One of the most common questions readers ask is where writers get their ideas. Personally speaking, the answer is everywhere! Anything and everything could be the inspiration for a story, from something overheard at the pub to an episode of a show I once saw on television as a child. For example, for the Star Legend series, I drew on the many books I’d read as part of my lifelong passion for Arthurian legend and archaeological discoveries, such as the artifacts found at the famous Anglo-Saxon burial site, Sutton Hoo. Read on for more details.

The Burial Mounds

The ship’s crew had the pleasure of visiting Sutton Hoo today. This place is the site of a famous Anglo-Saxon boat burial excavated in the thirties and the subject of the film The Dig.

Although King Arthur was a Briton (if he existed), many of the artifacts discovered helped inspire some objects in Star Legend.

To start off with, here are some of the burial mounds of which the boat burial is only one. You can see the effect of the current drought on the grass. Many mounds have never been excavated because archaeologists believe they’ve already been robbed.

The oval-shaped mound at the bottom centre is the boat burial, re-excavated in the sixties and then filled in once more. There are eighteen mounds in total including another, smaller boat burial and a horse warrior’s mound. Robbers attempted to steal from all three but failed.

The main boat burial is thought to be the grave of King Rædwald, a great king of East Anglia.

The King’s Helmet

There’s a scene in Star Legend book 2, The Fearless, where King Arthur rediscovers Excalibur and his armour. The description of the helmet was inspired by this one found at Sutton Hoo.

“Arthur pulled it out and wiped off the dust. It was a helmet. Conical, with cheek and nose guards and a flap that extended to cover the neck, it looked as fresh as the day it had been made.”

King Arthur was not Anglo-Saxon, so I used a great deal of artistic licence in the description, but the helmet is so fascinating it was too hard to resist. Despite its fanciness, it was practical too and would have offered real protection in battle. The picture to the left is of a modern-day copy based on the hundreds of fragments found of the original. At the time of burial it had been wrapped in cloths and placed next to the kings’ head.

Wikipedia says, “The visage contains eyebrows, a nose, and moustache, creating the image of a man joined by a dragon’s head to become a soaring dragon with outstretched wings.” As well as dragons, the helmet also features boars and horses. The animalistic and mythological iconography of the period is something I make use of several times in the Star Legend series when writing about Arthur.

It is said that the helmet is perhaps the single most significant archaeological find from the Anglo-Saxon period.

The King’s Sword

I’m pretty sure this has to be a replica like the helmet. I can’t imagine the real sword was this well preserved, but in a way this is better because we can see the weapon as the king would have used it.

In Star Legend, Arthur wields Excalibur – naturally – and I’ve made it a two-handed sword for dramatic effect. In reality, if Arthur existed he probably would have used a weapon similar to this.

The blade is pattern welded, which means it was made from several iron rods twisted and hammered together. At the museum there’s a detailed explanation of the process with models. The intent, of course, was to make the blade stronger and more durable. You can see the scabbard hanging to its left.

For me, the most interesting aspect of the sword was the hilt, and not only due to its intricate beauty like the rest of the grave goods. Archaeologists have determined that the king was most likely left-handed. The wear patterns on the hilt indicate left-handed use and the sword was placed on the right side of the body, suggesting it was the position it was carried in life.
A left-handed warrior would have an advantage in battle as combatants would be accustomed to right-handed attacks.

Another interesting aspect of the hilt not obvious from the photograph is how small it is. I doubt an average-sized modern man could hold it comfortably. A final note of interest is that in my research for The Defiant I discovered that sword blades are divided into five parts, each with a separate name. From the tip to the hilt end the names are the foible, middle, forte, tang shoulder and tang, the last being the part inside the hilt.

The Warrior Horseman

As well as the famous ship burial, another mound remained unplundered at Sutton Hoo, that of a warrior horseman and his horse. The would-be robbers sank a pit in the centre of the mound between the two graves, leaving the graves intact and the robbers puzzled and empty-handed.

Without giving too much away, horses feature more in The Defiant than any other Star Legend book, so the Sutton Hoo exhibit of the richly decorative harness the horse wore at its burial was especially meaningful.

The picture to the right is of the actual artifact, not a replica. As you can see the harness is incredibly ornate and would have been very expensive. The horse was either a stallion or gelding, about 14 hands tall and five or six years of age.

Carla Nayland states in her detailed description of the mound’s contents that the harness decorations are of interlaced animals and human faces.

Who was the warrior horseman?
At the time of his death he was about 25 years old. A long sword was placed at his side with an iron knife. His sword belt buckle was made of bronze studded with garnets and more garnets were found in what would have been a leather purse, including one shaped like a bird’s beak. His coffin rested on two spears and an iron-bossed shield.

The man’s age and status as well as the age of the mound suggest the man may be Raegenhere, King Raedwald’s son, but we’ll probably never know for sure.

The King’s Shield and Mailcoat

For the final post on my Sutton Hoo visit I’m going to talk about the two items for defence buried with the king.

The wood of the shield had rotted away but the metal fittings survived. The central boss is decorated with intertwined horses, and the iron grip on the reverse is embellished with birds with dragon-like heads. A six-winged dragon and a bird of prey decorate the front, and animal heads with garnet eyes were placed around the shield’s edge. Cool animals for a cool king.

All that remained of his mailcoat was a mass of pieces of rusted iron, but the museum had a replica on display that visitors can touch. The thing that struck me is how heavy it is. The original weighed between 15kg and 20kg. It would have been like going into battle carrying a child on your back. Coupled with the necessity of holding up a shield and wielding a sword, there’s no doubt these men were strong.

That’s it for the Sutton Hoo series. I hope this post has gone some way to explaining where writers get their ideas. If you’re interested in finding out more, I recommend the Wikipedia article rather than the National Trust page, which includes far less detail.