The Chosen Queen

by Joanna Courtney

  Vikings

  It is unlikely that Edyth and her fellows would have called Hardrada and his troops ‘Vikings’ as the appellation was not in use until later. They would more likely have called them ‘Northmen’ but for our purposes ‘Vikings’ more accurately conveys the sense of piratical fear that they would have inspired.

  Hostages

  Hostages were a normal and accepted way of securing an agreement and more often than not the people who served as such were treated as noble guests – unless, of course, the agreement was broken. We know that hostages, along with much treasure, were due to be delivered to Hardrada at Stamford Bridge but have no way of knowing who they were and certainly not if they included Edyth’s two Welsh princes. Given that this was a vital agreement, however, the hostages would certainly have been important people so it seems quite possible that if they were with her in York (again, unknown) Ewan (Idwal) and Morgan (Maredudd) would have been part of the terrible delegation.

  Monarchs

  William decreed that the numbering of monarchs would start with him so King Harold and all his predecessors have no numbers but rather appellations – e.g. Edmund Ironside and Alfred the Great. Many such names were given posthumously, notably Edward the Confessor, whose moniker was introduced only around two hundred years after his death as part of a PR move by the monks of Westminster to attract pilgrims to his tomb.

  Key Historical Moments

  William’s visit to Edward’s court at Christmas 1051

  There is only one report of this visit but it is the largely reliable Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the timing is believable. In 1051 the Godwin family had been forced into exile, largely due to the machinations of Edward’s Norman adviser Robert of Jumièges, who was clearly working to pave the way for William’s acquisition of the English throne. It is quite possible that William visited his cousin’s court for Christ’s mass and that he becoming Edward’s heir was discussed, as it may have been discussed with others (in much the same way that Elizabeth I was later to dangle promises of marriage). There is, however, no record of a formal agreement.

  The Kingship of Wales

  King Griffin can honestly claim to be the only man in history ever to have been King of all Wales. Although there were some leaders who’d controlled vast areas before him – notably Rhodri the Great, who ruled all of Wales bar Deheubarth from 844–878, and Hywel ap Cadell, who ruled all bar Glamorgan from 910–950 – none of them, until Griffin, controlled all four key principalities (Deheubarth, Powys, Glamorgan and Gwynedd). After Griffin’s death, English overlordship was asserted, so although there were sovereign princes – notably Rhys ap Gruffydd, 1155–1197, and Llywelyn Fawr (Great) circa 1200–1240 – there was never again a full king. In 1282 King Edward I of England conquered the country fully and from that point on the title of ‘Prince of Wales’ became an honorary one for the heir apparent, as it still is today. This means that Edyth was the only woman ever to be Queen of Wales and, indeed, ever to be Queen of both Wales and England – a fact for which she surely deserves recognition.

  Harold Hardrada’s visit to Rhuddlan

  I have taken some artistic licence with this visit. There is documented evidence that Vikings travelled to Wales and invaded England from that vantage point, though sources (notably the Brut y Tywysogyon or Chronicle of the Princes) suggest that they were led not by Hardrada himself but by his son, Magnus. Harald, however, did travel widely around the North Sea and the Atlantic – including quite feasibly to the legendary ‘Vineland’ (Newfoundland in America) – so it is perfectly possible that he could have been part of such a landing.

  Harold’s trip to William in 1064

  It is documented that Harold’s ship was wrecked at Ponthieu and that he was rescued from Count Guy by William himself and thereafter spent some time in the ducal court, fighting with William in a successful Brittany campaign and making some sort of oath before he left. What is not documented (as it did not interest contemporary chroniclers) is why he went. Theories range from him being blown off-course on a fishing trip, to him trying to rescue his hostage brother and nephew, to him being on a diplomatic mission from King Edward. We will never know but I hope my version is consistent with my characters.

  King Edward’s deathbed

  There is no formal recording of King Edward bequeathing his throne with his final breaths, simply a deliberately mysterious report in the far from reliable Vita Edwardi Regis (the ‘Life of King Edward’ commissioned as a medieval PR exercise by Queen Aldyth) that he commended ‘to Harold’s care the queen, the kingdom and the foreigners who had served Edward well’. Harold, however, was crowned the next day and given that he had long been recognised in formal documents as ‘sub-regulus’, or under-king, there seem to be few grounds for dispute regarding Edward’s intentions.

  In Anglo-Saxon times having royal blood was only one of the criteria for becoming king and definitely not the most important one, that being the ability to defend the country against enemies. There was no rule of primogeniture – a Norman introduction – and the Witan, or Council, held the right to elect the man that they saw most fit to rule. Harold, in 1066, was undoubtedly that man.

