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Denny Bradbury Books

Denny Bradbury Books

Tag Archives: pagan

Danish Invaders

08 Friday Jul 2011

Posted by dennybradburybooks in History

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Tags

Borvo, danes, Denny Bradbury, invaders, King Alfred, pagan, viking

Viking in ‘old Norse’ translates as ‘pirate raid’ and for the Anglo-Saxons that is what it must have felt like.

Warriors from Denmark, Norway and Sweden crossed the seas in their long ships in search of treasure or a new place to settle.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recalls the first invasion by these people in the South-East of England in AD787.   Whilst Anglo-Saxons tended to call these invaders ‘Danes’ the Norwegians who headed to Scotland and the North of England were in fact ‘Norsemen’.

Initially it is felt these attacks were merely ‘raids’.  Attacks on monasteries were frequent – a wealth of food, cattle and treasures but with no resistance.  In the mid-9th century these invaders started to settle with intent on conquest.

Denny Bradbury’s book ‘Borvo’ is set during the time of King Alfred the Great.  It focuses on a young pagan boy growing up in the time of the King’s defence of his realm against these ‘Danish invaders’.

Alfred is acknowledged as king of the only independent English kingdom, having successfully resisted invasion time and again.

Yet what was it he faced on the battlefields?

The Danes would be armed with spears, axes or swords.  Spears were commonplace and used for thrusting or throwing.  Indeed, a battle was prone to start with a defensive line of warriors hurling spears 2-3 metres in length to gain an early advantage.

Axes were a favourite in close-quarter fighting, although the famed double-handed axe did not come into existence until the latter years of DanViking Swordsish occupation.

Swords were rare due to their cost and anyone fighting with such a weapon was likely to hold a high status within the Danes.

Whatever their status, all warriors would have a small side-knife for general use as well as battle if absolutely necessary.

For defence, these invaders would hold circular shields approximately 1 meter wide.

Kite-shaped shields which gave better defence to the legs, were not invented until the turn of the first millennium.

Long tunics of chain mail were also worn – ‘byrnies’.  Again, similar to swords, these were expensive to make and likely to have only been worn by high-ranking officials.

Reindeer hide is thought to have been worn for protection, absorbing some of the impact from weapons.

The famed two-horned helmet of the ‘Vikings’ is, however, unlikely.  Any helmets were expensive to produce and again would only have been worn by someone with the correct status.

These warriors trained from a young age in the art of weaponry, through hunting and raiding.  For many, it was an ambition to become a celebrated warrior and so they would volunteer for battle in the hopes of winning prized weapons and the status that came with the reward.

In fact it was a requirement for all ‘free’ Scandinavians to own weapons – the metalwork, designs and style dictated their status.  They would travel to far-off lands on long-ships which had a shallow draft allowing for deeper incursions via river.

Vary rarely were these warriors seen on horseback – they were not a means to enter battle but sometimes used to assist travel if the distance was great.

The battle lines were not those of professional, organised soldiers but bands of ‘brothers’ – friends and warriors who would fight side-by-side.  Numbers varied depending on the battle, but could be as many as 7000.  A group of around 30 would surround the main leader of the army as a ‘last defence’.

The ‘beserks’ were a feared group of the invaders, known for getting so hyper for battle that it is believed they did not feel pain.  Their belief in their god of war ‘Odin’ for protection meant these fearless few tended to wear only bear skins for armour.

Read how the Danes were perceived by the Anglo-Saxons in Denny Bradbury’s book Borvo.

Laura Scott

Denny Bradbury’s latest novel ‘Borvo‘ will be available in both print and as an e-book.

To purchase one of Denny’s books please click on the images below or contact Denny directly at email denisebradbury@btinternet.com.
The Reunion Denagerie of Poems by Denny Bradbury

Wantage

15 Wednesday Jun 2011

Posted by dennybradburybooks in History

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Borvo, Denny Bradbury, historical significance, history, Oxfordshire, pagan, Vale of Whitehorse, Wantage

Wantage

 

The statue of King Alfred in Wantage - by Colin Smith

Wantage is a small market town in Oxfordshire – best known for being the birth place of King Alfred.

Its history can be traced back to Roman times, there was a small settlement there.

King Alfred was born in the royal palace in the 9th century, around the year 849. In 1877 a statue of King Alfred was commissioned by Lord Wantage. It was created by Count Gleichen, a famous sculptor at the time. The marble statue still stands in the market place. King Alfred’s legacy remains in the town with schools and pubs bearing his name.

Wantage and King Alfred appear in a new book from Denny Bradbury. Combining the rich history of Wantage and the legend of King Alfred, Denny has created a story of a peasant boy who comes to the aid of the king. Borvo looks out how a great King can ever be helped by a young boy.

