Ealdorman — M.J. Porter

Ealdorman - The Earls of Mercia Book 1 England: The Second Viking Age United doesn't mean together. Five ealdormen bestride King Aethelred II's Witan offering wise counsel whilst serving their king as his representative in the old Saxon kingdoms, united now for nearly fifty years. Leofwine, newly created ealdorman of the Hwicce, is chosen to represent his king on a vitally important diplomatic mission escorting Olaf Tryggvason back to Norway after the peace accord of 994. When tragedy befalls him on the journey north he must fight for his survival and hold his own amongst men who call him friend but see him as a threat, and in the process make for himself an enemy, King Swein of Denmark, and an ally, Olaf Tryggvason, men who might help or hinder him in his endeavours to make the English king a strong man, a man to be feared, a man in the likeness of his great, great, great grandfather, King Alfred. Leofwine: wily diplomat or pandered invalid? As the Viking raiders grow ever more determined to take what's not theirs, forming alliances with the Norman Dukes and the Irish Kings, can Leofwine navigate the twisted paths of loyalty and self-interest to enable his king to fight for glory and self-respect? To stop the resurgence of the Viking menace before it costs England the lives of more of her men, before it costs England even more of her silver and coin? Ealdorman is the first novel in the epic Earls of Mercia series, charting the final century of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom from 994-1071 through the eyes of the magnificent House of Leofwine, the only family to maintain their position for such a long period of time, outlasting even the mighty House of Godwine, akin only to the long ruling family of the House of Wessex. Find out how it all began in Book 1, Ealdorman.