The Burning Land Quotes
"Folk tell their children that success lies in working hard and being thrifty, but that is as much nonsense as supposing that a badger, a fox, and a wolf could build a church."
"The way to wealth is to become a Christian bishop or a monastery’s abbot and thus be imbued with heaven’s permission to lie, cheat, and steal your way to luxury."
"I was traveling home with a dozen men, it was a wet winter’s day, and all we needed was shelter, food, and warmth."
"You can drill a man for a year, practice sword craft and spear skills forever, but he will learn more in just five minutes of battle."
"If you want to know what happened, then come to me in Bebbanburg and I’ll tell you the truth."
"Morning, and I was young, and the sea was a shimmer of silver and pink beneath wisps of mist."
"The best way to keep Bebbanburg safe is to surround it with more English land."
"God made you his instrument, and I do not know why he chose you, a pagan, but so he did and you have served me well."
"If it amuses the gods then Harald will slice my head off."
"The Lord Uhtred," a gently mocking voice said when the steps paused behind me.
"The Lady Æthelflæd," I said, not turning to look at her.
"Yes," I said, and shot a prayer toward the house of the gods that Gisela would survive the birth.
"How is Ælfwynn?" I asked. Ælfwynn was Æthelflæd’s daughter, still an infant.
"And going to stay that way," Æthelflæd said bitterly.
"Because I’m not a slave to be handed on to a new master."
"Oh!" she sounded sarcastic, "you’re not a woman?"
"If my father dies," Æthelflæd said, then hesitated. "When my father dies, what happens to Wessex?"
"As long as you live, Lord Uhtred," she went on, "the Danes hesitate to attack."
"Because he’s a fool," she said scornfully, "and tomorrow you’ll kill him."
"How else can my husband take Wessex when my father dies?" Æthelflæd asked in a voice of silken innocence.
"Then tomorrow I shall have to persuade Aldhelm to his duty."
"Of course he will," she said calmly, "but my husband won’t know. And you will do me a service, Lord Uhtred."
"I am ever at your service, my lady," I said, too lightly.
"Are you?" she asked, turning to look up into my eyes.
"Then tomorrow," she said bitterly, "kill them all. Kill all the Danes. Do that for me, Lord Uhtred," she touched my hand with the tips of her fingers, "kill them all."
"She had loved a Dane and she had lost him to a blade, and now she would kill them all."
"There are three spinners at the root of Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life, and they weave our threads, and those spinners had made a skein of purest gold for Æthelflæd’s life, but in those years they wove that bright thread into a much darker cloth."
"Next day was a Thursday, Thor’s Day, which I took as a good omen."
"And on that Thor’s Day I was taking two hundred warriors to Fearnhamme, though more than six hundred horsemen gathered in the burh’s long street before the sun rose."
"A swirling battle might result, but the Danes would inevitably realize their advantage in numbers and grind us to bloody shreds."
"God might go with me, but Æthelred would not."
"Aldhelm’s a good man," he said, "he likes a fight."
"With God’s help, cousin," he said, "with God’s help."
"I was dressed for war in mail, gold, and steel."
"I was pretending that Edward commanded the West Saxons, and that Æthelred was his chief adviser, but in truth I trusted Steapa to make the day go as I had planned."
"If they left too soon Harald could turn and cut them to ribbons, while leaving too late would mean my seven hundred troops would be slaughtered at Fearnhamme."
"We’re going to make a famous victory this day," I told Steapa.
"Bring the troops when you think best," I called to Alfred’s son, Edward, "and always take Lord Æthelred’s advice."
"I shall, Lord Uhtred," he said, "and God go with you!"
"This was the wild hunt, and Harald had loosed his men and sent them to deliver him the King of Wessex."
"We did not ride as fast as we might; instead we kept the pursuing Danes in sight and only once did they catch us."
"Burning is too good for it. Maybe I shall tear it to squares and leave it in the latrine."
"The tears of God fall on us like drops of fire, and it is the whore who makes those tears!"
"I have at last proved my God is mightier than your false idols!"
