Book Launch Guest Post by Chris Thorndycroft, Author of Defender of the Wall: Dragon of the North trilogy

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

Britain, 390 A.D: As a barbarian prince fostered by a Roman family below Hadrian's Wall, Cunedag's loyalties have always been conflicted. His own people despise the Romans with a passion, yet he has grown to manhood among them and is now a cavalry officer stationed on the Wall.

Back to the Beginning … Writing a Prequel Trilogy

In 2016, I wrote my first historical fiction trilogy. It had been about ten years in the making and was originally supposed to be something completely different. 

During my last year of university, I became somewhat obsessed with the legend of King Arthur. I don’t really remember how or why. I’d known about the legends since primary school and had never been particularly interested in them, but something clicked in 2005, and I got sucked in. I’d like to say that living in North Wales (where I was studying at the time) played some part in my fascination, but I didn’t realise that Wales was the cultural homeland of the Arthurian legend until after I had moved away. 

Maybe I was fed up with studying for exams and needed some avenue of escapist fantasy, but I think the 2004 film King Arthur played a large part. There was something about taking a medieval romance back to its roots and looking for the real story within that appealed to me. Now, having learned a lot about the period in the years since, I’m not saying that the 2004 movie isn’t ludicrously inaccurate Hollywood fluff, but it does have a certain gritty atmosphere, not to mention the fabulous soundtrack (which I still listen to when writing). 

I wanted to write my own realistic Arthurian story set in the 5th century. Hardly a new idea; many authors have done the same, perhaps most famously Bernard Cornwell. But, as with any legend, there are infinite ways to interpret it, and every author has something unique to bring to the round (ha ha) table. 

The more I delved into the time period, the more fascinated I became with the Saxons who were traditionally Arthur’s enemies. The story of Hengest and Horsa who arrived in Britain with three ships and how the wicked King Vortigern fell in love with Hengest’s daughter and gifted Kent to them (much to the consternation of the rest of the British leadership) was a heck of a story. I was astounded to discover that England had its own Romulus and Remus-style foundation legend which I had never been taught in school. 

My Arthurian retelling took a spot on the backburner while I mapped out a ‘prequel trilogy’ which told of how Arthur’s enemies gained a foothold in Britain, thus necessitating a need for a British hero to rise. My Hengest and Horsa trilogy was published in 2016, and I returned to my Arthurian retelling, labelling it the ‘Arthur of the Cymry’ trilogy which I completed in 2019. 

I thought I was done with the 5th century and its various warring factions and focused on other areas of interest (namely my childhood obsession with pirates and Robin Hood). Several novels later, I still felt that there was a part of my Arthurian story missing. Side characters in my two trilogies kept urging me to write their stories and the biggest story of all – how Roman Britain collapsed – demanded to be told. I knew I had more books to write, and the idea of expanding my six-book series into something larger took root. 

One character loomed large above all others. In my story, I had made Arthur the grandson of a real 5th century warlord called Cunedag (or Cunedda, to use the more modern spelling). This Cunedag hailed from the Votadini tribe who lived north of Hadrian’s Wall but seemed to be allies of Rome. At some point in the early 400’s, Cunedag and his nine sons were sent to North Wales in order to expel the Irish who had settled there. After much fighting, Cunedag reclaimed the area for the Britons and founded the royal dynasty of Gwynedd. 

Here was another legend that sucked me in, all the more so because it was tied to my version of King Arthur’s story and was the foundation legend for Gwynedd where I had studied all those years ago. It wasn’t long before I had mapped out a new trilogy set before both the Hengest and Horsa and the Arthur of the Cymry trilogies, expanding my tale to a nine-book series. Cunedag’s story is entwined with the fascinating events surrounding the decline of Roman Britain, the rebellion of Constantine III and the rise of tyrants like Vortigern. It provided me with the perfect opportunity to tell the stories of several side characters in my other trilogies as well as set the stage for the Anglo-Saxon migrations spearheaded by Hengest and Horsa.

 

Book 1 – Defender of the Wall – tells of the youthful adventures of Cunedag who, fostered by a Roman family below the Wall, becomes a cavalry officer defending Rome’s northern frontier. The following books will see him fight for his people as an independent king during the fall of Roman Britain and his plight to build a kingdom for his heirs in North Wales. 

Chris Thorndycroft

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About the Author

Chris Thorndycroft’s writing career began with short horror stories which appeared in magazines and anthologies such as Dark Moon Digest and American Nightmare. His first novel under his own name was A Brother's Oath, book one in the Hengest and Horsa trilogy, which deals with the beginning of Anglo-Saxon England. He has always had a passion for historical fiction, kindled at the age of six when he first saw Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). His books are deeply grounded in real history but often reimagine legends such as King Arthur and Robin Hood, weaving them in with historical events. He currently lives in Norway with his wife and two kids. Find out more from his website https://christhorndycroft.wordpress.com/ and find Chris on Facebook and Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/christhorndycroft.bsky.social