  Northern Reinforcements at Hastings

  If history does not record why Harold travelled to Normandy in 1064, it also fails to document why he chose to march on Hastings before his northern reinforcements made it to London. For such an experienced and battle-hardened warrior it seems a reckless and impatient mistake – one that cost him his life and kingdom – so why did he do it?

  William was ravaging the lands around Hastings which were in Harold’s patrimonial earldom of Wessex so he would have felt a duty to defend his people there as soon as possible. It could also be true that as speed helped him defeat Hardrada, he wished to persist in pressing forward. William’s troops do seem to have suffered from severe dysentery so he may have been hoping they were still weak. Plus, so many troops milling around London would have been costly and violent and keeping them moving would have been a sound strategy. Harold must also have been on a high from defeating Hardrada, exhausted from a summer of waiting and the long march north, and desperate to get rid of this final invader. Once in the south he would have had less control of timings, being at the mercy of William’s advancing army, but it certainly seems likely that fighting the battle a day or two later would have been wiser.

  We do not know for sure that the men who apparently lured a large number of pursuing Normans into a ravine after the battle existed or that, if they did, they were Edwin and Morcar’s troops. The brothers were in London defending Edgar Atheling very shortly afterwards, however, so they definitely did ride south and it seems more than probable it was their troops. If so, it can honestly be said that Harold may have lost England in the last hour of the Battle of Hastings and that had the northern men made it a little sooner (or if Harold had waited for them before going into battle) history could have been so very different.

  Harold’s burial

  There is no hard evidence of where King Harold is buried. Two stories exist: the first is that his body was rescued by Svana (or in some versions his mother) and taken to Waltham Abbey. The second is that William scornfully had him buried on a cliff somewhere on the south coast to look out at the dukedom that had ‘reclaimed’ the English throne from him. What seems to be fairly well established is that his poor hacked-up corpse was identified by Svana because of a mole on his shoulder. I simply took these reports and transposed the mole onto Avery to create a dramatic and hopefully credible ending.

  After the battle

  In 1067 Edyth gave birth to a baby boy whom she named Harold and who could, had history only been a turn of a battle different, have ruled after his father. We do not know what happened to Edyth in the aftermath of 1066 but she may well have escaped to Ireland with Svana’s three elder sons who launched abortive rebellions against William in the south-west in 1067, 1068 and 1069, possibly to try to put the young Harold on the throne. Edyth’s brothers also
attempted rebellion in the north in 1068 and again in 1070, when Edwin was killed and Morcar imprisoned for life.

  The young Harold reappears thirty years later at the Norwegian court. It seems that he may have been welcomed by Magnus II, Harald Hardrada’s son, because Harold had treated him so well in letting him retreat with his ships after the Battle of Stamford Bridge. He could also, of course, have been a possible inspiration for a further attempt at invading England but, if so, that never happened.

  Edyth, Edwin, Morcar and Nesta may have gone with the royal child to Norway, but there is a clear record of Nesta marrying Osbern FitzRichard, son of the Norman lord who built Richard’s Castle (one of the few stone castles built in England before the conquest) near Ludlow. As this is very near to the border of Wales it is tempting to consider the possibility that Edyth at some point returned to her first husband’s country but we have no concrete evidence of this.

  People and Places

  Westminster

  Readers will note that Westminster is portrayed here as being on Thorney Island. This is a well documented fact and shows the significant changes London’s landscape has seen over the centuries. Thorney Island was created by the Tyburn river which came from the hills of South Hampstead and divided between what is now St James’ Park and Buckingham Palace, cutting Thorney Island off from the ‘mainland’. The Tyburn, along with various other ancient rivers and streams, still exists but it was sunk into brick sewers in the early nineteenth century and now flows well beneath London’s pavements and buildings.

  Earl Torr

  I may have been harsh on the character of Earl Tostig in that there is some evidence to suggest that far from being the womaniser of my story he was a pious and faithful man. The nickname ‘Torr’ – the Anglo-Saxon word for ‘Tower’ – is of my own making and I have borrowed some of his reputation from that of his wild older brother Svein who died in 1052 before this tale begins. Earl Tostig was, however, undoubtedly known to be hard on his northern subjects and inclined to spend as much of his time in the south as possible which led to the very unusual civil rebellion of 1065. The key facts of the northern rebellion as used in this story are well documented and lend weight to the idea that he was a hard and unpopular man.

  Macbeth

  Lovers of Shakespeare will, I hope, be pleased to see the real Macbeth make an appearance in this story. He ruled Scotland between 1040 and 1057 with his son Lulach then succeeding him for a year. Malcolm fled to England where he seems to have been fostered by Earl Ward (Siward) of Northumbria and brought to court where King Edward – who was himself an exile in Normandy for years – supported him. It was English armies who helped Prince Malcolm win back his throne, a process which took several years between 1054 and 1058 and which came at considerable cost to Earl Siward as his adult son, Osbeorn, was killed in battle. Osbeorn’s death meant that there was no natural successor as Earl of Northumbria when Siward died of old age the following year – thus opening the way for Earl Torr and the chain of events this story explores.

