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The Pagan Lord (The Saxon Stories, #7) QUOTES

The Pagan Lord (The Saxon Stories, #7) QUOTES

1 " Five things make a man happy,” I told him, “a good ship, a good sword, a good hound, a good horse, and a woman.” “Not a good woman?” Finan asked, amused. “They’re all good,” I said, “except when they’re not, and then they’re better than good. "

― Bernard Cornwell , The Pagan Lord (The Saxon Stories, #7)

2 " When those blades cut, they cause tears that feed the well of Urdr that lies beside the world tree, and the well gives the water that keeps Yggdrasil alive, and if Yggdrasil dies then the world dies, and so the well must be kept filled and for that there must be tears. "

― Bernard Cornwell , The Pagan Lord (The Saxon Stories, #7)

3 " The priests are like Offa,” I said. “They want us to be their dogs, well schooled, grateful and obedient, and why? So they can get rich. They tell you pride is a sin? You’re a man! It’s like telling you breathing is a sin, and once they’ve made you feel guilty for daring to breathe, they’ll give you absolution in return for a handful of silver. "

― Bernard Cornwell , The Pagan Lord (The Saxon Stories, #7)

4 " He was watching my eyes. A man who uses a sword with lethal skill always matches his opponent's eyes. "

― Bernard Cornwell , The Pagan Lord (The Saxon Stories, #7)

5 " Instinct is everything. "

― Bernard Cornwell , The Pagan Lord (The Saxon Stories, #7)

6 " It was madness. And, as Finan had said, sometimes madness works. "

― Bernard Cornwell , The Pagan Lord (The Saxon Stories, #7)

7 " The art of war,” I told him, “is to make the enemy do your bidding. "

― Bernard Cornwell , The Pagan Lord (The Saxon Stories, #7)

8 " Seven kings will die, she had said, seven kings and the women you love. And Alfred's son will not rule and Wessex will die and the Saxon will kill what he loves and the Danes will gain everything, and all will change and all will be the same. "

― Bernard Cornwell , The Pagan Lord (The Saxon Stories, #7)

9 " A battle in the shield wall. It's smelling your enemy's breath while he tries to disembowel you with an axe, it's blood and shit and screams and pain and terror. It's trampling in your friends' guts as enemies butcher them. It's men clenching their teeth so hard they shatter them. Have you ever been in a battle? "

― Bernard Cornwell , The Pagan Lord (The Saxon Stories, #7)

10 " A bastard son must fight his own way in the world. Osferth knew that. "

― Bernard Cornwell , The Pagan Lord (The Saxon Stories, #7)

11 " Because there could not be peace, not while two tribes shared one land. One tribe must win. Even the nailed god cannot change that truth. And I was a warrior, and in a world at war the warrior must be cruel. "

― Bernard Cornwell , The Pagan Lord (The Saxon Stories, #7)

12 " I was doing everything wrong. I was confused. Confusion is inevitable in battle, but indecision is unforgivable, and I had hesitated to make any decision and then made all the wrong ones. "

― Bernard Cornwell , The Pagan Lord (The Saxon Stories, #7)

13 " You know why farts smell?” “I don’t.” “So the deaf can enjoy them too. "

― Bernard Cornwell , The Pagan Lord (The Saxon Stories, #7)

14 " We don't build,' I said to my son, 'we just destroy. "

― Bernard Cornwell , The Pagan Lord (The Saxon Stories, #7)

15 " They laughed, but I was melancholy. The remnants of Rome always make me sad, simply because they are proof that we slide inexorably towards the darkness. Once there was light falling on marbled magnificence, and now we trudge through mud. Wyrd bið ful āræd. We "

― Bernard Cornwell , The Pagan Lord (The Saxon Stories, #7)

16 " I'm getting old," I said again, and that was true. I had lived more than fifty years and most men were lucky to see forty. Yet all old age was bringing was the death of dreams. "

― Bernard Cornwell , The Pagan Lord (The Saxon Stories, #7)

17 " I recalled that a man named Judas had betrayed the nailed god. That never made any sense to me. The god had to be nailed to a cross if he was to become their savior, and then the Christians blame the man who made that death possible. I thought they should worship him as a saint, but instead they revile him as a betrayer. "

― Bernard Cornwell , The Pagan Lord (The Saxon Stories, #7)

18 " Serpent-Breath was in my hand and anger in my soul. "

― Bernard Cornwell , The Pagan Lord (The Saxon Stories, #7)

19 " The god had to be nailed to a cross if he was to become their saviour, and then the Christians blame the man who made that death possible. I thought they should worship him as a saint, but instead they revile him as a betrayer. "

― Bernard Cornwell , The Pagan Lord (The Saxon Stories, #7)

20 " Have you ever fought in a battle? I know you burned down my barns, but that isn’t a battle, you stinking piece of rat-gristle. A battle is the shield wall. It’s smelling your enemy’s breath while he tries to disembowel you with an ax, it’s blood and shit and screams and pain and terror. It’s trampling in your friends’ guts as enemies butcher them. It’s men clenching their teeth so hard they shatter them. Have you ever been in a battle? "

― Bernard Cornwell , The Pagan Lord (The Saxon Stories, #7)