Danish raiders kill first his older brother, then his father. Uhtred is the second son of a Saxon lord who rules from the nearly impregnable fortress at Bebbanburg (modern-day Bamburgh) in the kingdom of Northumbria. Overview Ĭlass=notpageimage| Locations of places in series Thus was born Uhtred, the protagonist of the fictional tales. The family holding Bebbanburg was betrayed in the 11th century and fled to Yorkshire. He learned the story of his own descent from the Saxons who possessed the fortress of Bebbanburg (now Bamburgh Castle).

There was a family tree going back to the 6th century. When he was 58, Cornwell met his birth father, William Outhred (or Oughtred), for the first time while on a book tour in Vancouver, Canada. The historical setting is the big story writing historical fiction needs a little story so the history can be the background. Americans know, they even have a starting date, but the English just seemed to assume that England had always been there, so the idea of writing a series about the creation of England was in my head for a long time.

For some reason the history of the Anglo-Saxons isn't much taught in Britain (where I grew up) and it struck me as weird that the English really had no idea where their country came from. Years ago, when I was at university, I discovered Anglo-Saxon poetry and became hooked on that strange and often melancholy world. In an interview with Emerson College, Cornwell said: Cornwell subsequently posted a note on his web site that ' The Warrior Chronicles/ Saxon Stories had been renamed The Last Kingdom series'. A third, fourth and fifth season were produced by Netflix. The first two seasons were made by the BBC. The first ten novels in the series were adapted for five seasons of the television series The Last Kingdom, starring Alexander Dreymon.

Uhtred, despite his inclinations otherwise, repeatedly fights and schemes to bring about Alfred's dream over the course of a long life. Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, rallies his forces and begins the long struggle to fulfill his ambition of uniting all English speakers in one realm. The story begins with the conquest of all but one of the major Saxon kingdoms by the Danes, with Wessex, the last kingdom, nearly overrun. The name of the fictional protagonist comes from the historical Uhtred the Bold Cornwell is a descendant of this family. He is captured as a child and raised by a Danish warlord. The protagonist of the series is Uhtred of Bebbanburg, born to a Saxon lord in Northumbria. The Saxon Stories (also known as Saxon Tales/ Saxon Chronicles in the US and The Warrior Chronicles and most recently as The Last Kingdom series) is a historical novel series written by Bernard Cornwell about the birth of England in the ninth and tenth centuries.

Sword song by bernard cornwell