Sword Song (the Saxon Stories, #4)

The fourth installment of the Saxon Tales series is set in 885 AD, during the reign of King Alfred the Great of Wessex, the last independent Saxon kingdom in an England largely conquered by Danish and Norse invaders. The story is narrated by Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a Saxon nobleman whose ancestral fortress lies in Northumbria. Raised by Danes after his capture as a child, Uhtred serves Alfred despite his pagan beliefs, bound to the king by an oath of loyalty. The tension between that oath and his affinity for the Northmen drives the novel's central conflicts.

The story opens with Uhtred and his Irish second-in-command, Finan, ambushing Danish raiders on the River Temes, killing all 53 Vikings except one, whose hand Uhtred chops off and sends to Lundene (London) as a warning. Uhtred is stationed at Coccham, a fortified town he has built on Alfred's orders as part of a defensive network of strongholds called burhs. He lives there with his Danish wife Gisela and their two young children.

Alfred's dissolute nephew Æthelwold, who covets the throne of Wessex, visits Uhtred with startling news. He reports witnessing a dead man named Bjorn rise from his grave and deliver a prophecy. Bjorn, a former skald, or court poet, of the Danish King Guthrum, foretold that Æthelwold will be King of Wessex and Uhtred will be crowned King of Mercia, a neighboring realm with no current ruler. When Alfred inspects Coccham, he reveals his own plans. He intends to make Æthelred, a Mercian nobleman betrothed to Alfred's eldest daughter Æthelflaed, the ealdorman, or regional ruler, of Mercia rather than its king, keeping the region subordinate to Wessex. Alfred also orders Uhtred to plan the capture of Lundene, now occupied by the Norse brothers Sigefrid and Erik Thurgilson and the pirate Haesten.

Tempted by the promise of kingship, Uhtred rides into Danish territory to witness Bjorn's resurrection. Bjorn appears to confirm that Uhtred will rule Mercia, and Haesten and the assembled Danes kneel to him. The conspiracy envisions Uhtred summoning his friend Earl Ragnar from Northumbria with a Danish army to conquer Saxon England. Uhtred then visits Lundene to meet Sigefrid, who is holding Guthrum's envoys prisoner, including Father Pyrlig, a Welsh priest and former warrior. Uhtred arranges a duel to save Pyrlig: If the priest wins, the prisoners go free. Pyrlig, feigning incompetence, defeats Sigefrid with devastating speed, crippling his sword hand.

On the journey home, Pyrlig shatters Uhtred's dream. Guthrum's spies have discovered the truth: Bjorn was a living man in a shallow grave breathing through a reed. The resurrection was a fraud designed to recruit Uhtred and Ragnar's army. Pyrlig forces Uhtred to swear he will keep his oath to Alfred, promising in return to stay silent about Uhtred's brush with treason.

At the royal wedding in Wintanceaster (Winchester), Uhtred takes Osferth, Alfred's illegitimate son and nephew of the warrior Leofric, into his household guard, defying the king's wish that the boy remain in monastic studies. The morning after the wedding, Uhtred glimpses Æthelflaed with a wan, tear-streaked face, suggesting her wedding night was traumatic.

Uhtred presents Alfred with a deliberately obvious assault plan for Lundene while concealing his true intention to attack by ship through the broken Roman bridge. Æthelred arrives late to take nominal command and claims the main assault for himself. After Æthelred's army departs the island camp where the combined forces are staged, Æthelflaed provides Uhtred with additional men, extracting a sworn oath that he will serve her father and defend Mercia. Alfred has also secretly assigned Steapa, one of his most feared warriors, to shadow Uhtred and kill him if he proves disloyal.

Uhtred's ships shoot the gap in the bridge at night and land on the undefended east side of Lundene. Discovering that Sigefrid has massed warriors at Ludd's Gate to sally out and destroy Æthelred's army, Uhtred waits for the enemy to stream through, then seizes the gate with a handful of men. Pyrlig hurls corpses from the bastion onto counterattacking troops, and Osferth leaps from the rampart onto Sigefrid, wounding the Norseman further. When Æthelred's forces arrive, the enemy is caught between two forces and the city falls. Uhtred negotiates with Erik Thurgilson, allowing the trapped Northmen to depart stripped of weapons and valuables.

Uhtred stays as Military Governor, repairing walls while Æthelred neglects defenses. Gisela befriends Æthelflaed and confirms that Æthelred beats her. Æthelflaed, now pregnant, reveals she fears for her life. At midnight in Saint Alban's church, Uhtred discovers Æthelred and Bishop Erkenwald conducting an "ordeal of bitter water," a biblical ritual to test whether Æthelflaed has been unfaithful. Uhtred draws his sword and warns Æthelred he will kill him if he ever strikes Æthelflaed again.

Alfred sends Æthelred with 15 warships to raid East Anglia, but Æthelred lingers gathering plunder. A fleet of 38 Viking ships, including forces from Sigefrid's fortified camp at Beamfleet on the Temes estuary, surprises the Saxons at dawn. Nine ships are lost and Æthelflaed is captured. Steapa fights free with six vessels.

Alfred insists the ransom must be paid. After negotiations at Beamfleet, terms are set: 3,000 pounds of silver and 500 pounds of gold, with Æthelred kneeling to Sigefrid upon delivery. When Erik brings Uhtred to see Æthelflaed, Uhtred recognizes that she and Erik have fallen in love. Erik has protected her, and they have become lovers. Erik begs Uhtred to help them escape to Northumbria. Uhtred agrees to release the chain of a ship that blocks Beamfleet's creek mouth at dawn, reasoning that without a ransom payment, Sigefrid will lack the wealth to invade Wessex.

Under cover of darkness, Uhtred and two warriors wade ashore to release the chain while Finan waits offshore aboard the Sea-Eagle, a warship Uhtred captured on an earlier patrol. Everything goes wrong. Haesten has betrayed everyone, setting Sigefrid's hall ablaze, seizing Æthelflaed, and trying to escape with his own fleet. Uhtred fights to keep the channel closed, killing Eilaf, one of Haesten's allies, but his warrior Clapa dies and Haesten's men sever the chain. Finan orders his shipman Ralla to ram the Sea-Eagle into the channel, smashing the oars of Haesten's Dragon-Voyager and blocking the passage with three ships jammed together.

A massive battle erupts across the locked ships. Erik fights toward Æthelflaed. Sigefrid, hauling himself by his arms despite his injured legs, seizes Æthelflaed by the hair. Erik charges to free her, and Sigefrid drives his sword into his own brother's belly. Erik dies, killed by the brother he defied for love. Uhtred's men slaughter Sigefrid's remaining warriors, while Haesten escapes overboard. Uhtred orders Osferth to kill the wounded Sigefrid without giving him a weapon, denying the Norseman entry to Valhalla.

The Dragon-Voyager rows westward toward Lundene. Æthelflaed clings to Uhtred, sobbing. No ransom will be paid, and Wessex is saved from invasion. Uhtred tells Æthelflaed that no one must ever know about Erik. She asks if he is taking her back to Æthelred. He answers that he is taking her to her father, acknowledging there is nowhere else she can go. The ship rows upriver as Uhtred carries Æthelflaed home, back to the husband she hates and the life fate has decreed for her.