The White Rider (Cornwell)

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The White Rider is a novel by the British writer Bernard Cornwell . The book was first published on October 3, 2005 under the title The Pale Horseman by Harper Collins. It was published in July 2007 in the German translation by Michael Windgassen by Rowohlt Verlag .

The White Rider is a historical novel set in Wessex and Cornwall in the 9th century AD . It is the second part of a series entitled The Saxon Stories which describes the conflict between the Anglo-Saxon King Alfred von Wessex and the Danish Vikings under King Guthrum . Historical figures like the kings Alfred and Guthrum are juxtaposed with fictional characters like the Anglo-Saxon Uhtred, the hero and narrator of the story.

Classification in Cornwell's series

The White Rider is the sequel to The Last Kingdom , which tells the story of Uhtred's childhood and youth, and continues with The Lords of the North , Sword Song , The Burning Land , The Dying King, and The Lord of the Gentiles . With Wolf War eleventh novel was the cycle by Alfred the Great and his son in April 2019 Edward published in German. The novel series is known in English under the name The Saxon Stories , in German it is called The Uhtred Saga after its protagonist . How many parts the series will contain in total has not yet been announced by Cornwell.

The original title of the work, The Pale Horseman , refers to the word of the Apocalypse : "Then I saw a pale horse; and the rider who sat on him is called death. "(Rev 6: 8)

action

Uhtred, who killed Ubba Lothbrokson on the battlefield at the end of the first part in the battle of Cynuit Ubba , does not return directly to Alfred from there , but makes a detour to pick up his wife and son. When he arrives at Alfred's, his rival Odda has already arrived at the court and presented himself as the conqueror of Ubba. Uhtred becomes enraged and draws his sword, an offense punished with death in the presence of the king. Alfred is gracious and only humiliates him by letting him crawl on his knees to the altar in a penitent robe. Æthelwold , the actual heir to the throne, who was ousted from the throne by Alfred, turns the penance exercise into a farce by loudly accusing himself of being a sinner and being addicted to "naked women and big breasts".

Uhtred gives in, but leaves the court bitter and returns to his new home. Soon after, his friend Leofric arrives to have the wrecked ship repaired. He brings a lot of shipbuilders with him, but also a fully equipped ship.

Uhtred persuades him, while the shipbuilders are setting the ship in motion, to go on a raid together in the Sæfernsee ( Bristol Channel ). First they sail along the coast of Cornwall and are asked there by Peredur, a local king, for help against his neighbor. As Uhtred's men advance towards the fort, they realize that the fort is being held by a Dane. This changes the situation both for Uhtred, who did not expect to face battle-hardened Danes, and for the leader of the Danes Svein, who, like Uhtred, eschews the hard-to-replace losses of a real battle. Without further ado, the two team up, Uhtred betrays Peredur and, together with Svein, they attack Peredur's troops and plunder the village. Only one of Peredur's men survived the massacre, a monk named Asser . Uhtred and Svein share the booty, and Uhtred takes Iseult - one of Peredur's wives - with them. Iseult is a woman of the ancient people (the Celts). As a shadow queen (born during a solar eclipse) she has healing powers and is a seer. Her extraordinary beauty played a not unimportant role in Uhtred's decision to betray Peredur.

Uhtred and his men turn again towards the Bristol Channel and they bring up a Danish ship and make rich booty. Back in his home country he buys himself off his debts to the church, while Leofric brings the ships back to their home port.

Uhtred hardly has any time because he is called to the Witan . The beautiful Iseult has meanwhile become his constant companion and lover and moves with him to Chippenham. Before the Witan, he (and with him Leofric) is accused of attacking Peredur von Asser. But more than that - Steapa Snotor, a warrior of the young Oddas, accuses him of having been involved in Svein's raid against the Abbey of Cynuit. Uhtred doesn't know what to do next, after all, most of the allegations are true. Without further ado he accuses Asser and Steapa of lying and claims that Peredur was an ally of the Danes. On orders from Oddas Uhtred, Steapa promptly calls for a duel. This judgment of God should bring the decision in the court process. Actually, Uhtred has no reasonable chance against the giant, but chance comes to his aid, because while the two are fighting, the Danes raid the city.

There is a mass panic. Uhtred, Iseult, Leofric and his girlfriend get by and after a few weeks of wild wandering around, they meet a group of people in the swamps of Athelney who is being attacked by a horde of Danes. The two men intervene and manage to kill some Danes. When the Danes realize that there is no getting through the swamps, Guthrum approaches Uhtred himself. Uhtred mocks him and insults Guthrum's beloved mother above all else.

When the fight is over, it turns out that it was the royal family whose lives they just saved. Uhtred gives Alfred a temporary oath and Alfred then makes him the leader of his bodyguard and assigns him various tasks. Since Alfred wants to raise an army in the spring to repel Guthrum, he sets off to Chippenham to find out more. Uhtred finds him there - beaten up by the Danes. Before they leave town, they free Steapa and the nun Hild.

Back in Athelney, Uhtred receives a new assignment to go to Devonshire with Steapa to find out what Svein is doing and to order Odda to be his king. In Devonshire, Uhtred learns that his son has died and that his wife wants to go to the convent. Odda has signed an agreement with Svein and Svein promised royalty. To make the Danes favorable, Odda does not attack them and provides them with horses. Steapa turns on his former master and kills him. Svein leaves Devonshire and joins Guthrum.

Alfred calls his Fyrd together. While exploring, Uhtred and his new friend Pyrlig (a very headstrong priest) catch Æthelwold, Alfred's nephew, whom Guthrum wanted to put on the throne as a pretend king. Uhtred owes him a favor and so he gives him the opportunity to join the king as a subject.

The result is the Battle of Eddington. The Danes under Guthrum are in an old fortress, while those of Svein are outside. Svein's troops are initially thrown back by the Saxons. Uhtred manages to awaken the Saxon fighting spirit and provoke Svein with an improvised speech. Uhtred brings down the mounted Svein and Steapa kills him. The Saxons stand outside the fortress which is occupied by thousands of Danes. While Alfred is negotiating with the Danes, Danish horsemen attack the Saxon train and kill Iseult. In a furious rage, Uhtred succeeds in breaking off the fruitless negotiations, which the Danes were only leading to time-wasting anyway. The Saxons ran into the pouring rain several times against the ramparts of the fortress and were thrown back with heavy losses. Ultimately, the left wing of the Saxons crosses the defensive structures at an impassable point, which are hardly defended at this point. The Danes are beaten. Leofric, who was fighting at Uhtred's side all the time, fell. Uhtred is slightly wounded and saves his friend the Danish prince Ragnar from the anger of the Saxons.

Characters of the plot

Fictional people

  • Uhtred - the protagonist and narrator
  • Leofric - Uhtred's friend, warrior, and captain of the Archangels , a ship in the Wessex fleet
  • Iseult - Britonian Shadow Queen from Cornwall
  • Father Beocca - Alfred's priest and friend of Uhtred's family
  • Svein of the White Horse - Danish ruler in Ireland
  • Prince Ragnar Ragnarsson (Ragnar the Younger) - Uhtred's close friend
  • Odda the Younger - Alderman Odda's son and Uhtred's enemy
  • Steapa Snotor - bodyguard Oddas the Younger
  • Father Pyrlig - former Cornish warrior, now a priest
  • Eanflæd - “Whore” from Cippanhamm rescued by Uhtred
  • Hild - nun from Cippanhamm rescued by Uhtred
  • Mildrith - Uhtred's second wife from West Saxony

Historical people

Web links