Author of the Day on Manybooks.net

I was recently featured as Author of the Day on manybooks.net. I talked about the inspiration behind Wolf of Wessex, research, my not-so-secret talents, The Serpent Sword TV series project, and my dog, Blue.

Matthew Harffy - Action-Packed Thriller Set in the Forests of Wessex

Please give us a short introduction to what Wolf of Wessex is about.

Wolf of Wessex, is my first departure from the seventh century, which is the period in which my series, The Bernicia Chronicles, is set. Wolf of Wessex takes place a couple of centuries later in the early years of the Viking Age and follows the tale of an aging warrior, Dunston, as he tries to find a man’s vicious murderers, keep the victim’s orphaned daughter alive and uncover the dark secret that threatens to plunge the kingdom into war. The book has been very well received, with The Times calling it “a treat of a book”.

What inspired you to write about the forests of Wessex AD 838?

I love the outdoors and have been interested for a long time in survival and bushcraft, such as is taught by the likes of Ray Mears, who has presented many successful documentaries and written lots of fabulous books on the subject of how people from different cultures live as one with the land, harmoniously harnessing nature to support them. I live in Wiltshire, England, which in the ninth century was part of Wessex, and near my house is one of the remaining parts of the ancient woodland that was known as Selwudu (Selwood, or Sallow Wood). Walking among the trees there, I found my mind transported back to a time when much of the land was covered in woodland, and I began to think what it would have been like to live alone deep in the forest away from the noise and concerns of the world. And so, Dunston was born.

Read the full interview on Manybooks.net

The power of alliance in the Viking Age

This article was first published in Historia, the magazine of the Historical Writers' Association on 13th November 2019.

My latest novel, Wolf of Wessex, is set in the south west of Britain in AD 838. It features many fictional characters, but they are placed within the tapestry of real events, places and people. One such real person is a king I had never heard of before researching the book: Ecgberht, King of Wessex.

Ecgberht (also spelled Egbert, Ecgbert, or Ecgbriht) was the grandfather of King Alfred and the more I read about his life and his reign, the more I wonder whether he might have as much right to the epithet ‘Great’ (as seen in 19th-century documents about him) as his more famous grandson.

Ecgberht didn’t have to deal with a great heathen army, but he did become the Bretwalda (overking of all of the English), break the dominion of Mercia over the south-east and, through alliance and battle, not only expanded the influence of his kingdom but also defended his shores from foreign aggressors.

The very late eighth and early ninth centuries were years of upheaval after a period of relative stability for Britain. The first account of Norsemen landing was on the coast of Wessex in 787.

Over the subsequent decade there followed a series of brutal raids all around the coastline of the British Isles. Infamously, the raiders, known now as Vikings (from the word vikingr, the Old Norse word for people travelling to raid and seek adventure), sacked Christian monasteries such as Lindisfarne in Northumbria and Iona in the Hebrides.

These Christian sites were situated in exposed locations, with access to the sea, and had no armed guards. They also housed many rich artefacts which were ripe for the taking. These Scandinavian pirates were not Christian, so cared nothing for the supposed eternal damnation they might face for defiling the sanctity of monasteries and churches.

And so it was that the Viking Age began. A time where the sleek dragon-prowed ships of the Norsemen were a constant threat to anyone living near the coast or navigable rivers of Britain and northern Europe.

For a time in the early ninth century, the number of attacks seems to have reduced. And, as so often in history, we can see how alliance made a smaller kingdom, in this case Wessex, more protected from external threats, and therefore more prosperous.

For the reduction of attacks on the British coast was thanks in no small part to Frankish ships patrolling the narrow sea of the English Channel. Like so many monarchs in the Anglo-Saxon period, Ecgberht had been exiled in his early life. He spent those years in the court of Charlemagne, the Frankish king and the greatest ruler of the age.

At the Frankish court Ecgberht learnt much about how to be a statesman and how to govern a Christian country. This knowledge would serve him well and the alliance with the powerful Frankish royal family must certainly have aided him when he returned to claim his place as the king of Wessex.

Under Ecgberht, and with Frankish support, Wessex quickly became the most powerful kingdom in Britain. While the Frankish navy kept the southern coast relatively safe from plundering Norsemen, Ecgberht focused on conquest and expansion. In 813 and again in 825 he led campaigns against the ‘West Welsh’, conquering what is now known as Devon and subjugating Cornwall to the status of vassal state.

