Maldon

<p><em>Maldon </em>is a version of the Anglo-Saxon epic fragment <em>The Battle of Maldon</em> which tells the tale of a battle between the Anglo-Saxons and the invading Vikings which took place ca. 991 AD on the shores of the River Blackwater Essex  almost certainly opposite Northey Island.</p><p>“Smith’s version of ‘Maldon’ preserves nicely a ghost of the alliterative pattern that rumbles through the original without trying to reproduce it fully in a clog-dance of consonants. It is recognisably the same poem as the original: it has its linguistic density and compelling narrative pull but it is free from the mildewed quaintness that sometimes hangs around translation from Old English.” —Dr. Alex Davis</p>