One of the joys of writing books set in Britain is the
research trips. After reading thousands of pages of history and archeology I
feel I’ve earned a look at the places where my books take place. However, because
my current focus is on the early medieval period, this often means there’s not much
left to look at beyond the landscape itself. I’ve learned to develop a good
imaginary eye when exploring what may now appear to be nothing more than a
field or river valley.
Yeavering, the site of a sixth and seventh century
Anglo-Saxon administrative center in northern Northumberland, is one of these
places. It’s a field now, a big, boring field with a spectacular past. I write
about the kings who had halls there, who called their citizens to meet in the
wooden amphitheater, and consulted with their priests, both pagan and later
Christian, in the temple or churches. All those buildings fell into ruin
thirteen hundred years ago.
Knowing there wasn’t much to see at Yeavering didn’t stop me
from renting a house nearby on one of my research jaunts. I was traveling with
my cousin and when we arrived, we engaged in a cheerful conversation with the
owners of the house we were staying in.
“What brings you to this particular location?” they asked.
“Yeavering,” I said. “Bamburgh and Holy Island. I write
about the Roman and Anglo-Saxon Britain. I’m particularly interested now in the
early Anglo-Saxon period. And my cousin’s an archeologist.”
The wife looked at the husband and smiled. “Roger here’s an
archeologist,” she said. “He bought Yeavering a few years ago.”
I was, as the Brits say, gobsmacked. Roger Miket had indeed
bought Yeavering when English Heritage passed on it, and he and his wife
created The Gefrin Trust to protect the site. The Trust has a website at: http://www.gefrintrust.org It’s full of wonderful
information and great publications.
“Would you like to see some little things I have from Brian
Hope-Taylor’s excavations?” Roger asked.
Oh, yes, please! Hope-Taylor spent years working at
Yeavering. I’d been reading about it forever.
Now I have to say, the bits and pieces of pottery and metal
carefully stored away didn’t look like much at first glance. Any really impressive
stuff is probably in museums, and the main value in the site isn’t in the
treasures that came out of it but the information, things like how buildings
were built, the ways they were organized, evidence of how they were used, and
so on.
But to hold a pot in my hand that had been made when
Æthelfrith (the hero in “Eve of All Hallows”) had been king . . . wow. Roger
had a small piece of jewelry, somewhat crushed and far from bright, not like
the shiny cleaned up bits from the Staffordshire Hoard or Sutton Hoo, but likely
to have been worn by a high-born lady, someone King Edwin (who I’m writing
about now) might have seen . . . WOW.
In that moment, that past was as real as the brooch in my
hand, swimming with color, sound, and smells. The glowing afternoon sun
breaking through rain clouds. The give of thick grass underfoot, and the scent
of earth and animals on the wind. Cattle lowing as they are brought into the
pen. Wagon wheels creaking under a heavy load of grain. The king’s wife walking
beside her priest, a bright gem glinting on her cloak in the sudden sunlight.
Those are the moments I seek when I write, the glimpses into
history, particular and alive again for each reader if I do my job well. Every
once in a while, the research gods reach down with a special blessing,
something more than books and museums alone can grant.
EVE OF ALL HALLOWS
L. G. C. Smith
A Secret Queen of Hidden Realms
She is a sorceress. A witch. Alone in the shadowed mountains
she works forgotten magic to keep the land strong. Few remain who understand
her sovereignty. Hers is a lonely life. One dark Samhain night she looks for
one who might match her ability to bring harmony to the land and its people. If
he will. His fate and the future of Britain lie in her hands.
An Enemy King
A young king of the Angles hears a fireside tale from his
Welsh cousins. There is a witch who can grant him the power he yearns for most:
To rule over all Britain. To gain it, he will have to prove himself worthy in
unfamiliar ways. No sword or cunning will sway this witch. Can he learn the
lessons she sets for him in time to earn his prize?
An Alliance to Assure the Future?
Not for hundreds of years has there has been a king with the
potential to rule beside the Lady of the Isles. Strong and skillful, the young
king tempts her when she tests his mettle. The Old Ways say that she can have
him, or she can have his child. Which one will she choose?