"To conquer Wessex, you’ll need five thousand men and five thousand horses, and one thing more. Discipline."
"Generosity often achieves what steel cannot."
"If I am judged guilty of unjustly killing a man or woman I must pay their kin a price, that price depending on their rank, and that is fair."
"I am Uhtred of Bebbanburg and I was gazing at that great fortress on its rearing rock above the sea."
"The best way to capture that place is to starve the bastards."
"But like a fool you’ve slipped his lead. Who will feed you now?"
"We seek the future. We stare into its fog and hope to see a landmark that will make sense of fate."
"To find a place we call home. A place where we don’t need to fight anymore."
"Thou shalt not kill, they preached, then screamed at us warriors to slaughter the pagans."
"I’ll kill you! And your cabbage-shitting sons!"
"That winter was cold, but there were moments when I thought my body was on fire."
"I am Uhtred of Bebbanburg," I said, "and I give you a choice. You can live or you can die."
"I don’t want that! I want to be Jarl of Bebbanburg."
"He did it by defeating the pagans," Constantin said smiling.
"He will pay us one thousand silver shillings if this summer we bring men to attack you."
"Let me suggest that I pay you three thousand silver shillings and that you vow to keep your warriors out of all Northumbria for one full year."
"I bring you a gift, and for the moment I give you these two."
"I shall take West Saxon silver and reclaim Bebbanburg."
"It was possible to unite them, as Harald had done, but at the first setback the crews would scatter to find easier plunder."
"We can be certain of nothing except our weapons and death."
"God uses strange instruments for his wondrous purposes."
"I would rather risk hell. No, father, I am not keeping my oath to Alfred."
"My God, what a question, lord! Well, he keeps me miles away from my wife, so he does, and what greater blessing can a man ask?"
"If we do nothing then the English will take us one by one."
"I see it in your face, and I see it in hers. You are blind to it, but it dazzles the rest of us."
"Some sins are so bad that a lifetime’s penance isn’t enough to redeem them."
"I didn’t come here to kill you, Beornoth. I came here to fight Jarl Haesten."
"I shall only be here a few days," I said, "and you can help me or hinder me. If you fight me, bishop, you make it more likely that the Danes will win."
"Are the pagans attacking ships?" Æthelflæd asked. "We haven’t seen a trading ship in two weeks," Ralla said, "so they must be."
"Nine thousand men?" Ralla suggested dourly. "Not as many as that," I said.
"I need to see this new fort," I said and I gave Heahberht another coin before kicking my horse between two of the cottages and onto a field of growing barley.
"The men will come," she said, though she sounded far from convinced.
"My fool," she said, and stood on tiptoe to kiss my cheek.
"Jesus! Jesus!" a man shouted and it was Father Pyrlig who joined us.
"What are you doing?" Coenwulf demanded of me. "Making a king," I told him quietly.
"Draw your sword," I told Edward, "and climb that bank."
"Tomorrow morning," I said, "and we leave tonight, in the dark."
"You don’t need my oath, lord," I said, "but your men need your encouragement tonight. Speak to them. Inspire them."
"Isn’t that the responsibility of your god?" I asked.
"Edward is a good man," Coenwulf said angrily, "and he’ll make a good king."
"For God and for Wessex," he shouted, "come with me!"
"Archers!" Beornoth shouted, "archers! To me!"
"Dear God," I heard Edward say in a mild voice, as though he had spilled some milk or ale, and that made me laugh.
"Have some honey!" he roared at the Danes and tossed the hive upward.
"Shout at your men," I told him, "tell them to join you!"
"Bring ladders here!" a voice bellowed. "Bring them here!"
"Ladders!" Osferth bellowed, and Egwin’s men charged forward as Osferth’s warriors hurled spears up at the high wall.
"You shouldn’t be here," I snarled at the priest, but he ignored me.
"Finish what you began," Harald growled without looking at me.
"It’s a warning," I told Father Heahberht. "If another Dane comes here, let them see their fate."
"Tell Brun," I said, "that you said a prayer for his bees."
"I think," he said slowly, "that Wessex will need Mercia."