Aelle[]
Aelle is the leader of the Angle forces in Britain for the majority of the Warlord Chronicles. He has many bastards but only six recognised sons:
Across the books he climbs to power, both helping and hindering Arthur's cause as well as other British Kings. Aelle is a pagan and follows a pantheon of germanic deities. His goals are to take land and claim power, both over the germanic peoples of Britain and over the celtic peoples who inhabit land under his control. Additionally, he attempts to play kingmaker at different points in the story - primarily through attacking those he is paid to.
He is a tall and broad man, with a flat hard face. His eyes are dark and his beard is black. His cheeks are scarred from battle and he is missing two fingers on his right hand. His teeth are rotting and his demeanour is described as terrifying. Whilst he wears an iron helmet with horns for battle, his trademark attire is an enormous black bear pelt which both insulates and protects him.
Whilst his nature is described as brutal and savage, over time we learn he is a jovial, emotional man who struggles to handle the expectations and demands of his people. He is shown to be a cunning, sage leader who understands his enemies well and exploits their weaknesses. He is superstitious and shows a visible worry over Merlin's power.
The Winter King[]
Aelle is first mentioned at the High King Uther's council in 480 AD by Agricola:
"Agricola also warned us about a new Saxon leader named Aelle who was struggling for ascendancy among the Sais. That was the first time I ever heard Aelle’s name and only the Gods then knew how it would come to haunt us down the years." - The Winter King, Page 73.
He is mentioned as a new Saxon leader, but we later learn he had fought Uther before around 465 - having lost his lover Erce to him during a raid.
" 'I was heavy with him,’ she said, ‘when Uther captured me. A big man, Uther, with a great dragon on his shield.’ " -Enemy of God, Page 224.
Aelle helps Gorfyddyd invade Gwent in 481 AD but is routed by a combined force of Dumnonians and Gwent under Arthur. This is presumably done via a bribe of food, gold or the promise of plunder as both were fighting each other the year previously.
" He had not only driven Aelle’s Saxons out of northern Gwent, but had then defeated the forces of Powys and in the process had chopped off King Gorfyddyd’s shield arm. " - The Winter King, Page 156
In the spring of 482 Aelle raids both Dumnonia, their vassal state of the Belgic lands and Gwent. His forces are routed by Prince Gereint of the Stones, a Dumnonian chief and Sagramor, a captain of Arthur's warband in Dumnonia whilst King Tewdric sees off the Angle raiders.
" King Melwas defended the southern border from his capital at Venta while Prince Gereint’s war-bands sallied out of Durocobrivis to oppose the Saxon levies of the dreaded King Aelle. Gereint had the harder time of it and Arthur reinforced him by sending him Sagramor with thirty horsemen, and Sagramor’s intervention tipped the balance in our favour. " The Winter King, Page 92.
" Tewdric tried to stay aloof from it all, but when Aelle’s Saxons savaged Tewdric’s frontier the only friends he could call on for help were Dumnonians ..." The Winter King, Page 222
Two years later in 484 AD, Aelle attacks Prince Gereint's lands around Durocobrivis. The following year the town is taken along with a swathe of land. Presumably the town is recaptured because at Lughansa's eve in 486 AD, Aelle broke the Dumnonian bought truce and massacred the inhabitants of Durocobrivis. This completed his conquest of the remnant British Kingdom of Stronggore.
" but while he was there Aelle’s Saxons launched a mighty attack on Gereint’s lands. Gorfyddyd, we later learned, had paid the Saxons... " The Winter King, Page 228.
" 'He captured all the land between Durocobrivis and Corinium,’ Bedwin told me, ‘and he probably would have captured both those fortresses if we hadn’t purchased peace with the last of our gold.' - Bishop Bedwin. " The Winter King, Page 297.
" Aelle had broken the truce. On Lughnasa’s Eve a swarm of Saxons had attacked Gereint’s fortress and overrun its walls. Prince Gereint was dead, Durocobrivis had fallen, and Dumnonia’s client Prince Meriadoc of Stronggore was a fugitive and the last remnants of his kingdom had become a part of Lloegyr. " - The Winter KIng, Page 340.
By 486 AD, Aelle is using the title Bretwalda 'Ruler of Britain'. This is likely to show how dominant position over the Angles, Saxons and important role in geopolitics with the British kingdoms. When Arthur seeks an audience to buy a second truce, Aelle purposefully chooses to meet him at Stonehenge with a large force - displaying his power.
" 'Things are really not much different from when you left, except that Aelle grows stronger, so strong that he even dares call himself the Bretwalda now.' - Bishop Bedwin. " - The Winter King, Page 297.
At the end of the book, Aelle is in a strong position and plays the role of kingmaker. Aelle is ultimately bribed by Arthur with information that the Powysian fortress of Ratae (which has been a redoubt to Angle raids and prevented their expansion into Powysian lands) is unguarded in return for three day's truce with Dumnonia. Despite reservations, he honours this truce and sacks the town of Ratae - ultimately helping Arthur to succeed at the battle of Lugg Vale.
" ...and finally, in the afternoon, the Saxons accepted the offer of Ratae and Arthur’s gold. It was maybe the greatest hoard of gold ever paid from a Briton to a Saxon, but Aelle also insisted on taking two hostages... " - The Winter King, Page 367.
