The Viking Sack of Nantes, Part Deux
When the Vikings took Nantes...Again | Author Update
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Today’s Dispatch
Viking History: When the Vikings took Nantes…Again.
Author Update: Novel Writing Month Check-In.
This week’s book recommendation.
Viking History
When the Vikings took Nantes…Again.
As I’ve been re-researching some of the backdrop history for my next novel to confirm certain details, I’ve found myself tangled up in the puzzle of Nantes in the 850s. Everyone knows about the famous sack of the city in 843, but almost everything about what happened afterward feels like a staccato of disparate mentions that don’t necessarily agree with one another. The events are there, but it feels like trying to read by candlelight in a smoky room.
The starting point is solid enough. On June 24th, 843, during the feast of St. John the Baptist, a Viking fleet sailed up the Loire River and attacked Nantes. The Annals of St. Bertin, along with the Annals of Angoulême, tell us they killed the bishop, Gohard, along with many others, and looted the city. Other, less reliable chronicles, including the Chronicle of Nantes, preserve the story of the bishop’s martyrdom, albeit with some curious additional details that cannot be verified, such as placing Hasting at the event. What’s certain is that the city was taken by force, and the Vikings even supposedly wintered on a nearby island afterward, acting as if they intended to stay.
Things became more complicated in the following decade. I keep seeing references to a “second sack” of Nantes, supposedly around 851 or 853, but when you start digging into the primary sources, nothing stands out as clearly as the 843 entry. Instead, you find hints. The political landscape changed dramatically after the Battle of Jengland in 851, when Erispoë defeated Charles the Bald. The treaty afterward effectively recognized Brittany’s independence and seems to have placed Nantes under Breton control. But how solid was their control? And what kind of city did they take over? I imagine a place still scarred from 843, half-rebuilt, half-abandoned, sitting on a frontier where Franks, Bretons, and Vikings all jostled for influence.
Then comes one of the most intriguing pieces of evidence: a document from 853 granting the Vikings royal permission to set up a market on the island of Betia, just outside Nantes. On the surface, this sounds almost peaceful, as if the same people who killed a bishop ten years earlier are now invited to establish a market. But when you look at it in the context of the political map of the time, it becomes clear how fluid and opportunistic relationships had become. The ‘royal’ power in question was the Franks, but the city had come under Breton control two years prior.
Only a few years later, in 856, the Annals of St. Bertin describe Vikings moving up the Loire again and strongly imply they were operating from Nantes as a base. This raises the question I keep coming back to: were they already in control of the city by 856? Did they raid it again, and no one bothered to write it down? Or was this simply a continuation of their habit of occupying places seasonally, the same way they would come and go from Noirmoutier depending on the tides of opportunity?
The chronicles don’t help. They record only what their authors thought necessary, usually events involving kings, bishops, and political crises. Frontier towns like Nantes appear only when something dramatic forces its way into the narrative. So it’s entirely possible that the Vikings slid in and out of influence there without leaving clear footprints in the surviving texts. What is clear from the evidence we have is that there was some funny business going on in Nantes in the 850s.
For my novel, this ambiguity is a gift. It allows me to paint Nantes in 853 as a city haunted by the memory of 843, caught between Breton rule and a rising tide of Norse activity. The evidence hints at a place where alliances were fragile, loyalties negotiable, and control of the city could change with the season. And in a way, what happens at Nantes in the mid-9th century foreshadows what is coming later in the century, when Viking power in the Loire region becomes far more entrenched with what historians have dubbed an ‘occupation’ of Breton lands.
If this topic interests you, I will be teaching a course on Early Medieval Brittany this coming January, covering the pivotal years from 799 to 1050. You can sign up for the course or purchase it as a Christmas gift for the history buffs in your life, click the button below:
Author Update
Novel Writing Month Check-In.
This month, I set out to do my own version of NaNoWriMo. Even though the official event permanently closed last year, I wanted to give myself a good boost after the chaos of moving from Oregon to France. The plan was simple on paper: write every day, hit 3,000 words a day, and rebuild a steady cadence now that I’m a full-time writer again.
And at first, it worked beautifully. By the 10th, I was actually ahead of schedule. I felt like I had finally shaken off the dust of the move and settled into a new rhythm.
Then real life decided to have an opinion.
Last week was a perfect storm: meetings with the French administration, helping my wife navigate all the adjustments of living in a new country, a holiday that knocked out daycare, and our baby hitting a sleep regression with the precision of a military strike. Add in the fact that I had to dive back into research on the mid-9th-century Loire (and once I’m down that rabbit hole, I don’t come back quickly), and the writing pace suffered.
So yes, I’ve fallen a little behind. Not disastrously, but enough that I’m calling this week my regroup-and-catch-up week. The good news is that the story is flowing, the world is taking shape, and all this extra research is tightening the historical foundation of the new chapters.
In other words: still on track, still excited, still typing—just with a few more French bureaucratic forms scattered across my desk than expected.
Book Recommendations
Rán’s Daughters, by Kaitlin Felix
Blurb:
Gyda Fiskwif and her all-women crew of Viking merchants set out to Al-Andalus only to discover that treachery, rather than treasure, lies in wait. A vengeful fire to reclaim her ship, her treasure, and her crew’ s freedom sets Gyda on a harrowing journey through Dyflin (Dublin), Jorvik (York), and eventually to the distant Norse settlements of Iceland at the height of the Viking Age. A saga of seasalt, blood, and gold, Ran’ s Daughters is a female-driven Viking epic like no other.
When a child on the shore waves to their parent as they stand in the beast-prow of a sleek ship of oak, journeying from the fjords of home to a far shore and plunder beyond reckoning, then it is well known that the child goes away from that sight wishing to one day sail the swan-road after them. And often, they do. Still more often, they die in the doing...
My take:
Ran’s Daughters offers a fresh and intriguing take on the Viking world through the eyes of a woman determined to make her mark in a society that would rather see her fail. Unlike many Viking tales with female leads, this story doesn’t shy away from portraying the harsh realities women faced when stepping outside prescribed roles. At every turn, the men in this world try to dictate her fate, and that tension gives the story real weight.
The cast of characters is diverse and engaging, with solid development early on and satisfying arcs that circle back by the end. The protagonist is flawed in all the right ways—complex, determined, and easy to root for.
What I found especially compelling is how Kaitlin Felix overlays modern themes onto the historical setting. The inclusion of gender-neutral pronouns and a character who uses sign language adds a layer of inclusivity that feels intentional and meaningful. As I’ve said before, we modern authors write for modern audiences, and using the past to explore contemporary themes is damn good storytelling.
The historical detail also felt well-researched and authentic, grounding the narrative in a believable setting while still leaving room for creativity.
All in all, Ran’s Daughters is a bold and thoughtful addition to the Viking historical fiction genre, and I applaud Kaitlin Felix for taking risks and telling the story she wanted to tell.
And, as always…
Buy my novels!