Soon he had defeated the Mercians, his main rivals for power in Britain, at the Battle of Ellandun (probably Wroughton in Wiltshire) and then swallowed up Kent, Essex, Surrey and Sussex. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he even took the oath of Eanred, king of the Northumbrians, leading Ecgberht to be called the ruler of all of the English, or the eighth Bretwalda.

But as with all kingdoms, things didn’t run smoothly for long. Mercia, Wessex’s enemy number one, quickly regained independence in 830. And the Vikings posed an increasing threat along the coast of Wessex. This was largely due to a civil war breaking out in Frankia between the sons of Louis the Pious. As the bloody civil war raged, thoughts of protecting the Channel from Norse ships vanished, and the navy was disbanded.

So, with his Continental European allies otherwise engaged and removing their support, Ecgberht found himself having to fend for himself.

In 836, a fleet of thirty-five Danish marauders landed at Carrum (Carhampton). Ecgberht summoned his levies and they attacked the Vikings. But the Danes defeated the men of Wessex and “had the place of slaughter”.

Ecgberht was getting old by this time and the threat of attack by Vikings must have been an ever-present worry for him. Thoughts of expansion were a thing of the past and Ecgberht began to consider securing the succession to his throne for his son Æthelwulf and the defence of his realm from the Vikings. He managed to defeat a concerted assault by a joint force of Danes and West Welsh from Cornwall in 838 at Hingston Down, but as the century went on, the Viking attacks would continue.

Even as the alliance with Frankia weakened, and the Frankish commercial network collapsed, Ecgberht was still striving to strengthen those bonds of friendship once more, as attested by communication with Louis the Pious shortly before Ecgberht’s death.

It seems that Ecgberht of Wessex knew full well that his kingdom was stronger and more powerful when supported by his allies on the continent. Without the Franks’ aid and trade, he could see his influence waning and Wessex’s power dwindling.

It is often said that to understand the present we must learn from the past. Ecgberht understood that alliance with continental Europe made his kingdom more secure. Looking back from the 21st century, such a conclusion appears obvious; but maybe what Ecgberht had come to understand over a thousand years ago is thought to be too distant to be recognised as relevant today.

Wolf of Wessex by Matthew Harffy was published in ebook and print on demand paperback on 14 November, 2019. Hardback and paperback versions will be out in 2020.

Images:
Depiction of Ecgberht from the Genealogical Chronicle of the English Kings (late 13th-century manuscript): British Library via Wikimedia
Map showing places of interest during Ecgberht’s reign: by Mike Christie via Wikimedia
Portrait of Egbert: National Library of Wales via Wikimedia

Art imitating art: The birth of an axe

In my current work in progress (working title, Wolf of Wessex, to be released in the second half of 2019), the main character, Dunston ‘The Bold’, wields an extraordinary axe. My first inclination when writing the book was that I would like it to be a double-headed, fantasy style axe like that wielded by David Gemmell’s Druss, or Robert E. Howard's Conan.

Conan by Earl Norem

Alas, a little research told me that double-headed axes of that type did not exist in Viking Age Britain. And so I was stuck with the single-bladed variety, but there was no reason why it could not be special. And so I began to investigate unusual axes from the period and found the famous Mammen axe, which has a head where silver has been forged in intricate patterns into the iron.

The Mammen axe

Such a patterned blade appealed and then I thought of the other ways in which an axe could be made special and the obvious answer was that its haft could be carved, and being a Viking axe, it would be carved with runes of significance and possibly magical power.
In Wolf of Wessex the weapon is described as follows:

"The axe's dark iron head was swirled with intricate patterns of silver, which had been cunningly forged into the metal, and the long ash haft was carved with runes and symbols. The lower end of the shaft was tightly bound in old, worn leather.”

When I finished writing the first draft of the book, I decided that I would treat myself to an axe that I could hang on my wall. Of course the axe as described in the book did not exist and so I looked at what other options were available to me. There are replicas of the Mammen axe, but it isn't much more than a hatchet in size and so not the giant battle axe I had envisaged being hefted by my hero, Dunston.

