Rollo Ragnvaldsson has rescued his grandfather, Hrolf the Horseman but he still has a battle back in Norway. He must take his people and find a new home. Battling first Saxons and then Bretons, the young lord establishes a home close to the Land of the Horse. A chance meeting with Guthrum the Dane brings them hope as more Vikings join Rollo as he battles Bretons and Franks. Based on actual events the novel tells the story of Rollo and how he claims a Breton bride and becomes Lord of Rouen.
The series which began in the Dragonheart series is now ahead, chronologically from the original Viking series. Rollo is the grandson of Hrolf the Horseman who served with the Dragonheart. It is set at the time when the French were suffering from Viking raids and Guthrum the Dane’s star was rising as he drove Alfred the Great into the swamps of Aethelney.
Excerpt
We ground on to the shingle and I leapt ashore. The bank was steep and I left my swords sheathed so that I could use the scrubby undergrowth to pull me up. I heard a cry from above me and saw a Frank skewered by an arrow. I pressed my body close to the ground as his corpse fell. My height came to my assistance. I reached the breach and put my hand onto the stumps of wood to pull myself up. A Frank with a spear appeared above me. If he struck me I would be dead. Two arrows sprang from his chest and he fell back. Spurred on by my near-death experience I hauled myself up.
Before I had time to draw a sword a Frank ran at me with a spear. I grabbed it with two hands and threw him to the ground. I heard his back crack as he struck. I reversed it and ran down the fighting platform to the Frank who had a spear raised to strike Sven Blue Cheek. Sven had his hands full trying to pull himself up. The spear went through him. I reached down and pulled Sven onto the fighting platform.
I could hear the sound of the ram as it struck the gate. I drew my sword as Sven helped up Sámr Oakheart. I looked around and saw that we had ten men on the fighting platform. I swung my shield around. “Petr!”
I hand appeared above the stumps of the timbers. I reached down and hauled up the youth. “Sound the horn! Sámr Oakheart you stay here and consolidate our breach. Send men to support us and use the rest to clear the walls.”
“Where will you be lord?”
“Sven and I go to the gatehouse.”
The Franks had thought there was no danger on the river wall and it was poorly held. Sámr would have over three hundred men with no one to oppose us we could take this part of the town. As we ran down the walkway I held my shield on my right side. The archers in the tower were sending their arrows at us. One struck the fighting platform before me and I saw that they were hunting arrows. The could not pierce mail.
The men on the gate turned as they heard our feet thundering on the wooden walk way. They turned to face us. The Franks had only built it wide enough for two men and Sven Blue Cheek and I were far bigger than the two Franks. I held my sword across me and it sliced deep into the neck of one of them. Sven gutted the other. Sámr was sending men to join us. We had support. There was a door to the gatehouse but it was closed. I doubted that it was barred. I went to the wall and raised my sword. Bergil and Ragnar were there with my men. They were already in a wedge awaiting the crash which would herald the breaching of the gate.
Ulf and Olaf joined us. Slipping my shield around my back I pointed to the door. “Break that down and we will follow.”
The two of them took two steps back and, holding their shields ran at the door. It almost disintegrated. I ducked beneath the lintel and lunged with my sword at the Frank who ran at me. It was a tight space. His sword grazed my cheek and I impaled him. The other three were quickly slain. I saw a ladder. Picking up the body of the man I had killed I dropped it through the hole. I heard a cry as the body knocked the man who was already ascending the ladder. I quickly turned and slid down the ladder. I landed on two soft bodies. Two blows hit my back but my shield saved me. I swung my sword blindly and was rewarded by a cry. I saw a Frank’s face and, grabbing his beard, pulled him into my helmet. He fell unconscious. Sven joined me and we hurried to the door which led to the gateway.
We should have waited but sometimes the blood rushed in your ears and you felt that you were immortal. That was one such moment. I opened the door and Sven charged through. I followed. Our ram had almost broken through and the twenty Franks who were there were trying to bolster the gate with beams. The first four died without evening knowing that their wall had been breached. I drew my second sword and hacked and chopped into bodies. All before me were enemies. When Ulf and Olaf joined us, it became a slaughter.
