tuareg109
Banned
The POD is in 1016, when Earl Uhtred the Bold of Northumbria is more amenable to the invasion of Cnut, and so is not eventually killed by Thurbrand the Hold, with Cnut's connivance.
50 years later, little has changed except that Uhtred's descendants have managed to hold onto the Earldom of Northumberland. Earl Osulf, grandson of Uhtred, is King Harold Godwinson's most powerful vassal, and decides to side with Harald Hardrada during the invasion.
The Battle of Stirling Bridge's equivalent is lost by the English, and Harald goes on to conquer England. By the end the English, if not quite happy about Norwegian rule, view the Scandinavian Harald as better than the (essentially) French William the Bastard, because English language and culture are much closer to Scandinavian than French.
Osulf marries Harald's daughter and is confirmed as Earl of an expanded Northumbria, with Harald as his liege. Tostig Godwinson becomes King of a reduced England, with Harald as his de facto liege.
Osulf and sons (with Anglo-Norse names, no less) have fun raiding and warring against the Scots and expanding their holdings. Because Northumbria is a bit denuded of men (many Northumbrian Anglo-Saxons having gone south to fight with Harold Godwinson and been destroyed in battle), Osulf invites Scandinavian men of all sorts, and so the Anglo-Norse culture takes firm hold within fifty years.
Maybe, just maybe, Edgar Aetheling retakes England (with or without Norse sanction?).
I don't know what will happen after that, but it sure seems fun!
Am I killing the butterflies, or are my POD's lack of effects acceptable?
50 years later, little has changed except that Uhtred's descendants have managed to hold onto the Earldom of Northumberland. Earl Osulf, grandson of Uhtred, is King Harold Godwinson's most powerful vassal, and decides to side with Harald Hardrada during the invasion.
The Battle of Stirling Bridge's equivalent is lost by the English, and Harald goes on to conquer England. By the end the English, if not quite happy about Norwegian rule, view the Scandinavian Harald as better than the (essentially) French William the Bastard, because English language and culture are much closer to Scandinavian than French.
Osulf marries Harald's daughter and is confirmed as Earl of an expanded Northumbria, with Harald as his liege. Tostig Godwinson becomes King of a reduced England, with Harald as his de facto liege.
Osulf and sons (with Anglo-Norse names, no less) have fun raiding and warring against the Scots and expanding their holdings. Because Northumbria is a bit denuded of men (many Northumbrian Anglo-Saxons having gone south to fight with Harold Godwinson and been destroyed in battle), Osulf invites Scandinavian men of all sorts, and so the Anglo-Norse culture takes firm hold within fifty years.
Maybe, just maybe, Edgar Aetheling retakes England (with or without Norse sanction?).
I don't know what will happen after that, but it sure seems fun!
Am I killing the butterflies, or are my POD's lack of effects acceptable?