It is not often that an author’s characters invade my subconscious in such a way. I finished The Last Kingdom yesterday and last night I had a dream about Uhtred and Young Ragnar. Cornwell’s penmanship expertly brings them to life. There are so many excellent and memorable characters. Throughout this time Uhtred learns the warrior ways, learns how to speak Danish, and finds out about the ways of Woden, Thor, and the “pagan gods.” He takes part in numerous battles and skirmishes against the Saxons and meets the army’s heavy hitters such as Ubba, Ivar, and Guthrum. He lives alongside Ragnar’s family including his sons, his adopted daughter Brida, his real daughter Thyra, and Rangar’s blind and wise father Ravn. Uhtred, likewise, loves Ragnar like a father.ĭuring this period, Uhtred lives like a Dane. Throughout the next years, Ragnar becomes fond of Uhtred and sees him as an adopted son. Seeing the courage and fearlessness that Uhtred already holds at such a young age, Ragnar doesn’t kill him but takes Uhtred with him at the end of the battle. “I recognised him as the man who had killed my brother and, like the fool I was, I screamed at him.” The Saxons retaliate in a pitched battle, during which 9-year-old Uhtred sees his brother’s killer and tries to get revenge. Uhtred’s brother is murdered by a Dane called Ragnar the Fearless.
In the first-person perspective, Uhtred tells us his tale and throughout The Last Kingdom, he presents his formative years from a youth, through his teenage years to the time that he becomes a man.ĭuring the prologue, Danes attack the outskirts of Beddanburg. son of Uhtred who is the Ealdorman of Bebbanburg by birthright. 9/10 – In The Last Kingdom, we follow Uhtred.
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