By the time of Alfred however cross-border raids are likely to have subsided. Like Uhtred, they could have been searching for plunder, or just seeking excitement by causing mayhem and gaining a place in the stories later told about their deeds. In the ninth century, bands of young men may well have periodically crossed into the territory of other kingdoms. But how much is true? In particular, how far is the picture of ninth century Cornwalum based on fact rather than fiction? Bad news for the Britons. This all makes for intriguing stuff, several gripping books and an entertaining television series. There he attempts to reconcile his Viking sympathies with a brittle loyalty to an over-religious Alfred, ruler of the ‘last kingdom’ of the English to hold out against the all-conquering Danes. Having spent his childhood in a Danish household among the people who killed his father in battle, Uhtred ends up in Wessex. This TV series is based on the first two of Bernard Cornwell’s Last Kingdom books, which relate the life of a dispossessed son of a Northumbrian landlord who becomes a warrior. In episode 6 of ‘The Last Kingdom’ (BBC 2, Nov 26th), a raiding party is led across the Tamar into ‘Cornwalum’.
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