So Alfred charges Uhtred with this great task to use the Saxon army, as well as his own loyal men, and take back London.Īt this point Uhtred is a warrior and a great leader in a shield wall. If Alfred gives them London, Wessex is next and soon there will be little left to defend and England will be a Viking nation.

The old Roman town of London, an important one with its link to the Thames, has been taken over by the Vikings. While the first three of the Saxon Chronicles gave little hope and direction for Uhtred, in Sword Song, he has more to fight for with a wife and child, and another baby on the way. But Alfred has God on his side, and feels he will be ultimately victorious Uhtred on the other hand, a pagan, cares little for this Christian religion, but is still a little unsure of where his allegiances lie. Is Cornwell's finest work yet-vivid with period detail, this breathtaking adventure throroughly reimagines one of the most fascinating tales in all of history-the birth of England-and breathes life into the brilliant king who made it possible: Alfred the Great.We last left Uhtred, in Lords of the North, apparently an ally with King Alfred, while the Vikings were making a very successful takeover of England, making it seem like there was little hope left for Alfred and his Saxon people. It is Uhtred-half Saxon, half Dane-whose uncertain loyalties must now decide England's future. And other storm clouds are gathering: Alfred's daughter is newly married, but by a cruel twist of fate, her very existence now threatens Alfred's kingdom.

Uhtred must weigh his oath to the king against the dangerous turning tide of shifting allegiances and deadly power struggles. He wants Uhtred to expel the Viking raiders from London. Their dream is to conquer Wessex, and to do it they need Uhtred's help.Īlfred has other ideas. But then trouble stirs: a dead man has risen, and new Vikings have arrived to occupy the decayed Roman city of London. He has land, a wife and two children, and a duty given to him by King Alfred to hold the frontier on the Thames. Uhtred, the dispossessed son of a Northumbrian lord-warrior by instinct, Viking by nature-has finally settled down. The year is 885, and England is at peace, divided between the Danish kingdom to the north and the Saxon kingdom of Wessex in the south. The fourth installment of Bernard Cornwell's bestselling series chronicling the epic saga of the making of England, 'like Game of Thrones, but real' (

Sword song the battle for london