The King in the North: The Life and Times of Oswald of Northumbria
- Authors
- Adams, Max
- Publisher
- Head of Zeus
- Tags
- history , biography
- ISBN
- 9781781854174
- Date
- 2005-06-09T00:00:00+00:00
- Size
- 14.22 MB
- Lang
- en
Oswald Iding ruled Northumbria for eight years, from AD 632 to 642. In that time he was recognised as overlord of almost all the other Kingdoms of Britain: of Wessex, Mercia, Lindsey and East Anglia, of the Britons of Rheged, Strathclyde, Powys and Gwynedd, the Scots of Dal Riata and the Picts of the far North. A famed warrior, the 'Whiteblade' or 'Blessed arm' of legend, he won and lost his kingdom in battle. He was the first English King to die a Christian martyr. He is the embodiment of a romantic hero: the righteous exiled prince whose destiny - like J. R. R Tolkien's Aragorn for whom he is the inspiration - is to return triumphant to reclaim his kingdom.