Based on Bernard Cornwell's book series The Saxon Stories,The Last Kingdom has been a hit period drama. With its first two seasons airing on BBC, the show was purchased by Netflix in 2018. The Last Kingdom tells the tale of Uhtred, a Northumbrian Lord during the Viking invasions of Britain in the 9th century.
The books and show depict this Saxon boy's childhood among the Danes; becoming one of them, worshiping their gods, and learning their ways. Naturally, a TV show cannot capture all the elements of a book, an inherent problem in adapting books into the visual medium. Here are several things in the Saxon Stories books missing from the series.
Who Made Serpent Breath?
In The Last Kingdom, Uhtred’s legendary sword, Serpent-Breath, is made by an unknown blacksmith in a Saxon village. In Cornwell's book, it was lovingly crafted by Aeldwulf the Smith. Aeldwulf played a major role in Uhtred’s early life but was missing from the series, as was much of Uhtred’s early life itself.
Aeldwulf was the blacksmith at Bebbanburg and a secret Saxon pagan in a land full of Christians. The smith taught Uhtred about the old gods; Thor and Woden, and how Uhtred’s family was descended from Woden. Aeldwulf was Uhtred’s first step on the road to the Danish Gods of Thor, Odin, and Frey, and was also his first follower, abandoning Uhtred’s uncle Aelfric after he usurped the Lordship of Bebbanburg, and sent a man to kill Uhtred.
Ragnar's Oar Run
In the show, the audience and Uhtred first encounter Ragnar the Elder sailing in his longship on the seas outside Bebbanburg. This is the same in the book, although the reader doesn’t know it yet. But the books include an exciting scene that might have been too difficult for the producers of the show to replicate.
Ragnar, in full armor, runs down the outstretched oars of his Viking longship, and with every inhabitant of the fortress willing him to fall into the sea, turns once he has reached the end of the bank of oars, and repeats the incredible feat. This scene really establishes the bravery and the joy of life of the Danes and of Ragnar, which the show doesn’t really capture.
Uhtred and Alfred’s First Meeting
Before Alfred was the pious Christian monarch, he was a woman-crazy teenager and this is how Uhtred first met him. Spying on the West Saxon forces that were besieging a Danish-occupied town, Uhtred sees Alfred crying and repenting his recent liaison with a palace servant. Uhtred hears Father Beocca tell him to take the girl into his service and to resist the temptation of the flesh, “Thank God, my Lord, for giving you temptation, and then praise him for giving you the strength to resist it.”
When Alfred and Uhtred first meet properly, during peace negotiations between the Danes and West Saxons, Alfred asks the young Uhtred if he is a good Christian, to which Uhtred mischievously responds with the exact words Beocca spoke to Alfred a few days earlier, making them both think Uhtred is a saintly child. Little do they know that he has already happily cast off Christianity in favor of the worship of Thor and Odin.
Uhtred and Aethelraed
Part of Uhtred’s life that the show does not include is that in the books, Uhtred and Aethelraed are in fact, cousins. After Ragnar the Elder’s murder, Brida and Uhtred first flee to Mercia, not Wessex, taking refuge in the home of his uncle, Aethelraed the Elder.
In the show, Aethelraed gains Uhtred’s hatred for how he treats Aethelflaed, but the animosity between the two in the books begins much earlier when Aethelraed tries to have his way with Brida, receiving a swift knee to the groin from Brida for his efforts.
Uhtred's First Shield Wall
During his time at his uncle’s estate, Uhtred experiences his first Shield Wall. Mercia, on the border with Wales, was plagued by Welsh cattle raids, and Aethelraed the Elder sends Uhtred with the leader of his household warriors, Tatwine, to deal with a group of raiders.
Uhtred broke the Welsh Shield Wall, reveling in the joy of battle, the Sword Joy that would inspire him to follow the path of the warrior for the rest of his life. This scene in the book really establishes Uhtred’s life path and joy of war, which the show does not really capture, epitomized by Tatwine's praise of the young warrior "you're a savage one you are... this is your first shield wall, but not your last I think". ​​​
Uhtred’s Fleet
Before Uhtred gains the warrior’s renown for killing Ubbe Lothbrokson at Cynuit, Uhtred was not an important person. He was a pawn on Alfred’s chessboard to be tucked away for later, a Northumbrian Lord in exile that he could install when he was closer to achieving his dream of a united England.
Alfred sends him to Hampton to keep Uhtred’s pagan self out of his way and busy until he needed him, to serve on one of Alfred’s twelve ships. Here is where he first meets Leofric and receives warrior training, and many a beating, from the hulking West Saxon.
Uhtred Goes Viking
While the show does depict Uhtred’s raid into Wales and his alliance with Skorpa of the White Horse against the Welsh, in Cornwell’s The Pale Horseman, Uhtred goes full Viking.
Taking Leofric and one of the crews he commanded from Alfred’s fleet, they dress as Vikings and go raiding down the English coast. This gives the reader a taste of what Uhtred’s life might have been like if Ragnar the Elder had not been killed and he had remained among the Danes. The Welsh raid is merely one of the many raids Uhtred carries out.
Steapa’s Appearance
Steapa in The Last Kingdom, played by Adrian Bouchet, is a fairly handsome individual, square-jawed and with a neat beard. The Steapa of the books is a far cry from this good-looking portrayal. He is described as a hulking brute of a man, with the skin on his face stretched too tight, giving him a constant grimace, and the appearance of a grinning skull.
Cornwell describes him as “a beast of a man… a warrior you would put at the center of a shield wall to terrify an enemy.” Steapa was indeed a terrifying character, who gave even young Uhtred’s boundless confidence and arrogance pause.
Uhtred Vs Steapa/Leofric
The fear Steapa instills in his enemies is the reason that in Cornwell’s novel The Pale Horseman, Steapa is the one chosen by King Alfred to fight Uhtred to death after his raids in Welsh lands. Although this is something the show did differently with Uhtred’s brother-in-arms Leofric being chosen to fight him, this choice adds another layer of drama and emotion to the scene.
In the books, Steapa had no qualms about killing Uhtred and vice versa, and the friendship between Leofric and Uhtred makes the scene even more heartbreaking and increases the audience’s relief when the Danes attack Wessex, stopping the fight.
Uhtred's Rescue
The depiction of Uhtred’s harrowing year as a slave is a visceral piece of television during season 2 of The Last Kingdom. His rescue from Sven’s viscous clutches by Steapa, Hild, and Ragnar on a Saxon beach caused a lot of sighs of relief. Yet it was a little too convenient that the rescue party just happened to be on that beach at just the right time.
In Cornwell’s Lords of the North, Sverri, Uhtred’s ‘master', is pursued for months by a mysterious red ship, off the coast of Frankia and Frisia. Neither Sverri nor Uhtred knew who crewed the red ship, but Uhtred feels that anyone would be better than Sverri. The red ship was crewed by Uhtred’s rescuers, and this long cat-and-mouse hunt across the sea makes a lot more sense than his saviors’ timely arrival in the show.