Sword Song (2007) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Characters/People edit see section history

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• Uhtred of Bebbanburg: young, boastful, arragant. Tall, broad, strong, blonde. caring, loyal, gentle, faithful. warrior, fearful, judicial.
• Alfred the Great: Ill,pious,dresses and looks like a monk with ink stained finger from all the laws he makes and documentation of events and books he translates. You do not always like him, dark and brooding with a long memory,a viper politician and statesman
• Gisela: Dane,wife of Uhtred,sister of king Guthred,friend to Aethelflaed and Hild, strong,wise,loving.dark hair,compelling eyes.
• Eric: Add a description of this character.
• Haesten: Deceitful, selfish looking out only for himself. Saved from death by Uhtred but became one of his worst enemies
• Ralla: Uhtred's shipmaster
• Sihtric: Uhtred's servant. Kjartan's son
• Ealhswith: Sihtric's love interest, a prostitute
• Kjartan the Cruel: Sihtric's father. Killed by Uhtred
• Uhtred of Bebbanburg: Our hero and narrator of the tale
• Finan: Uhtred's captain. An Irish slave liberated by Uhtred
• Serpent Breath: Uhtred's sword
• Wasp-Sting: Uhtred's short sword
• Cerdic: One of Uhtred's men
• Alfred the Great: King of Wessex
• Ragnar: Uhtred's blood brother
• Æthelflaed: King Alfred's daughter. Married to Aethelred, Uhtred's cousin and Earl of Mercia
• Clapa: One of Uhtred's household troops, fierce warrior.
• Æthelred: Uhtred's cousin and Lord of Mercia.
• Aethelwold: Alfred's cousin who had a claim to be king of Mercia
• Thyra: Lord Ragnar's sister and Father Beocca's wife
• Gisela: Uhtred's wife and King Guthred's sister
• Bjorn: A dead man who talked to Uhtred advising him to be king of Mercia
• Ulf: A trader from Northumbria
• Earl Haesten: A Dane who was liberated by Uhtred and broke his oath. He's now occupying Lundene with the Thorgilson brothers. Ambitious and dangerous.
• Sigefrid Thorgilson: One of the Danish brothers who occupies Lundene.
• Erik Thorgilson: One of the Danish brothers who occupies Lundene. The one with the brains
• The Haligast - The Holy Spirit: One of Alfred's ships
• The Honfouhlaf - The Holy Bread: One of Alfred's ships
• Brother Asser of wales: One of Alfred's advisers. Uhtred's enemy
• Leofric: Uhtred's captain and friend. Died in previous books
• Egwine: One of Alfred's Captain
• Smoca: Uhtred's horse, Smoke.
• Brother Wulfstan: Priest who oversaw Uhtred's building in Coccham
• Rapere: One of Uhtred's men
• Eadric: One of Uhtred's men
• Cenwulf: One of Uhtred's men
• Oslac: Mercia garrison guard
• Huda: Brought the summons from Bjorn the dead
• Guthrum: King of East Anglia. Uhtred's brother in law
• Eilaf The Red: Huda's Danish lord
• The Norms: Three sisters that make up Fate
• Earl Sithric: King Guthrum's counselor
• Æthelstan: King Guthrum's Christian name
• Fear-giver: Sigefrid's sword
• Father Pyrlig: A Briton and Uhtred's friend. A priest and an excellent warrior. Sometimes profane, but always a believer.
• Yggdrasil: The Tree of Life, home of the fates.
• Uhtred: Uhtred and Gisela's child
• Stiorra: Uhtred and Gisela's daughter
• Steapa: Saxon warrior and Uhtred's friend, fierce giant of a man.
• Abbess Hild: Abbess of Wintanceaster, Uhtred's former lover.
• Thyra: Ragnar's sister. Father Beocca's wife
• Father Beocca: King Alfred's adviser. Thyra's husband, long history with Uhtred. Good guy.
• Eadgyth: Leofrid's sister and Osferth's mother
• Aelswith: King Alfred's wife, pious, shrewish.
• Eanfled: Leofric's lover. A former prostitute and now one of Aelswith's maids
• Father Cuthbert: One of Alfred's advisers
• Aldhelm: Aethelwold's captain and adviser
• Aelfric: Uhtred's uncle. Stole Bebbanburg from him
• Egbert: Aethelwold's captain. Helped Uhtred
• Wave-Tamer: Sigefrid's ship, built by his brother, Eric.
• Bishop Swithwulf: Bishop of Hrofeceastre
• Father Erkenwalf: One of Alfred's advisers. Made Bishop and Administrator of Lundene after Alfred captures it from the Danes. Hates Uhtred
• Olaf Eagleclaw: Danish Lord who raided the Thames and is killed by Uhtred
• Sea Eagle: Olaf's ship, captured by Uhtred
• Gunnkel Roderson: Danish leader of the invaders of Rochester, Kent
• Frigg: Danish goddess of pregnancy and fertility
• Odin: Danish god
• Thor: Danish god
• Queen Asgard: Odin's wife. A danish goddess
• Father Willibald: Another of Alfred's advisers. Uhtred's tutor and friend
• Brother Asser: Welsh priest. Another of Alfred's advisers. Uhtred's nemesis
• Aethelgifu: One of Alfred's daughters
• Aelfthryth: One of Alfred's daughters
• Edward: One of Alfred's sons. His heir
• Aethelweard: One of Alfred's sons
• Wilard the Giant: Sigefred's champion. Fights Steapa for the right to bargain a ransom for Alfred's daughter
• Dragon Voyage: Haester's ship

