My name is Uhtred. I am the son of Uhtred, who was the son of Uhtred and his father was also called Uhtred.
My banner was behind me and that banner would attract ambitious men. They wanted my skull as a drinking cup, my name as a trophy. They watched me as I watched them and they saw a man covered in mud, b...
Meu estandarte estava atrás de mim, e atrairia homens ambiciosos. Eles queriam minha caveira como uma taça para beber, meu nome como troféu. Olhavam-me enquanto eu os olhava, e viam não um homem cober...
King Alfred’s dream was turning into reality. I am old enough to remember a time when the Danes ruled almost all of what is now England. They captured Northumbria, took East Anglia, and occupied all o...
I’m in pain all the time, I said, and if I gave in to it then I’d do nothing.
In madness lies change, in change is opportunity, and in opportunity are riches.
If an oath is a mistake then you are still obligated because you are sworn to it.
I should never have confessed my rank, I thought. Better to be a living slave than a dead ealdorman.
I paid him, Lawford said indignantly.If you want a job done properly, Sharpe said, you do it yourself. Hell!
I liked those tales. They were better than my stepmother’s stories of Cuthbert’s miracles. Christians, it seemed to me, were forever weeping and I did not think Woden’s worshippers cried much.
Except we were there, and I was in a vengeful mood. My cousin was still in Bebbanburg. Æthelhelm was trying to destroy my daughter and her husband. Constantin had humiliated me by driving me from my a...
Choose your battles, I snarled at Æthelstan. 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.
Children are easily swayed by religion, which is why it is a good thing that most eventually grow into sense. Chanting monks led the procession, then came children with green boughs, more monks, a gro...
Victory does not come to men who listen to their fears.
Book tours and research provide a lot of travel - too much, I sometimes think, but we do take vacations.
He sang the song of the sword, keening as he fed his blade, and Rollo, standing thigh-deep in the creek, ax swinging in murderous blows, blocked the enemy's escape. The Frisians, transported from con...
Secession.
You're not a Christian, are you?No.You should consider it. We may not offer too many earthly delights, but our lives after death are certainly worth having.
You do not swing in a shield wall, you stab. May the gods ever send me enemies who swing their blades.
You can’t live somewhere, he told me, if the people don’t want you to be there. They can kill our cattle or poison our streams, and we would never know who did it. You either slaughter them all or lea...