THE PALE
HORSEMAN
BERNARD CORNWELL
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2005
Copyright © Bernard Cornwell 2005
Cover images © Shutterstock.com (stone texture, silver pendant)
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2016
Cover illustration © Lee Gibbons/Tin Moon – www.leegibbons.co.uk
Bernard Cornwell asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it, while at times based on historical figures, are the work of the author’s imagination.
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Source ISBN: 9780008139483
Ebook Edition © July 2009 ISBN: 9780007338825
Version: 2019-09-27
THE PALE HORSEMAN
is for
George MacDonald Fraser,
in admiration
Ac her forlo berað; fugelas singað, gylleð grœghama.
For here starts war, carrion birds sing, and grey wolves howl.
From The Fight at Finnsburh
Contents
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