The year is 885, and England is at peace, divided between
the Danish kingdom to the north and the Saxon kingdom of
Wessex in the south. Uhtred, the dispossessed son of a
Northumbrian lord—warrior by instinct, Viking by nature—has
finally settled down. He has land, a wife, and two
children, and a duty given to him by King Alfred to hold
the frontier on the Thames. But then trouble stirs: a dead
man has risen, and new Vikings have arrived to occupy the
decayed Roman city of London. Their dream is to conquer
Wessex, and to do it they need Uhtred's help.
Alfred has other ideas. He wants Uhtred to expel the Viking
raiders from London. Uhtred must weigh his oath to the king
against the dangerous turning tide of shifting allegiances
and deadly power struggles. And other storm clouds are
gathering: Ætheleflæd—Alfred's daughter—is newly married,
but by a cruel twist of fate, her very existence now
threatens Alfred's kingdom. It is Uhtred—half Saxon, half
Dane—whose uncertain loyalties must now decide England's
future.
A gripping story of love, deceit, and violence, Sword
Song is set in an England of tremendous turmoil and
strife—yet one galvanized by the hope that Alfred may prove
an enduring force. Uhtred, his lord of war and greatest
warrior, has become his sword—a man feared and respected
the length and breadth of Britain.