Book
Hounds of the King
First published 1955
Beornoth is a Mercian thegn’s son when he first encounters Harold Godwinson, the golden-haired earl who will later become king. The meeting draws him towards the household troops known as housecarls, professional warriors bound by oath to defend their lord. Training, campaigning and service transform the village boy into one of the king’s most trusted fighting men.
The succession crisis of 1066 tests every oath Beornoth has made. Harold must answer invasion in the north before turning south against William of Normandy, and the exhausted housecarls prepare for the final stand on Senlac Hill. Through Beornoth’s experience, the novel presents Hastings as the destruction of a military brotherhood as well as the defeat of a kingdom.
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