Emma: The Twice-Crowned Queen: England in the Viking Age

by Isabella Strachan

An engaging biography of the 11th-century English queen who married two English kings and gave birth to two more. In 1002, a beautiful 18-year-old named Emma, the half-Danish sister of the Duke of Normandy and a descendant of Vikings, sailed to England to be the queen of Ethelred the Unready, who needed a Norman alliance against Viking raiders. The political and marital career on which Emma embarked was to be unique for an English queen. Before it was over she would have married two kings, Ethelred and the Danish Canute, and would have given birth to two more, Edward the Confessor and Hardecanute. From her home in Winchester, the Saxon capital, Emma operated as a significant political figure in her own right. Her writings suggest that she was a Danish nationalist who wished to see England joined with Viking Denmark. But, ultimately, it was her great-nephew, William the Conqueror, who would decide the destiny of England in 1066. Emma's queenship stood at the meeting point of three cultures of the early Middle Ages in Saxon, Viking and Norman. This study of her reign, based on contemporary writings and the work of modern scholars, provides a picture of a brutal yet pious era.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, British Literature, Medieval History, Medieval, Royalty

220 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2004

About the author

The daughter of writer Andrew Wood, Isabella Strachan worked at London office of Encyclopaedia Britannica as a junior secretary before becoming a staff writer and editorial assistant for 'Children's Britannica' and 'Britannica Book of the Year'. Later she worked on Good Housekeeping magazine as deputy chief sub-editor.

Reviews

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It would appear that not many readers on amazon or goodreads embrace this book wholeheartedly. My library had a display of books in the research area on Viking history and this was the lightest one for me to carry home. I had already a heavy enough pack to tote a couple of miles. So- stars for the brevity of this paperback and its economy of words in summarizing stacks of reference materials this author studied to deliver concise milestones and insights. I like to get periodic doses of Uhtred, Rollo, Emma, Canute as well as the pageantry of a Canterbury wedding.

"Queen Emma stands at the meeting point of the three cultures of the early Middle Ages: Saxon, Viking and Norman. A Viking by descent and sister of Richard, Duke of Normandy, she married Canute, the Dane who took the crown of England in 1016, when the Viking Age still had another fifty years to run. As Emma had previously been the wife of the Saxon Ethelred II (the Unready), she is the only woman to have married two kings of England."

Something I learned: Her son, King Edward was devout, yes...but he "originated the custom in England of touching people to cure 'the king's evil', a form of tuberculosis called scrofula. Until the eighteenth century many continued to believe that the monarch had the power to heal this disease."

My next trip to England I do hope to visit Winchester Cathedral where the mortuary chests reside that contain the remains from "royal burial ground dating from the Saxon and Viking Ages" including those of "Emma of Normandy, twice Queen of England." And then King Arthur's Round Table, eh? With any luck I may make it.

[Bobby · Rating 4 out of 5]

An accurate accounting of little known Emma who was Queen with Athelred and Canute in the 11th Century. Many, many names to keep up with so it’s better to read straight thru if possible. This history has mention of both Godiva and MacBeth in the chronology.

[Karyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lost opportunity for an interesting tale to be told.

[G. Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

An odd read. It's an ok introduction to the life of Emma, but at times seemed to be bordering on historical fiction rather than fact. It was an easy, quick read, and fair as an introduction, but it didn't go into much detail.

[Christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Almost every book I review gets 3 or 4 stars. So you know something is great when I give out 5 stars or really not great when I give out 2. Sadly, Emma The Twice Crowned Queen is not that great.

Her story is amazing and belongs up there with other other British Queens such as Eleanor and Elizabeth. However, this author provides us with a rather flat story that drums along recounting history without getting us dancing to the beat. The writing is dry and really forces the reader to plough through.

I wanted to give up on the book and it took me months to read. But, I made it. Still, I would not recommend it to others.

[C. · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting glimpse into the life of a woman caught in the crossroads of cultures: Saxon vs Danish vs Norwegian vs English. She is the wife of not just one king but two, not just a Saxon King but also a Viking King, and is the mother of two kings, including Edward the Confessor. The book was fairly straightforward in its presentation and covered Emma's completed life (or what is known of it), and this is where I have a slight issue. 1. I prefer footnotes and better bibliography. This way I can separate author's opinions from facts. 2. There is really not enough source material on Emma, therefore her book is equally about her family, her two husbands, her numerous children and half relations that I never really wanted to know more about. The book's facts seem dreary and long, despite being so few pages, because the period is all about warfare and battles and political alliances and can be, yes, a yawn-fest. And this is coming from a History major and Historian and Genealogist whose ancestor accompanied St. Margaret the Exile to the court of King Edward the Confessor. I should care more about Emma but just couldn't get excited about the format and lack of information on her.

[Kindra McRobbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I made it through about 60 pages when I decided to pull the plug. As another reviewer said, I found it to be more of a flat recounting of historian events and people rather than a compelling story about a woman. I found myself getting thoroughly confused and lost agony the seemingly abrupt and, at time, directionless hopping from one person or event to another. I didn’t experience hardly any cohesion tying elements of the story together, and as a result generally lost interest ina. Person/era in which, while I know impressively little, I am genuinely interested in learning about.
It almost seemed like she was trying to cram too much-too many events, people, cultures, perspectives-into too little space, and as a result the identity of the bok, the thrust of what she was trying to accomplish, was compromised. Fully admitted-I also tried reading it while I was already a bit tired, which may have handsome influence. But when it’s a great, compelling book, even when you’re tired it draws you in and it’s hard to put down, right?

