War of the Wolf (Saxon Tales)

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Before the end there will be a lot of pain and suffering on both side in this war of greed and pride. To Master Alexander le Convers, for money paid by him to the carpenters making the engine called ‘War Wolf’, and other workers working (also on the engine), in May and June 1304, 10 shillings on 7 June 1304. Strong narrative, vigourous action and striking characterisation, Cornwell remains king of the territory he has staked out as his own' SUNDAY TIMES Uhtred is told that the plague has broken out in the north; his wife, son-in-law and grandchildren are dead.

There is a very odd series of passages towards the end of WAR OF THE WOLF, the 11th entry in Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Tales. The great warrior Uhtred pauses in his recollection of the mighty battle he fought against a nefarious Norse intruder to correct the bard who is writing a song about it. So what you have is a fictional character, telling the story of what is essentially a fictional battle, being interrupted by another fictional character, telling the story of the same battle. But it’s a different story, and the two stories disagree with each other. The battles were epic especially the last one. It was touch and go there for a minute and had me on the edge of my seat wishing I could grab a sword and dive in. Ieremias was a hoot , such a weird and quirky character. My heart also broke at one point … but I’ll just leave it at that. But Leofstan was a gentle and kind man. Lord Osferth is troubled. He doesn’t think God loves him, poor man.” Mus, I thought, was a gentle and kind woman. I gave her the last two of my gold coins.Yet he still feels bound by an oath he took to protect Æthelstan, his friend, protege and Edward's oldest son. So when there is a Mercian revolt against Edward, he rides with Finan and about 90 veteran warriors to relieve the siege of Ceaster. When he gets there, he realises he has been lied to; the besieged, led by Æthelstan, were in no real danger, and the enemy are soon defeated. Let me share with you at least some major points to explain my reasons for loving this series so much: It is set in 10th-century England and continues to follow the fortunes of the fictional Uhtred of Bebbanburg. This novel begins with his investigating the murder of fishermen under his protection. He then gets drawn into an expected succession struggle in Wessex and Mercia. Astonishing storytelling skills. Bernard Cornwell brought 9th and 10th century England alive for me. Unforgettable narrator. Uhtred of Bebbanburg is unapologetic and ruthless yet lovable and admiration worthy character with brilliant military strategic mind. He is a true hero!

As a child, Cornwell loved the novels of C.S. Forester, chronicling the adventures of fictional British naval officer Horatio Hornblower during the Napoleonic Wars, and was surprised to find there were no such novels following Lord Wellington's campaign on land. Motivated by the need to support himself in the U.S. through writing, Cornwell decided to write such a series. He named his chief protagonist Richard Sharpe, a rifleman involved in most major battles of the Peninsular War.

War is bitter. The poets give battle a splendor, extolling the brave and exulting in victory, and bravery is worth their praise. Victory too, I suppose, but the poems, chanted in mead halls at night, give boys and young men their ambition to be warriors. Reputation! It is the one thing that outlives us. Men die, women die, all die, but reputation lives on like the echo of a song, and men crave reputation, as they crave the heavy arm rings that mark a warrior’s victories. There are several surviving references to the War Wolf in some of the original parchment rolls of the accounts of King Edward. Two , in Latin read: The Flores Historiarum claims that the Warwolf sent a single stone through two of the castle's walls in the course of the siege, "like an arrow flying through cloth". [4] Other sources, however, report that the weapon was only finished after the Scots had surrendered. [3] Edward decided to use it anyway, refusing to let anyone enter or leave the castle until it had been tested. [5] In the original records [ edit ] There is a very sad death in this book and I appreciated in the author's notes on how he lamented the death but had to do it to make it match history. Darn, I hate it when facts get in the way of what I want to happen. I love how well researched these books are and how much I have learned just from reading them. Frankly I knew next to nothing about King Alfred until I read this series. Lady Æthelflaed, Uhtred's on-again, off-again lover and ruler of Mercia, dies. Edward, King of Wessex, seizes the opportunity to take over the kingdom from his niece Ælfwynn. Uhtred ignores Edward's summons to swear fealty to him, and his Mercian lands are forfeited, but Uhtred is content with his beloved Bebbanburg.

Constant philosophical battle between paganism and Christianity that depicts given period precisely. Domino Alexandro le Convers, pro denariis per ipsum datis,…, carpentariis facientibus ingenium quod vocatur Lupus Guerre, et aliis operaris diversis operantibus, …, mensibus Maii et Junii anno presenti (1304), vii o die Junii, …, 10 s. Nevertheless, Uhtred is bound by his word, so once again, he must strap on Serpent’s Breath — his great killing sword — and fight England’s foes. For the Danes are threatening England again and they want Uhtred dead. After publishing eight books in his ongoing Sharpe series, Cornwell was approached by a production company interested in adapting them for television. The producers asked him to write a prequel to give them a starting point to the series. They also requested that the story feature a large role for Spanish characters to secure co-funding from Spain. The result was Sharpe’s Rifles, published in 1987, and a series of Sharpe television films staring Sean Bean.War of the Wolf is the 11th book in Bernard Cornwell’s series about Uhtred of Bebbanburg and the founding of Anglo-Saxon England. Orphaned as a young boy, Uhtred is taken as a slave by the great Danish warrior Ragnar, who eventually comes to love him as a son. Bernard Cornwell’s epic story of the making of England continues in this eleventh installment in the bestselling Saxon Tales series—"like Game of Thrones, but real" ( The Observer)—the basis of the hit Netflix television series The Last Kingdom. Generally speaking, one easy way to tell if your narrator is more-or-less reliable is if he or she puts himself or herself in the best possible light throughout. Uhtred, I think, has taken pains to point out his mistakes over time, and he does so here, so that’s a point in his favor. He goes out of his way to debunk the heroic tales that the bards sing about him, and that’s another reason to take him seriously. But I think the best reason to believe in Uhtred’s reliability is that the things he remembers, particularly the battles he fights, are just so vividly rendered that it is difficult to believe that what happens in the books is anything other than true. Uhtred's on-again, off-again lover and ruler of Mercia, dies. Edward, King of Wessex, seizes the opportunity to take over her kingdom. Uhtred ignores Edward's summons to swear fealty to him, and his Mercian lands are forfeited, but Uhtred is content with his beloved Bebbanburg. Eleven books into the trials and tribulations of Uhtred of Bebbanburg and its still as fresh and exciting as book one.