Contents.Books in the trilogy. (1995). (1996). (1997)Treatment of legend and history Once upon a time, in a land that was called Britain, these things happened. The Warlord Trilogy is my attempt to tell the story of Arthur, 'Rex Quondam Rexque Futurus', the Once and Future King, although I doubt he ever was a king.
I suspect he was a great warlord of the sixth century. Nennius, who was one of the earliest historians to mention Arthur, calls him the 'dux bellorum' - leader of battles or warlord.
Apr 15, 1997. King (Warlord Chronicles Series #1) by Bernard Cornwell at Barnes. The tale begins in Dark Age Britain, a land where Arthur has been. This is the absolute indispensable book about Arthur. Richard White has gathered all the primal texts, the original sources, in English, Latin, Welsh, French and German (all translated). This is what our ancestors said and thought about Arthur and everything, we believe, however weird, is based on these comparatively few sources.
— Bernard CornwellThe story is written as if it took place in Britain as described in the original Welsh legends, with appropriate types of technology, culture, warfare, and attitudes. Cornwell also weaves later additions such as and into the plot.Like other 'historical' takes on the Arthurian legends, the series postulates that Post- was a difficult time for the native Britons, being threatened by invasion from the in the East and raids from the Irish in the West.
At the same time, they suffered internal power struggles between their petty kingdoms. Like in her novel, Cornwell also presumes friction occurred between the old religion and.The of the series is Derfel Cadarn (pronounced Derv-el), based on the part-legendary and on. Cornwell's Derfel is a Saxon brought up as a Briton by, the greatest of all Druids. In the course of the story, he becomes a great warrior and one of Arthur's warlords in his war against the Saxons.
Derfel is one of Arthur's closest advisers and friends, is one-handed (in Welsh legends) and in many versions of the legends, casts into the sea after the. Merlin, meanwhile, concerns himself with trying to restore the of Britain.Other characters from the Arthurian mythos are given significant and memorable twists. For example, Lancelot, always portrayed as the most virtuous and the mightiest of Arthur's knights, here is depicted as an arrogant, cowardly and self-serving petty prince, whose legendary feats and martial prowess are crafted through the songs of the bards and a fictional reputation that he himself carefully cultivates. Is a Hungarian prince in the Cycle, but is depicted here as a veteran of the old Roman Army who joined Arthur's service after the collapse of the Empire.Cornwell portrays Merlin as a lecherous, driven, mischievous and irreverent druid.
His solution to the problem of integrating the magic of the Arthurian mythos in the context of historical fiction is to leave room for the reader to take the 'magic' depicted in the story at face value or to interpret it as a mixture of coincidence, psychology, primitive technology and illusion which preys on the superstitions, religious fundamentalism and intolerance of the time.Reception The Warlord Chronicles has been acclaimed for both its storytelling qualities and its accuracy in portraying contemporary life. Cornwell himself has said, 'I have to confess that of all the books I have written these three are my favourites.' Audiobooks Isis Audio Books and have published unabridged audiobook recordings of all three novels, read by Edmund Dehn and Jonathan Keeble respectively.
Penguin Audiobooks have also published abridged versions of the three novels, read by.References.