1956 historical fiction for young people. Frytha and Bjorn are
descendants of Vikings and part of a community of the same, resisting
the new kings' rule in newly Norman Britain.
As Sutcliff admits, there's no real evidence that anything like
this happened: yes, there are a lot of place names which might
indicate a long-standing Viking influence, or they might not. There is
local tradition, and an oddity in the Domesday Book. But this isn't
history; on the other hand it could still have happened.
These Vikings, in any case, are living in the fells of the Lake
District, and falling foul of the Normans' pacification of Britain;
and when their envoy, sent to sue for peace when the fight seems
hopeless even to them, is murdered and his body displayed, they have
no choice but to fight or die. (But for all that there are some
Normans here who are not villains.)
For a book about a grim and hopeless war there is joy to be found too,
as well as the small details of daily life that are one of my joys in
reading historical fiction. Frytha is adopted into the central group
after her family is killed and their steading burned; Bjorn has
already been orphaned when we meet him. Both of them are outsiders in
small ways, and Bjorn comes to feel that he has much to prove.
And I am not ashamed to admit that I wept while reading the final
chapter.