Subscribe Who Were the Titular Seven Kings? The Danes continued to invade England until its eventual conquest by their Norman descendants in 1066. “The chronicles do not record if my Lord Uhtred survived,” says Finan, “but those like me who knew him recognised him as the greatest warrior of our age, and the man who made a kingdom.”Īs Finan tells us, King Aethelstan ruled for fifteen years and was “considered to be the first and greatest King of medieval England”.
We don’t see him walk towards Valhalla, but we do see his hand clutching under his cloak, perhaps holding the pommel of his sword – thereby fulfilling the Norse belief that a warrior must die with his sword in his hand to enter Odin’s Great Hall. The last time we see our hero, he’s standing between two worlds – life and afterlife, looking from his son Osbert in the land of the living, to his old comrades celebrating their victories in the land of the dead. That’s when Uhtred hears the sound of cheering and carousing, and has a vision of Odin’s Great Hall. He didn’t care about recording his valor for posterity and only sought his ultimate destiny – the Norse afterlife in Valhalla. In debt to Uhtred for putting down the Scottish-Danish rebellion at Brunanburh, Aethelstan assured him that his deeds would be recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, but Uhtred refused. Aethelstan agreed, and went on to reign for 15 years before Edmund took the English throne.
Uhtred swore his lands to Aethelstan on the condition that the newly styled King of England never marry or produce an heir, in order to ensure a peaceful succession of power to his half-brother Edmund after his death.
Recognising him as a worthy leader of a united England, Uhtred finally swore his Northumbrian lands to the Saxon king, thereby providing the final piece of the puzzle needed to form England. He asked after the safety of his son Osbert, and satisfied, fulfilled a promise to King Aethelstan. After a period of convalescence at Bebbanburg, Uhtred left his bed to the surprise of those praying for his recovery. First, we were led to believe that he had, and saw Uhtred’s men discover his unconscious body on the Brunanburh battlefield.
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