The Pale Horseman. Bernard Cornwell

      

      THE PALE

       HORSEMAN

      BERNARD CORNWELL

       Copyright

      Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

      1 London Bridge Street

      London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      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.

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

      Source ISBN: 9780008139483

      Ebook Edition © July 2009 ISBN: 9780007338825

      Version: 2019-09-27

       Dedication

      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

       Cover

       Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

       Epigraph

       Map

Place Names

Part One: VIKING

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Part Two: THE SWAMP KING

       Chapter Four

       Chapter Five

       Chapter Six

       Chapter Seven

       Chapter Eight

       Chapter Nine

       Chapter Ten

       Chapter Eleven

       Part Three: THE FYRD

       Chapter Twelve

       Chapter Thirteen

       Historical Note

       Keep Reading …

       About the Author

       Also by Bernard Cornwell

       About the Publisher

       PLACE NAMES

      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