Sword of Kings characters

Appears from the start

Uhtred of Bebbanburg, the aging pagan lord of the great northern fortress, master of the sword Serpent-Breath. He has outlived almost every king he served and wants only to stay out of the south's quarrels - but an old oath binds him to Aethelstan, the prince he raised, and King Edward is dying.

Appears from the start

The Irish swordsman who has fought at Uhtred's side for forty years, his second-in-command and closest friend. When Uhtred sails south with only a handful of men, Finan is of course among them.

Appears from the start

King Edward's eldest son, the prince Uhtred raised and trained for kingship. Half the court calls him a bastard to bar him from the throne; his enemies would rather he not outlive his father. He commands in Mercia while the succession sharpens toward open war.

Appears from the start

King of Wessex, Mercia, and East Anglia, Alfred's son, now dying by slow degrees. His failure to settle the succession plainly between his sons leaves the greatest realm in Britain a prize to be fought over the moment he stops breathing.

Appears from the start

Edward's son by his second marriage, half-brother and rival to Aethelstan, recognized by much of Wessex as the heir. Vicious and unimpressive in himself, he matters because of the man behind him: his uncle Aethelhelm, whose wealth and faction mean to put him on the throne.

Also known as Aethelhelm

Appears from the start

The richest ealdorman in Wessex, son of the elder Aethelhelm who died in Bebbanburg's fall - a death he lays at Uhtred's feet. Uncle to the heir Aelfweard, he means to rule through his nephew once Edward dies, and his hatred of Uhtred and Aethelstan is both political and personal.

Appears from the start

Aethelhelm's champion: a huge, brutal West Saxon warrior, as cruel as he is strong, sent to hunt Uhtred. He is the rare enemy who frightens even hardened men, and his path and Uhtred's cross more than once before the end.

Appears from the start

Edward's young queen, mother of his infant son Edmund. With her husband dying and Aethelhelm's faction treating her and her children as obstacles, she flees the court and looks to Uhtred - her family's old ally - for protection.

Appears from the start

An Italian-born attendant in Queen Eadgifu's service, taken by slavers as a child and carried to Britain long ago. Striking, sharp-tongued, and unbowed by a hard life, she proves brave and clear-headed when the queen's flight turns dangerous.