In those days it was common for the winner to kill the loser's family to prevent revenge attempts. Lagertha couldn't kill Ragnar's sons by Aslaug because of her feelings for their father. But she killed their mother and they want revenge. You can't be squeamish when it comes to ruling - she should've killed them. …

Was he? Ah, the separation may have given him the distance he needed to succeed.

Aethelwulf is in the unenviable position of being the son and heir of a great man. Never mind competing with Dad, its just very hard to do anything better than a genius in his time. Rarely does the son of a great man rise to do even better than his father. Kublai Khan, son of Ghengis Khan might be one.

Good Lord, give the boy a chance. He hasn't even been to Rome that second time yet. I wonder if Ecbert realizes every time he says something nice about Alfred he is sticking it to his son. Poor Aethelwulf lost his wife Judith to Athelstan and Alfred is the result, at least in this tale.

Odin often appears as the one-eyed "Wanderer". The man who seduced Aslaug while Ragnar was away and later got Siggy to rescue the two boys from the icy pond then give up her life and future to slip into the depths was one of Odin's visitations. In some aspects they are alot like the ancient Greek panoply of Gods,…