Good ideas, everyone! I'm very glad to see so many people participating.
Now, since every competition needs an end date... how about
1 January 2011 as the deadline for people to make their character submissions? After that date I think we'll have a vote on the most popular entry, with the rule that you can't vote for your own entry.
Christian V: Thanks for the additional info on Longchamp! He seems like a very interesting character, and this story will very likely need some intrigue-based characters in the near future. We can't all be hard-core, axe-wielding Saxon types, after all.
Alfredian: I've got some good news for you--I'm definitely planning on including Hereward the Wake at some point in the near future (though for now I'm going to have to keep quiet about the role he'll be playing).
However that does kind of make his entry in this contest a moot point. Feel free to vote again if you like.
AllmyJames: An interesting choice. I've got to admit having pondered what role Thomas Becket would play in my Saxon timeline, if any, though I never did really settle on a satisfactory answer. We'll have to see.
Kurt_Steiner: Simon de Montfort, now there's a doozy! Not sure how I'd get him to England, but I could definitely see him playing an important role in France (or wherever else those darned Normans end up going).
Good choice.
General_BT: Ooh! Intriguing. No matter how you look at it, a
monk-pirate is going to be a very, very tough competitor to beat.
Vesimir: Not sure how I could get "Normano-Welsh" with William losing at Hastings. However you do pose a very interesting scenario there... it's just going to be tough integrating Robin Hood no matter how we look at it. I don't want to turn this into Ivanhoe, after all.
Nevertheless, his inclusion is still a possibility. Could prove to be a really fun cameo.