My book “A Viking’s Curse” is not just a new re-imagining of ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ It also tells an important story about history. It shows that women warriors were important in protecting kingdoms, but people didn’t always see their value. Even they, themselves.

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So let’s discuss Catelyn Hastings, our female warrior in the Viking’s Curse series. Is she based on a real person? Were there really English women warriors who fought the Vikings?

A resounding YES.

The daughter of King Alfred herself was my inspiration for Cate. King Alfred’s daughter was called Aethelflaed, who ruled Mercia for seven years after Alfred died. 

Recorded in  “Æðelflæd of Mercia, Mise en Page” (Studies in Medieval Language) — (Source: Wikipedia)

“In the twelfth century, a historian called Henry of Huntingdon paid her his own tribute:

Heroic Elflede! great in martial fame,
A man in valour, woman though in name
Thee warlike hosts, thee, nature too obey’d,
Conqu’ror o’er both, though born by sex a maid.
Chang’d be thy name, such honour triumphs bring.
A queen by title, but in deeds a king.
Heroes before the Mercian heroine quail’d
Caesar himself to win such glory fail’d.”

I can’t get those lines out of my head. “A queen by title, but in deeds a king.”

Aethelflaed was not a sit-down queen. She was a legendary warrior who led troops against the Vikings, the Welsh, and other enemies in battles and sieges. She earned considerable respect from her peers and supporters, but was overshadowed by other rulers simply because she was a woman. 

In my imagination, Aethelflaed may have also inspired many women to rise up and fight in her army. 

And here’s where Catelyn Hastings comes in.

In real life, Cate would have been one of the female warriors Aethelflaed inspired to defend their land. But inspite of their dedication, women were not seen as equals in many aspects of life and felt the weight of this prejudice. Even the stories of Aethelflaed herself either do not exist as public knowledge or were never recorded in the first place.

I have always been in awe of women like Æthelflæd, who brilliantly demonstrated the power and strength of female courage and resilience. And there were, and still are, thousands like her who fought against slavery and injustice, for their honor, their families, and their people.

Tomyris, Artemisia, Cunane, Boudicca, Lady Fu Hao, Harriet Tubman.

So, a warrior woman in King Alfred’s army? A warrior woman in my future books?

Most definitely.