Ellen Alpsten interviews Gytha Godwinson from THE LAST PRINCESS: DAUGHTER OF THE HOUSE OF DRAGONS
Young and beautiful Gytha Godwinson is the envy of England when her father Harold seizes the country’s crown in early 1066. But soon, treachery tears her house apart, and triumph turns to terror. An evil star appears, heralding the end of an era and a new beginning for Britain. Her family and the country seem cursed. Yet even as she suffers loss, betrayal and humiliation, Gytha is determined to regain what is rightfully hers.
In a stunning re-telling of 1066, international bestselling author Ellen Alpsten has created a captivating new heroine in Gytha Godwinson. Witness the end of England’s ancient house, the demise of a cursed kingdom and the emergence of a new empire: ‘The Last Princess’ bridges between myth and modernity.
IT’S GOOD TO BE A GODWINSON: Ellen Alpsten interview Gytha Godwinson
Gytha, thanks for joining us! These days, the Battle of Hastings celebrates its 958th anniversary…
Oh God, is it that long ago already? The memory of it is still so fresh. It feels like yesterday that I saw how…but no, I mustn’t spoil the surprise for Ellen’s readers. They will learn whom my father Harold II Godwinson was truly looking out for when that bolt struck his eye (shivers). But what is there to celebrate? The needly trees make the ridge near Hastings look like the spiky spine of a Wyvern, our heraldic beast. It ought to have protected us against the Normans. But in the end, Senlac Hill offered us no shelter against the true enemy, who came from within…
What do you mean – the enemy who came from within? William the Conqueror won the Battle of Hastings, didn’t he, setting the clock of modern Britain and Europe as we know it to the hour 0?
William was just a symptom of the cause for the end of the Anglo-Saxon era. And the true cause is my family. They are a feral pack of brutally determined social climbers and utter upstarts – or at least our men are, so it’s no surprise that betrayal runs generations deep. To them, an unbreakable vow is a mere string of words. Our women are different: my grandmother was a kinswoman of Canute the Great and of Royal Danish Blood. How did Grandfather Godwin, a mere young Huscarl, win her in marriage? A silver tongue, and sex-appeal, I suppose. It was her, who brokered Father’s Danelaw wedding to mother: Edith Swanneck was England’s richest woman, giving father the fyrd, the simple soldiers, and the geld, the rental income. Not that he thanked her for it, nor for giving him five children! Also, my aunt was married to saintly King Edward, whom I found rather spooky: I have never seen a paler man, and his icy blue eyes have red rims. No wonder she gave him no heir.
Which is the source of all trouble! England’s crown is for the taking, and your family is the most powerful in England…
Things could have been so good. Until father wanted more – man always does. His ambition and the searing sibling rivalry with Uncle Tostig, the Earl of the North, turns the ground beneath my feet in quicksand. Its rapids tear me and all I love away. The more I struggle to free myself, the more it builds up until it’s a huge wave, ready to swallow my world. It’s a world in which women were cupbearers, peace-weavers and memory-keepers. Until October 1066, my choice was clear: joining a monastery such as Wilton Abbey or making a good match in marriage. Whatever serves my family and thus England better…
Surely, that choice was still there even after October 1066?
Yes. It was. The Bastard was interested in the women of my family – I am not surprised. Aren’t we forever part of the spoils of war? But I had enough: nobody sacrifices me on the altar of their ambitions. Never again. I am more than mere bloodstock, only fit to justify a man’s royal ambitions. So, I choose a third way…
Exile…
Yes. The word sounds like what it is. A short, sharp cut that severs a person from all they hold dear, their home and their family. I suffer loss and displacement and seek love, friendship and belonging. In my nightmares, I still relive my fight against the Norse seidr’s spell, who lures us into her nest, which coils with snakes of intrigue and evil. There’s no evading a Norse Seidr’s evil spell, I have learnt that now. All one can do is fight it, and her. Fight her, like for like, and fight her to the death.
Fight or Flight turns into Flight AND Fight for you…
While England is a Christian country since centuries, things are different for the Norse and the Danes. Father himself killed the last Viking, Harald Hardrada during the battle of Stamford Bridge, up North. The North is a different land with different people. No wonder they welcomed the ‘Thunderbolt of the North’. No wonder, too, that it takes longer for our faith to root in Scandinavia. But I did not expect to be caught up in a lethal conflict between the old belief in the Norse Gods and our Christian Lord and Saviour. Neither works with especially lenient means of conviction.
Wait. Does that mean you become a Viking Princess?
I can’t tell you. Though I tremble with desire when thinking of Olaf Fair of Face. But, no, on the contrary. Grandmother was a very wealthy woman, and we all enjoyed her riches while living in Bosham Manor. I learnt the true source of her wealth only later. Like all Danes and Norse, she was a consummate slave trader. Her victims mostly came from Ireland, as prisoners of war, as petty criminals or people who couldn’t service a debt. The Norse and Danes call them thralls. So, if you hope to be enthralled today, think twice. I’ve been there, and I’ve done that: dusting furniture using my tresses instead of a rag. Feeding the hog. Carrying water back to the settlement. My bones ache with the memory of it, and the humiliation of being unfree brands your soul. I can’t say more.
Your story sounds like a myth, but it’s also very modern.
I bridge both. Once I free myself from all pre-conceived ideas and go forward into my future, it gathers break-neck speed. It’s a bewitching blend – stringent history and historical fiction, which teems with trolls and tomte, green-faced fairy-folk, giants, handsome hunks, nasty Norse sorceresses, and me, a flame-haired princess who fights to free herself from an evil spell. It’s this blend that allows me to rise from the ashes of my father’s cursed kingdom and see a new Empire emerge.
A new Empire? Which one might that be?
(Chuckles) Patience, my friend. I cannot tell you yet. All will be revealed in the sequel to ‘The Last Princess’, which is called ‘The Sunrise Queen’. It’s true that only few people know that England’s last Anglo Saxon Princess was also the founder of the…you’ll have to wait and see! First things first. The fabulous fate of Gytha Godwinson will not disappoint you.
Preorder ‘The Last Princess’ here:
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Ellen Alpsten was born and raised in the Kenyan highlands and holds a MSc from the IEP de Paris. She worked as a News-Anchor for Bloomberg TV before writing fulltime. Her debut novel ‘Tsarina’ and its sequel ‘The Tsarina’s Daughter’ (both Bloomsbury Publishing) is widely translated and were shortlisted for numerous awards.
Follow Ellen Alpsten on Social Media :
Twitter: @ EAlpsten_Author
Instagram: @Ellenalpsten_Author
Category: Interviews, On Writing
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