name itself. Thus London was variously rendered as Lundonia, Lundenberg, Lundenne, Lundene, Lundenwic, Lundenceaster and Lundres. Doubtless some readers will prefer other versions of the names listed below, but I have usually employed whichever spelling is cited in either the Oxford or the Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names for the years nearest to AD 900, but even that solution is not foolproof. Hayling Island, in 956, was written as both Heilincigae and Hæglingaiggæ. Nor have I been consistent myself; I should spell England as Englaland, and have preferred the modern form Northumbria to Norðhymbralond to avoid the suggestion that the boundaries of the ancient kingdom coincide with those of the modern county. So this list, like the spellings themselves, is capricious.
| Æsc’s Hill | Ashdown, Berkshire |
| Afen | River Avon, Wiltshire |
| Beamfleot | Benfleet, Essex |
| Bearddan Igge | Bardney, Lincolnshire |
| Bebbanburg | Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland |
| Bedehal | Beadnell, Northumberland |
| Beorgford | Burford, Oxfordshire |
| Botulfstan | Boston, Lincolnshire |
| Buchestanes | Buxton, Derbyshire |
| Ceaster | Chester, Cheshire |
| Ceodre | Cheddar, Somerset |
| Cesterfelda | Chesterfield, Derbyshire |
| Cirrenceastre | Cirencester, Gloucestershire |
| Coddeswold Hills | The Cotswolds, Gloucestershire |
| Cornwalum | Cornwall |
| Cumbraland | Cumbria |
| Dunholm | Durham, County Durham |
| Dyflin | Dublin, Eire |
| Eoferwic | York, Yorkshire |
| Ethandun | Edington, Wiltshire |
| Exanceaster | Exeter, Devon |
| Fagranforda | Fairford, Gloucestershire |
| Farnea Islands | Farne Islands, Northumberland |
| Flaneburg | Flamborough, Yorkshire |
| Foirthe | River Forth, Scotland |
| The Gewæsc | The Wash |
| Gleawecestre | Gloucester, Gloucestershire |
| Grimesbi | Grimsby, Lincolnshire |
| Haithabu | Hedeby, Denmark |
| Humbre | River Humber |
| Liccelfeld | Lichfield, Staffordshire |
| Lindcolne | Lincoln, Lincolnshire |
| Lindisfarena | Lindisfarne (Holy Island), Northumberland |
| Lundene | London |
| Mærse | River Mersey |
| Pencric | Penkridge, Staffordshire |
| Sæfern | River Severn |
| Sceapig | Isle of Sheppey, Kent |
| Snotengaham | Nottingham, Nottinghamshire |
| Tameworþig | Tamworth, Staffordshire |
| Temes | River Thames |
| Teotanheale | Tettenhall, West Midlands |
| Tofeceaster | Towcester, Northamptonshire |
| Uisc | River Exe |
| Wiltunscir | Wiltshire |
| Wintanceaster | Winchester, Hampshire |
| Wodnesfeld | Wednesbury, West Midlands |
A dark sky.
The gods make the sky; it reflects their moods and they were dark that day. It was high summer and a bitter rain was spitting from the east. It felt like winter.
I was mounted on Lightning, my best horse. He was a stallion, black as night, but with a slash of grey pelt running down his hindquarters. He was named for a great hound I had once sacrificed to Thor. I hated killing that dog, but the gods are hard on us; they demand sacrifice and then ignore us. This Lightning was a huge beast, powerful and sullen, a warhorse, and I was in my war-glory on that dark day. I was dressed in mail and clad in steel and leather. Serpent-Breath, best of swords, hung at my left side, though for the enemy I faced that day I needed no sword, no shield, no axe. But I wore her anyway because Serpent-Breath was my companion. I still own her. When I die, and that must be soon, someone will close my fingers around the leather-bindings of her worn hilt and she will carry me to Valhalla, to the corpse-hall of the high gods, and we shall feast there.
But not that day.
That dark summer day I sat in the saddle in the middle of a muddy street, facing the enemy. I could