When the Franks were all dead I turned to the men who descended the ladder to join us. “You men take down the braces. Let the rams come through. We have not yet finished. There is a tower to destroy. Sven let us go and announce our arrival to the Franks!” I sheathed my second sword and held Long Sword in two hands. I shouted, “Clear the gateway and bring both rams through! We have a tower to take!” My men cheered. The Franks had used the second gate to brace the first and we walked into the open.
We stepped out into the light. Sámr Oakheart and my men had cleared the walls. The Count had abandoned all but his warriors and his family. Women and children cowered with the wounded. There were homes and workshops. They sheltered the surviving Franks. I raised my sword and pointed to the east gate, “Go, flee to your King and tell him that Göngu-Hrólfr Rognvaldson now rules this valley.”
They looked dumfounded, Sven shouted, “Boo!” and they ran. Others left the buildings in which they had been hiding and they fled. It was a rout. They would flee through the east gate.
My men wasted no time in demolishing the gates. I heard the rumble of the ram as it was pushed through the narrow entrance. Sven Blue Cheek asked, “Should we see if they will surrender?”
“You and I know that he will not but we will try.” I cupped my hands, “Count, we have your walls. It will take but a short time to punch a hole in your wall. Surrender and I will allow your men to go free. Resist and you die.” Their response was a series of badly thrown spears, all of which missed me.
Sven nodded and shouted, “Bergil, Ragnar the Resolute bring the men. Clear the top of the tower with our archers.”
It was then I noticed that this was a tower as big as that in Caen. Was there another entrance? Even as I turned to shout to Bergil to surround the tower I heard the clatter of hooves. “With me!” I drew my sword and I ran. I have long legs and I covered the ground quickly. There was another entrance. It came from a cellar. It was where they kept their horses. Even as I looked I saw that the Count had evaded me. He and two others were already galloping towards the open east door. I swung my sword and hacked into the chest of the Frank who tried to follow them. Sámr and Sven were with me and they hacked into the next two horsemen. More warriors had followed them and I led them down the ramp into the cellar. There were other lords trying to mount horses. There was no light and it was hard to see who we were fighting but we hacked slashed and stabbed until there were Vikings and horses, only, left alive in the cellar.
Sven said, “We do not need the rams now!” He led us towards the door which had been opened. Once we reached it there was light from the sconces along the wall. I guessed that the Count had not told his men that he was leaving. They would all be on the upper floor. We climbed up stairs and heard the murmur of voices. It sounded to me like the Great Hall. Sven and I found the door and opened it. Inside were the women the Franks had abandoned. When the door was opened they screamed.
“Bergil silence and then watch the women. The men above us will know that we are here.”
We met them on the next floor. This was the Count’s sleeping quarters. Men poured down from the fighting platform. The screams had alerted them to the fact that the fox was in the henhouse. Abandoned by their lord they had no option. They had to fight to the death. I did not bother with my shield. This was close quarter fighting. I drew my seax. My Long Sword allowed me to sweep and keep my enemies at a distance. Then Sven, Sámr and Bergil were able to dart in and slay the mailed warriors of the Count of Rouen.
I saw Audun Leifsson slain by a warrior who was almost as tall as me. He saw me at the same time, “Come giant! I am the Count’s champion and I have never been bested. This is the day I hew down a mighty oak.”
He had a long narrow shield and a long sword. Mine was longer. He swung his sword at my left side. With no shield he thought me weak. Rowing a drekar had made my left arm as strong as my right. I blocked his sword at the hilt and he pushed. I held him. I watched as he strained. I thought his eyes might pop from his head. I brought back my head and butted him. As he reeled backwards my right hand darted forward and the tip tore into his thigh. I stepped closer to him and ripped my seax behind his right arm. I severed his tendons. His sword fell from fingers which could no longer grip. He stepped backwards. Blood was pumping from his thigh. I lifted my leg and kicked him hard in the stomach. He fell backwards.
“You are the champion of a coward. You will die slowly as your life blood seeps from you. I will not give you the warrior’s death for you do not deserve it.”
I sheathed my sword and looked around the chamber. All the Franks were dead. What I could not see was Ailmær the Cruel. We had killed no Vikings and they had not fled. Where were they?
