The Eagle of the Ninth

The Eagle of the Ninth is the first in a series of historical novels by Rosemary Sutcliff set in Roman Britain and the Dark Ages, loosely linked by a dolphin signet ring belonging to the Aquila family handed down from generation to generation. There are eight books in the series. Although aimed at young adults and children, the quality of the writing and exploration of her subject matter also appeal to adults; Sutcliff once said she wrote "for children of all ages from nine to ninety."
The Eagle of the Ninth books feature deep male friendships that lead easily to a slashy interpretation. More than one young slasher loved the books before they knew slash even existed. The fanfiction produced by the fandom is mostly m/m slash and gen, but there is a little het to be found, as well as some Marcus/Esca/Cottia threesomes.
The Eagle of the Ninth was filmed in 2011 as The Eagle. It stars Channing Tatum (Marcus Aquila), Jamie Bell (Esca) and Donald Sutherland as Uncle Aquila. 
For a list of related fandoms, see List of Military Fandoms.
==Series==
All links lead to Wikipedia.
*The Eagle of the Ninth (1954) (Marcus, Esca, Cottia)
*The Silver Branch (1957) (Justin, Flavius)
*Frontier Wolf (1980) (Alexios, Hilarion, Cunorix)
*The Lantern Bearers (1959) (Aquila, Flavia, Ambrosius, Artos, Ness, Flavian)
*Dawn Wind (1961)
*Sword at Sunset (1963) - also an interpretation of Arthurian Legend (Artos, Guenhumara, Bedwyr, Gault, Levin)
*Sword Song (1990)
*Shield Ring (1956)
==Fandom==
The fandom was traditionally a very small Yuletide fandom. Some works were also archived at the Slash Cotillion archive. The livejournal community sutcliff_fics was founded in April 2006 by Jay Tryfanstone, and was probably the earliest Sutcliff community on LJ. The fandom grew rapidly after the release of the film. There is some overlap between book and film fandom, with some film verse fic writers including characters from the book not found in the film.Works tagged with Cottia at the AO3, many of which are film verse stories.
The most popular source from the series is The Eagle of the Ninth, but Frontier Wolf has also become relatively popular since the release of The Eagle film. There are also multiple fanworks for Sword at Sunset, The Lantern Bearers and The Silver Branch, as well as occasional fanworks for other novels in the series.
==Notable Fanworks==
===The Eagle of the Ninth===
*The Centurion's Hound by Jay Tryfanstone, 2004-5
*Fox and Hound by Northland, for Yuletide 2005 for Jay Tryfanstone (sequel to The Centurion's Hound)
*Summer of the Wolf by Jay Tryfanstone, July 2006 (sequel to Fox and Hound)
*Dream and Day United by Likimeya, June 2010
===Frontier Wolf===
*Frontier Games by Jay Tryfanstone, for Yuletide 2006 for Melannen
*Good Country by Derry (derryderrydown), for Yuletide Madness 2009
*Penitence by Likimeya, July 2010
===The Lantern Bearers===
*Declining by Northland, October 2006
*Morning Out of Darkness by valderys, crossover with Merlin, August 2010
==Galleries==
===The Eagle of the Ninth===
File:Cradoc (Eagle of the Ninth) .jpg|Not This One by alby_mangroves (2014)
File:Shelter Esca and Marcus.jpg|Shelter by alby_mangroves (2015) 
===Frontier Wolf===
===The Lantern Bearers===
==Archives, Communities, and Resources==
*sutcliff_fics - Rosemary Sutcliff Fanfiction on LiveJournal
*ninth_eagle - Very active LJ community for The Eagle slash (book or movie). It has movieverse and bookverse fanfic, podfics, fanmixes, fanvids and icons (as of July 26, 2011), as well as essays and links to resources.
*ninth_eagle on Delicious LJ ninth_eagle comm Delicious account
*the_eagle_kink meme and Delicious account - kink meme comm for both the movie and the book
*The Eagle: Book vs. Movie - A comparison by linaerys of The Eagle of the Ninth book by Rosemary Sutcliff and the movie The Eagle with Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell. In table form.
*Fanworks tagged Eagle of the Ninth series (book version) at AO3
*Eagle of the Ninth Series fanfiction at the Yuletide archive
*Rosemary Sutcliff Fanfiction Index -- bookverse only; compiled by Carmarthen
*Rosemary Sutcliff Fanwork Exchange -- fanfiction and fanart exchange for all Sutcliff works (bookverse only)
==References==
Category:Rosemary Sutcliff
Category:The Eagle
Category:Books & Literature