“ You’re a Christian?Of course!You believe in miracles? I asked, and he nodded. Then you’d better fetch your five loaves and two fishes, I went on, and pray that your wretched god provides the rest. Bernard Cornwell
“ What do we look for in a lord? Strength, generosity, hardness and success, and why should a man not be proud of those things? Show me a humble warrior and I will see a corpse. Alfred preached humility… Bernard Cornwell
“ Violence may not be good, my friend, but it has a certain efficiency in the resolution of otherwise insoluble problems. Bernard Cornwell
“ This isn't just a war over land, it's a war about God. And Alfred...is Christ's servant... Bernard Cornwell
“ They had marched all the soldiers’ miles together, and now their ways parted. They would promise reunion, but such promises were so rarely kept. Bernard Cornwell
“ There is a thing called the blood feud. All societies have them, even the West Saxons have them, despite their vaunted piety. Kill a member of my family and I shall kill one of yours, and so it goes o… Bernard Cornwell
“ The sun shone on us, the water sparkled, the oar-blades dipped and we were gone. Gone to make history. Bernard Cornwell
“ The spinners were watching me, waiting, needles poised, and unless I did their bidding then my fate would be failure. Bernard Cornwell
“ The men with leather or mail mostly possessed helmets and had proper weapons, swords or spears, while the rest were armed with axes, adzes, sickles, or sharpened hoes. Eadred grandly called it the Arm… Bernard Cornwell
“ The law says I own that land, and the law, we are told, is what makes us men under God instead of beasts in the ditch. Bernard Cornwell
“ The church, we're to meet in the church. Do try to wipe that blood off your mail, Uhtred. We're an embassy! Bernard Cornwell
“ The Lord Uhtred sought to annoy you, bishop, the king said, and it is best not to give him the satisfaction of showing that he has succeeded. Bernard Cornwell
“ That man is my Arthur, a great warlord and a hero who fought against impossible odds to such effect that even fifteen hundred years later his enemies love and revere his memory. Bernard Cornwell
“ 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. Bernard Cornwell
“ 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 wa… Bernard Cornwell
“ Men and women used pliers to pull teeth from the dead and, for years after, false teeth were known as Waterloo Teeth. Some Bernard Cornwell
