Sword of Vengeance

Name: Sword of Vengeance
Rating: 4.58 (5816 reviews)

by Peter Gibbons Book 4 in the Saxon Warrior series.

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England, 992. In the aftermath of the English defeat at the Battle of Maldon, survivors and royal officials search for those responsible for the collapse of Byrhtnoth's army. Beornoth emerges from the fighting determined to punish the flight that exposed his comrades to slaughter. Acting under King Æthelred's authority, he pursues vengeance through a kingdom still vulnerable to Olaf Tryggvason, Sweyn Forkbeard and renewed Viking attack.

Maldon turns military failure into a political problem because flight from the battlefield raises questions of honour, responsibility and royal authority. Beornoth’s pursuit of the survivors who abandoned Byrhtnoth is therefore both personal vengeance and an attempt to enforce a warrior code on which collective defence depends.

The wider danger is that Æthelred’s England has no time for prolonged internal quarrels. Olaf and Sweyn continue to exploit coastal weakness, forcing Beornoth to decide how much energy can be spent punishing yesterday’s disgrace when another invasion may arrive tomorrow.