Battle of Maldon - in Modern Fiction

In Modern Fiction

  • The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth Beorhthelm's Son is the title of a work by J. R. R. Tolkien that was originally published in 1953 in volume 6 of the scholarly journal Essays and Studies by Members of the English Association. It is a work of historical fiction, inspired by the Old English Maldon fragment. It is written in the form of an alliterative poem, but is also a play, being mainly a dialogue between two characters in the aftermath of the Battle of Maldon. The work was accompanied by two essays, also by Tolkien, one before and one after the main work.
  • K.V. Johansen's short story "Anno Domini Nine Hundred and Ninety-One", in the collection The Storyteller and Other Tales is a retelling of the Battle of Maldon.
  • In one episode of the science fiction novel Perelandra by C. S. Lewis, the protagonist (a philologist from Cambridge transported to the planet Venus) finds himself "shouting a line out of 'The Battle of Maldon'" as he fights the Un-Man, a demon-possessed scientist.
  • The Swedish bestselling historical novel The Long Ships (Red Orm) includes a long fictionalised account of the Battle of Maldon, described from the Scandinavian side.
  • In David Drake's short story As Our Strength Lessens in Keith Laumer's Bolo series, a sentient tank named after the battle of Maldon discusses the battle with a human officer. They consider whether Byrhtnoth and his men acted nobly or failed in their mission to protect the land and people from the Viking invaders.
  • The United Kingdom black metal band Winterfylleth has two songs in their album The Ghost of Heritage (2008) that remembers Maldon Battle (track 2: "The March to Maldon" (03:46) and track 3: "Brithnoth: The Battle of Maldon (991 AD)")
  • The Norwegian / German symphonic metal band Leaves' Eyes has a song called The Battle of Maldon on their 2009 EP, My Destiny.
  • In C.S. Lewis's 2nd Space trilogy book Perelandra - when Ransom fights with the devil, Ransom "shouts a line out of the Battle of Maldon".

Read more about this topic:  Battle Of Maldon

Famous quotes containing the words modern and/or fiction:

    “A more problematic example is the parallel between the increasingly abstract and insubstantial picture of the physical universe which modern physics has given us and the popularity of abstract and non-representational forms of art and poetry. In each case the representation of reality is increasingly removed from the picture which is immediately presented to us by our senses.”
    —Harvey Brooks (b. 1915)

    “Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today—but the core of science fiction, its essence ... has become crucial to our salvation if we are to be saved at all.”
    —Isaac Asimov (1920–1992)