Hard Hero Hengest

By Geoff Boxell

When Wimbledon schoolboy Jamie goes on holiday to Ramsgate in Kent, the last thing he expects is to meet up again with the dishevelled old man Grimm who had told him the tale of the Anglo-Saxon hero Beowulf.
They meet up again just as a group of Anglo-Saxon enthusiasts lay a wreath at the replica longship 'Huggin' to commemorate the landing of Hengest, the man who founded the first of the English kingdoms in England.
Grimm tells the boy the rather complex and bloody reasons why Hengest had needed to leave his homeland and come to Britain with three ships full of warriors. Although the old man is unable to continue when he becomes 'indisposed', the pair meet later at a village in Kent. There, despite the interruptions of two talkative starlings, a Hooden Horse and a side of Morris Men, Grimm tells how Hengest wrested Kent from the Welsh through both battle and treachery. As before, Grimm claims to not only have been there at the time, but to have influenced events as they had happened.
Although Grimm's version of who Hengest was and what he did is not quite the same as that told in the Chronicles or the poems, he claims that his version is all true, well almost true.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Geoff Boxell
• Release date: Jul 22, 2015
• ISBN: 9780473332099

Geoff Boxell

G'day,At the age of seven I asked my mother about King Richard the Lion Heart. Her response was to give me an historical text book she was reading on the subject and tell him to find out for myself! From then on I have been addicted to English history. After leaving school, where the history topics I studied were dictated by my need to pass exams, I concentrated my efforts on the 17th century, with especial interest in the Civil War and Cromwell's Protectorate. However, in the mid '90's I changed direction and began studying Anglo-Saxon history. Since then the Hundred Years War, in particular the events in the reigns of Edward III and Richard II have caught my interest. As a result of this I am now involved with the SCA Canton of Cluain, Barony of Ildhafn, Kingdom of Lochac. I have more than one persona, but my usual one is that of a yeoman archer in the retinue of Sir Allan de Buxhall, KG, Constable of the Tower of London. I run my own Household within the Barony - The Wulfings.Until Government cut backs I regularly acted as a guest lecturer for the Waikato University covering English history topics from the coming of the English to the Restoration.Whilst I spent most of my early career in telecommunications, I later joined the University of Waikato running an experimental ‘virtual’ unit providing education in technology management and innovation. After leaving the University I worked on various technology related contracts but am now retired.I am active Christian and attend the Te Awamutu Bible Chapel. For many years I have been involved in youth work for the church.Born in England, my wife and I moved to New Zealand in 1969. We have three sons and five grandchildren. We live on a large section with lots of trees and flowers and spend a lot of our time working in the garden. Naturally, as an archer, I have an archery butt at the bottom of the grounds.

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