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This is the second of Bernard Cornwell’s Alfred series, which began
with The Last Kingdom
The Pale Horseman
story starts with Uhtred, the Northumbrian narrator, enjoying his
victory over the Danes at Cynuit (which actually happened the
following year, but has been brought forward by Cornwell to fit in
with his storyline). But instead of riding hard to Winchester to
bring the news to get the reward due to him, he rides home to enjoy
the virtuous heiress Alfred has married him to. Youth is one
reason for this oversight. Uhtred is just twenty-year old at this
point in the story, which seems young until you realise that many of
the leading figures of the Dark Age are men barely into their
twenties.
The rather unwarlike
Odda the Younger takes the news to Alfred instead. He takes full
credit for the victory, leading to a confrontation with Uhtred, who
is plunged into a personal combat which he cannot win. In a recent
interview, Cornwell said he likes to trap his heroes in a narrative
cul-de-sac with no hope of rescue, and then finding a sudden opening
to get him out of trouble. It is at this point that one of the
doors opens, and the narrative really takes off, running with the
story of Alfred the Great’s defeat and return.
The Alfred story is
fairly well known: Vikings attack his hall at Chippenham in the
depths of Yuletide, and he is driven into the swamps of Athelney,
all but defeated. But from the marshes he gathers an army at
Egbert’s Stone, and defeats the Danes at the Battle of Edington.
Edington is one of
those truly defining battles of history, which, if Alfred had lost,
would probably have meant the end of the English nation as we know
it. Because Alfred’s West Saxons won that day, he went on to define
and cemented the concept of the ‘Anglekyn’; went on to begin to
unify the four kingdoms of East Anglia, Mercia and Northumbria;
promoted literacy and the church; and had the Bible translated into
English, 700 odd years before Martin Luther. He defined
Englishness, which his successors built on, their concept was strong
enough to withstand both Knut and fifty years later, William the
Bastard.
Cornwell follows
pretty closely the line of the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, which
amplifies the problems that Alfred faces, to make his subsequent
come back even more remarkable. But having chosen someone other
than Alfred as his key figure, Cornwell is forced to give Uhtred
much of the credit for Alfred’s subsequent victory, while Alfred is
cast as something of an over-bookish fool. This is a drawback of
the novel, especially as Cornwell’s stated aim of the series was to
show how remarkable Alfred’s achievements were, but Cornwell is a
master of creating and illustrating the worlds he recreates: and he
is at his best in bringing into vivid detail the challenges and
horrors and difficulties of Dark Age England. Although a little
divorced from the probably succession of events Cornwell is a master
of narrative, and this is an enjoyable and entertaining
page-turner.
The first book in this series, The Last Kingdom, is reviewed here.
There are sequels to this novel, two already in print,
The
Lords of the North and
Sword Song,
with a fifth book in the series yet to be published.
Links:
In Our Time: Alfred and the Battle of Edington BBC
Radio 4
Bernard
Cornwell’s Home Page
Saxon Novels Home
Interview
on Writer’s FM
Speaking
on University of California TV
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