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‘A triumph. The most gripping portrait of 7th Century Britain that I have read… A Game of Thrones in the Dark Ages.’ Tom Holland, The Times

The King in the North: The life and times of Oswald of Northumbria  reconstructs the life and times of one of Britain’s most enigmatic, fascinating and important warlord kings: a young prince exiled on a Scottish island from the age of twelve who returns with an improbably small army to claim back his father’s kingdom, found Lindisfarne and create a whole new idea of kingship.  If that sounds familiar it’s because Tolkien used Oswald as a model for his virtuous returning king hero figure Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings.  But Oswald also has roots in a more mysterious, pagan past which taps into animistic ideas of horned naked warriors, Celtic head-cults and more.