I don’t want to part with Northumbrian-themed stories, so continuing with Bernard Cornwell’s The Last Kingdom suits my current mood. The Last Kingdom is set around 100 years after Hunlaf’s time. Realising it’s written by different authors, I wouldn’t expect connections between the characters.
The Last Kingdom has been made into a TV series. I specifically and successfully avoid watching them because I want to experience the story through the original book.
Contents
Introduction
I understand that I am late to the trend, especially after the TV series aired. Please bear in mind that this essay is based on my reading of the book and probably several accompanying books. This essay does not mean in any way to sway or herd the already-formed opinions of those who had watched or read the Saxon Stories series previously.
Today, it seems that there is a common practice of including too many alterations while adapting literary works into TV series or films. Even though they may claim that the adaptation is based on a book, the resulting series or films are usually loosely adapted. I don’t appreciate this trend, which is why I have never watched such adaptations.
Correction: My latter statement does not apply to the TV series Under the Dome and Shogun.
Who doesn’t know Bernard Cornwell? At this point, I don’t have to make an introduction about him as an author. I know from the hubbub of The Last Kingdom TV series that I will enjoy the books.
However, since I decided to read it chronologically based on the story’s settings, I first started with Matthew Harffy’s books. I do this because I expect to maintain some kind of historical continuity after reading a series of books set hundreds of years before this story was told.
Considering the historical timeline, I expect to read elements of when the Great Heathen Army marched into Northumbria in 866 incorporated into the story. Reading how the fictional characters are embedded into the historical events would be interesting.
I quickly recognised the template or pattern used in this book, similar to how Hunlaf’s Saga was written. Scratch that. Maybe I should say that the latter was inspired by The Saxon Stories because I think The Last Kingdom came out in 2004, way before A Time for Swords was released.
I don’t mind this type of storytelling. I like this style better than when a book consists of chapters written from multiple POVs and jumps around from one character to another.
Key Events in The Last Kingdom
- When the story began, the ruler of Northumbria was King Osbert, who was succeeded by Aella. I’m pretty sure the Uhtred in this book is not the same Uhtred of Bamburgh who ruled in 1006.
- The year was 866, and Uhtred was nine years old. In 867, he was taken to a battle by his father to observe how a war was done. But alas, he was caught in the middle of the sword song and was captured by Ragnar, the leader of the Danes.
- Somewhere in the story, Uhtred and Brida were taken by the Wessex as ordered by Father Beocca. But I felt happy that Uhtred and Brida could wriggle their way out from the party that should’ve taken them to Winburnan. Have I sided with the invaders?
- When Uhtred and Brida met Aelswith (Alfred’s wife), I feel as if this moment was pivotal as a setting stone to their futures. I was wrong. I didn’t count in Milfrith to be the fuel that moved Uhtred.
- In the last chapters, I wonder how and what I would feel if I were in Uhtred’s shoes. He swore an oath to the Wessex king to fight the people he called family. He knew those people he was about to fight against.
- I’m still flabbergasted by how quick Uhtred turned sides at the end chapters. I think I’m as confused as he was about his allegiance. However, I have a feeling that the Danish ways have been embedded in his heart forever.
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Characters in The Last Kingdom
Uhtred is definitely the main character in The Last Kingdom. Reading the first book of the series, I got the impression that Uhtred is elusive and indecisive about his true self. I can’t blame him, of course. He spent his formative years during the Great Army’s campaigns, and in my head, this would greatly influence who he would be.
I admire how, at such an early age, his character could already choose that he preferred to train to fight instead of learning letters. In the Danish camp, his early days were spent on chores and training to shape him into a warrior. Just like he wanted it.
As the chapters went on, I became more unsure about how he switched quickly from the Danish side to the English side. Maybe I put too much of a ‘if I were him’ condition during my reading, and I blinded myself from his judgments and considerations.
During the Bernicia Chronicles, I learned that I could not and should not get attached to one character because it would hurt when their fate is an unexpected death. But I did it anyway. I grew fond of Ragnar Ravnsson. Look where he is now?! Dead.
The insertion of Ragnar Ravnsson’s character as the half-sibling of the historical leaders of the Great Army was genius. The similarity of names would lead readers to consider Ragnar a real person.
Guthrum the Unlucky, despite the name, is, for me, an interesting character. I believe he’s a real person who struck a treaty with Alfred the Great in 886. Guthrum, in The Last Kingdom, was depicted to bear a gold-tipped bone hanging in his hair. Apparently, it’s one of his mother’s ribs. Such an unusual choice of hair accessories, but okay, Guthrum. Whatever floats your boat, man…
I honestly don’t really think other characters stood out, maybe because most of them were historical, and I already knew their fates. I don’t know. Father Beocca is a very intrusive man. I quickly sided with Uhtred whenever Father Beocca pushed and pushed him to learn to write or pray. I have known people like this, and I have similar feelings. I don’t like them.
Every story needs a villain or two, right? I thought it would only be Weland, but I was introduced to Kjartan and Sven. I kinda thought Odda the Younger would someday be a villain too, but perhaps not in this book.
