By Adrian Deans
A tale of love and revenge set against history's savage backdrop... In the year 1060, young Brand Holgarsson's family are wiped out in a Viking raid arranged by Brand's treacherous uncle Malgard. Malgard is named thegn of the town of Stybbor in East Anglia while Brand is made outlaw and hunted through the woods by Malgard's men, determined to extinguish the last possible claim to Malgard's thegnship. Aided by a strange young woman, Valla, who claims to be 242 years old, Brand escapes and is befriended by Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex and the choice of the Saxon nobles to be king after the childless Edward (the Confessor). Brand nurses his dream of vengeance over Malgard while sharing Harold's perils and waiting for Valla who will only return from The Place of Dreams if Brand has remained true to his promise to lie with no other woman. All stories come together at the Battle of Hastings, where Harold's great banner, The Fighting Man, flew above the field at Senlac Ridge in opposition to the papal cross carried by William the Bastard.