Empty Triumphs

The Baltic (985-6) Ethelwulf the Wanderer and his company arrive in the court of the aged Harald Bluetooth in Denmark. Along with the giant Thorgrim the Short, Ethelwulf is persuaded to help a Wendish tribe plundered by the mysterious Sons of Hel. There follows the horrors of pagan rites, the treachery of a king and then the enforced recruitment into the forces of Styrbjorn, claimant to the Swedish throne. The attempt is a disaster and Ethelwulf has to somehow slip away without the slur of ‘niddering’.
With extensive factual End-Notes
Part 5 of a nine part series set in the 10th century Viking world. Here the background is a pagan world of the Baltic Sea, with a divided Viking society and savage neighbours.