[.ca] The Wind from Hastings (ISBN 1568496133)

historical novel...:
Historical Novel based on a real woman and a real mystery from the days of the Conquest. In 1066 William the Conqueror defeated Harold of England at Hastings, changing the course of Western civilization. This is the story of Harold's wife Edyth, who witnessed the battle and then vanished completely and forever, taking with her the legitimate heirs to the thrones of England and Wales. Edyth the Saxon was a political pawn for most of her life...married to the Welsh Prince Griffith whom she dearly loved, to bolster her father's position...married to Harold Godwine, to strengthen his claim to the English throne. Harold became King but reigned less than a year. Then Haley's Comet blazed across the sky, signaling a time of passion and treachery to climax at Hastings. The riddle remains: what kind of woman was Edyth, and how did she manage to escape so totally with the royal heirs?

Wonderful! Bravo!:
This is just a fabulous book. When I first saw how short the novel is, I thought that it would be an inaccurate love story or something. Nothing further from the truth. Harold II is portrayed in a very harsh and realistic light--not at all glamorized as he usually is in other books. He is seen as both ruthless and kind, hardened but human. The author has done a brilliant, fantastic job!

Wonderful work!:
This is a great book. It is great fiction, and great fact. Harold II's character is very intriguing. He's both a dominant warlord and high-minded genius at the same time. I loved his relationship with Edyth. The book is worth buying.

A wonderful telling of an untold story:
I have no idea if this woman ever truly existed and I have no knowledge of the history of England during this time period. Until now, I've focussed on Arthurian legends. This book seemed to be a nice, short diversion to another time period in English history. It was that and more. The characters interest you from the start. Aldith's qualms over being used as a political pawn by her father and sent to an uncertain future as the bride of Griffith was well done. Most other accounts of this marital arrangment seem to be simple compliance by the woman - never any questioning as to the reason for it. Griffith was a real person in this story - someone I came to like just as Aldith came to like then love him. Likewise, her relationship to Harold mirrored my impressions of him. I also hated him at first only to eventually share her mixed feelings toward him and to hope for his victory in the end. The story is extremely well written and has added Morgan Llywelyn to the list of authors I intend to read more avidly. If you want a sweeping saga of historical fiction in less than 300 pages - this is the book for you!

A well researched historical novel:
This is one of the earlier historical novels by the author, the copyright date being 1978. This novel is based on the life of Edyth, a grand-daughter of Lady Godiva and the wife of King Harold II, and is written in a narrative text, i.e., a story as told by Edyth. The writing style may not appeal to all readers. It is written from a woman's viewpoint (example text - "Brothers are intended by God as a sort of plague, like floods and locusts"), and is consistent with the position of women in society at that time. It was a time when women were used as bargaining chips to arrange alliances. A woman could be sent into a marriage with a man she had never seen, and had to hope for the best. If she was lucky, she might get a husband who was young and handsome. But he might be old, ugly, and battle-scarred. This was also a time when people did not bathe on a regular basis, and many people had rotten teeth. Edyth enters into her first marriage with Welsh Prince Griffith (Gruffydd) ap Llywelyn, neither having seen the other, hoping for the best. After Griffith's betrayal and death at the hands of the Saxon English in 1063, she becomes part of the spoils and is forced into a marriage with King Harold II, a short-lived marriage as he was killed at Hastings in 1066. The book seems historically accurate. It includes details of Welsh Law and customs, and contrasts that with the Saxons. The author ends the book immediately after the battle of Hastings and does not provide an afterward to indicate what happened to the various people who survived (it is known that Edyth's daughter, Nest, later married Osbern fitz Richard; that a daughter of Harold II and his mistress, Edith Swan-Neck, later married Grand Prince Vladimir II of Kiev; and that Edyth's brother, Edwin, married a half-sister of Griffith and obtained a Welsh title in her right). For a novel concerning later generations of Welsh princes, see "Circle of Stones."