The Last Kingdom
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | The Last Kingdom |
| Abbreviation(s): | TLK |
| Creator: | Stephen Butchard, Bernard Cornwell |
| Date(s): | 2015-2022 |
| Medium: | TV |
| Country of Origin: | United Kingdom |
| External Links: | IMDB page |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
This article or section needs expansion. |
The Last Kingdom is a British historical fiction TV series, set in late 9th century England (or more accurately, Wessex, Mercia, Anglia, and Northumbria, as England was not yet a unified kingdom), following the military and political clashes between the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings/Danes/Norse of that period. It focuses on the exploits of Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a Saxon man who was raised as a Dane, but seeks to recover his ancestral lands. The series is based on a series of novels by Bernard Cornwell, called The Saxon Stories (or Saxon Tales/Saxon Chronicles). It aired on the BBC from 2015 to 2017, and then was picked up by Netflix until its fifth and final season in 2022.
The protagonist's name is taken from several Uhtreds who historically ruled in Bebbanburg, but he is not a specific, known historical figure. However, several prominent characters in the series are, including Alfred the Great of Wessex, his daughter Aethelflaed, who would become the ruler of the kingdom of Mercia, his son Edward, and his grandson Aethelstan, who would found the nation of England.
Canon
Uhtred of Bebbanburg is orphaned at a young age, and taken as a slave by a Danish warlord. He eventually comes to be raised like a son by his captor, alongside another Saxon-born captive named Brida. When nearly all of their adoptive family is killed by a rival warlord, Uhtred decides to pursue the goal of regaining control over his homeland, which requires diplomacy and service to Alfred of Wessex (eventually to be known as Alfred the Great). Brida, meanwhile, prefers to hold closer to the culture and religion of the Danes they were raised as, which is the basis for conflict at many points in the series.
Uhtred's relationship with Alfred and Alfred's offspring is fraught with alliances, betrayals, and unlikely rescues, eventually leading to Uhtred's reclamation of Bebbanburg from his villainous uncle in the final season.
Fandom
The fandom for The Last Kingdom is small but robust, and not centered on any one major ship. (But almost everyone apparently wants to have intimate congress with Finan.) There is significant crossover with medieval RPF writers and fandom members.