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Saxon #2
The Emperor's Elephant
The Emperor's Elephant by Tim Severin is the exciting second book in Saxon, the historical adventure series full of exploration and captivating characters.Sigwulf, a Saxon prince exiled to the court of Carolus, King of the Franks, is summoned by the royal advisor Alcuin of York. Carolus has received magnificent gifts from the Caliph of Baghdad and is determined to send back presents that will be equally sensational. White is the royal colour of Baghdad so the most important gifts will be rare white animals from the Northlands. Sigwulf, having proved himself as a royal agent to Moorish Spain, has been selected to obtain the creatures, then take them to Baghdad. He must find white gyrfalcons and two white polar bears and – as Carolus has seen its picture in a book of beasts – a unicorn. He and his companions travel far into the north. Though they obtain some of the animals, they quickly realize that not all are even real. Setting out for Baghdad with their menagerie, they encounter danger after danger and it seems that someone is trying to wreck their mission, with each stage of the long journey bringing a new and unexpected peril . . .
368 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2013
17 people are currently reading
263 people want to read
About the author
Tim Severin
46 books267 followersTim Severin was a British explorer, historian and writer. Severin is noted for his work in retracing the legendary journeys of historical figures. Severin was awarded both the Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society and the Livingstone Medal of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. He received the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award for his 1982 book The Sindbad Voyage.
He was born Timothy Severin in Assam, India in 1940. Severin attended Tonbridge School and studied geography and history at Keble College, Oxford.
Severin has also written historical fiction along with non fiction. The Viking Series, first published in 2005, concerns a young Viking adventurer who travels the world. In 2007 he published The Adventures of Hector Lynch series set in the late 17th century about a 17-year-old Corsair.
He was born Timothy Severin in Assam, India in 1940. Severin attended Tonbridge School and studied geography and history at Keble College, Oxford.
Severin has also written historical fiction along with non fiction. The Viking Series, first published in 2005, concerns a young Viking adventurer who travels the world. In 2007 he published The Adventures of Hector Lynch series set in the late 17th century about a 17-year-old Corsair.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 13, 2022
Read this book in 2013, and its the 2nd volume of this wonderful "Saxon" trilogy.
In this tale Sigwulf, a Saxon prince exiled to the court of the Frankish King Carolus, is summoned by Alcuin of York.
King Carolus has received marvellous gifts from the Caliph of Bagdad, and in return Carolus wants to send back presents that are equally sensational, and Sigwulf after having proved himself in Spain as a Royal Agent, King Carolus wants him to find these rare gifts.
After having seen a picture of a unicorn in the book of beasts, Sigwulf is sent into the high North to find this rare animal, and others like gyrfalcons and two white polar bears, so that they will impress the Caliph of Bagdad, but Sigwulf soon finds out that some can be found and captured but others are not to be found, simply due to the fact that they don't exist.
When they finally set out with their menagerie for Bagdad, they will encounter a journey full with danger and death, all in an effort to wreck Sigwulf's important mission for King Carolus.
What is to follow is an amazing historical Saxon adventure, in which Sigwulf is portrayed in a very lifelike and human fashion, and the surroundings and atmosphere of this period of history, late 8th Century, all this is brought to us by the author in his own remarkable and memorable way.
Highly recommended, for this is another terrific addition to this superb "Saxon" trilogy, and that's why I like to call this episode: "A Fascinating Emperor's Elephant"!
In this tale Sigwulf, a Saxon prince exiled to the court of the Frankish King Carolus, is summoned by Alcuin of York.
King Carolus has received marvellous gifts from the Caliph of Bagdad, and in return Carolus wants to send back presents that are equally sensational, and Sigwulf after having proved himself in Spain as a Royal Agent, King Carolus wants him to find these rare gifts.
After having seen a picture of a unicorn in the book of beasts, Sigwulf is sent into the high North to find this rare animal, and others like gyrfalcons and two white polar bears, so that they will impress the Caliph of Bagdad, but Sigwulf soon finds out that some can be found and captured but others are not to be found, simply due to the fact that they don't exist.
When they finally set out with their menagerie for Bagdad, they will encounter a journey full with danger and death, all in an effort to wreck Sigwulf's important mission for King Carolus.
What is to follow is an amazing historical Saxon adventure, in which Sigwulf is portrayed in a very lifelike and human fashion, and the surroundings and atmosphere of this period of history, late 8th Century, all this is brought to us by the author in his own remarkable and memorable way.
Highly recommended, for this is another terrific addition to this superb "Saxon" trilogy, and that's why I like to call this episode: "A Fascinating Emperor's Elephant"!
February 27, 2015
This book was disappointing. I thoroughly enjoyed Tim Severin's Viking series and the first volume in this trilogy, but couldn't get excited about this one. There are two main reasons I can think of; firstly I felt I didn't learn much about the period the novel is set in and secondly the pace pace was steady throughout with very little tension building up. Will I read the third one? Probably.
May 10, 2024
DNF. Sorry. Rants coming up later.
December 12, 2013
Sir Tim is a funny old salt. His historical recreation travelogues have better characters and "plots" than his historical fictions. I think this is because he is so constrained by writing a "true" story, he can't let himself "invent" anything unless it's backed up in triplicate by primary sources. Never let a good story get in the way of a complicated truth. This is one of his better fictions ...probably because the outline of the plot really happened. Someone called Sigwulf really made this journey to Baghdad and Severin meticulously reverse engineers the trip right down to the problems with bridge clearances. He is so darn'd accurate you can follow the route on Google maps, (alas no Google Riverview as yet exists!) although he doesn't use names for many of the places we visit probably because he wasn't exactly sure of the post-Roman variations being used on the day of the trip.