It was about this time that I saw a post on the Bernard Cornwell Fan Club Facebook group about an axe that the admin of the group, Chris Bailey, had customised for somebody. The axe had carving, runes and some leather wrapping. The resulting weapon looked amazing and so I reached out to Chris and asked whether he would be interested in creating something for me that approximated the axe carried by Dunston.

Chris immediately accepted the challenge, but was very modest about his abilities and in particular, was nervous about the idea of doing anything to the steel head of an axe. I thought it would be possible to etch or engrave into a darkened head, showing the bright metal beneath. Chris had never attempted anything like what I was suggesting before and was worried that it might not work or he might not be up to it. But, deciding to cross that bridge when we came to it, he accepted the commission and off we went.

The first thing we had to do was to decide on the axe that was to be used as a basis for the customization. Anyone who knows anything about Viking period axes will know there are lots of different shaped heads depending on the exact part of the centuries-long period you are dealing with.

Via The Viking Age Compendium.

Wolf of Wessex is set in A.D. 838 and, strictly speaking, the type of axe used by Norsemen in that period would probably be a Petersen type A – E axe head type. However, I decided that this is fiction, and I wanted a bigger head on the axe and so we continued searching until Chris found the Danish War Axe manufactured by Hanwei. Ideally, and historically, the head would be friction fitted rather than pinned, and the shape wasn’t exactly right (it was close to a type M shape, but seemed to be the wrong way up), but, despite these things and the fact that such a long hafted, large headed axe would post date the 9th century, we both liked the size and shape of the axe. What we didn’t like were the aging effects that the producers had decided to inflict upon the metal and wood.

Hanwei Danish War Axe

So, with the axe chosen, I ordered one to be delivered to Chris and we set about designing the carvings. Many messages were exchanged via Facebook messenger with sketches of runes and other shapes found in Viking age carving. We both wanted the final product to be arresting, artistic and eye-catching and, whilst not being necessarily 100% historically accurate, not knowingly anachronistic in design. But we were also cautious of making things too complex. Chris was keen to remind me that he was a novice at this and he didn't want to overstretch himself. I was appreciative of all of the time and effort he was putting in and didn't want to ask for more than was possible. In the end, I needn't have worried. I think his skills surpassed what he thought he was capable of and he produced a thing of true beauty.

For the runes I decided on using the meaning of each rune for a spell rather than having each rune signifying a letter. In that way the runes could be interpreted as an incantation something like the following:

"With the power of Odin and one-handed Tyr, let the mortal man who wields this offspring of Yew, bring speedy anguish, death, hail and destruction on his enemies."

After the design was agreed upon, Chris set about preparing the axe for work. This necessitated stripping back all of the stain on the wood and also grinding off all of the patina of ageing on the metal. This was a large job in itself, but once Chris had finished the axe was already looking better; a blank canvas for him to begin drawing the patterns we had discussed.

The Hanwei axe as it arrived from the manufacturer

Close up of the blade to show the stippled ageing effect

The axe takes its first blood!

Stripped of all the ageing, ready for the real work to begin!

For the head of the axe and the impression of the silver inlay on the Mammen axe, we had agreed that a darkened blued steel which was then engraved with a pattern down to the clean silver steel beneath might give a good effect that would at least mimic the much more complex forging of a Mammen-style axe head. And so Chris set about bluing the metal, applying several coats until it was dark enough. This engraving was the part of the process that Chris was most worried about, but it would wait until the end, after all the carving had been done, before we would see whether he was up to the task.

The head after bluing applied

Once the head was blued, Chris set about drawing on the runes and the wyrm that would encircle the wood. There was some discussion about how to reflect the scales of the serpent. In the end, after an initial sketching out of the scales, we decided on a simpler line and dot motif based on contemporary designs found on things like the Thames seax.

Initial serpent scales idea

Ideas for historically accurate scale designs

Chris then started the carving and managed to complete that in a couple of long sessions. By this point the axe was really beginning to come to life and I was starting to get excited about holding it in my hands.

Next came the stain for the wood and after a lot of discussion, we decided on almost black for the runes and snake with a dark stain for the background wood.

