The Wolf Queen began as a short story, mostly flashes of scenes when I first discovered the love story of Arminius and Thusnelda. I was enthralled by the untold tale hiding between the sparse details. There are approximately three lines about Thusnelda by the Roman historians who wrote about Arminius. Tacitus wrote of Segestes’ complaint to Varus that Arminius had “stolen” his daughter, who was betrothed to another man. Although further details are available to anyone with an internet connection, I don’t wish to spoil the next book by describing the other statements Tacitus made about their relationship. Suffice to say, what was said and unsaid suggested a tale of profound love shared by two defiant rebels. I didn’t read the story of a woman stolen, but of a woman who ran willingly, who took charge of her own destiny. Imagine my surprise and disappointment to find almost nothing written about this woman and even less from her perspective. Naturally, I decided if I wanted to read Thusnelda’s story, I would have to write it myself.
We know very little about the daily lives, culture, and values of these early Germanic tribespeople. They had no written language, so they left behind no records in their own voices. The written sources we do have come from Roman historians, mostly writing years, decades, even centuries after the time described in this novel. It is theorized that historians like Tacitus and Cassius Dio assembled their various texts from the works of earlier historians and record keepers, however those primary sources are lost. While there may be truth to the secondary and tertiary texts, we have no way of verifying their claims and we cannot ignore the political and social motivations they may have had for telling a particular kind of story about those wild barbarians to the north. Julius Caesar’s writings on the region are notoriously flawed and contradictory (for example, in The Gallic Wars, he states that Germans did not practice agriculture, then later refers to their extensive agricultural practices), however Tacitus’ work is considered largely reliable.
I chose to blend these Roman texts with archaeological studies about the region, such as Peter S. Wells’ The Barbarian Speaks and The Early Germans by Malcolm Todd, along with texts about the early Vikings and archaeological studies of tribal cultures contemporary to the early Germans, like Barbarian Rites by Hans-Peter Hasenfratz. I hope that the end result of my work is the creation of a believable world that would realistically band together to reject Rome in such an outrageous fashion.
As to the role of women in warfare, archaeology has steadily revealed numerous cultures around the world where women fought alongside men. Even Tacitus reported that Germanic women were essential on the battlefield, first to egg their men on, then to pick up weapons and fight when the battle wasn’t going well. We know women regularly fought as shieldmaidens among the Vikings, who derived much of their culture from the early Germans. We also know that like the Greeks before them, Rome had a vested interest in keeping women in subdued roles. It stands to reason that Roman historians wouldn’t be keen to report that female warriors were so successful in battle against Rome’s finest soldiers. I chose to highlight ancient female warriors through Thusnelda and her compatriots because, quite frankly, I see it so rarely in adult historical fiction. There is more than enough evidence to assert that it is not only possible, but happened with some regularity in cultures all over the globe. You can read more about ancient women in warfare in Adrienne Mayor’s The Amazons and Pamela D. Toler’s Women Warriors.
Arminius’ personal history is almost as murky as Thusnelda’s. We do not know who he was prior to leading this rebellion, aside from the names of his father, uncle, and brother, and his standing as a nobleman among the Cherusci. We know that he had some official role in the Roman military and earned the honorary title of Equestrian, a Roman knight. We also know that he had so successfully convinced his superiors of his Romanization that they never thought to question him. We don’t know how he came to achieve this position. As hostaging young boys was a common practice, it is possible he endured being taken from home and raised among Romans. However, it is more likely that he spent his life among the Cherusci and achieved his standing by service in the auxiliary. I represented his background as the former in the name of dramatic tension, as I did with a number of details in the story, from the timeline to Thusnelda having her own room (an unlikely scenario, even in a longhouse) and the number of her brothers (she reportedly had only one). Kalkriese Hill is not in the Teutoburg forest, but as the two locations are commonly associated with the battle, I merged them. Kalkriese Hill is where most archaeological evidence of the battle has been found.
Other details, however, are grounded in research. Slavery among the Germanic tribes was more akin to indentured servitude and sharecropping than the bondage slavery practiced by Rome. The tribes did not believe in capital punishment, though there is debate about when they stopped the practice of human sacrifice. Chiefs had very little power over their tribes and war chiefs were selected from among the people based on ability, not nepotism. Most important decisions were made by a council of tribesmen. The details of the battle are accurate to my sources and Eggius was a real centurion noted for his bravery and leadership. Though there are multiple accounts of this battle, I recommend The Battle that Stopped Rome by Peter S. Wells and, for German speakers, Die Schlacht im Teutoburger Wald by Reinhard Wolters.
Lastly, I’d like to address the hateful elephant in the room: since the late 19th century, Arminius has been used as a figurehead of German nationalism, Nazism, and white supremacy. This was on my mind continuously as I wrote and edited this novel, and I hope the end result is an Arminius who was too flawed, too selfish, ofttimes too lost and reckless, and certainly too open minded to ever represent anything those people would find positive. The Arminius of their imaginations never existed.
Thank you so much for reading. Writing this story has been a journey and I look forward to sharing the follow up, Fall of the Wolf Queen, with you soon. You can contact me and stay up-to-date with Fall of the Wolf Queen at my website, www.mariemccurdy.com.