He also skips some boring bits like the Mediterranean because he's "done" those trips in other novels. Essentially this book is about Early Medieval Eurasian trade-routes, specifically European river (and inter river) transport. I'm making it sound a bit dry there - but it's quite fun because this is also an animal book. There's a lot of fun info about Bestiaries here - and one of the better explanations about why smart people believed in some really silly mythological critters. He ingeniously describes a number of animals along the route as a sort of game with the reader - testing our zoological knowledge, and challenging assumptions about what we know about animal behavior.
A note on the history - Severin is bang on the smart money writing a book that shows how complex and deep the trading relations between Baghdad and Europe were at that time. There are a lot of papers being published at the moment revising the what was previously thought. The world was much more inter-connected and the so called dark ages were anything but. I picked up this paper just after finishing "The Emperors Elephant", which discusses a number of the a number of points Severin illustrates in his book.
I have to say something about the title - I would not be surprised if Severin lets his publisher come up with these. The "Saxon" books are about the Frankish court ...."The Book of Dreams" was mostly about the Song of Roland, and in "The Emperor's Elephant" - said beastie only turns up in the afterward. If this book was correctly labeled it would be something like "Two Polar Bears and an Aurochs go to Baghdad", which perhaps sounds a little too Disney.
I'm looking forward to the last book in this Carolingian Cycle - If only to see what unsung part of the Medieval world Frequent Flier Sigwulf's destined to tramp over.
He also skips some boring bits like the Mediterranean because he's "done" those trips in other novels. Essentially this book is about Early Medieval Eurasian trade-routes, specifically European river (and inter river) transport. I'm making it sound a bit dry there - but it's quite fun because this is also an animal book. There's a lot of fun info about Bestiaries here - and one of the better explanations about why smart people believed in some really silly mythological critters. He ingeniously describes a number of animals along the route as a sort of game with the reader - testing our zoological knowledge, and challenging assumptions about what we know about animal behavior.
A note on the history - Severin is bang on the smart money writing a book that shows how complex and deep the trading relations between Baghdad and Europe were at that time. There are a lot of papers being published at the moment revising the what was previously thought. The world was much more inter-connected and the so called dark ages were anything but. I picked up this paper just after finishing "The Emperors Elephant", which discusses a number of the a number of points Severin illustrates in his book.
I have to say something about the title - I would not be surprised if Severin lets his publisher come up with these. The "Saxon" books are about the Frankish court ...."The Book of Dreams" was mostly about the Song of Roland, and in "The Emperor's Elephant" - said beastie only turns up in the afterward. If this book was correctly labeled it would be something like "Two Polar Bears and an Aurochs go to Baghdad", which perhaps sounds a little too Disney.
I'm looking forward to the last book in this Carolingian Cycle - If only to see what unsung part of the Medieval world Frequent Flier Sigwulf's destined to tramp over.
November 16, 2017
Second in the series, this book follows Sigwulf as he is tasked with finding and delivering unusual animals for a diplomatic mission to Baghdad. The plot for a start is a nice reminder that some people travelled much further in those days than we might think. Trade contacts stretched across Europe and beyond - and travellers' tales got garbled in the process.
It is an engrossing book, but there were times when I felt the plot was a little rushed and we weren't given time to fully appreciate the length of the journey, the lands they pass through etc. I would have liked a little more detail in that respect and can only assume that the author was worried about potentially boring the reader.
Nonetheless, I look forward to the third book.
It is an engrossing book, but there were times when I felt the plot was a little rushed and we weren't given time to fully appreciate the length of the journey, the lands they pass through etc. I would have liked a little more detail in that respect and can only assume that the author was worried about potentially boring the reader.
Nonetheless, I look forward to the third book.
September 4, 2017
I'm a big fan of Tim's two other series, "Viking" and "Hector Lynch". But unfortunately the "Saxon" series doesn't quite attain the same heights of enjoyments. TEE reads more like a travelogue than any kind of riveting tale, and I never felt invested in either the characters or their journey. It's all told with such a distanced, dry voice that none of it really resonates. Nevertheless, I'll finish out the trilogy to see if Tim rights the ship before reaching port.
November 25, 2022
A strange story of a displaced Saxon prince representing the King of the Franks in a journey to collect and then deliver animals unknown to the menagerie of the Caliph of Bagdhad. The journey takes many twists and turns, including the unexpected continuation of the journey to Africa.
It's quite a sizeable volume, with plenty of verifiable historical detail, but lacks the immediacy of his writings about his own voyages.
It's quite a sizeable volume, with plenty of verifiable historical detail, but lacks the immediacy of his writings about his own voyages.
October 31, 2013
enjoyed the book but however felt gaps in the plotline from the journey from Aachen to Baghdad though but following forward to the next one in the saxon series
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July 12, 2014eh
September 6, 2014
A substantial improvement over book of dreams.
December 30, 2015
A rattling yarn which ran out of steam a bit by the end, but I enjoyed the sense of place as we moved from the snowy north of Europe to the baking heat of Asia.
February 4, 2016
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the story had twists and turns that were slightly different from the usual if a little far-fetched.
June 10, 2016
Unlike the third book in the Saxon series, The Emperor's Elephant is an excellent idea with interesting characters and a weirdly interesting plot. It's educational in a painless way.
November 24, 2014
Slow and not much fun to read. Disappointed.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews