The Pagan Lord

Style and format

The novel is written as a first person narrative told by Uhtred as a reflection from his old age. The novel was also published with a family tree of Alfred the Great, a historical note, a list of Anglo-Saxon place names and their modern day equivalent and a map depicting Anglo-Saxon and Danish Britain including the rivers and places mentioned in the novel.

Plot introduction

There have been ten years of relative peace on the island of Britain, between the Saxons and the Danes. Wessex and Mercia are the strongholds of the Saxons, under King Edward, son of the late King Alfred. Uhtred's children have grown, the youngest son is 19. He is trained for war by practice, but never in a shield wall, because there were no battles.

Plot summary

Uhtred rides to disown his elder son Uhtred, who has just taken vows to be a Christian priest. He renames his elder son as Judas, and then bestows the name Uhtred Uhtredson on his younger son, born Osbert and now 19 years old. Abbot Wihtred strikes at Uhtred, always a mistake. Uhtred grabs the staff and strikes Whitred dead. This killing was unintentional. The Christian clerics condemn him so fiercely that the Christians among his band of warriors cannot follow him. Aethelflaed takes these men into her service.

Reaching home, Uhtred sees his hall burning. His woman is taken. Cnut Longsword burnt the hall in retaliation for Uhtred having taken his wife and children. But Uhtred did not do this. The two meet at Cnut’s hall to settle, in Haesten’s presence, two Danish jarls. Returning home, Uhtred finds all the outbuildings burnt, this time by Bishop Wulfheard. He has nothing to rebuild and a shrunken force. He decides to reclaim his inheritance, the fortress at Bebbanburg in Northumbria, held by his uncle. He purchases a ship to sail there. Aelfric stole the fortress from Uhtred after Uhtred’s father was killed by the Danes forty years earlier. His uncle had tried and failed to kill Uhtred; then he had him sold into slavery. They reach Bebbanburg, succeeding in entering past the first gate. While Uhtred confronts his cousin, also named Uhtred, Finan slips into the smithy coming out with cousin Uhtred’s wife Ingulfrid, 11-year-old son (also Uhtred), and the hated uncle. Uhtred kills his uncle and leaves with the wife and son of his cousin. They sail out to Frisia to rest and refit.

Uhtred realizes that the Danes are readying for war, after ten years of relative peace. He sees that Cnut’s wife and children have not been taken; it is part of a grand ruse. Aethelflaed’s husband is influenced to move on East Anglia, a Dane-held area that is also Christian. The Danes will attack Wessex by surprise, their main goal, and beat Aethelred’s forces in East Anglia. Uhtred sails to the east coast of Britain, brought by the winds to Gewæsc (the Wash), on the Danish side. He and Osferth proceed to Bearddan Igge (Bardney Abbey), site of an old monastery near Lincoln in Dane-held lands, where Mercians have been called to find the bones of St. Oswald. The priests say that if all of the bones of the saint can be brought together, it will be a sign that Wessex and Mercia can defeat the Danes. Uhtred makes sure they do find the bones, digging up one of the skeletons himself. Osferth notices that the right arm is missing, also recalling that Uhtred told him that the left arm of this saint is held as a relic at Bebbanburg. Uhtred directs Osferth to ride back to Finan, asking him to bring the men to join Uhtred and one hundred of the Mercians. Then Osferth is to sail to London to persuade his half brother, King Edward, son of Alfred, to join the battle at Gloucester, and send orders to Aethelred. The rest of the Mercians will join Aethelred in East Anglia, and persuade him to travel west to join the King. Osferth will keep Inglefred and Osbert (her son) with him, as he is in love with the lady, and keep them safe. Uhtred plans to capture Cnut’s wife and children, which he does.

They ride to Ceaster (Chester) and enter the gates by a clever maneuver by Utred’s son. They leave Haesten’s grey-haired wife Bruna, and take Cnut’s deaf and dumb wife Frigg and children. When the children see a priest, they mistake him for Uncle (Abbot) Wihtred. The Danes – a force of 4,000 men in 168 ships - sailed on the Sæfern (River Severn) deep into Mercia. Gloucester is the first city they will find, and where Uhtred goes. He drives away the attackers outside the city by threatening the lives of Cnut’s wife and children. Inside Glaewecestre (Gloucester), they are met by Osferth, Aethelflaed, and the bishop who burned Uhtred’s barns. Uhtred realizes the abbot he killed was sent by Cnut, part of his ruse to distract Mercia. The action needed now is to draw Cnut away from Aethelred until King Edward can bring up the Wessex forces. Uhtred sets fire to the Danish boats, all but one. That one is for Osferth to sail to reach King Edward.

