‘But it was in that moment…there came to me for the first time an awareness of the Rus as a People, not just a southward swarming of the Viking hoards, with the Tribes as a kind of lesser folk ingathered along the way.’ Historical characters in this novel include Basil II, Vladimir the Great, Anna, his future wife, and Bardas Phocas. Jestyn joins his friend and blood brother in the Death Feud which takes the two of them as far as Miklagard, the Viking’s name for Constantinople, the Great City, where they fight under Khan Vladimir and later become a part of the Varangian Guard.

The underlying thread of the story is that of a blood feud to avenge the murder of Thormod’s father. When he helped save Thormod’s life he was set free and went with him when he returned to his homeland in Denmark. In Dublin Jestyn was bought by a young Viking named Thormod and became his thrall. A clash with a group of raiders ended up with him being taken to the Dublin Slave Market. One evening a sudden storm broke and Jestyn was sent to get the yearlings to safety but they never made it home. I was listening to a podcast on Ukraine which traced the country’s history and they mentioned this book, and as we have the book but I’d never read it, I decided to do so now.īlood Feud follows the fictitious character of Jestyn Englishman, part Saxon, part Briton (?) who was left an orphan at the age of twelve after his stepfather rejected him when his mother died.Ī cattleherd gave him work and lodging and for five years he was quite happy. As she herself said, “I write for children aged 8 to 88.” This ability to appeal to a wide age range is obvious in Blood Feud. Rosemary Sutcliff is considered to be one of the finest writers of historical novels for children but her writing is appealing for adult readers as well.

Blood feud rosemary sutcliff