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

c2004 (7) FWFTB: 11th-century, 1002, Vikings, Ethelred, Canute. The synopsis of the book was correct - 'this is a high level study of her reign, based on contemporary writings and the work of modern scholars, providing a picture of a brutal yet pious era.'. I didn't get a sense of Emma's personality at all though - not unusual for a factual book of this nature but she certainly was considered to be an asset due to her parentage. Short read and recommended to the history buffs amongst the normal crew.

[Randy Ladenheim-Gil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Because it's difficult to ever truly know much about Emma herself, the subtitle is important in this book. I'm sure I'm going to find myself reading this again. Although it's short, it's very complex. Over the last year or two, thanks to reading a couple of novels, my interest in pre-1066 England and its surroundings has been piqued, and this book has answered so many of my long-held questions. Not a pretty picture, but a fascinating one. It's expensive, so if you aren't planning to use the book for further study, see if you can get it from a library.

[Andrea Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book gives a decent overview of the time in which she lived, but there is not enough focus on Emma herself. The frequent suppositions about her emotional state were unnecessary. It felt like I was reading fiction at times. The book is a short, quick read and is useful as a general timeline of events and for background information on early kings of England.

[Joris De Brucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historische romans zijn voor mij een stuk leerrijker dan de meeste klassieke geschiedenisboeken. De geschiedenis van Engeland boeit me mateloos. Hoe vroeger, hoe liever. Erg verfrissend om ook eens over een vrouw te lezen in die geschiedenis.

[Call Me Cordelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative, though often confusing account of Queen Emma—everyone was named Edward, Edith, Elgiva, Harold or Emma!!

I had no idea who Emma was before this book. Super interesting that she was related to and knew William the Conqueror!

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

hard to rate--interesting to get a feel for Queen Emma and her times

[Melinda Knutson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting history of England and the Queen Emma who embodied at least three cultures that are integral to the cultural history of England today. To rule in the 1000’s was risky business!

[Aubrary · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay, good to know book.

[Keli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually really enjoy histories and I find Medieval Europe particularly facinating. And I really did like the snapshot of a time when Europe was defined more by ethnic groups that nations.

What I didn't like was that I felt Strachan fell short of her thesis. She stated that Emma had real political power. However, the evidence didn't seem to support that. Most of the action involved other players until Emma agreed to be a symbol in her second marriage to a man who already had a handfast wife. This does not suggest a woman in control of her destiny. In addition to that, the author tried too hard to make assumptions about the private thoughts and emotions of the individuals. Granted, these events happened a very long time ago and there are no diaries or personal letters to draw from. But I felt it would have been better to the the events speak for themselves than try to create drama with supposition.

While I felt the author fell short of her goal, I learned a lot about this period and was interested in a culture that seems very foriegn to modern readers.

[Kindra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I made it through about 60 pages when I decided to pull the plug. As another reviewer said, I found it to be more of a flat recounting of historical events and people rather than a compelling story about a woman. I found myself getting thoroughly confused and lost among the seemingly abrupt and, at times, directionless hopping from one person or event to another. I didn't experience hardly any cohesion tying the elements of the story together, and as a result generally lost interest in a person/era in which, while I know impressively little, I am genuinely interested in learning about.
It almost seemed like she was trying to cram too much-too many events, people, cultures, perspectives- into too little space, and as a result the identity of the book, the thrust of what she was trying to accomplish, was compromised.
Fully admitted-I also tried reading it while I was already a bit tired, which may have had some influence. But when it's a great, compelling book, even when you're tired it draws you in and it's hard to put down, right?

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

An introduction to Emma's life. It is definetly not a scholarly book, but for the general reader, and does the trick. If you want a short introduction to Emma's life, this is it. However, like other reviewers have mentioned, a lot of it is spent talking about anglo-saxon history, her husbands, and her sons, rather than the woman herself which always irks me in non-fiction. I wish there had been more written about her, and though we do have few sources for this period, she perhaps, instead of talking about the men of anglo-saxon england, could have related Emma's position to the positions of other Anglo-Saxon women. A rather small bibliography at the end indicates that this is indeed just for general readers, as the author states at the beginning of this book.

[Verity Hopkinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not impressed. Very little, in fact no referencing to sources and lots of supposition. Okay, yes I know theres hardly a wealth of primary sources for the subject matter but I draw the line at writing about how Emma 'felt'. Having said that there are very few words actually devoted to the subject, most of the book is about her husbands it should be called 'Emma's husbands'

[Andrea Renfrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely worth your while! Great addition to a middle grade history curriculum as well. http://anakalianwhims.wordpress.com/2...

[Ray Downton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not so much a life history of Emma, on which information is light,but the fact she was wife to two English kings. So this makes this an interesting potted hisory of roughly 1000-1066