Books like The Battle of Maldon

The Battle of MaldonComposed in approx. 1100 AD This narrative poetry right away made me think of « The Song of Roland.»Taking my copy off the shelve, I went to compare the dates of these historical events that became legendary related poetry.The battle in which Roland died took place in the Pyrenees Mountains on 15th August 778 AD The action of Maldon in which Byrhtnoth died, took place on the 10th or 11th of August 991 AD. The text relating to Roland’s legend was composed in the Anglo-Norman language in approx. 1080 The book to The Battle of Maldon written in Old English in the time from 991 to approx. 1100The style in both stories is a surprisingly straightforward narrative, in a vivid and realistic verse, recreate the ‘action before your eyes.'The main subject in both stories is the death in battle of the commanders and the undaunted suicidal courage of the bodyguards.The background to the battles and the characters of the heroes are different.Roland died because one of Charlemagne's barons had betrayed him. He fell, but his bodyguard stayed with the hero until the last one was brought down next to him.Byrhtnoth died because he had employed a wrong battle strategy, for reasons that can be understood as pride, overconfidence, or arrogance. In the geographic situation before the battle, the two armies were face to face but separated by a wet marchland with a narrow passable wood path in low tide.The Vikings could not attack unless they could pass the water. And not in a broad front.It seems that the Vikings succeeded in provoking Byrhtnoth’s pride to allow them to cross the water to fight a noble battle. Byrhtnoth's army was now outnumbered, and disaster followed. Half of his troops fled from the field. When the commander was slain only his bodyguard stayed with his body and died to the last one.Historical battles have been fought in great numbers, but only the battles turned into legends by ancient bards have reached our time.