The Namesake

by C. Walter Hodges

It begins -- ""I, Alfred the One-legged...being now an old man," and continues in the tradition of the most ancient storytellers to celebrate the victories of a king and the miracles of the holy. Set in the days of King Alfred, his name-sake grew up, in spite of the constant Danish war parties descending on East Anglia and in spite of his amputated leg, to become a trusted secretary to the King. The Danes were all, "Cut, sack, burn, drink and swipe," so the war orphaned Alfred lived with monks and left with them when their monastery was pillaged. The depth of early Christian faith was continually overshadowed by the not wholly abandoned superstitions. The crippled boy fought to conquer his disability and serve as a scribe to the King who shared his name. The dialogue is heroic and the descriptions of battles and raids have visual impact. A vividly detailed recreation of a brutal time with action, adventure and history to hold the boys in thrall.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Childrens

219 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Cyril Walter Hodges was a writer, an illustrator and a Shakespeare scholar.

Reviews

[Suzannah Rowntree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed the strong message of hope in this historical fiction dealing with Alfred's early reign. Hodges' book reads more like a fictionalised biography at some points than a novel, and can occasionally be a little dry, but the themes here are both timely and encouraging. Recommended for all ages.

[Snuggery Mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

my review from instagram @snugggery.mom when I had first finished The Namesake, several months ago:

book review: The Namesake, C. Walter Hodges.
I slogged through it, and I liked it well enough now that it's over😄
That may be too harsh, because 1. the writing was great, 2. I feel I learned lot about the time period (Alfred's early years as king, when he was fighting the Danes), which is the main reason I read Historical Fiction (of course), 3. and I generally love all things King Alfred.
But...
the story centered on a character who was singled out as special and worthy by Alfred, but I failed to feel his "specialness." He was the narrator, so if he was a humble man, which he would have been, the author would, I guess, have to be extra-clever in conveying those special qualities, which he didn't (for the most part.) Also, I found moments that should have been gripping, not really gripping at all (again, for the most part), and that's saying a lot given the subject matter (Saxons vs. Danes!)
There is a sequel, entitled The Marsh King, which is supposed to be "even better" than The Namesake (😅), which I will force myself to read soon as an exercise in self-punishment (😂joke. I will read it, though.) I really crave a book on Alfred that stars Alfred, not just peripherally, so you can find me in the next few minutes over on Amazon (reviews), reading up on whether or not King Alfred is the main protagonist in Hodges's sequel. If so, I'll be reading it very soon. If not, it may be a while.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
❤️❤️❤️

*adding that the sequel was so good that this one became even more worth reading.

[Padraic · Rating 4 out of 5]

In one of the nicest things anyone ever did for me, my wife hunted down a copy of this on Alibris. It was one of my favorite historical novels from childhood; an odd choice for an Irishman, but the English are spot-on...at times.

[Keenan]

After you weed out a couple things I believe it to be very factual. By 'weed out' I mean several areas where they took one line written by Asser and created into a huge scandel when there was no reason to do so. So in short, skip the personal section.

[Harlan Paulson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is about the early life of Alfred the Great. This historical novel is told from the view of a crippled boy who becomes his secretary. A must keep book my son at 21 year old said to me. It is a great read aloud chapter book.
Sep 22, 2015 04:41PM

[scarlettraces · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5)

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pleasure to read.