The Shadow Lords

The Shadow Lords sound like some sort of evil clique out to change the world, but they are much more benign. One of Matthew West’s daughters became the mistress of Frederik V of Denmark. At the time, Matthew West had not yet become a sovereign by purchasing principalities in the Holy Roman Empire, so she was not considered of equal status. However, she had more sway over him than either of his wives, so she became known as the “Shadow Queen.” He built her a palace that became known as the Shadow Palace where she lived within easy travel of his palace. They had seventeen children together, who, being raised in the Shadow Palace and children of the Shadow Queen, became known as the Shadow Lords, even though six of them were daughters.

Just before his death, Frederik raised their status in several ways, even though he could not legitimate them. He made each of them a Duke (or Duchess) of Shadow, which was to be passed through agnatic primogeniture with special remainder for the six daughters. This title carried with it a position as councilor to the king. He also created each a count of the kingdom, which designation passed to all of their children. Lastly, he presented each with a small appanage within his territories of Denmark, Norway, the Faroe Islands, or Iceland. Later, several of them or their children received further land in Greenland.

Their last names all have two components. The first is “af Skygge,” meaning “of Shadow.” The second component goes with their coat of arms and titles as counts and countesses. Their coats of arms were mostly references to their given names. Because their grandfather’s colors were black and gold, most of their coats of arms were also black and gold. So, the Shadow Lords are:

• Sigurd af Skygge af Antikkesværd (Ancient Sword from Sigurd of legend), 1746-1854
• Matthew West af Skygge af Æbletræ (Apple Tree because his coat of arms was based on his grandfather’s), 1747-1856
• Rosa Annelie Britt af Skygge af Rødblomst (Rosa becomes Red Flower), 1749-1845
• Kristian Bendt af Skygge af Gyldenkors (Kristian becomes Golden Cross), 1750-1803
• Cai Julius Cæsar af Skygge af Aureus (Cæsar becomes a gold Roman coin with his likeness), 1751-1885
• Frej Peer af Skygge af Gullinbursti (Frey was a Germanic god who had a boar with golden Bristles, which was named Gullinbursti), 1752-1893
• Freya Lærke Agnete af Skygge af Kattebærekarm (Freya was a Germanic goddess pulled in a chariot by cats, so Kattebærekarm is a term meaning Cat Chariot), 1752-1842
• Georg af Skygge af Plovmand (George means farmer, so Plowman), 1753-1823
• Turid af Skygge af Gyldenambolt (Turid means “Thor’s Beauty,” which became Golden Anvil), 1753-1833
• Marina Gudrun af Skygge af Langskib (Marina became Long Ship), 1754-1845
• Stefanie Asløg af Skygge af Gyldenkrone (Stephanie means “Crown,” so became Golden Crown), 1755-1846
• Thorvald Bernhard af Skygge af Gyldenbjørn (Bernhard became Golden Bear), 1756-1842
• Rudolf Carl Hemming af Skygge af Varulv (Rudolph Carl means “Famous Wolf Man,” became Werewolf), 1756-1896
• Oscar Philip af Skygge af Spydjæger (Osgar is “God Spear,” so refers to Odin and Gunger, became Spear Hunter), 1757-1827
• Ulrike Alvilda af Skygge af Gyldenarmbånd (Her names mean “prosperity and power” and “elf battle,” became Golden Bracelet) 1760-1877
• Hrafn Folke af Skygge af Ravnen (Name means Raven Folk, became the old Raven Banner), 1760-1910
• Sven Loke Keld Erik Ragnvald af Skygge af Heksekedel (His first three names mean “boy fire kettle,” so became a Witch’s Cauldron), 1763-1902.

If the Danish is not perfect by today’s standards, the author would point out a few things. First, King Frederik was dying at the time he created the titles. The patents were created in 1766, and he died on January 14th of that year. Second, given that he was dying, he may have had assistance from his foreign-born mistress, the mother of the Shadow Lords. Third, the orthography of Danish may have changed and standardized differently than the usage current in the mid-Eighteenth Century.

The Shadow Lords are first mentioned and seen in the upcoming third volume; however, as can be seen in their birth and death dates, they were born during the period covered in the first volume. In the period of the second volume, they were growing up, getting married, having children, and so forth. They have been spreading throughout Denmark and among the noble families of Denmark as other branches of the family were spreading through England, North America, and the Germanies.