“A battle in the shield wall. It's smelling your enemy's breath while he tries to disembowel you with an axe, it's blood… — Bernard Cornwell Copy Share Image
“And we screamed. We screamed our war cry, our shout of slaughter, our joy of being men in battle who are driven… — Bernard Cornwell Copy Share Image
There are seasons of our lives when nothing seems to be happening, when no smoke betrays a burned town or homestead and… — Bernard Cornwell Copy Share Image
“I was doing everything wrong. I was confused. Confusion is inevitable in battle, but indecision is unforgivable, and I had hesitated to… — Bernard Cornwell Copy Share Image
“The war was between the Danes and Wessex. My war was with Odda the Younger, and I knew I was driven by… — Bernard Cornwell Copy Share Image
“The poets, when they speak of war, talk of the shield wall, they talk of the spears and arrows flying, of the… — Bernard Cornwell Copy Share Image
“There’s war between the gods, Uhtred, war between the Christian god and our gods, and when there is war in Asgard the… — Bernard Cornwell Copy Share Image
“The first stone, thrown by Hellgiver, crashed through the roof of a dyer's house close to St Brieuc's church and took off… — Bernard Cornwell Copy Share Image
Because there could not be peace, not while two tribes shared one land. One tribe must win. Even the nailed god cannot… — Bernard Cornwell Copy Share Image
Only a fool wants war, but once a war starts then it cannot be fought half-heartedly. It cannot even be fought with… — Bernard Cornwell Copy Share Image
“When we are young, we yearn for battle. In the firelit halls we listen to the songs of heroes; how they broke… — Bernard Cornwell Copy Share Image
“Some had hurled spears first. Those spears thumped into our shields, making them unwieldy, but it hardly mattered. The leading Danes tripped… — Bernard Cornwell Copy Share Image
“And where are we going?' he asked. "to war,' I said grandly. 'We'll give the poets something to sing about. We'll wear… — Bernard Cornwell Copy Share Image
A man does not see where he treads in battle, for he is watching the enemy. — Bernard Cornwell Copy Share Image
“They laughed, but I was melancholy. The remnants of Rome always make me sad, simply because they are proof that we slide inexorably towards… — Bernard Cornwell Copy Share Image
“Some mothers soften their sons, but Osbert was motherless and I had raised him hard because a man must be hard. The world is… — Bernard Cornwell Copy Share Image
“Enemies come soon enough in a mans life,' he told me, 'you don't need to seek them out” — Bernard Cornwell Copy Share Image
“"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… — Bernard Cornwell Copy Share Image
“A battle in the shield wall. It's smelling your enemy's breath while he tries to disembowel you with an axe, it's blood and shit… — Bernard Cornwell Copy Share Image
I'll happily mentor anyone who wants mentoring, and most of that goes on by internet rather than face to face. — Bernard Cornwell Copy Share Image
“Nor did he care about his childhood, for certainly I never heard him speak of it. I once questioned him about his early days… — Bernard Cornwell Copy Share Image
“And we screamed. We screamed our war cry, our shout of slaughter, our joy of being men in battle who are driven by terror.” — Bernard Cornwell Copy Share Image
It's fun. I sit down every day and tell stories. Some folk would kill to get that chance. — Bernard Cornwell Copy Share Image
“You will tell him that Uhtred of Bebbanburg is in a mood to kill.” — Bernard Cornwell Copy Share Image
