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Author

Matthew Harffy

17 fiction

Matthew Harffy writes early medieval adventure fiction centred on Northumbria, warrior loyalty, religious change and the violence of emerging kingdoms.

Matthew Harffy grew up in Northumberland, where the castles, coast and surviving traces of early medieval history gave him a strong connection to the landscape of northern England. After later settling in Wiltshire, he began writing fiction inspired by the seventh-century kingdom of Northumbria and by the limited, often contested evidence for the period. He has also co-hosted the Rock, Paper, Swords! podcast, discussing historical fiction, warfare and research with fellow writer Steven A. McKay.

Harffy is best known for the Bernicia Chronicles, beginning with The Serpent Sword. The series follows Beobrand through feuds, royal service, conversion and war as Anglo-Saxon kingdoms compete for supremacy. Wolf of Wessex offers a standalone story of pursuit and justice, while the A Time for Swords books move into the late eighth and early ninth centuries, when Scandinavian raiding begins to reshape Britain. His novels combine close combat with questions of faith, lordship and belonging. They are particularly suited to readers interested in Northumbria, Anglo-Saxon warfare and the transition into the Viking Age.

Periods and events

Anglo-Saxon Englandc. 476–1066 CE Byzantine Empire476–1453 CE Early Medievalc. 476–1000 CE Early Medieval Pilgrimage to Romec. 600–800 CE Early Medieval Rheged and Northumbria476–700 Kingdom of Berniciac. 547–654 CE Kingdom of Northumbria in the Seventh Centuryc. 604–685 CE Mercian Expansion under Pendac. 626–655 CE Merovingian Francia481–751 CE Rome in the Early Middle Ages476–800 CE Viking Age793–1066 CE Viking Age Scandinavia793–1066 CE Wessex in the Ninth Century9th century CE

Historical fiction

Historical fiction series by Matthew Harffy (2 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…

A Time for Swords in Order

by Matthew Harffy 4 books 4.4(15,062)

A Time for Swords follows Hunlaf, a Northumbrian novice monk whose life is transformed by the Viking raid on Lindisfarne in 793. Becoming a warrior without abandoning the questions raised by his faith, he travels with a mixed band of Northumbrians and Norsemen through Scandinavia, al-Andalus, Byzantine territory…

Historical fiction

Standalone historical fiction by Matthew Harffy (2 books)

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