The Winter King

The Winter King is a 1995 novel by Bernard Cornwell. It is the first volume of the Warlord Chronicles series, a reimagining of the legend of King Arthur stripped of magic and romance and instead steeped in the grim realities of Britain after the fall of the Roman Empire. It was followed up by Enemy of God (1996) and Excalibur (1997). By the time Cornwell published The Winter King, he had established his reputation as a major author of historical fiction, especially for stories about his native Britain. His series of novels about Richard Sharpe, a fictional soldier who takes part in nearly every major engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, had already proved very popular and been adapted for British television with Sean Bean (Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones) in the role of Sharpe. The Warlord Chronicles are among the best-reviewed of Cornwell’s novels, and he has confessed that they are his favorite of his works. In 2023, the entire series was adapted into a limited series called The Winter King.

This summary is based on the 1996 Penguin paperback edition.

Content Warning: This guide and the source material contain graphic depictions of war, violence, and sexual violence. It also uses ableist language and outdated and offensive language relating to mental health conditions, which is replicated in this guide only in direct quotes of the source material.

Plot Summary

The narrative is framed as a chronicle written by a monk, Derfel Cadarn, many years after the fact. Born a Saxon and captured in a raid as a baby, Derfel grew up under the care of Merlin, one of the last remaining Druids, and became one of Arthur’s greatest warriors.

Derfel begins his chronicle in the year 480 CE, when Britain is composed of numerous independent kingdoms, a few generations removed from Roman rule. Much of eastern Britain has been lost to Saxon invaders, while Irish raiders press in from the west. High King Uther of Britain is nominally first among equals, and the birth of his grandson Mordred ensures a succession, but Uther’s death throws the country into turmoil. Mordred is brought to live in Merlin’s domain under the care of Morgan, his chief priestess and a daughter of Uther, but a minor king betrays and attacks them, forcing Derfel, Morgan, and Mordred to flee for their lives. They are rescued at the last minute by Arthur, the illegitimate son of Uther, who returns from exile and will exercise de facto control over Britain until Mordred comes of age.

Arthur is a capable and charismatic leader, and is on the brink of uniting the kingdoms against the Saxons, when he abruptly calls off an engagement to the princess of Powys, a kingdom in Britain, and marries Guinevere, a minor noblewoman with whom he fell in love. Enraged, the king of Powys raises his armies for war. Before the climactic struggle, however, Derfel travels across the sea to the kingdom of Armorica to protect its king (to whom Arthur owes service) against Frankish invaders. The kingdom’s majestic citadel ultimately falls, but in the course of escaping, Derfel finds Merlin and returns to Britain with him and the city’s two princes, Lancelot and Galahad. After postponing the campaign once more to rescue his childhood friend (and Merlin’s acolyte) Nimue from the Isle of the Dead, where society’s outcasts are consigned, Derfel assumes the role of warlord in Arthur’s service. Arthur bribes the Saxon leader Aelle to keep him at bay for one more season, offering him a British fort in return. He then marches his forces northward for the decisive battle against Powys. Arthur’s plan for victory falls short, and his men are on the brink of a crushing defeat, when suddenly Merlin appears at the head of Irish raiders, and they turn the tide in Arthur’s favor. Arthur is dispirited at having needed outside assistance, but it is a victory all the same. Arthur is made a warlord, and Britain remains in Mordred’s hands for the time being.