Meet SÆXIA! 

 SÆXIA is managed and run by a core leadership team made up of three founding members, and who collectively have prior experience in the world of historical reenactment, performance combat for stage & screen, modern military field training in bushcraft and the outdoors, and martial arts. 

 In Anglo-Saxon society all important affairs were dealt with by the Witan, essentially an early form of Parliament, who were of such influence that even the succession of the monarchy was subject to their decisions. The SÆXIA Witan at this time comprises of the formative members:

Ældorman Wulfhelm

(Joey Ram)

 Ældorman Wulfhelm oversees one of the smaller regions of West Sæxia, the Isle of Purbeck. This region begins at the fortress Burh of Wareham, crossing the Frome eastward across the old Roman causeway, and includes such diverse locations as Swanwic, the "Long town" (Langton Matravers), Studlund, the Purbeck Ridgeway, and southward towards Tyneham and Lulworth Cove. He resides in a Hall at the settlement of Kingston, from which he oversees the innovative construction of the new stone Royal Hall at Corfe Passage. 

Thegn Ædwulf

(Ads Watson)

 Thegn Ædwulf, a young and already experienced warrrior from the trading, fishing and market town of Swanwic. His favourite pursuits, when not on campaign with the West Sæxian army, are hunting and the sampling of mead and ale brewed on his lands... 

Thegn Hærward

(Henry Eakins)

 Thegn Hærward has his fine Sæxian Hall on the opposite banks of the river Frome, at the settlement known as Sto-Burh, or "the holy-Burh". He assists the Reeve of the fortress market town of Wareham, and his Hall guards the route inland to inner Purbeck, via Corfe Passage. Thegn Hærward is an educated warrior, and when not on military duties can be found assisting in the learning and education of the common folk of Purbeck, and assisting with administrative duties in Wareham, as he is also a trained scribe. A favourite at the court and Witan of King Ælfred, Hærward shares a love of hunting. Whenever duties permit, he can often be found with Thegn Ædwulf, using his skills with the bow to bring down some tasty venision for a banquet in his Mead Hall...

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Other Members 

Ælswith of Brittany

(Elen LeSourd)

From an old Brithonic family ironically once displaced by the early West Saxon warbands, lady Ælswith is from a noble Durotrigic family and has resettled back in her ancestral homeland along with others of her kin. Industrious and hardworking, she and her family have quickly become talented contributors to life across Saxon Purbeck. Her familial connections with other relatives across the channel in Brittany form a valued and highly lucrative trade point with Frankia, which has brought her to the attention of Ældorman Wulfhelm and caused her to receive a noble appointment, working closely with Thegn Hærward and the Reeve of the market town of Werham to ensure merchant ships prioritise bringing their choice goods to Purbeck first ...

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Lady Helmi

(Chay Suaybaguio)

  Originally of Sami descent, Lady Helmi is the second wife of Ældorman Wulfhelm, and oversees much of the significant business of the running of his Hall at Kingston. Connected through family to some exciting north sea merchant routes, she has more than once used her commanding presence to oversee trade deals that have led to her being able to enrich the local community greatly. Her name "Helmi" means "gem of the sea" or "pearl".

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Lady Iona of Cæntwarburg

 Eldest daughter of Ældorman Wulfhelm by his first marriage, Lady Iona spends part of her time in her homelands of CÆNT (Kent) the oldest Anglo Saxon kingdom in the British Isles, and the heartland of Saxon fashion and culture. The rest of the time she spends at the Hall in Kingston, where her father ensures she receives the tuition in literacy and languages and the arts of combat that will set her on the path to becoming an empowered young woman of means in Early Medieval Britain. 

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Wulfthryth of Wessex

 Wulfthryth has a story both unique and yet all too common to many of the folk of Wessex, and of Anglo-Saxon Britain. Starting out her life quietly as Ælwyn in one of the coastal villages, her community was one of the first to suffer the depradations of a full scale "Viking" raid, which claimed the life of her husband and left her and her daughter Ædith near death. She was taken into sanctuary at the Abbey of Scirburne (Sherborne) and cared for until well. The Abbey community prayed and applied their herbal poultices, and upon recovery she pledged herself to the path of the warrior, joining the local Fyrd and quickly proving a proficient female combatant during the Dane raid at Corvesgate during the winter of 877. She adopted the warrior woman's name Wulfthryth, which means Wolf-Strength and became a competent leader in the Purbeck Fyrd, where she now trains her own daughter alongside the Lady Iona in the fighting arts.