Quotes edit see section history

• “If you're selling a sow you don't beat her with a holly stick”

  Haesten

• “If you collect a fat flock you don't leave it grazing beside a wolf's den”

  Uhtred

• “In the dark, all cats are black”

  Finan

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• You never, ever, tell others of your crimes, not unless they are so big as to be incapable of concealment, and then you describe them as policy or statecraft.

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• Cowardice is always with us, and bravery, the thing that provokes the poets to make their songs about us, is merely the will to overcome the fear.

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• Love is a dangerous thing. It comes in disguise to change our life.

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• Lust is the deceiver. Lust wrenches our lives until nothing matters except the one we think we love, and under that deceptive spell we kill for them, give all for them, and then, when we have what we have wanted, we discover that it is all an illusion and nothing is there. Lust is a voyage to nowhere, to an empty land, but some men just love such voyages and never care about the destination. Love is a voyage too, a voyage with no destination except death, but a voyage of bliss.

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• kingdom on this windswept island, there will be war. So we cannot flinch from war. We cannot hide from its cruelty, its blood, its stench, its vileness or its joy, because war will come to us whether we want it or not. War is fate, and wyrd bi? ful ãræd. Fate is inescapable.

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• the joy of battle was the delight of tricking the other side. Of knowing what they will do before they do it, and having the response ready so that, when they make the move that is supposed to kill you, they die instead.

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• perhaps love is friendship more than it is lust, though the gods know the lust is always there.

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• priest of a religion that sucks joy from this world like dusk swallowing daylight.

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• “It is hard to force obedience,” he said, “without encouraging resentment.

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• The Norns are the Fates, the three women who spin life’s threads at the roots of Yggdrasil, the tree of life. Whenever a child is born they start a new thread, and they know where it will go, with what other threads it will weave, and how it will end. They know everything. They sit and they spin and they laugh at us, and sometimes they shower us with good fortune and sometimes they doom us to hurt and to tears.

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Mercia
• East Anglia
• Saxons
• Temes
• Weland
• Northumbria
• Bebbanburg
• Caninga
• Hrofeceastre
• Frankia
• Britain
• Wintanceaster
• Smoca
• Ethandun
• England
• Norseman
• Medwæg
• Heofonhlaf
• Hothlege
• Thurgilson

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• Light and Dark: The night Walker( )

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by Lords of the North, and followed by The Burning Land.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Bernard Cornwell (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 823.914

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Genre Fiction › Historical
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Genre Fiction › Family Saga
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary

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Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history