“ Most folk consider that a woman aboard a ship brings nothing but bad luck because it provokes the jealousy of Ran, the goddess of the sea who will abide no rivals, Bernard Cornwell
“ Love is a voyage too, a voyage with no destination except death, but a voyage of bliss. Bernard Cornwell
“ In other words, she said tartly, women are supposed to do all that a man can’t do. And right now it seems men can’t fight, so I’d better do that too. Bernard Cornwell
“ 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.’… Bernard Cornwell
“ I just gazed at the smoke haze above Lundene, the darkness darkening a summer sky, and wished I were a bird, high in that nothingness, vanishing. Haesten Bernard Cornwell
“ I have never asked you for anything. But what would you have asked for? She stared into the ripples of the stream. What you gave me, she said after a while, kindness. Nothing else? She paused. I would… Bernard Cornwell
“ I hated his religion and its cold disapproving gaze, its malevolence that cloaked itself in pretended kindness, and its allegiance to a god who would drain the joy from the world by naming it sin, Bernard Cornwell
“ 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. Bernard Cornwell
“ 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… Bernard Cornwell
“ 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. Bernard Cornwell
“ 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… Bernard Cornwell
“ But deep under the earth, where the corpse serpent gnaws at the roots of Yggdrasil, the tree of life, there are three spinners. Three women who make our fate. We might believe we make choices, but in… Bernard Cornwell
“ An army isn’t made of its officers, you know, though we officers like to think it is. An army is no better than its men, and when you find good men, you must look after them. That’s an officer’s job. Bernard Cornwell
