Mais uma para arrazar!! Após ler o bate-papo, onde Orlando diz que Halfdan, Ivar Sem-Ossos, e até Nennius existiram, resolvi pesquisar. E não é que achei muita coisa em um site britânico?!
http://www.maldonsx.freeserve.co.uk/Maeldune/bookch2.htm
"Once established, the invading tribes gradually transformed themselves from marauding bands and occasional confederates to conquerors. Tradition assigns this change to the year 449 and its cause to the invitation of the British king, Vortigern, to Angles to settle on the Isle of Thanet in return for their help against his enemies.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle names their leaders as Hengist and Horsa and goes on to state that a combination of excellent land and supine Britons decided them to issue an open invitation to all and sundry. And so there followed a flood of Germanic invaders, later to be identified, perhaps too precisely and neatly by Bede, the eighth century monk and scholar, as Angles, Saxons and Jutes. They settled in the south and east of the country. Hengist and Horsa defeated Vortigern and Kent fell to the invaders."
E olhem isto!!!
"
Nennius, a ninth century Welsh writer, attributes twelve victories against the Saxons to Arthur culminating in the battle at Mount Badon. There is little doubt about the historical existence of Arthur but far more vital has been the enduring legends created, in written form, by the 12th century imagination of Geoffrey of Monmouth and a French poet, Chretien de Troyes, whose colourful stories of King Arthur and the Round Table entertained the courts of France."
Isto está em Angus: "
A décima segunda batalha foi no Monte Bandon..."
Querem mais? Então lá vai:
"From these struggles later emerged what was described in the sixteenth century as the 'Heptarchy' or seven main Kingdoms - Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Wessex, Sussex and Kent. Frequently one of the Kings possessed sufficient power to enable him to exercise overlordship over all kingdoms south of the Humber.
Possibly the earliest ones were Aelle of the South Saxons (Sussex), Ceawlin of the West Saxons (Wessex) and Aethelbert of Kent. It is likely that Aethelbert in the late 6th century merged the East Saxon kingdom (Essex) with his own."
Lembram-se de Aelle, não é mesmo? É sobre ele que cai a vingança de Ivar e Halfdan, no capítulo "Águia de sangue". E por falar em Ivar e Halfdan....
"There was a short lull when the Vikings were preoccupied with events on the continent
but in 865 the threat became even more serious. A Danish army devastated the eastern part of Kent.
In the same year the largest army yet,led by two notable Viking warriors, Halfdan and Ivar the Boneless, camped in East Anglia without being resisted. Conquest rather than plunder was clearly the intention.
This army moved into Northumbria captured York and then killed two rivals for the throne of Northumbria. A puppet king was placed on the throne. The Danish army then moved into Mercia.
King Burgred of Mercia appealed for help from his brother in law, King Aethelred of Wessex who led an army in the company of his brother Alfred to besiege the Danes in Nottingham. Eventually the Danes withdrew to York. In 869 they moved back to East Anglia and the following year defeated and killed King Edmund."
As datas batem com as mostradas em Angus, e os nomes também, é claro. E o site ainda conta mais, mas para não estragar a minha leitura do livro, eu paro por aqui.
Como o próprio autor disse, Angus tem fundo histórico, foi baseado em fatos que realmente ocorreram, mas a história do personagem é uma ficção. Ou seja, ele é um personagem fictício dentro de um enredo real. E fazer isso tem lá o seu mérito, pois não é fácil.
Ah sim... pra não restarem dúvidas, aqui vai a bibliografia do autor do site:
Chapter II - Saxons and Vikings
Bede, trans. L Sherley-Price, History of the English Church and People, Penguin Books
Fisher, D.J.V., The Anglo-Saxon Age, Longman
Garmonsway, G.N., Anglo Saxon Chronicles, Dent
Stenton, F, Anglo-Saxon England, Oxford University Press