Where Did the Bone Man Come From?

It seems a very odd idea--a man in a bone fortress who the warriors use for target practice after dinner by pitching their leftovers in his direction. Did I make this up? No, reader reader, to be honest I made up very little when writing Courting Trouble. Helmstan's story is part of the history / mythology that was circulating in 802 Wessex. As I researched the period I came up with many gems like this one, and I wove them into a tale grounded in the history of this place and time. Helmstan's plight was a way for me to get the idea of the depravity and barbarism of Beorhtric's court across to readers. Egbert's "rescue" of Helmstan also gave an interloper to Court a vehicle to show off how macho he is--or was he acting out of altruism? You'll have to decide that for yourself--

The Chalice

Cynethrith, the heroine of Courting Trouble, is visiting the abbey her mother founded. As Christianity was taking root in Anglo Saxon England, rich patrons demonstrated their piety by establishing abbeys and furnishing them with treasures and relics. Cynethrith describes what she sees. 

The altar, covered with a gold-embroidered frontal, held a silver and gold chalice [my mother] had commissioned in East Anglia: around its rim fantastic birds interlaced so cleverly that you could hardly tell where one began and the other ended. Her father had bought the imposing altar cross of gold and precious stones from a Byzantine trader. In its center a tiny vial contained a drop of St. Etheldreda’s blood. My eye came back to the chancel arch—its grappling angels and demons carved by a sculptor my mother had brought in from Kent—then was pulled to the center of the choir where, in darkness beneath the floor, lay my mother.

The Abbey Chapel

A nunnery plays an important part in Courting Trouble. Buildings in early Anglo Saxon times were almost all made of wood, and windows were scarce. In this drawing from my sketchbook we see what the heroine sees as she waits for her friend in the chapel's dark interior.

Anticipation of the king’s visit and the activity it generated in Easton blocked out all other concerns for a while. . . . Then one night, too excited to sleep, the knowledge that the court was coming formed the backbone of a solution so simple that it seemed inevitable. I knew there were members of the old guard among the councilors and thanes, even during the current regime. I began to think, or rather, to be convinced, that if I could find a way to get into the palace I might, somehow, make a powerful friend or two who could help me hang on to my inheritance. There must be someone who remembered my mother. I would do this despite the current king, a despicable man if ever there was one.

These were my thoughts as I came to the Itchen road and turned off into the abbey. Within its gates, in contrast to my unsettled state, all was quiet. Figuring the sisters must be at Nones, I stabled my horse and went to the church, entering as inconspicuously as possible. I stood at the back of the tall timber building, dark as a tomb, my eye drawn to the distant altar candles sparkling on gold treasure.

A Wessex Warrior

 Last week I posted an illustration of a group of warriors entering Winchester as part of the royal entourage depicted in Courting Trouble. This week's drawing from my sketchbook is up close and personal. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley.

The men carried broad round wooden shields with decorated iron bosses in the middle. I noticed one huge warrior whose front teeth were missing. His shield was covered with deerskin and had an iron bar across it. The dome of his boss came to a cruel looking point and had probably poked out more than one man’s eye.

Embroidery, Medieval Style

In Courting Trouble the stepmother Waldberg supplements the family income by creating embroideries and illuminations for the church. This is how she works with metallic thread:

She was working with two needles. One sewed a gold thread on the surface of the work, very close to the previous gold thread she had laid down. With the second needle she sewed tiny silk stitches across the gold to anchor it to the cloth. She had explained to me once that this technique was used so that the expensive gold thread was not wasted on the wrong side.

Meet the Village Gossip

 You know the sort of person who always seems to turn up when she is least welcome? In Courting Trouble that person is Tidburg. She has a nose for news and an ear for a good story, and both of those are more important to her than accuracy. We first see Tidburg in action when a villager recounts a salacious story about the queen.

The village gossip Tidburg, quick to sniff out a story, slithered into the group right next to the speaker . . . .

From the Sketchbook: Scene 3

Sketchbook illustrations for  Scene 3 of Courting Trouble by Elaine Drew. In this scene, the villagers meet to discuss how to survive the King's expected visit to the nearby town of Winchester. One of the villagers recounts a story she has heard about the queen: an Abbot has seen her consorting with her favorite warriors in the guise of a horse. The Abbot hurries to the Castle and tells the King what he has seen. The queen presents the Abbot with some flowers, and he is mysteriously found dead the next morning. The villagers hide livestock in the scrubby woods near the village, and some youths are sent to climb the town's walls to keep a look out for the King's arrival.

St. Rumwold the Infant Prodigy

Abbess Cynethrith and the Bishop are chatting in the opening scene of Courting Trouble.

“Abbess, do you remember blessed St. Rumwold, the infant prodigy?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Though he only lived on this earth three days, God gave him the gift of speech, and do you know what he preached about?”

“Yes,” I said.

“He preached about the most blessed and heavenly Trinity.”

“Yes,” I said. “I often wish the young would hold their tongues.” Because I’m old, I can get away with remarks like this. People think I didn’t understand what they said.