Wantage is situated in the Vale of White Horse, considered to be a prime area for horse racing. Many of its village’s house stables and gallops can be found at Black Bushes.

Wantage also appears in the Doomsday book, with its value stated as £61. At the time it was owned by the monarch, but it’s thought it was given to the Earl of Albemarle in 1140.

In Borvo Denny Bradbury explores the relationship between a great King and a young pagan healer. The historical significance of towns like Wantage play a huge part in the novel.

To purchase one of Denny’s books please click on the images below or contact Denny directly at email denisebradbury@btinternet.com.
The Reunion Denagerie of Poems by Denny Bradbury

Watch the exclusive new ‘Borvo’ trailer

01 Wednesday Jun 2011

Posted by dennybradburybooks in Fiction

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Books, Borvo, Christianity, Church, fiction, New Book, pagan, reading, Writing

Denny Bradbury’s new book ‘Borvo’ is nearly ready to hit your local book shop, but if you want to be the first to own a copy then email denisebradbury@btinternet.com

Healing – Pagan versus Christianity

23 Monday May 2011

Posted by dennybradburybooks in History

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Borvo, Christianity, Denny Bradbury, healers, King Alfred, pagan

The 'wise' or the 'witches'

We have already ventured into the world of healers, focussing on the Anglo-Saxon era around the time of King Alfred.  Indeed this topic and this time-frame is the source of Denny Bradbury’s new book ‘Borvo’.

One area Denny touches upon is the plight of folk-healers in the face of Christian dominance.

Within their communities, folk-healers were respected and a vital part of survival for the villages.  Their tasks varied from nurses, midwives and counsellors to pharmacists and surgeons.

Indeed, they have been described as the ‘unlicensed doctors and anatomists of western history’ (Ehrenreich/English 1971).

As mentioned in ‘Anglo-Saxon Healing – Potions, amulets and chants‘, knowledge of anatomy and treatments tended to be handed down through generations of family; each person learning from their predecessor and adding their own refined methods to the vault of history.

Working with Mother Nature and using the forces around them was a main characteristic of folk-healing, and that was a form of pagan religion.

Unfortunately it is always the victor of any battle who will write its’ history and paganism got a raw deal at the hands of Christianity.

The Edict of Milan in AD313 sealed the fate of paganism and other druid religions, confirming Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire.

Pagan healers were written into history as devil worshippers.  Christians believed any illness was God’s will – pain was a form of punishment – and only faith and prayer for forgiveness would alleviate the condition if, indeed, it was God’s desire for them to be healed.

As such, should anyone try to heal by other means, such as folk-healers and their herbs, then they were working against God.  Any successes were therefore attributed to the devil and any treatments were deemed ‘evil’.

Prayers vs chants; faith in God vs belief in Mother Nature.  The two ‘religions’ were very similar yet on a political scale one was accepted; the other was to be feared.

The role of the physician as a profession only really came about in the 13th century.  The Church up to this point was deemed to have hindered the development of medicine and anatomical knowledge: faith was preferred to science.

The folk-healers did not understand ‘science’ as such but they are respected in the present day for their understanding of ailments and cures.

It was only through the crusades an experience of the Arab world that medicine became recognised.  From that moment, the idea of treatment was becoming more acceptable and the Church assisted in the improvement of knowledge.

Until this time any physicians used to treat royalty and the upper classes tended to get their training through reading Latin texts which based ideas on theology and astrology – monks and priests.

Peasants would not have had access to these ‘doctors’ and had all folk-healers been eradicated, which was the attempt during the witch-trials of 14th-17th century, then there is no doubt that society would be very different today.

It is a sorry state of affairs when the people call healers ‘wise’ yet the authorities term them ‘witches and charlatans’.

Laura Scott

To purchase one of Denny’s books please click on the images below or contact Denny directly at email denisebradbury@btinternet.com.
The Reunion Denagerie of Poems by Denny Bradbury

Denny reveals the latest on her new book Borvo

13 Friday May 2011

Posted by dennybradburybooks in Denny's Diary, Fiction

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Author, Borvo, Christianity, Denny Bradbury, England, fiction, New Book, pagan, re-write, Writing


Denny Bradbury has been working hard on bringing her new book to life.  Having completed a second re-write a few selected individuals have had the privilidge of reading a copy before Denny feels the publication can go for publication.  Denny’s main character Borvo is a Pagan Healer who embarks on a journey to help him deal with a Christianising England  she’s been revealing what we could expect.

To purchase one of Denny’s books please click on the images below or contact Denny directly at email denisebradbury@btinternet.com.
The Reunion Denagerie of Poems by Denny Bradbury

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