Brida is the next character that caught my attention. Following her upbringing in the Danes camp with Uhtred, I had high hopes she would be one of those badass women characters. But after she parted ways with Uhtred, I’m not so sure anymore about her fate. Mayhap, I will see her again in the next book, doing what I wish for her to be doing: kicking arses.
Personal Reflections
My head ached, wanting to interpret this story and write it down. I am so much affected by the splices of today’s political correctness that often see things as black or white and give no space to grey or other shades in between.
I need to rid myself of those influences if I want to continue this journey. History records what caused the Great Migration in the 5th century, and there are reasons why the Vikings came over to England. History was also recorded by both sides, the invaders and the invaded. Surely, either side would view and value the event differently.
Interestingly, I discovered something about myself as I was reading The Last Kingdom. Quite probably influenced by the previous books I read, I find myself relating more to the pagan side. Having spent half of my adult life as an archaeologist, I am still to this day fascinated by the rawness and the purity of the old beliefs. It seems like there’s nothing in between, just humans and the mighty nature.
In the beginning, I thought about how the story made me feel like I couldn’t take a side. In the end, I did take a side. I prefer Uhtred to come back to his Danish family. The kingly courts of southern England, even in this period, perplexed me with all the institutionalised religious aspects, which is why I seldom venture to periods after the 800s.
Don’t get me wrong. Medieval Indonesian history also perplexed me with all its intricacies, intrigues, and other dynamics. Hence why I chose to become a prehistorian.
I also decided to re-read the history of the Great Heathen Army and the Danelaw to refresh my mind. Somehow, it’s fascinating to read how these campaigns were told from the docks of the Danish ships. If I were to read something from the point of view of Alfred the Great, it would be a 180, I bet.
I really enjoyed how the chapters in The Last Kingdom are in long-form format. Some new books nowadays tend to splice their chapters shorter, and my old-school mind sometimes finds it weird. Perhaps it has something to do with today’s short attention span?
Reading long chapters in The Last Kingdom is satisfying. It made me feel I couldn’t put the book down, and I found myself flipping page after page after page through the night.
Anyway, it felt really weird to read how a shield wall was described from an observer’s point of view. I had been in the middle of shield walls from the first of Bernicia Chronicles to the latest of Hunlaf’s Saga. So, it’s so awkward at first to see how Father Beocca and Uhtred observed, described, and analysed the battle which killed Uhtred’s father.
I was extremely upset when Kjartan and Sven decided to ransack Ragnar’s steading the night before Thyra’s wedding. I thought the issue with Kjartan would stop after he found his place again in Eoferwic. But I guess with power comes greed and pride, too, right?
Afterthoughts
Verdict
In my mind’s eyes, The Last Kingdom’s story is basically about the Great Heathen Army or the Great Army campaigns, which are told from the point of view of the Danes’ side. I find the whole book to be a detailed build-up story of the making of Uhtred.
Although it wrecks my head, I am surprised that I enjoyed The Last Kingdom more than I expected. Indeed, I was a bit confused about where the story might go because I think it depends entirely on Uhtred’s decision to be English or Dane.
In my mind’s eyes, The Last Kingdom’s story is basically about the Great Heathen Army or the Great Army campaigns, which are told from the point of view of the Danes’ side. Granted, Uhtred wasn’t a Dane, but he communed and lived like a Dane and participated as much in some of the destructive activities.
I find the whole book to be a detailed build-up story of the making of Uhtred. It took the whole first part of The Last Kingdom to tell Uhtred’s upbringing among the Danes who came to England looking for prosperous lands to continue living.
In the last chapters, I figured that what he was didn’t seem to matter anymore. I think in The Last Kingdom, Uhtred is a warrior without a lord and a land, but he is willing to pledge allegiance where it suits him. I don’t know if my interpretation would be proven wrong later, but I strongly feel that Uhtred leaned more towards the Dane’s side of his upbringing. And I found myself wanting Uhtred to go back to his Danish family.
I’m not particularly happy that I found myself away from Northumbria by the last chapters. I thought Uhtred would be back to Bebbanburg at the end, but nope. Not yet.
Again, The Last Kingdom didn’t toy with my emotions too much because perhaps I already knew what would happen and who would not survive. As I said, I re-read the chapter on English history about the Great Heathen Army. It’s a different feeling, unlike reading Bernicia Chronicles, when my emotions were tossed, slammed, and thrown into the fire between one chapter after the other.
There were only several parts of the story that elevated my emotions, such as when Kjartan did the hall-burning on Ragnar’s steading and when Ragnar Ragnarsson offered Uhtred and Brida to join him and get revenge on Kjartan. These were the most palpable scenes I could remember.
I would definitely read the next book, The Pale Horseman. I think I even want to finish the whole series with my reading pace. I am actually thinking about reading The Grail Quest series by Bernard Cornwell. It will be out of my comfort zone (the early Medieval/Anglo-Saxon period), but I think I’ll put those books on my TBR list. Let’s dive into The Pale Horseman!
