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90333ec
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I touched Thor's hammer, then Serpent-Breath's hilt, for death was stalking us. God help me, I thought, touching the hammer again, Thor help us all, for I did not think we could win.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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35c6a31
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The sword was called Caledfwlch, which means 'hard lightning' though Igraine prefers to call it Excalibur
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Bernard Cornwell |
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78bdfdc
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Next time we fight the Danes you'll be with me. "You?" "Because we are warriors," I said, "and our job is to kill our enemies, not be nursemaids to weaklings."
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Bernard Cornwell |
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f27c2d6
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The people follow him." "Because they have no choice. They follow, but do they love him?" "Some do," Appah Rao answered. "But what does it matter? Why should a ruler want his people's love? Their obedience, yes, but love? Love is for children, McCandless, and for gods and for women." --
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Bernard Cornwell |
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1e401c6
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Some mothers soften their sons, but Osbert was motherless and I had raised him hard because a man must be hard. The world is filled with enemies.
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the-pagan-lord
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Bernard Cornwell |
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945e289
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And you, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, Uhtred of Nothing, will die last and die slowest because you have betrayed the gods. You are cursed. You are all cursed!" She cackled then, a mad sound, before pointing the blade at me again. "The gods hate you, Uhtred! You were their son, you were their favourite, you were loved by them, but you chose to use your gifts for the false god, for the filthy Christian god, and now the real gods hate you and curse y..
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Bernard Cornwell |
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7f54812
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Beware the hatred of a woman.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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ffdea67
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I wanted to hit him hard now. I wanted to hit him in the dark of the night's ending, hit him in the thunder of Thor's providential storm, hit him under the lash of Thor's lightning, strike him in the wind and the rain of the gods. I would bring him chaos.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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0b608c6
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Politics were so very simple, the Cardinal thought, just so long as a man believed no one, double-crossed everyone, kept a full treasury, and inveigled others into doing the dirty work.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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78030ab
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The men, who a moment before had been cursing and cumbersome creatures clambering down the clay bank into the clumsy boats, were mysteriously transformed into warrior silhouettes, spiky with weapons, who glided silent and noble through the vaporous night toward the misted shadows of the enemy shore.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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37dd264
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Someone, I thought, knew where Ice-Spite was hidden. And I would find her.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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891a4e4
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That's bloody obvious. A schoolboy with a palsied brain could have worked that one out.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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ddd4dc6
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The Tippoo's life seemed charmed. He stepped in blood, but none of it was his and it seemed as though he could not die, but only kill, and so he did, cold-bloodedly, deliberately, exultantly defending his city and his dream against the barbarians who had come to snatch his tiger throne.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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8208e89
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I gazed at the far woods and knew our enemies were also sharpening their blades. They had to be confident. They knew the dawn would bring them a battle, victory, plunder, and reputation.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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9891190
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I remember my first shield wall," I said, "and I was scared." It had been against cattle raiders from Wales and I had been terrified. Since then I had fought against the best that the Northmen could send against us, I had clashed shields and smelled my enemy's stinking breath as I killed him, and I still feared the shield wall. One day I would die in such a wall. I would go down, biting against the pain, and an enemy's blade would tear the ..
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Bernard Cornwell |
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260e81b
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Ranks of men on foot, men with shields, men with weapons, a shield wall that was meant to awe us, and it did. A shield wall is a terrible thing. It is a wall of wood, iron, and steel with one purpose alone, to kill. And this shield wall was massive, a wall of painted round shields stretching wide across the ridge's flat top, and above it were the banners of the jarls, chieftains, and kings who had come to kill us.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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a6221f5
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He was a hard man, but what else would he be? He had stood in the shield wall, he had watched the Danes come to the attack, and he had lived. He was no youngster.
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brice
cornwell
saxon-stories
the-empty-throne
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Bernard Cornwell |
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4ce8d9f
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If they saw men swarming up the wall, if they saw the axes chopping at our shields on the wall's top, then they would join the battle. Men want to be on the winning side.
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shield-wall
winner
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Bernard Cornwell |
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f422536
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Choose your battles," I snarled at AEthelstan. "That space between your ears was given so that you can think! If you just charge whenever you see an enemy you'll earn yourself an early grave."
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Bernard Cornwell |
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1460929
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there.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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e5c539f
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A three-day-old baby is a saint?' Willibald flapped his hands. 'Miracles happen, lord,' he said, 'they really do. They say little Rumwold sang God's praises whenever he suckled.' 'I feel much the same when I get hild of a tit,' I said, 'so does that make me a saint?
