Editing Roderick

{{Era|Individuals}}
{{Imageneed|[[Assassin's Creed: Valhalla]]}}
{{Quote|You have the wrong man! I've never heard of a Hunwald. I can't even properly say the name! Is it Hunwald or Honwald?|Roderick pleading to his captor, 870s|Assassin's Creed: Valhalla|The False Ealdormancy}}
'''Roderick''' was a man who lived in [[Lincolnshire|Lincolnscire]] in the latter 9th century. He physically resembled [[Hunwald]], the son of the shire's [[ealdorman]] [[Hundbeorht]], a fact that got him into trouble when Hunwald was being hunted by local authorities. After being misidentified and arrested by a Mercian soldier, Roderick was rescued en route to prison by Hunwald's ally [[Eivor Varinsdottir|Eivor]] of the [[Raven Clan]], when she ran into them on the road and decided to intervene.

==Biography==
{{Dialogue|Eivor|Right place, right time.|Roderick|Thanks for saving my neck, stranger. I pray I can return the favor someday.|Eivor and Roderick after his rescue, 870s|Assassin's Creed: Valhalla|The False Ealdormancy}}
An [[civilian|everyday local]] of Lincolnscire, Roderick had no relation to the political intrigues being waged on high by the nobles.<ref name="The False Ealdormancy">''[[Assassin's Creed: Valhalla]]'' – [[The False Ealdormancy]]</ref> In the 870s, his ealdorman Hundbeorht fell ill and died,<ref name="In the Absence of an Ealdorman">''[[Assassin's Creed: Valhalla]]'' – [[In the Absence of an Ealdorman]]</ref>, but a secret group known as the [[Order of the Ancients]] conspired to keep his death hidden to secure the succession for one of their own, Bishop [[Herefrith]].<ref name="Where the Stone Falls">''[[Assassin's Creed: Valhalla]]'' – [[Where the Stone Falls]]</ref> To that end, they forced Hundbeorht's son [[Hunwald]] into exile while repeatedly sending soldiers to try to [[assassination|assassinate]] him.<ref name="Homecoming">''[[Assassin's Creed: Valhalla]]'' – [[Homecoming (Valhalla)]]</ref><ref name="Salve for a Fresh Wound">''[[Assassin's Creed: Valhalla]]'' – [[Salve for a Fresh Wound]]</ref> A bounty was also placed on Hunwald's head.<ref name="The False Ealdormancy" />

If not for the unfortunate happenstance that he resembled Hunwald, none of this would have been pertinent to Roderick, who did not even know that Hunwald was the late ealdorman's son. He was shocked when a Mercian soldier misidentified him as Hunwald one day and arrested him, binding him in ropes and putting him on his [[horse]]. Roderick frantically protested that he was not Hunwald all along the intended trip to an execution site north of [[Lincoln]]. When his pleas fell on deaf ears, he began to cry out desperately for help.<ref name="The False Ealdormancy" />

By chance, he and his captor encountered [[Eivor Varinsdottir]] on the road. The [[Vikings|Viking]] [[shieldmaiden]] had allied herself with Hunwald and was then leaving Lincoln on instructions by Abbess [[Acha]] to find him at [[Ealdorman's Overlook]], where he was likely to be mourning his father.<ref name="Salve for a Fresh Wound" /> Eivor and Roderick's paths merged, and when she noticed his plight, she intervened by striking his captor off his horse. Listless to her assertion that his prisoner was not Hunwald, the soldier fought against Eivor for a few bouts with his flail until she slew him. Following this, the Viking freed Roderick from his bounds and deeply grateful for the rescue, he expressed his hope that he could someday repay the favour.<ref name="The False Ealdormancy" />

==Appearances==
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Valhalla]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Individuals]]
[[Category:Anglo-Saxons]]