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The Last Kingdom is a historical drama series based on Anglo-Saxon history and the uniting of England as a country. One of the main characters in the series is Sihtric (played by Arnas Fedaravicius), who is among Uhtred’s (Alexander Dreymon) best friends. The actor has spoken exclusively to Express.co.uk about whether he has read The Saxon Stories.
Has the Sihtric actor read The Saxon Stories by Bernard Cornwell?
The Saxon Stories is a series of novels written by English author Bernard Cornwell, who has a fascination with Saxon history.
The books cover England in the ninth and 10th centuries, and they follow Uhtred of Bebbanburg whose allegiance is torn between the Saxons and Danes.
Eight of the books made up the first four seasons of The Last Kingdom on Netflix, with the first two seasons airing on the BBC.
The characters from the books have been brought to life for the small screen, with Fedaravicius playing the role of Sihtric.
When asked whether he had read the books as part of his research, he said: “I like to read two books before every season.
“That way the future always remains a mystery and I get to feel surprised. As well as that, it has become a nice little tradition of mine for I really enjoy the books.”
Fans of the TV series have said they would like to learn more about Sihtric’s past in season five, as he is married and has a child.
The star said: “I like how fragile Sihtric is at the beginning of his journey in the books and I feel very grateful to writers of the show for allowing us to explore more of his life on-screen.”
The actor said he would like to see Sihtric become a lord one day and own some land for himself and his family.
In the books, Sihtric becomes an Earl of Dunholm, so there is a chance he is able to provide for his family at some point.
The star also spoke about how his co-stars feel like his family off-screen, and they are equally as close in the series.
Uhtred develops a strong bond with Sihtric, Finan (Mark Rowley) and Osferth (Ewan Mitchell) throughout the series.
Fedaravicius said: “We have a lot of love and respect for each other and over the years we’ve become brothers, so we do spend quite some time together off-screen.
“It’s no secret that Mark and myself were housemates in London for two years after season two was done.
“I hope the camaraderie we have developed as artists and people is visible on-screen.”
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In the books, Sihtric is the bastard son of Kjartan (Alexandre Willaume) and his father is quick to cast him aside.
Uhtred takes Sihtric on as a follower after he realises Sihtric had no loyalty towards his father.
His character remains alive throughout all of the books, so fans of Sihtric will be pleased to hear he will be appearing again on the series.
Fans may also be interested to hear in the books he has a half-brother called Sven and his mother is called Elflaed.
He first appears in the third book, which is titled The Lords of the North, and Uhtred heads north to find his stepsister who was taken hostage by Sihtric’s dad.
Speaking to The Screen Chronicles about how he sees his role in the series, the actor said: “I think initially because of his nature of him being a Dane it was definitely useful to use him as a spy.
“To send him out on missions and gain information, but as time goes by team Uhtred becomes more popular I guess and Danes find out about what’s inside the team.
“So it’s less likely to be that, but I like the dynamic of the group that we have.”
The final book in The Saxon Stories series, titled War Lord, is due to be published in October 2020 in the UK and November 2020 in the US.
Fans, and actor Fedaravicius, are keen to find out how Sihtric’s story ends.
The Last Kingdom is on Netflix now
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