Bernard Cornwell

Sword of Kings


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      SWORD OF KINGS

      Bernard Cornwell

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       Copyright

      HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

      1 London Bridge Street

      London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2019

      Copyright © Bernard Cornwell 2019

      Map © John Gilkes 2019

      Cover design by Holly Macdonald © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2019

      Cover photograph © CollaborationJS/Arcangel Images (helmet/foreground and horse detail in background) and Shutterstock.com (all other images)

      Bernard Cornwell asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

      A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

      This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

      Source ISBN: 9780008183899

      Ebook Edition © OCTOBER 2019 ISBN: 9780008183912

      Version: 2019-08-29

       Dedication

      Sword of Kings is for

      Suzanne Pollak

       Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

       Copyright

       Dedication

       Place Names

       Map

      Part One: A Fool’s Errand

      One

      Two

      Three

      Four

      Part Two: City of Darkness

       Five

       Six

       Seven

       Part Three: The Field of Barley

       Eight

       Nine

       Ten

       Part Four: Serpent-Breath

       Eleven

       Twelve

       Thirteen

       Historical Note

       About the Author

       Also by Bernard Cornwell

       The Sharpe series

       About the Publisher

       PLACE NAMES

      The spelling of place names in Anglo-Saxon England was an uncertain business, with no consistency and no agreement even about the name itself. Thus London was variously rendered as Lundonia, Lundenberg, Lundenne, Lundene, Lundenwic, Lundenceaster and Lundres. Doubtless some readers will prefer other versions of the names listed below, but I have usually employed whichever spelling is cited in either the Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names or the Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names for the years nearest or contained within Alfred’s reign, AD 871–899, but even that solution is not foolproof. Hayling Island, in 956, was written as both Heilincigae and Hæglingaiggæ. Nor have I been consistent myself; I have preferred the modern form Northumbria to Norðhymbralond to avoid the suggestion that the boundaries of the ancient kingdom coincide with those of the modern county. So this list of places mentioned in the book is, like the spellings themselves, capricious.

Andefera Andover, Wiltshire
Basengas Basing, Hampshire
Bebbanburg Bamburgh, Northumberland
Beamfleot Benfleet, Essex
Caninga Canvey Island, Essex
Ceaster Chester, Cheshire
Celmeresburh Chelmsford, Essex
Cent Kent
Cestrehunt Cheshunt, Hertfordshire
Cippanhamm Chippenham, Wiltshire
Colneceaster Colchester, Essex
Contwaraburg Canterbury, Kent
Cyningestun Kingston upon Thames, Surrey
Crepelgate Cripplegate, London
Dumnoc Dunwich, Suffolk
East Seax Essex
Elentone Maidenhead, Berkshire
Eoferwic Saxon name for York, Yorkshire
Fæfresham Faversham, Kent
Farnea Islands Farne Islands, Northumberland
Fearnhamme Farnham, Surrey
Ferentone Farndon, Cheshire
Fleot, River River Fleet, London