Hrothgar

Hrothgar is best known from the Anglo-Saxon epic poem, Beowulf, where he appears in a background role as the king whose hall is attacked by the troll, Grendel. This book aims to put Hrothgar in the foreground. His story is fleshed out with information from other sources, particularly the Gesta Danorum of Saxo Grammaticus. Other famous figures from Nordic legend appear in Hrothgar s story, some of them briefly alluded to in Beowulf, making this book something like a Who s Who of Nordic legend. These include the greatest warrior of the Northlands, Starkath, Halga Hundings bane, the berserker, Bjarki Bear-Sark, Frodo the dragonslayer (whose name inspired the Frodo of the Lord of the Rings), Ingeld (the singing of whose lay by monks was criticized by Alcuin in 797), Hrolf Kraki, the half-elven Skuld, and the dragon of doom, Nithoggr.

I was brought up in Conisbrough, went to Station Road School, and have lived at various times on Daylands Avenue, Roberts Avenue and Castle Avenue. The town, with its rich history and magnificent castle, has been an important influence in my life and has inspired some of my best work. I read English at St David's, Lampeter and Leeds University, and am now a teacher and writer.

I started by writing poetry - but nobody read it, so I tried another of my interests: Dark Age fiction - Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and so on. I know what you're thinking (get a life!) but it's a popular niche, and I found that people were actually reading my books. I also write Science Fiction, Jane Austen sequels, all sorts of other stuff - and more poetry (poetry is like a drug for me and I can't give it up). I also write education publications, mainly study notes, which sell far more than anything else I write. Every now and then I return to my major project which is a Dark Age Pentalogy intended to be 1000+ pages long (it's a prose version of my book, Angleland, which is available in etext and paperback). I'm up to page 25 at the moment (just kidding - I have a draft of the whole thing, but it's going to take a lot more long and lonely nights to make it readable). I am always delighted to receive feedback on my books and can be contacted at xopherw@hotmail.com.