King Alfred and the Ice Coffin
Kevin Crossley-Holland, illustrated by Chris Riddell
Walker Studio

Prize-winning author Kevin Crossley-Holland and artist Chris Riddell join forces again, this time in a mythic re-imagining of a story set in Anglo Saxon times. We hear at the start of this rhythmic, dramatically told prose poem, how King Alfred of Wessex met a trading traveller with ‘a tale to tell’. The trader is Wulfstan of Ravenscar and he spins a story to the King, his wife and the royal household telling of adventure, shipwreck and love.

It tells how at an early age, Wulfstan became skipper of a small trading boat. A boat that after a violent storm eventually reached a jetty where he expected a hostile reception. However the people that helped them ashore were welcoming and assisted the traders in mending their boat.
One day after the death of the nearby town’s headman, the visitors learn of some of the people’s customs including their use of a hollowed out ice log as a coffin to preserve the man’s body

and the events that happened including a horse chase hunt for the headman’s wealth, leading up to placing of the body onto the funeral pyre. As for the treasure hunt, Wulfstan himself became the winner of a real treasure, the beautiful golden haired Eliza whose heart he had won.

Riddell’s rich illustrations are at first rendered in sepia tones but once the story of the sea voyage begins, change to blue tones, returning to sepia after Wulstan concludes his account.

This would make a good read-aloud for Primary School classes looking at Anglo Saxon history as well as a solo read those interested in that period.