggle to find an heir of pure blood, and how that went, is where my Germanic heroes come along. All stories, all adventures are tied to each other, so you can really pick up any of them.

  Hope you enjoy them.