We begin this adventure with Wulf, just a young 16 year old page, whose dream is to become a Thane. If you don't know what a Thane is (we didn't) it's the equivalent to the son of an Earl, where he would own land and rule it for his own family. As a page to Earl Harold Godwinson, his job is really to do whatever he is told ... which it seems at the very beginning of the story is hard for him to hold his tongue ... not a behavior one should have as a page or a Thane. As we follow Wulf we find that he ends up traversing the beach of Normandy with Earl Harold (who will become King Harold toward the end of the retelling) and his friend Beorn as they try to secretly enter into the country without being found out by the French. Unfortunately, that doesn't go quite as planned because they get captured. Fortunately later, Wulf escaped and then later he stealthily captured a French castle of a king.
The story doesn't quite end as happily as one would like and my youngest daughter lamented that she "wished the English won every battle." She also thought it was quite weird that the brothers were against each other and on opposite side for the war. My son said his favorite part was that it seemed every time they would go to sleep (once we got to the battles) they'd hear a scream and be attacked almost every night, but they end up winning and defeating the Welsh. My eldest daughter said her favorite part was when they took over the Welsh castle. "It reminded me of myself ... perfect time to sneak in!" She instantly remembered that we had been studying all about the battles portrayed here between England, the Welsh, and the French.
As my husband and I talked about these wonderful adventures that draw you into the story and transport you to another time and place we also were impressed by the actors - some very familiar to us (like Brian Blessed from Star Wars and Helen George from Call the Midwife), but the authenticity in their portrayal of characters is what really brings the love and joy of these fantastic stories. They are able to bring you into the history where you can get the big picture and then sprinkle in some interesting facts along the way. You will also get the timeline where you can see the fighting between the groups and then the Normands invade.Their depiction really brings the historic adventure to life and you can "see" where you are and "feel" how you would feel as if you were REALLY there! It's fantastic! ANd we get to view the story from the other side - the side of the Saxons.
This time around with Wulf the Saxon, we did not get access to the Live the Adventure Club, but we did the last time when we reviewed another audio drama from them. They are helpful for homeschooling families to extend the learning with a study guide which has devotionals, cooking, coloring sheets, and then parents have access to blog posts that they publish. You also have access to prior audio dramas. Right now they have a 30 day trial of the membership. It's so worth the cost!
As always, please be sure to check out all the other wonderful reviews our Crew has done by clicking the link below. You can also find Heirloom Audio Productions on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, and You Tube! Right now they only have 8 other adventures, but I hope that they continue creating these wonderful works as G. A. Henty has MANY works to choose from.
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