The Viking's Gift

King Harthacanute ordered the destruction of the prosperous market town of Worcester and the slaughter of all its inhabitants in retaliation for the murder of two tax collectors. It’s also documented that Earl Leofric reluctantly obeyed and destroyed the town, but that few lost their lives. This tale is a fictional account of how that came about thanks to the intervention of one of the king’s Viking messengers who fell in love with a girl he met on her way to Worcester’s market.