One “Lost Tale of Mercia” released every other Tuesday from April to September 2010, and now all ten Lost Tales are available to read online and in print.
The Lost Tales are ten short stories related to the novel “Eadric the Grasper,” published October 5, 2010 on Amazon.com. They feature minor and major characters from the novel, foreshadowing events to come and revealing otherwise unknown secrets. Altogether they introduce the characters who will fight, love, and betray each other until the rightful king claims the throne of Engla-lond.
Though the stories are interconnected by events and characters, they don’t necessarily follow each other chronologically. Each one stands alone, so you may read them in any order.
The First Lost Tale of Mercia:
Golde the Mother
The First Lost Tale, “Golde the Mother,” is about the mother of Eadric Streona. It sheds light on Eadric’s strange childhood, and raises the question of who fathered the boy who would become notorious as one of the most treacherous men in England.
Read this short story online
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Characters featured from Eadric the Grasper: Eadric, Golde
The Second Lost Tale of Mercia:
Ethelred the King
This haunting short story illustrates the scandalous circumstances surrounding Ethelred’s rise to power at the age of eleven, and shows why the entire reign of so-called “Ethelred the Unready” seems to have been cursed.
Read this short story online
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Characters featured from Eadric the Grasper: Ethelred
The Third Lost Tale of Mercia:
Aydith the Aetheling
Aydith’s story is that of a young aetheling who, despite her royal blood, can get no one to listen to her willful opinions. With the encouragement of a kind hearth companion named Hastings, perhaps she will find another way to help her ill-fated country.
Read this short story online
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Characters featured from Eadric the Grasper: Aydith, Hastings, Ethelred, Aethelstan
The Fourth Lost Tale of Mercia:
Athelward the Historian
Lord Athelward, an ealdorman who also wants to write history, finds his peace of mind disturbed when a strange woman named Golde and her young son Eadric show up on his doorstep with a ridiculous proposal.
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Characters featured from Eadric the Grasper: Eadric, Golde
The Fifth Lost Tale of Mercia:
Alfgifu the Orphan
In the wildest Lost Tale yet, we jump to the year 1014. Alfgifu of Northampton joins forces with Canute, the new and young king of the Vikings. Alfgifu believes that her father was murdered in cold blood by Ealdorman Eadric Streona. How far will she go to obtain her revenge?
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Characters featured from Eadric the Grasper: Alfgifu, Canute
The Sixth Lost Tale of Mercia:
Hastings the Hearth Companion
A royal hearth companion named Hastings fights on the front lines of battle for duty and the Golden Cross, but he entertains unrealistic notions of how his mistress, Aetheling Aydith, might reward him.
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Characters featured from Eadric the Grasper: Hastings, Aydith, Aethelstan, Ulfcytel the Bold
The Seventh Lost Tale of Mercia:
Hildred the Maid
In the year 1005 A.D., a terrible famine strikes Engla-lond. When a poor young woman named Hildred grows desperate enough to break the law for her survival, a rising thegn named Eadric takes her fate in his hands.
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Characters featured from Eadric the Grasper: Hildred, Eadric, Truman
The Eighth Lost Tale of Mercia:
Canute the Viking
As a teenager, Canute struggles to find his place among a fortress of Jomsvikings and the differing religions surrounding them. An unexpected relationship with another Jomsviking, forbidden by the Christians, may force him to choose.
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Characters featured from Eadric the Grasper: Canute
The Ninth Lost Tale of Mercia:
Runa the Wife
Runa expects to live her entire life isolated in the woods until she meets Thorkell the Tall. She tries to conform to society through a traditional marriage, but at a very high cost to them both.
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Characters featured from Eadric the Grasper: Runa, Thorkell the Tall, Canute
The Tenth Lost Tale of Mercia:
Edmund the Aetheling
In the tenth and final Lost Tale, young prince Edmund suspects a plot against his father’s life. He turns to his siblings, Aydith and Aethelstan, for help, but King Ethelred heeds none of them. Will they ever find someone they can trust?
Read this short story online
Download this story as an epub, minibook (for Kindles), or PDF
Characters featured from Eadric the Grasper: Edmund, Ethelred, Aydith, Aethelstan, Eadric
SETTING
It is near the year 1000 A.D., yet Engla-lond is still in the shadows of the Dark Ages. The Vikings and their king, Sweyn Forkbeard, constantly attack Engla-lond. A weak king, Ethelred II, rules the Anglo-Saxons. He tries to pay off each Viking attack with a steep tax called the “Danegald,” but again and again they return. A masked vigilante called the Golden Cross tries to aid the people of Engla-lond and rally them to warfare, but this rebel is constantly way-laid by the king’s most trusted advisor, Eadric Streona. Eadric Streona, Ealdorman of Mercia, is a charming master of the king’s court who always manages to get what he wants; but what he wants remains a mystery to all.
Each story will feature a minor character from the novel, Eadric the Grasper. The stories will provide glimpses of the lives of Eadric and the Golden Cross, as well as their most important friends and foes.
ABOUT EADRIC THE GRASPER:
Visit the home page: http://www.jaydenwoods.com/Grasper.html
History looks back on Eadric Streona as one of the most villainous men of his time. The BBC History Magazine elected him as the worst Briton of the 11th century, and many also blame him for the victory of the Vikings over England. Streona means “the Grasper,” and such was Eadric’s character: he clutched for power and money wherever he could. But what most historians fail to consider is that Eadric Streona’s primary goal was peace and stability for England. Without altering any factual events, Eadric the Grasper presents another conception of this historical figure: he is suave, charming, intelligent, and values peace above all things. If he must put a Viking king on the throne to gain a pleasurable life for himself and his true love, so be it.
Meanwhile, a ruthless vigilante called “the Golden Cross” will do anything necessary to keep the Vikings from the throne. Eadric must pit his wits and sword against the crafty masked figure, but doing so traps him in a dark web of lies and deception. When at last he uncovers the rebel’s identity, his entire world will fall apart, and he must face a terrible choice. Can the selfish Eadric Streona sacrifice his own welfare for the sake of another’s?
Tales of Mercia and Beyond 
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