Quotes About Loyalty

Men who lead by fear might become great kings and might rule lands so great that no man knows their boundaries, but they can be beaten, too, beaten by men who fight as brothers.

My sword, I told him, says I tell the truth, and that you are a stinking bag of wind, a liar from hell, a cheat and a perjurer who deserves death. Up to our arses again, Leofric said.

But I hated Alfred. I hated him for humiliating me at Exanceaster when he had made me wear a penitent's robe and crawl on my knees. Nor did I think of him as my king. He was a West Saxon and I was a Northumbrian, and I reckoned so long as he was king then Wessex had small chance of surviving. He believed God would protect him from the Danes, while I believed they had to be defeated by swords.

name's sake.' The men called out amen and some

If they saw men swarming up the wall, if they saw the axes chopping at our shields on the wall's top, then they would join the battle. Men want to be on the winning side.

had given an oath and honor binds us to paths we might not choose.

our oaths.' He advanced down the path

If a man breaks an oath he has no honour

So long as there is war there will be warlords. Leaders. What makes a man follow a leader? Success. A warrior wants victory, he wants silver, he wants land, and he looks to his lords for all those things.

The square would end with a huddle of bloodied men around the colors and the enemy would fall on them and for a few moments it would be steel against steel, and the sergeant reckoned he would give the flag to a wounded man and do what harm he could with the heavy, long-shafted axe. It was a pity to die, but he was a soldier, and no one had yet devised a way a man could live for ever, not even those clever bastards in Edinburgh.

I had never thought it all through before, but suddenly, on that cold day, I understood that among the Danes I was as important as my friends, and without friends I was just another landless, masterless warrior. But among the Saxons I was another Saxon, and among the Saxons I did not need another man's generosity. "You

Wessex. At the very least Alfred would pay

Who is she?" Æthelflaed asked, her voice scarce above a whisper. "Her name," I said, "is Brida." And the gelded priest turned an agonized face toward me and called for help. "Father!" He was my son.

He doesn't want to face Englishmen,' the Lord of Douglas said, and he knew he was right. Ever since the Scottish knights

All you need to know, boy, Finan growled, is that Lord Uhtred's side is the one that wins.

Now, waving flies from his face, he told the two deserters what they might expect.

even be here,' Douglas snarled. The Scottish knights had been summoned by

Me! I'm your pagan, lord,' I said, 'what do I care about sin?' 'Then care for my children,' he said. 'I will, lord King,' I promised.

And so he lied because he can't speak the truth. His tongue is bent. He breaks oaths, my lady, and he swears black is white and white is black, and men believe him because he has honey on his bent tongue. But I know him, my lady, because he's my man, he's sworn to me." And with that I leaned down from the saddle and took hold of Haesten's mail coat, shirt, and cloak, and hauled him up. He

Man make a kingdom strong, not gold.

I raised the sword to my lips and kissed her long blade. "You have men to kill," I told her, "and revenge to take." And so she had.

I want it to be the poet's Camelot: green grass and high towers and ladies in gowns and warriors strewing their paths with flowers. I want minstrels and laughter! Wasn't it ever like that? A little, I said, though I don't remember many flowery paths. I do recall the warriors limping out of battle, and some of them crawling and weeping with their guts trailing behind them in the dust.

I am never certain that deserters are to be trusted, Gudin said mildly. He was accompanied by a burly French sergeant who kept giving the tigers nervous glances. If a man can betray one flag, Gudin observed, why not another?

If my body is recovered, Colonel, pray have it sent back to Normandy. My companion, on the other hand, is from Boston, so you may allow his body to rot in whatever noxious swamp it comes to rest. Come on, boy!