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Hi Bernard,

 

As you are at pains to point out throughout Uhtred’s saga, there has always been a very definite but exquisitely complex relationship between a lord and an oathgiver. That relationship is very much an exchange of responsibilities between the two parties, which breaches of duties towards the other party being grounds for the revocation of the binding agreement between them. One of the key elements was the expectation of the vassal to receive physical recognition of good service in the form of wealth, land and so on and again you quite rightly point this out more than once. My question is this; since we know that Uhtred was never entirely happy giving oaths to Alfred or Edward, (less so to Aethelflaed out of love), from memory of the stories, he seems to have been less than well rewarded for some fairly major acts of courage and success, or even not rewarded in any form, (I am thinking here after he was badly wounded at the end of The Pagan King and then his recovery at the start of the Empty throne – I assume because he was expected to die they didn’t reward him at that point but surely afterwards?). I know there were times when Alfred had rewarded him with lands, but it does seem that for his deeds and loyalty he was treated less than generously and so, why did he not use those occasions to free himself from those unwanted oaths? I’m not trying to pick holes here, just interested  by Uhtred’s decisions!

 

Best wishes

Andrew Parker