Æthelflæd Æthelflæd ( – 12 June 918) ruled as Lady of the Mercians in the English Midlands from 911 until her death in 918. She was the eldest child of Alfred the Great, king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex, and his wife Ealhswith. Æthelflæd ...

, the 9th-century

Lady of the Mercians The Kingdom of Mercia was a state in the English Midlands from the 6th century to the 10th century. For some two hundred years from the mid-7th century onwards it was the dominant member of the Heptarchy and consequently the most powerful of the ...

, has been depicted on screen and in literature.

In literature

*The novel ''A Chronicle of Ethelfled'' (1861), by Anne Manning, focused on the relationship between Æthelflæd (called "Ethelfled" in the novel) and her father, King Alfred. Baker, Ernest A., ''A Guide to Historical Fiction''. London : G. Routledge and Sons, 1914. (p.9) *The 1930 novel ''Elfwin'' by S. Fowler Wright features Æthelflæd (called ''Ethelfleda'' in the text). *The young adult novel ''The Edge on the Sword'' (2003) by Rebecca Tingle deals with Aethelflaeda as a young woman. *In

Bernard Cornwell Bernard Cornwell (born 23 February 1944) is an English author of historical novels and a history of the Waterloo Campaign. He is best known for his long-running series of novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe. He has also writ ...

's " Saxon Stories" series she appears in a number of the books. *The 2012 novel ''The Bone Thief'' by V.M. Whitworth features Æthelflæd as a character. *Æthelflæd is the protagonist of the novel ''To Be a Queen'' (2013) by Annie Whitehead. *The short story "The Lady of the Mercians" by Sue Purkiss revolves around Æthelflæd's life. Purkiss' story appeared in the anthology of historical fiction, ''Daughters of Time'' (2014) edited by

Mary Hoffman Mary Lassiter Hoffman (born 1945) is a British writer and critic. She has had over 90 books published whose audiences range from children to adults. One of her best known works is the children's book ''Amazing Grace'', which was a ''New York Ti ...

On screen

In the television series ''

The Last Kingdom ''The Last Kingdom'' is the first historical novel in '' The Saxon Stories'' by Bernard Cornwell, published in 2004. This story introduces Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a Saxon noble who is kidnapped by Danish Vikings as a young child and is assim ...

'' she was played by

Millie Brady Camilla Eve Brady is an English actress and model. She is best known for portraying Æthelflæd in the Netflix drama series '' The Last Kingdom'' (2017–2022). She also appeared in the film ''Pride and Prejudice and Zombies'' (2016) and the App ...

from 2017-2022.

References

Mercia {{UK-royal-stub