At the place of Uhtred’s choosing, Teotanheale ((Tettenhall)) they meet Cnut, Haesten and Sigurd Thorsen. Uhtred gives wife and daughter back to Cnut, keeping the son. The first battle is across the river Tame at a ford, but the ford has large rocks placed to trip the Danes. When Uhtred and Cnut are about to fight one on one, Cnut realizes the warriors coming from the west are not his men. Father Judas, the disowned son, brought Father Pyrlig and a few hundred Welsh warriors with him. Uhtred joined the shield wall with his son Uhtred on one side and Finan on the other, and Father Pyrlig just behind him. They moved their line up the ridge for an advantage. Then Cnut and Uhtred fight with shields until Cnut is carried away by his men. Sigurd Thorsen comes up to them, and Uhtred the son slays him. Then King Edward arrives with his men and the Mercians, and the Danes fall back. The Danes break and the Saxons have this victory. Word is that Aethelred is badly wounded in battle, but he still lives. Cnut comes back for a one-on-one fight with Uhtred. Uhtred kills Cnut, taking serious injuries himself, at the edge of death. But he lives.

Fictional

Historical

Historical Note

The book includes a note from the author on the historical basis for the fictional tale. In the year 910, a great battle between the Angles and the Danes at Teotanheale (Tettenhall) was recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The victory was to the Angles, with an army composed of men from Wessex and Mercia. Two Danish leaders were killed in the battle, Eowils and Healfdan, whose roles were taken by the fictional Danes already part of Uhtred's life. No details of the battle were recorded other than these, so the progress of it is fictional. The River Tame flowed near Tettenhall then. It is true that Mercians travelled to Northumbria in search of Saint Oswald's bones, found them and interred them in Gloucester, minus the skull (claimed by many, perhaps at Durham) and the arm kept at Bebbanburg (Bamburgh). This is not the last battle between the Angles or Saxons and the Danes, but it was a decisive victory. The system of burhs for defence started by King Alfred to keep Wessex safe expands in the territories his son gains in battle.

Reviews

Kirkus Reviews says the narrative meanders: "The death of Alfred the Great leaves what we know as England up for grabs, and Lord Uhtred of Bebbanburg (Death of Kings, 2012, etc.) is caught in the middle of it all. ... The big set pieces are more impressive than the realistically meandering odyssey that threads them together. The most consistent motif is Uhtred’s undying and principled hostility to “the nailed god” of Christianity and the threat he represents to the warrior code Uhtred so perfectly embodies."

Publishers Weekly fiinds that Cornwell brings an important era in British history to light:

In Cornwell's (1356) latest, 10th century Britain is a splintered land, populated by pagans and Christians and divided between Saxons and Danes. The pagan Uhtred, once favored by Alfred the Great, finds himself distrusted by Alfred's successor, Edward, and at odds with the Christians. Made an outlaw by an ill-considered violent act, he heads north to recapture his old home, the fortress of Bebbanburg; though his grand scheme is less bold than foolhardy. It sets Uhtred on the path to play a crucial role in the coming war between Cnut's Danes and Edward's Saxons. For Uhtred the stakes are personal glory and vengeance against those who wronged him, but the fate of Britain itself hangs on the unforeseeable consequences of his actions. Cornwell successfully brings an unjustly obscure era in British history to life, showing how grand events can be shaped by what are essentially petty motivations. Cornwell skillfully illuminates the competing cultures of the 10th Century; the conflict between Dane and Saxon is examined with sympathy and insight—without projecting 21st century values onto cultures now alien to us. In the course of this, he shows how historical novels should be written. (Jan.)

Publication history

Hardback editions

There are in addition four UK paperback editions and one US paperback edition. Two audio CD editions have been issued, one for the UK (HarperCollins Warlord Chronicles 7) and one for the US (Harper Audio Saxon Tales, read by Matt Bates). There are two Kindle editions, one for the UK and one for the US.