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Historical person

Penda of Mercia

Penda was king of Mercia and one of the most powerful rulers in seventh-century Britain. He allied with Cadwallon of Gwynedd to defeat Edwin of Northumbria and later killed Oswald at Maserfield.

Although remembered as a pagan opponent of Christian kings, he permitted Christian preaching among people under his authority. He was defeated and killed by Oswiu at the Battle of the Winwaed in 655. His long success makes him essential to any account of how Mercia emerged as a major power.

Nicola Griffith’s Menewood places Penda of Mercia among the rulers whose campaigns shatter Edwin of Northumbria’s supremacy and force Hild and her household to survive a rapidly changing political map. M J Porter’s Warrior King makes Penda the dominant Mercian ruler at the height of his power, feared and courted across the competing kingdoms of Britain. Matthew Harffy’s Warrior of Woden and Killer of Kings bring him into Beobrand’s world as the pagan king whose wars repeatedly threaten Northumbrian allies and rulers. Fortress of Fury carries that conflict towards the later campaigns in which Penda’s long military ascendancy finally collides with Oswiu’s Northumbria.

Series

Historical novels and book series featuring Penda of Mercia (4 series)

The Bernicia Chronicles in Order

by Matthew Harffy 11 books 4.4(50,049)

The Bernicia Chronicles follow Beobrand, an outsider who rises from inexperienced warrior to powerful Northumbrian warlord during the seventh century. Set amid the rival kingdoms of Bernicia, Deira, Mercia, Wessex and the British north, the series places personal vengeance, loyalty and family conflict within the formation of Northumbria…

All books in this series

The Hild Sequence in Order

by Nicola Griffith 2 books 4.0(17,024)

The Hild Sequence reconstructs the early life of Hilda of Whitby from the few details preserved by Bede and places her within the unstable politics of seventh-century northern Britain. Nicola Griffith imagines Hild first as a perceptive child and royal kinswoman at the court of Edwin of Northumbria,…

All books in this series

Wolf Brethren in Order

by Griff Hosker 10 books 4.4(13,641)

Wolf Brethren follows warlords and companions in post-Roman Britain, especially the northern world of Rheged, Northumbria and Saxon expansion. The series sits between Roman memory and early medieval kingdom-building, using legend, war bands and shifting alliances to show Britain before stable English and Welsh polities emerge.

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Gods and Kings in Order

by M J Porter 3 books 4.3(1,304)

The Gods and Kings trilogy follows Penda of Mercia through the wars that reshaped seventh-century Britain. Beginning with his struggle for power against Northumbria and continuing through the battles of Maserfield and the Winwaed, the series presents Penda as a pagan war leader navigating fragile alliances, dynastic rivalry…

All books in this series