Finally it was time for the etching that had been worrying Chris from the beginning. We decided on having the same design on each side following a sketch made by Chris that captured the right aesthetic. Chris girded his loins and set to it, and to his surprise, he got it done the first time and the result was just as I had hoped for.

The last step was to wrap the handle and for this, Chris used approximately 30 metres of antiqued cowhide thong (more than he had originally thought to use). As with all of the stages of the creation of the axe, there was a lot of debate about the colour of the leather to use, but in the end we chose black, as it was in keeping with the dark feel of the weapon.

I think you will agree that the finished product is superb. Who knows, it may even end up on the cover of Wolf of Wessex, if I get my way!

After Chris had completed the project, I asked him a few questions and you can read his thoughts and experiences of the whole process here:

What was the most challenging part of this process for you?

Probably the most challenging part was engraving the head, this was something I hadn’t attempted previously and it made me a little nervous I have to admit! Matthew was supportive in his encouragement, and I like the way it turned out.

Which part of the finished product are you most proud of?

That’s difficult to say; I think I like the overall effect of the finished article, and all of the separate elements combine to achieve that. I’m quite proud of the designs Matthew and I collaborated on, I think that the colours we discussed and implemented work well, the head finish and the bluing make the engraving really pop, and I am quite pleased with how the west country whipping for the grip portion came together.

Can you give a list of the tools and materials you used?

There are a few tools used in the process:

• A rotary tool (what you might know as a Dremel, but a different brand) with a long flexible pen grip shaft.
• Many and varied bits or burrs for the rotary tool, from cutters of different shapes and sizes to diamond titanium coated engraving/polishing burrs, also of varied configurations. Sanding drums and grinding bits also.
• Diamond hand files.
• An angle grinder, with discs in degrees of coarseness and a special three disc polishing set with compounds.
• A basic clamping workbench.
• Sandpapers of varying grits.
• A sharpening stone.
• HB pencils and erasers.
• Brushes of different sizes, fine grade steel wool, cotton wool and various rags/cloths.
• A pair of magnifying glasses with varying lense strengths and an LED light (essential for the small detail work).
• A pair of surgical steel cutters which are apparently designed for ingrowing toenails but work very well for trimming leather wrapping; adapting stuff to a different purpose than intended is always great.
• A half dozen elastoplasts, for when she bit me.

Materials used were:

• Varnish stripper, Rustins Strypit
• Polishing comounds, Dronco.
• Black special effects wax, Liberon.
• An acetone clear matt protective coating, Rust-Oleum.
• A cold blueing solution, Birchwood Casey Super Blue.
• A lubricant/water repellent, GT-85.
• A stain, Ronseal Walnut.
• Isopropyl alchohol.
• Antiqued cowhide thong, approximately 30m.

How many hours do you estimate you spent on the construction of this axe in total?

Including the design thought processes and the actual physical work, probably around 30-40hrs in total, although this was stretched out over a few months due to general life getting in the way; Matthew was very patient.

What was the most surprising part of the process for you?

I suppose that getting the head engraving pretty clean on the first attempts was pleasantly surprising, given that it was an all or nothing thing due to engraving directly through the gun blue-one slip and it would have been a start again scenario involving re-stripping and finishing before a second go. Phew!

Anything else you'd like to add?

I enjoyed this project very much, working together with Matthew was a great pleasure and his encouragement welcome. It is nice to have someone know, or at least have a strong vision of what it is they’re looking for in the design and execution of the piece. I do feel that my personal craft has been elevated during the project, with the head engraving and designs particularly. This axe is a large and heavy, a real beast of a weapon which took some careful hefting around during the process and that in itself was a learning curve for me. I would like to think that Matthew and I can collaborate again at some point; my techniques are developing and I would love for him to drop in along the way and share that journey again in the future.

====

The pleasure was all mine and I got a wonderfully crafted axe out of the project! And what a weapon it is – beauty and the beast!

Further reading:

Mammen axe
https://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/denmark/prehistoric-period-until-1050-ad/the-viking-age/the-grave-from-mammen/an-axe-with-double-meaning/

Hurstwic Viking Age Arms and Armor: Viking Axe
http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/manufacturing/text/viking_axe.htm?fbclid=IwAR27PEg9_vS5pRnPoRIOqxTxxkau8q7LtEwBeXn2NLwusZnqAD9xv0kdSaM