Aethelflaed is in the news

[Duncan Head]

Today being the 1100th anniversary of her death.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-44429911
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-44069889

There are two biographies of the queen out this year as well:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Warrior-Queen-Legend-Aethelflaed-Daughter/dp/1445682796/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aethelflaed-Lady-Mercians-Tim-Clarkson/dp/1910900168/

[Erpingham]

A much neglected figure.  She'd make a great subject for a biopic.  Marcus Aurelius type father, useless husband, scheming brother, lots of Vikings and a great female lead role for one of our leading actresses - how could it fail?

[Jim Webster]

A much neglected figure.  She'd make a great subject for a biopic.  Marcus Aurelius type father, useless husband, scheming brother, lots of Vikings and a great female lead role for one of our leading actresses - how could it fail?

at least three of them if you did the full story 

[DougM]

Never heard of her.  Some obscure period of foreign history, where dogs and children bawl on rush strewn floors and the maidens are anything but..

Not really a period that interests me much to be honest, but the outline does sound intriguing. I am pretty sure that in the hands of hollywood film-makers it would still have high explosive arrows, vikings with horned helmets and at least three subsidiary plots involving the supernatural.   

[Erpingham]

One tale told of Aethelflaed would make a good special effect.  At I think it was the Viking siege of Chester she had beehives dropped on the attackers.  Biological warfare.

[Duncan Head]

A much neglected figure.  She'd make a great subject for a biopic.

Of course she's a significant character in Bernard Cornwell's Last Kingdom books - I don't know about the TV series, never got round to watching the second season.

[Imperial Dave]

never even watched the first one although the book series was good

[pegg9876]

She features prominently, if most un-historically, in my Anglo-Saxon Saga Warband. Here, hopefully, is a picture of my, most un-historical, model of her.

[Jim Webster]

She features prominently, if most un-historically, in my Anglo-Saxon Saga Warband. Here, hopefully, is a picture of my, most un-historical, model of her.

love it 

[DougM]

She features prominently, if most un-historically, in my Anglo-Saxon Saga Warband. Here, hopefully, is a picture of my, most un-historical, model of her.

Very nice. May be unhistorical but it's cool.

[Nick Harbud]

Of course she's a significant character in Bernard Cornwell's Last Kingdom books - I don't know about the TV series, never got round to watching the second season.

To summarise.....

Favourite daughter grows up imbued with all the political nous that Daddy failed to knock into any of her brothers.  Mother tries repeatedly to marry her off, eventally succeeding with the aged Ceowulf, King of Mercia.  Ceowulf croaks just before the wedding, leaving the alliance, wedding contract, etc, to be novated to Aethelred, an Edward II-type character when it comes to military ineptitude and sexual proclivities.  After a brief and predictably unhappy start to married life, wife is captured by Vikings, develops Stockholm syndrome and is finally liberated by Uhtred, who conveniently disposes of Viking who got her up the duff.  The end.

[Erpingham]

I think I prefer the historical version.

[Nick Harbud]

Unfortunately Hollywood, and even Auntie's drama department, rarely let the facts get in the way of a good story...... 

[pegg9876]

But surely we need to accept that drama is not history and go with it. Otherwise Shakespeare would be dismissed too. And when we play with our toy soldiers are we not creating little dramas, a specially in a game like Saga...

[Erpingham]

But surely we need to accept that drama is not history and go with it. Otherwise Shakespeare would be dismissed too. And when we play with our toy soldiers are we not creating little dramas, a specially in a game like Saga...

True.  But in this case, ignoring the gender-politics stuff, they've taken a rather routine "damsel rescued by hero" storyline when historically they could have had "female hero rallying her adopted country against the invader".  I don't think Shakespeare would have missed that opportunity, even if he played fast and loose with the details

I think the subject of how close you stick to the source material, and how faithfully you recreate a period, in drama are always interesting questions.  A drama isn't a documentary (though we blur the lines with "docu-drama" ) but too many inaccuracies and you find yourself as viewer failing to suspend disbelief.