The Empty Throne
The eighth novel in Bernard Cornwell’s epic and bestselling series on the making of England and the fate of his great hero, Uhtred of Bebbanburg.BBC2’s major Autumn 2015 TV show THE LAST KINGDOM is based on the first two books in the series.In the battle for power, there can be only one ruler.The ruler of Mercia is dying, leaving no apparent heir. His wife is a born leader, but no woman has ever ruled over an English kingdom. And she is without her greatest warrior and champion, Uhtred of Bebbanburg.An empty throne leaves the kingdom exposed to rival West Saxons and to the Vikings, who are on a bloody rampage once more.A hero is needed, a hero who has been in battle all his life, who can destroy the double threat to Mercia. A hero who will ultimately decide the fate of a nation…
Читать The Empty Throne онлайн беплатно
THE EMPTY THRONE
BERNARD CORNWELL
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2014
Copyright © Bernard Cornwell 2014
Map © John Gilkes 2014
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2015
Cover photographs © Alex Telfer/Gallery Stock (landscape); Brendan Donnelly/Alamy (male figure); Henry Steadman (male head); Shutterstock.com (clouds).
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 authorâs 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, down-loaded, 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: 9780007504190
Ebook Edition © 2015 ISBN: 9780007504183
Version: 2018-09-24
Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Place names
Prologue
Part One: THE DYING LORD
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Part Two: THE LADY OF MERCIA
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Part Three: THE GOD OF WAR
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Historical Note
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 cited in either the Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names or the Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names for the years nearest or contained within Alfredâs reign, AD 871â899, but even that solution is not foolproof. Hayling Island, in 956, was written as both Heilincigae and Hæglingaiggæ. Nor have I been consistent myself; preferring the modern form Northumbria to Norðhymbralond to avoid the suggestion that the boundaries of the ancient kingdom coincide with those of the modern county. So this list, like the spellings themselves, is capricious.
| Abergwaun | Fishguard, Pembrokeshire |
| Alencestre | Alcester, Warwickshire |
| Beamfleot | Benfleet, Essex |
| Bebbanburg | Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland |
| Brunanburh | Bromborough, Cheshire |
| Cadum | Caen, Normandy |
| Ceaster | Chester, Cheshire |
| Cirrenceastre | Cirencester, Gloucestershire |
| Cracgelad | Cricklade, Wiltshire |
| Cumbraland | Cumbria |
| Defnascir | Devonshire |
| Eoferwic | York |
| Eveshomme | Evesham, Worcestershire |
| Exanceaster | Exeter, Devon |
| Fagranforda | Fairford, Gloucestershire |
| Fearnhamme | Farnham, Surrey |
| Gleawecestre | Gloucester, Gloucestershire |
| Lundene | London |
| Lundi | Lundy Island, Devon |
| Mærse | River Mersey |
| Neustria | Westernmost province of Frankia, including Normandy |
| Sæfern | River Severn |
| Scireburnan | Sherborne, Dorset |
| Sealtwic | Droitwich, Worcestershire |
| Teotanheale | Tettenhall, West Midlands |
| Thornsæta | Dorset |
| Tyddewi | St Davids, Pembrokeshire |
| Wiltunscir | Wiltshire |
| Wintanceaster | Winchester, Hampshire |
| Wirhealum | The Wirral, Cheshire |
My name is Uhtred. I am the son of Uhtred, who was the son of Uhtred, and his father was also called Uhtred. My father wrote his name thus, Uhtred, but I have seen the name written as Utred, Ughtred or even Ootred. Some of those names are on ancient parchments which declare that Uhtred, son of Uhtred and grandson of Uhtred, is the lawful, sole and eternal owner of the lands that are carefully marked by stones and by dykes, by oaks and by ash, by marsh and by sea. That land is in the north of the country we have learned to call Englaland. They are wave-beaten lands beneath a wind-driven sky. It is the land we call Bebbanburg.
