The Empty Throne (The Saxon Stories #8)

by Bernard Cornwell

I wondered why the gods no longer came to earth. It would make belief so much easier.

Always fight the horse, not the rider. Wound or kill the horse and the rider becomes a victim,

They smile and sing their psalms and preach that their creed is all about love, but tell them you believe in a different god and suddenly it’s all spittle and spite.

it takes a weak man to prove his strength by striking a woman.

We live in a world where the strongest win, and the strongest must expect to be disliked. Then I am a pagan, and though Christians teach that they must love their enemies, few do.

We pick sides, lord, and sometimes loyalty gives us no choice in our opinions.”

And thus Berg Skallagrimmrson entered my service. Fate is inexorable. I was not to know it, but I had just made Alfred’s dream of Englaland come true.

Instinct is a strange thing. You cannot touch it, feel it, smell it, or hear it, but you must trust it,

Pride, I suppose, is the most treacherous of virtues. The Christians call it a sin, but no poet sings of men who have no pride. Christians say the meek will inherit the earth, but the meek inspire no songs.