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religion
saints
tits
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Bernard Cornwell |
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8049cc2
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They gave death with impunity as they followed a war-maddened Scotsman down an enemy wall that was sticky with blood.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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f1ef63f
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I had broken three Saxon shield-walls and buried Hywelbane to her hilt in my country's enemies before I had been elected to Mithras's service, but all Lancelot had ever done was boast and posture.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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0e2056c
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And that was what the Christians had been doing in their church, consecrating their wizards by making boys into black-clothed priests who would spread their filth further, and my son, my eldest son, was now a damned Christian priest and I hit him again.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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bc22620
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It had happened to me once, long ago. I had been named Osbert by my father, who was called Uhtred, but when my elder brother, also Uhtred, was slaughtered by the Danes my father had renamed me. It is always thus in our family. The eldest son carries on the name. My stepmother, a foolish woman, even had me baptized a second time because, she said, the angels who guard the gates of heaven would not know me by my new name, and so I was dipped ..
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Bernard Cornwell |
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cec909b
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could feel the torn, knurled rim that had held the small lens of the eyepiece. The
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Bernard Cornwell |
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03d0482
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The other held a hand toward the wretched boy in the dung-heap. "Father Uhtred," he said. "His name is not Uhtred," I snarled, "and if he dares call himself Uhtred," I looked at him as I spoke, "then I will find him and I will cut his belly to the bone and I will feed his lily-livered guts to my swine. He is not my son. He's not worthy to be my son." The man who was not worthy to be my son clambered wetly from the dung-heap, dripping filth...
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Bernard Cornwell |
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4a48b78
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was foully aware of the symptoms of terror. He could feel his heart thumping, sweat was chill on his skin, and a muscle in his left thigh was twitching. His throat was parched, his belly felt hollow, and he wanted to vomit. He tried to smile, and sought for some casual words that would demonstrate his lack of fear, but he could think of nothing.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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d69d559
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So sanity is not a requisite of soldiering,' Wellesley said quietly.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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2354584
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He knew you were a warrior. He called you a brute. He said you were like a dog that attacks a bull. You had no fear because you had no sense.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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16b37c0
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Most men want to follow, and what they demand of their leader is prosperity. We are the ring givers, the gold givers.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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467f4cb
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This was a clever man, as clever as Alfred, and he knew that weakness invited war.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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998411a
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He'll fight like a bull,' I said, 'and he's honest. But does he think like a wildcat?
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Bernard Cornwell |
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8d24e88
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We were dressed for war, and war was coming.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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5eeb2ca
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Why did I choose to fight him? He was going to die whether I fought him or not, and he was dangerous, half my age and a warrior. But it is reputation, always reputation. Pride, I suppose, is the most treacherous of virtues.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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aca2350
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You spent it on oil for your hair,' I said, 'and on baubles for your whores, on furs and on horses, on jewels and on silk. A man, Lord Eardwulf, dresses in leather and iron. And he fights.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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2bb4614
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You don't buy a dog and bark yourself,
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Bernard Cornwell |
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0cb3930
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My name is Uhtred. I am the son of Uhtred, who was the son of Uhtred and his father was also called Uhtred.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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b3b835e
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I once asked a bishop whether there were any women in heaven. 'Of course there are, my lord,' he answered, happy that I was taking an interest in doctrine, 'many of the most blessed saints are women.' 'I mean women we can hump, bishop.' He said he would pray for me. Perhaps he did.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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0f35221
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He thinks with his heart, Uhtred,' Alfred said, 'not his head. You can change a man's heart, but not his head.
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Bernard Cornwell |
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0fbbe99
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Merlin obichashe da kazva, che zhivot't e shega na Bogovete i v nego niama spravedlivost. Triabva da se nauchish da se smeesh, kaza mi vedn'zh toi, inache prosto shche plachesh dokato umresh
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Bernard Cornwell |
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81352fd
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Piglet," Bishop Wulfheard said in a scornful tone. I stared at him, then held up a hand to check Merewalh, who was about to leave the hall. "Maybe we don't need a piglet," I said slowly, as if an idea was just coming to me. "Why waste a baby pig when there's a bishop available?" Wulfheard fled."
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Bernard Cornwell |
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e2c07c4
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I want it to be the poet's Camelot: green grass and high towers and ladies in gowns and warriors strewing their paths with flowers. I want minstrels and laughter! Wasn't it ever like that?" "A little," I said, "though I don't remember many flowery paths. I do recall the warriors limping out of battle, and some of them crawling and weeping with their guts trailing behind them in the dust."
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Bernard Cornwell |
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948c270
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Folk tell their children that success lies in working hard and being thrifty, but that is as much nonsense as supposing that a badger, a fox, and a wolf could build a church. The way to wealth is to become a Christian bishop or a monastery's abbot and thus be imbued with heaven's permission to lie, cheat, and steal your way to luxury.
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Bernard Cornwell |