The Pale Horseman was published by HarperCollins in 2005 as the second novel in the Saxon Stories. The novel covers the crisis of 878 AD, when the Great Heathen Army under Guthrum overran Wessex and drove Alfred into hiding in the marshes of Somerset — the legendary period of Alfred burning the cakes, historically the lowest point of Saxon resistance to the Danish invasion.
Uhtred, whose loyalty to Alfred is as much pragmatic as principled, finds himself in the marshes with the fugitive king. Alfred is ill, despairing, and apparently finished — the last Saxon kingdom has fallen, and the dream of a unified England seems dead. But Alfred’s genius is strategic rather than military: he uses the months in the marshes to plan, to communicate with loyal ealdormen, and to prepare the counterattack that will culminate in the Battle of Edington, where the Saxon fyrd smashes Guthrum’s army and forces the Danish king to accept baptism and a peace treaty.
Cornwell’s portrayal of Alfred in extremis is among his finest characterizations: the king is sick, stubborn, pious to the point of self-righteousness, and utterly implacable in his determination to save his kingdom. Uhtred, who finds Alfred personally insufferable, is forced to admit that the king’s vision — Christianity, literacy, law, a unified England — represents something worth fighting for, even if Uhtred himself would prefer a world without any of it.
Collecting The Pale Horseman
First edition (HarperCollins, London, 2005): Cloth with dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition, fine/fine: $30–$75
- Very good: $10–$30