{"id":6170,"date":"2016-11-08T22:21:12","date_gmt":"2016-11-09T03:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=6170"},"modified":"2025-07-02T16:20:51","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T20:20:51","slug":"the-summer-of-the-danes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6170","title":{"rendered":"The Summer of the Danes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Summer of the Danes<\/a><\/em> (1991) Ellis Peters<\/a><\/p>\n

\"the-summer-of-the-danes\"<\/a>Set in Wales in 1144.<\/p>\n

This story is quite different from others in this series. Like the first, it is set in Wales, but instead of a peaceful search for a saint, there is a possibility of a fight between brothers and then invasion (by the Danes of the title).<\/p>\n

I didn’t realize that the Danes controlled Ireland at times. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, but I just never knew it.<\/p>\n

his grandmother had been a princess of the Danish kingdom of Dublin, more Norse than Irish, Ragnhild, a granddaughter of King Sitric Silk-Beard, and his mother.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I was also fascinated by the politics and laws of that place and time.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrothers have been the ruin of Welsh princedoms through all ages,\u201d Cadfael observed ruefully. \u201cWelsh princes should have only one son apiece. The father builds up a sound principality and a strong rule, and after his death his three or four or five sons, in and out of wedlock, all demand by right equal shares, and the law says they should have them. Then one picks off another, to enlarge his portion, and it would take more than law to stop the killing.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Cadfael, of course, remains himself–curious and kind and well-aware of his own faults and failings (not that I’d particularly consider them such).<\/p>\n

It was a matter of principle, or perhaps of honour, with Brother Cadfael, when a door opened before him suddenly and unexpectedly, to accept the offer and walk through it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is a blessed thing, on the whole, to live in slightly dull times, especially after disorder, siege and bitter contention.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There is no one who cannot be hated, against whatever odds. Nor anyone who cannot be loved, against all reason.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is a marvelous series, and each book is as good as the previous.
\nRating: 9\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published by MysteriousPress<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Summer of the Danes (1991) Ellis Peters Set in Wales in 1144. This story is quite different from others in this series. Like the first, it is set in Wales, but instead of a peaceful search for a saint, there is a possibility of a fight between brothers and then invasion (by the Danes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,30,190,292,33,8,26],"tags":[120,119,549,877,878],"class_list":["post-6170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-10","category-british","category-cozy","category-ebook","category-historical","category-mystery","category-romance","tag-brother-cadfael","tag-ellis-peters","tag-high-middle-ages","tag-medieval","tag-the-anarchy"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-1Bw","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24200,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24200","url_meta":{"origin":6170,"position":0},"title":"The Summer of the Danes","author":"Michelle","date":"January 31, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Summer of the Danes (1991) Ellis Peters (The Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #18) Set in Wales in 1144 It is a blessed thing, on the whole, to live in slightly dull times, especially after disorder, siege and bitter contention. Have you ever seen the sea?\u201d \u201cNo. How could I?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Summer of the Danes","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/The-Summer-of-the-Danes.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11915,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11915","url_meta":{"origin":6170,"position":1},"title":"The Summer of the Danes","author":"Michelle","date":"May 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Summer of the Danes (1991) Ellis Peters Set in England in 1144. Cadfael and Brother Mark travel to Wales, to meet with (and support) two new bishops. But they end up caught up in an unexpected fight: Prince Owain Gwynedd and his brother Cadwaladr. \u201cBrothers have been the ruin\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"the-summer-of-the-danes","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/The-Summer-of-the-Danes.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6106,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6106","url_meta":{"origin":6170,"position":2},"title":"A Morbid Taste for Bones","author":"Michelle","date":"October 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"A Morbid Taste for Bones (1977) Ellis Peters Set in England and Wales in ~1137. I picked this up on sale--and by accident. I'd confused Ellis Peters with Peter Tremayne (whose real name was Peter Berresford Ellis, so it's not that ridiculous of a mistake) and so picked up a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"a-morbid-taste-for-bones","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/A-Morbid-Taste-for-Bones.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10939,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/10939","url_meta":{"origin":6170,"position":3},"title":"A Morbid Taste for Bones","author":"Michelle","date":"July 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A Morbid Taste for Bones (1977) Ellis Peters Cadfael is a brother at Shrewsbury abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Unlike most of his brethren he came to his calling late, having spent his younger years as a Crusader--and perhaps also an adventurer. Nothing troubled his peace but the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/A-Morbid-Taste-for-Bones.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6129,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6129","url_meta":{"origin":6170,"position":4},"title":"Dead Man’s Ransom","author":"Michelle","date":"October 16, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Dead Man's Ransom (1984) Ellis Peters Set in England and Wales in 1141. The civil war continues to tear through England, reaching back towards Shrewsbury, where Hugh and the local sheriff are sent off to fight against the Earls of Chester and Lincoln as well as a marauder from Wales.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"dead-mans-ransom","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Dead-Mans-Ransom.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6120,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6120","url_meta":{"origin":6170,"position":5},"title":"The Virgin in the Ice","author":"Michelle","date":"October 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Virgin in the Ice (1982) Ellis Peters Set in England in 1139. It is winter, and along the border with Wales, this time can be deadly, especially for the poor or travelers caught unaware. When bandits leave a Benedictine brother for dead in the cold, Brother Cadfael is called\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"virgin-in-the-ice","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Virgin-in-the-Ice.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6170\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}