He could hear the concerns and gather the taxes of the people of his kingdom, including those who tied themselves back to Romano-British relatives, and further still, to Celtic tribes. The buildings that formed Edwin’s court, however, were firmly those of Anglo-Saxon kings and queens, and the largest hall would have been reminiscent of Hrothgar’s hall, Heorot, described in Beowulf: ‘The building in which that powerful man held court was the foremost of halls under heaven; its radiance shone over many lands.’
