Wessex in classical heraldry and is found on a number of church windows in derived shields such as the Arms of the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster (Westminster Abbey, which was founded by the king). At its greatest extent Wessex encompassed the modern areas of Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Dorset and Wiltshire, as well as the western half of Berkshire and the eastern hilly flank of Somerset. This covers an area of about . The English author Thomas Hardy used a fictionalised Wessex as a setting for many of his novels, adopting his friend William Barnes' term "Wessex" for
Deryni novels Deryni novels The Deryni novels are a series of historical fantasy novels by the American author Katherine Kurtz. The first novel in the series to be published was "Deryni Rising" in 1970, and the most recent, "The King's Deryni", was published in 2014. As of 2016, the series consists of five trilogies, one stand-alone novel, various short stories, and two reference books. Most of the series is set in the land of Gwynedd, one of the fictional Eleven Kingdoms (portions of King Kelson's Bride take place in the rival kingdom of Torenth). Gwynedd itself is a medieval kingdom that roughly