Map of Old Saxony c800 for Fire Born 2
The Last Berserker (Fire Born 1), the first adventure in my new Viking series, did NOT have a map to go with it. And many people noticed this glaring omission. So for the next book in the saga, The Saxon Wolf (out December 2021), I’ve decided to rectify that and include a map of Old Saxony at the time of the action in my books (end of the 8th century). I’m posting it here so that anyone who is currently reading The Last Berserker can benefit from it too.
There were four main Saxon tribes at this time: the Nordalbians, who lived north of the Elbe, near the border with the Dane-Mark; the Angrians, who were famous horse-breeders; the Eastphalians who were more of less constantly at war with their Slavic neighbours the Sorbs; and the Westphalians. The leader of the Westphalians, Widukind, was acclaimed Duke of Saxony by all four pagan tribes and he led the long and bitter resistance against the invading Christian Franks, which is the background to my Fire Born series.
The First Forest (the darker shaded area) was a wild, thickly wooded and often mountainous region in which most of the action takes place. It also has a mystical, religious significance for my pagan heroes. But the spiritual centre of Old Saxony was the Groves of Eresburg (now a commuter town called Obermarsburg) where I have set my fictional berserker training school, the Fyr Skola.
The map was designed by my brother John Brodie Donald, a supremely talented individual, and I really like the Teutonic feel of the colours and typeface. If you are a historical fiction (or any type of) author and are looking for a someone to make you a map, he might be persuaded, for a suitable fee, to help you out. Anyway, I’d love to hear what you think of his map.
If you haven’t read The Last Berserker yet, it is available here as an eBook and paperback. The Amazon audio version is coming soon, or so I’m told.
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