Colorado Parks & Wildlife Research Library

In the middle years of the ninth century, the fierce Danes sotrmed onto British soil, hungry for spoils and conquest. Kingdom after kingdom fell to the ruthless invaders until but one realm remained. And suddenly the fate of all England--and the course of history--depended upon one man, one king.

A gripping story of love, deceit, and violence, Sword Song is set in an England of tremendous turmoil and strife-yet one galvanized by the hope that Alfred may prove an enduring force. Uhtred, his lord of war and greatest warrior, has become his sword-a man feared and respected the length and breadth of Britain.

As the ninth century wanes, Alfred the Great lays dying; his dream of a unified England in danger and his kingdom on the brink of chaos. While his son, Edward, has been named his successor, there are other Saxon claimants to the throne-as well as ambitious pagan Vikings to the north. Uhtred, the Saxon-born, Viking-raised warrior, whose life seems to shadow the making of England itself, is torn between his vows to Alfred and his desire to reclaim...

"New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell returns to his epic Saxon Tales saga with The Pagan Lord, a dramatic story of divided loyalties, bloody battles, and the struggle to unite Britain.At the onset of the tenth century, England is in turmoil. Alfred the Great is dead and Edward his son reigns as king. Wessex survives but peace cannot hold: the Danes in the north, led by Viking Cnut Longsword, stand ready to invade and will never rest...

Britain is in a state of uneasy peace. Northumbria's Viking ruler, Sigtryggr, and Mercia's Saxon Queen Aethelflaed have agreed a truce. And so England's greatest warrior, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, at last has the chance to take back the home his traitorous uncle stole from him so many years ago, and which his scheming cousin still occupies.

His blood is SaxonHis heart is VikingHis battleground is EnglandAnd while Uhtred might have regained his family's fortress, it seems that a peaceful life is not to be - as he is under threat from both an old enemy and a new foe. The old enemy comes from Wessex where a dynastic struggle will determine who will be the next king. And the new foe is Skoll, a Norseman, whose ambition is to be King of Northumbria and who leads a frightening army of wolf-warriors,...

"The final installment in Bernard Cornwell's bestselling Saxon Tales series, chronicling the epic story of the making of England ... England is under attack. Chaos reigns. Northumbria, the last kingdom, is threatened by armies from all sides, by land and sea, and only one man stands in their way. Torn between loyalty and sworn oaths, the warrior king Lord Uhtred of Bebbanburg faces his greatest ever battle--and prepares for his ultimate fate"--