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ROLAN
Rolan is an Anglo-Saxon thegn born in
AD951 during the reign of Edred, King of Engla-lond. Like his father
before him, he worked a grist mill for the earldorman of Warwick in
Mercia. He lives at a time of when Engla-lond is struggling to resist
the murderous incursions of Viking marauders. After coming of age,
Rolan served two months of every year as a rank-and-file member of the
general fyrd (citizens’ militia) as a ceorl (commoner). He fought at
the Battle of Maldon in AD991 against the Norsemen lead by Olaf
Tryggvason. The fighting was protracted and bloody, the English
resistance stiff, but in the end the English suffered defeat and many
brave thegns perished on that field. For his fierce defense at Maldon,
Rolan was afterwards elevated to thegn and given land to hold for King
Aethelred the Unred. He continues to serve in a fyrd that consists
largely of senior-ranking thegns and fewer ceorls – and to defend the
realm against the Vikings. |
 SHIELDS  KIT |