Enemy of God
In 487 AD, the united forces of Dumnonia, Gwent and Powys march against Aelle. They defeat him and his army near London in a brief battle and his position is weakened. However, due to the actions of Lancelot, he is allowed to keep much of his territory and power.
" We sang the Battle Song of Beli Mawr, we washed our spears in blood, we vowed ourselves to the death of every Saxon and next day we marched. " - Enemy of God, Page 110.
" We won the battle. " - Enemy of God, Page 130.
" Aelle and Arthur met secretly on the night before they were due to negotiate with Cerdic, and that night they wrangled their own separate peace. Aelle gave up much. He gave up great swathes of land on his western frontier, and agreed to repay Arthur all the gold that Arthur had given him the year before and more gold besides. In return Arthur promised four whole years of peace and his support for Aelle if Cerdic would not agree to terms the next day. " - Enemy of God, Page 139.
Aelle struggles against Cerdic for supremacy for the rest of the book until 496 AD when a truce and alliance is made.
" Aelle and Cerdic fought each other for the mastery of Lloegyr, and their bitter conflict spared the rest of Britain from their Saxon spears. " - Enemy of God, Page 167.
" The two Saxon Kings were usually at each other’s throats, a condition we encouraged with massive bribery, but now, it seemed, they had learned the lesson that Arthur had taught the British kingdoms so well: that in unity alone lies victory. The two Saxon monarchs were joining forces to crush Dumnonia and their decision to receive no emissaries was a sign of their resolve, as well as a measure of self-protection. " - Excalibur, Page 35.
Excalibur[]
Aelle begins the book as allies with the Saxon King Cerdic. When Derfel arrives bringing messages from Arthur, Aelle reveals that his army has been restored to its enormous numbers by waves of migration from across the sea. He also reveals that he has bought peace from King Meurig of Gwent by allowing missionaries into his lands. He proposed Derfel be made king of Dumnonia as part of a wider plan to defeat Cerdic.
" The two Saxon Kings were usually at each other’s throats, a condition we encouraged with massive bribery, but now, it seemed, they had learned the lesson that Arthur had taught the British kingdoms so well: that in unity alone lies victory. The two Saxon monarchs were joining forces to crush Dumnonia and their decision to receive no emissaries was a sign of their resolve, as well as a measure of self-protection. " - Excalibur, Page 35.
" An army was there. I could not count them, so many men were gathered in that fold of land, and these men, I knew, were but a part of Aelle’s army. The Saxon warriors stood in a great crowd and when they saw their King on the skyline they burst into a huge roar of acclamation and began to beat their spear shafts against their shields so that the whole grey sky was filled with their terrible clattering. " Excalibur, Page 64.
" ‘Because,’ I said slowly, ‘King Meurig has promised you a truce so long as you let his priests come to your people?’
Aelle laughed. ‘He is a fool, that Meurig. He cares more for the souls of my people than for the safety of his land, and two priests are a small price for keeping Gwent’s thousand spearmen idle while we take Dumnonia.’ " - Excalibur, Page 66.
" ‘You,’ Aelle said, ‘and you swear loyalty to me. I shall want land from you, but you can tell Arthur to give the throne to you, and you can rule Dumnonia. My people will settle and farm the land, and you shall govern them, but as my client King. We shall make a federation, you and I. Father and son. You rule Dumnonia and I rule Aengeland.’ " - Aelle on Dumnonia's future, Excalibur, Page 68.
In 497, he leads an invasion of Dumnonia on Beltain. This culminates in the battle of Mynydd Badon where Aelle's confederated army with Cerdic is defeated by a Pan-British force of Dumnonia, Powys, Gwent (under King Tewdric) and Demetia. He is slain in personal combat by Derfel Cadarn and buried in accordance to his wishes.
" The Saxons had not waited until after their feast of Eostre, but had come at Beltain. They knew we had prepared warning beacons, but they also knew that the fires of Beltain would be lit on hilltops all across Dumnonia, and they must have guessed that we would not notice the warning beacons among the ritual fires. They had tricked us. We had feasted, we had drunk ourselves insensible, and all the while the Saxons were attacking. And Dumnonia was at war. " - Excalibur, Page 173
" Horsemen rode on the flanks, and more horsemen clustered about the two banners that marked the coming of the Saxon Kings. This was not one army, but two, the combined forces of Cerdic and Aelle, and instead of facing Arthur in the valley of the Thames they had come here, to me, and their blades were as numerous as the stars of the sky’s great belt. " Excalibur, Page 224.
" Thus began the slaughter of Mynydd Badon. The bards tell it all, and for once they do not exaggerate." Excalibur, Page 286.
" ‘I think,’ he said in my ear, ‘that you are the best of my sons. Now give me a gift. Give me a good death, Derfel, for I would like to go to the feasting hall of true warriors.’ " Aelle on his death request, Excalibur, Page 292.
" Arthur let Aelle’s men live. They laid down their spears and were distributed among the winners to be slaves. I used some of them to help dig my father’s grave. We dug it deep into that soft damp earth beside the river, and there we laid Aelle with his feet facing north and with his sword in his hand, and with the breastplate over his broken heart, his shield across his belly and the spear that had killed him alongside his corpse, and then we filled the grave and I said a prayer to Mithras while the Saxons prayed to their God of Thunder. " Excalibur, Page 296.