Giles Kristian > Quotes

“Sword and shield, flesh and bone, I am your man, Sigurd Haraldarson. As long as the sun shines and the world endures, henceforth and for evermore.”
― Giles Kristian, God of Vengeance

“And yet Arthur had Merlin. And Merlin had an idea. And so Arthur listened”
― Giles Kristian, Lancelot

“What is the worst they can do to us?" Perhaps I was a fool but I felt neither fear nor regret. And as for Guinevere, I loved her and she loved me; I believed that was enough.”
― Giles Kristian, Lancelot

“This was a desperate contest. Each move and counter move a fear and sweat-soaked thread to be woven later into fireside verse by those who had the gift. For now, though, they made just a dreadful, discordant song. The clank of blade on shield boss. The dull thud of sword on limewood boards and, now and then, the scrape of a blade's edge across iron ringmail or down bronze scales. And always the breathing, ragged and urgent. A man's lungs pumping in his chest like forge bellows, feeding the fire of hate and the blood lust. These sounds told the true story. They were the lyre strings before they are tuned to melodious accord, before the bard's fingers caress them to lift our hearts and our ideals.

No glory now. Just two men hacking at each other with sharp steel. Each craving the other's death. Both desperate to live.”
― Giles Kristian, Lancelot

“The past is water running in a stream. It is already long gone and you can never bring it back.”
― Giles Kristian, Lancelot

“All good stories have parts, which make the crowd laugh.”
― Giles Kristian, Winter's Fire

“It's difficult to hate a broken man,no matter the previous misdeeds.”
― Giles Kristian, Sons of Thunder

“Then we pulled back, and for several heartbeats just looked into each others eyes, Guinevere's white teeth dragging at her bottom lip. Not, I think, because of some nervousness, or fear of getting caught with me, but rather because she feared revealing so much of herself, of her secret thoughts, to anyone. Especially me.”
― Giles Kristian, Lancelot

“It is wiser to stand in front of the bear than to turn his back to him.”
― Giles Kristian, God of Vengeance

“HAVE YOU EVER sailed in a longship? Not a stubby, robust knörr laden with trade goods and wallowing like a packhorse across the sea, but a sleek, deathly quick, terror-stirring thing – a dragon ship. Have you ever stood at the bow with the salt wind whipping your hair as Rán’s white-haired daughters cream beneath the beast’s strong, curving chest? Have you travelled the whale road with wind-burnt warriors whose rare skill with axe and sword is a gift from mighty Óðin, Lord of War? Men whose death work feeds the wolf and the eagle and the raven? I have done all this. It has been my life and though it would make those skirt-wearing White Christ followers sick with disgust (and fear, I shouldn’t wonder) I have been happy with my lot. For some men are born closer to the gods than others. By the well of Urd, beneath one of the roots of the great life tree Yggdrasil, the Norns, those sisters of fate, of present and future, take the threads of men’s lives and weave them into patterns full of pain and suffering, glory and riches, and death. And their ancient fingers must have tired at the spinning of my life.”
― Giles Kristian, Sons of Thunder

“The gods help the man who helps himself,”
― Giles Kristian, Lancelot

“You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,’ I said. It was true, for all that I feared how trite it must have sounded to her, though she did not say so. I wondered how Guinevere's father could have sent her away. Surely she was a light in his life. This radiant, fearless girl.
She pouted, and it was all I could do not to kiss her again. 'You have lived in the forests of Benoic and on this island and this is the furthest you have ever been into Britain,’ she said. ‘When you have actually seen something of the world, I will ask you again if you still think I am
the most beautiful thing in the world.'
‘And I will say the same again.’ I said.”
― Giles Kristian, Lancelot

“As with all the stories, there's always smoke before the fire kindles.”
― Giles Kristian, God of Vengeance

“...if you're telling a good story,you must never spoil it with a truth”
― Giles Kristian, Wings of the Storm

“A young man will kill without thought and rejoice the slaughter. But time usually muffles the flame in the heart, so it's likely that the older men will put his blade in the sheets, for he sees in adversary his own son, or even his possible brother in law.”
― Giles Kristian, Blood Eye

“a strong arm kills but a cunning mind keeps you alive”
― Giles Kristian

“A fox will kill every chicken in the coop just because it can do it. However, a wolf takes only one lamb, and the rest of the sheeps start to fear him”
― Giles Kristian, Odin's Wolves

“The truce is broken?" Clearly this was worrying news, but all I could think about was that wine, and how I wanted to taste it again.”
― Giles Kristian

“The dark warrior jumped high into the air, his knees almost striking his chest, then landed in a crouch and leapt back up spinning around, his sword slicing the air. And I wondered how it was possible for him to move like that in mail...

Beynor just stood there, rooted to the ground like an ash. "Heimdall's hairy ballsack," he said, "he's a giant flea!”
― Giles Kristian, Odin's Wolves

“Even war gods fear their wives, then, Sigurd reflected sourly. 'She is already warping my ear for taking three sons into the same fight,' Harald went on. 'If I took you too she would make what you did to Olaf look like a kiss on the cheek.' He frowned. 'Look now! Her eyes are into us like cat's claws.”
― Giles Kristian, God of Vengeance

“A warrior must learn to be patient,just like he must to learn wielding a sword and a shield”
― Giles Kristian, God of Vengeance

“...a warrior with one arm can be deadlier than the one with both hands, who is happy when holding a horn of mead in one hand, and a girl in another”
― Giles Kristian, God of Vengeance

“Even the old hounds can bite.”
― Giles Kristian, God of Vengeance

“Young bloods. Always so eager to die, boy. Remember, there are plenty of ways to come across death, without going looking for it.”
― Giles Kristian, Lancelot

“Pagan or Christian a man is never happier than when he has emptied his balls and drunk his fill.”
― Giles Kristian, Blood Eye

“Does a hound care about to a fly's greeting?”
― Giles Kristian, Winter's Fire

“...isn't it often that the elders, who are at an advantage because of their experience, throw in the heart of their memories a spear of truth, which they discovered?”
― Giles Kristian, Blood Eye

“...a good laughter is a best way to worm the stomachs.”
― Giles Kristian, Winter's Fire

“Wolf is aware that he's wolf.”
― Giles Kristian, God of Vengeance

“He shrugged his big shoulders. 'If my uncle wants me to ride to the edge of the world after something that doesn't exist...' He turned his face to the sky and inhaled deeply of the chill morning air. 'It's not like I have a wife waiting for me or anywhere else to be.'

'Well, we are honoured that the courageous and indomitable Prince Gawain ap Lot of Lyonesse chose to save Britain with us, rather than drink and whore himself to death in some harbourside tavern,' Merlin said, lifting his staff as though Gawain's very presence was a gift from the Gods.”
― Giles Kristian, Lancelot