Cnut: The Conqueror

The Earls of Mercia #4.5

by M.J. Porter

To gain what he wanted, what he felt he was owed, Cnut would do anything, even if it meant breaking his oaths to a woman he loved and the mother of his son.

Swein, King of Denmark, and briefly England, lies dead, his son ousted from England as King Aethelred returns from his exile in Normandy at the behest of his Witan and the Bishops. Aethelred might have relinquished his kingdom to Swein, the conqueror, but with Swein dead, the men have no interest in supporting an untried youth whose name resounds with the murder of one of England’s greatest bishop’s, a youth known only for his savagery and joy of battle, a true Norse man who utilizes his weapons without thought.

But Cnut wants a kingdom and he will do anything to gain one.

As England is ravaged by a civil war between the sons of two former kings, Athelstan and Edmund, sons of King Aethelred, and Cnut, son of Swein, the men must make personal decisions in the heat of battle as they strive to reclaim their birthrights whilst doing all the can to stay alive.

Cnut: the Conqueror, is an Earls of Mercia side story to mark the millennial anniversary of Cnut’s accession to the English kingdom.

Genres: Historical Fiction

297 pages, ebook

First published December 24, 2015

About the author

I'm an author of historical fiction (Early English/Saxon, Vikings and the British Isles as a whole before the Norman Conquest, as well as five 20th-century historical mysteries) and historical fantasy.

I was born in the old Mercian kingdom at some point since 1066. Raised in the shadow of a strange little building, told from a very young age that it housed the bones of long-dead kings of Mercia and that our garden was littered with old pieces of pottery from a long-ago battle, it's little wonder that my curiosity in Early England ran riot. I can only blame my parents!

I like to write. You've been warned!

Not sure where to start your journey through Saxon/Early England? The Dark Ages trilogy will take readers back to the very beginnings of Saxon England before the creation of Mercia and the other kingdoms. The Eagle of Mercia Chronicles featuring our reluctant hero, Icel, will introduce you to the best Saxon kingdom of all, Mercia! Storm of Mercia is the latest release.

Looking for my historical fantasy/romantasy? Dragonbound, the first book in the Ice and Fire series, will be avalable from August 2026.

Looking for my 20th-century mysteries? The Erdington Mysteries, and Cragside, a standalone 1930s murder mystery, are the titles for you.

My first non-fiction book, The Royal Women Who Made England, is now published by Pen and Sword in hardback and ebook.

Happy reading:)

Find me at
www.mjporterauthor.com or at www.mjporterauthor.blog where I blog about books and films and sometimes, writing! I also have an online store for signed paperbacks and a few others goodies at mjporterauthor.co.uk.
https://linktr.ee/MJPorterauthor
https://mjporterauthor.sumupstore.com

You can join my monthly subscriber newsletters and gain access to the restricted page on my blog at the same time.
https://BookHip.com/MGWHLDC (Saxon stories)
https://BookHip.com/THPKCKP (mysteries only)


(I have odd reading tastes - there's no need to notice though!!) I'm also exceedingly anti-social - that you may notice but must accept!

Reviews

[Mercedes Rochelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cnut takes us through the tempestuous period from Swegn Forkbeard’s death to the beginning of Cnut’s reign. Things did not go well for him but he kept coming back again and again; he respected the dauntless English, and the more they resisted the more he wanted to rule them. MJ Porter’s Cnut was a bit of an incompetent; it seemed that almost everything he planned tended to go wrong somewhere along the line—usually because of his own poor judgment. But he somehow managed to hold his followers together, though there were times I wondered why the Danes stuck by him. He didn’t seem to have much to offer—not even success for the most part. He reluctantly put his trust in the treacherous Eadric of Mercia who always managed to scheme his way into staying alive. Nobody else trusted the man, which caused stress among Cnut’s followers:

“You think he comes to attack?” Cnut asked then, and Godwine was the first to make the connection between what he was asking and what he was hoping this meant.
“We don’t want him Cnut. He’s unreasonable and a bloody liar. I wouldn’t put it past him to pretend to be our ally and then burn our ships.”
“You think he loves his king that much that he’d risk himself in such a way?” Cnut didn’t for a moment. Eadric was a self-serving bastard. The weeks of watching him try to be invisible when his father had briefly been king, had caused Cnut no end of amusement and had solidified his hatred for the man. But, well, he might just have come to offer his support, and it might be just what was needed to end the stalemate.
“Attack him,” Godwine offered with a sneer on his face. “Kill him here and now and do everyone a huge favour.”
Cnut was thinking quickly. “We can turn this to our advantage,” he announced decisively only for Godwine to glare at him, too outraged to hide his anger.
“My Lord?” he spluttered, but Thorkell and Erik were already schooling their expressions, getting ready to treat Eadric with just the right amount of respect.

I think overall there was too much thinking going on in the book. Again and again Cnut thinks about how much he misses his wife Aelfgifu but he doesn’t make a huge effort to bring her to his side. He thinks a lot about how he wants to gain the loyalty of the Mercian Leofwine, but manages to screw that up, too. Every time he goes into battle, he thinks about how he’s going to win the crown that day; then he doesn’t. It got to the point where I didn’t really care what he was thinking since it didn’t matter anyway; I wanted to get on with the action. Nonetheless, the book moved along well and didn’t bog down, even though it was an uphill battle for Cnut (forgive the pun). I thought the author missed a couple of opportunities for some potentially spectacular episodes; there were times we got an after-the-fact explanation, which was anti-climactic. One chapter he is fighting for the crown; the next chapter Edmund Ironside is dead. We don’t see Eadric’s traitorous end. But throughout, the personal interactions were solid and believable, and so were the characters. It gave us a good overview of Cnut’s struggles to step into his father’s shoes.

[Reluctanthistorian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This side story fits well with the other books in the series. It's an easy read because I know so many of the characters and it fills in some gaps as to why Cnut (and his father before him) were so keen to take England. The characters are well drawn. The gore level is less than in Haedfeld but the men and women of England are portrayed as more civilised and this probably accounts for that.
It can definitely be read as a standalone novel without the need to indulge in the rest of the Earls of Mercia Series. However it's best read in the order the author offers which is;
Ealdorman
Ealdormen
Swein
Northman Part 1
Northman Part 2
Cnut
Wulfstan
The King's Earl