5-Hoot Rating by The Blogging Owl

I have been bingeing The Last Kingdom series on Netflix. In fact I have watched all five seasons along with the sixth season – the movie, Seven Kings Must Die three times. The series is based on the book series, The Saxon Stories by author Bernard Cromwell. As Alfred the Great defends his kingdom from Norse invaders, Uhtred – born a Saxon but raised by Danes seeks to claim his ancestral birthright, Bebbanburg – now known as Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland. The series and movie are well cast, acted, directed, and produced especially German actor, Alexander Dreymon who gives a stunning and moving performance as Uhtred – “Destiny is All!”

Another television series that receives my 5-Hoot Rating is “Finding Your Roots” by renowned scholar Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on PBS. Dr. Gates guides influential guests into their family roots, uncovering deep secrets, hidden identities, and lost ancestors. I find each one of these episodes fascinating because of the extensive genealogy work that goes into researching the guest’s ancestry. The guests are presented with a book chronicling their ancestry along with a poster depicting their family tree.

Who doesn’t love an exceptional story?

Netflix’s series, The Last Kingdom and the PBS’ series, Finding Your Roots illuminate stories that are passed from one generation to the next, or to wondering who came before us. These two series caused me to reflect on my family’s legacy, as well as my husband’s family. We had our DNA evaluated for family medical reasons years ago, however, we never went beyond that point to discover anything further about our ancestors.

Defining a reimagined project

These two series have helped me to reimagine one of my writing projects. I have enrolled in a genealogy class at a local college. One of my writing projects is a legacy gift to my sons. I will be researching and chronicling our family’s stories into a book. I am looking forward to this journey into the past which undoubtedly will be met with far-ranging emotions and unimaginable discoveries.

What hidden identities or characters will I meet? What deep secrets will I uncover?

Do we have an exceptional legacy story to pass down to our sons?

For the love of scotch! Is there an Uhtred, one of the greatest warriors in our story? 

Peace,

(c) 2010-2023 All Rights Reserved