  Edyth’s sons

  Whilst Nesta is almost certainly Edyth’s daughter, there is some confusion in texts about whether Ewan (Idwal) and Morgan (Maredudd) were actually hers or Griffin’s sons from some previous mistress, perhaps Lady Gwyneth. Given how long Edyth was queen, however, it seems likely that they were hers.

  Svana and Edyth’s friendship

  There is, I must confess, absolutely no historical evidence about a friendship between these two women (and certainly no letters), but friendships were not something Anglo-Saxon chroniclers were interested in. It is true, however, that Edyth would have been in East Anglia during her father’s rule as earl between 1051 and 1055 so would more than likely have met Svana (Eadyth Swanneck), a key landholder within the area, a number of times. The rest is my own fancy and I hope readers enjoyed it.

  CHANGED NAMES

  Given that some of the original names of the characters are either hard to pronounce or confusingly common I have made some changes to help the flow of the story for the modern reader. For the curious, however, here are the original names:

  ANGLO-SAXON/WELSH

  MY VERSION

  Eadyth Swanneck

  Svana

  Earl Siward

  Earl Ward

  Earl Godwin’s children

  Harold

  Harold

  Eadyth

  Aldyth (Queen)

  Tostig

  Torr (Tostig used occasionally)

  Gyrth

  Garth

  Leofwine

  Lane

  Aelfgifu

  Emma

  Gunnhild

  Hannah

  Wulfnoth

  Wulf

  Earl Alfgar’s children

  Burgheard

  Brodie

  Eadyth

  Edyth

  Eadwin

  Edwin

  Morcar

  Morcar (Marc)

  Edyth’s children

  Idwal

  Ewan

  Maredudd

  Morgan

  Nesta

  Nesta

  Svana’s children

  Godwin

  Godwin

  Eadmund

  Edmund

  Magnus

  Magnus

  Gytha

  Crysta

  Gunnhild

  Hannah

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I have so many people to thank for getting me this far. Writing a book is a crazy thing to do and whilst for me it’s been largely a joy, I can’t say it’s made me a joy to be around for the other poor souls in my life and I cannot thank them enough for being there for me.

  Firstly I need to thank Stuart and our children for their patience, love and tolerance of my endless interest in Anglo-Saxon facts. In particular Hannah for telling everyone I ‘only write about the Battle of Hastings’, Alec for keeping my feet on the ground by reminding me ‘football is so much more important than books’, Rory for being an example of endless studiousness, and Emily for being my fellow history-lover and Welsh reader-in-residence. They’re so proud of having a ‘writer’ for a mum and I very much hope this book will live up to their loving and trusting expectations.

  Then there’s my brother, Sandy, and my sister, Lindsay, for being so damned successful in their own spheres that I’ve had to fight and fight to try and keep up! And of course, along with their lovely families, for being my confidants, supporters and drinking buddies. My dad for reading my work, providing honest and valuable feedback, and, particularly, for always picking up accidentally rude or foolish words (never will anyone in my books ‘stoke’ someone’s thigh again). My stepmum for vital childcare in the early years when I was trying to become ‘a writer’, and my mum for chocolate, emotional support and the lovely message recently left on my whiteboard stating: ‘Keep going – I sense a breakthrough coming’. How right you were, Mum!

  Then there are my friends. Maggie and Jacky and all the Cambridge girlies who have insisted with impressive consistency that I am not totally mad for trying to be a writer. My Supper Club ladies for boosting my confidence with my waistline and for keeping me sane (well, almost sane) through the perils of working as a self-employed mum. Brenda and Jamie for editorial wisdom and vital hot tubbage, Tracey for no-nonsense encouragement and quality snacks, and my writerly mates Tracy Bloom and Julie Houston, both of whom I met through the RNA, and with whom I have been privileged to share some of the trials and joys of becoming published.

  And finally the pros. A big thanks to all my editors at the women’s magazines for their backing and advice over the last fifteen years. To the Open University for employing me as a Creative Writing tutor – work that I love and that has brought me the income that enabled me to continue writing as a ‘proper job’. Emily’s Welsh friend, Aled, for verifying my clumsy use of his beautiful language; the fantastic Anglo-Saxon House; the British Museum; and the lovely ladies at Mickleover Library for their endless help and pati
ence.

  And then of course I have to say a huge thank you to Kate Shaw, my fantastic agent, who first showed belief in me as a writer way back in 2004 and who has stubbornly persisted in that belief and finally persuaded somebody else to agree with her. And finally to that somebody – Natasha Harding at Pan Macmillan – for being the one who loved my novel enough to take it on and bring it to the world, as well as for her enthusiasm and astute editing.