History Literature / TheWarlordChronicles

* AerithAndBob: The naming schemes are an odd mix of Romance names of various origins (Arthur, Guenevere, Lancelot, Mark), modern Welsh names (Iorwerth, Dafydd), medieval Welsh names with modern spellings (Culhwch, Derfel, Olwen), medieval Welsh names with ''latin'' spellings (Gundleus, Cuneglasus), and names that sound Welsh but don't translate to anything (Gorfyddyd). And then you add the Irish and Anglo-Saxon characters to the mix, leading to a situation where we see Merlin, Nimue, and Lavaine interact with Derfel and Cerdic.

** Gundleus, based on King Gwynllyw from the ''Vita Cadoci'', is transformed from a rash but good-natured prince who runs off with his true love and defends her from the lustful Arthur (before brefriending Arthur and fighting alongside him) into a rapist who murders his lawful wife out of amusement. Said true love is herself transformed from Saint Gwladys, a pious and kind princess, into Ladwys, a lowborn woman enjoys abusing Gundleus's servants and is as bloodthirsty as he is.
** Cadoc himself, also from the ''Vita Cadoci'' serves as a minor antagonist in ''Enemy of God.'' While the reason they meet is the same (a figure who betrayed the king having sought sanctuary with Cadoc), Cadoc is depicted not as the GoodShephard he traditionally is, but as an ass who flat out calls Arthur the grandson of Satan and, rather than granting Arthur cattle in compensation for the traitor's deeds, orders his followers to attack Arthur's forces.

* AerithAndBob: You have characters with names like Arthur, Mark, and Conrad alongside characters named Derfel, Gorfyddyd, and Culhwch.

* AdaptationalVillainy: Because this was inspired by certain Welsh hagiographies depicting Arthur, many Welsh saints and Romantic figures that were favored by the clergy get this treatment:

** The lineups for the ruling families of the British kingdoms don't necessarily follow the medieval Welsh genealogies for such kingdoms.
** The series doesn't mention Ambrosius Aurelianus and Vortigern, the immediate predecessors to Uther and Arthur as British kings/rulers according to Arthurian lore - and generally accepted to be real persons by historians, unlike them.

** Ynys Trebes is a fictional depiction of Mont Saint-Michel, serving as the capital for King Ban before it falls to the Franks.

* BoisterousBruiser: Arthur's cousin Culhwch, (who seems to be taking the part Gawain traditionally holds) is a great example. There are numerous others, ranging from Irish king Oengus Mac Airem to Derfel's first captain, Owain.

* DeathOfTheOldGods: A major theme of the series. British (ie. Celtic) paganism greatly declined when the Romans invaded and killed most of the Druids. Roman rule also brought Christianity and other deities to Britain, which are becoming increasingly influential. Then there's the Anglo-Saxons, who worship the Germanic-Norse pantheon. Merlin and Nimue are dedicated to brining back the influence of the old British gods and destroying all foreign religion in Britain.

** Tewdric, Meurig, Aelle, Cerdic, Claudas and possibly Cuneglas (there is a historical king named Cuneglas, but he was from Rhos, not Powys, and his father was Owain Ddantgwyn and not Gorfyddyd, who is fictional).

* NayTheist: While Arthur doesn't dispute the existence of higher powers, he believes that men are far better off taking fate into their own hands than relying on the gods. He is deliberately vague about his beliefs in public, so that both Christians and pagans can assume that he might be one of them. However, he eventually manages to piss off both factions.

* TokenMinority: Sagramor. In the original stories he was a Moor, but this more historically-accurate setting being a few centuries too early for them, Cornwell has him a Nubian who made his way to Gaul serving in the Roman army and wound up in Arthur's service. The Saxons think he's a demon and [[ScaryBlackMan he does nothing to discourage this impression.]]
** Actually, Palamedes is the famous Moorish knight from the legends: though he does have a brother named Segwarides, which sounds a bit like Sagramor. The original ''Sagramor'' has indeed come to Britain from afar, but not Africa - he's described as the son of a Hungarian king and a Greek princess.

* TortureTechnician: Nimue is a rare heroic example (for the most part).

* WeAREStrugglingTogether: The Britons sometimes seem to be their own worst enemy, with the rival kingdoms at each others throats as often as they're fighting their mutual Saxon and Irish enemies. Derfel realises that the Saxons also have this problem when a captured warrior tells him about the conflict between Cerdic and Aelle. [[spoiler:Ultimately, it could be argued that the Britons were an even bigger threat to themselves than the Saxons were. Their almost perpetual state of political infighting means that they fail to put up a united front against the Saxons for any extended period of time. Any victory they win quickly gives way to vicious factionalism once again, and this will eventually always the Saxons to take out the British kingdoms piecemeal.]]

* RatedMForManly: It's written by Creator/BernardCornwell, so yes.

A TV series adaptation of the first book, also called ''The Winter King'', was announced in 2020 for the Creator/{{ePix}} channel, just before the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic hit. The production eventually moved to Creator/{{ITV}}, filming having begun in 2022.

** Owain, the Champion of Dumnonia, is a partial example. He's set up to be an important supporting character to the protagonists after he heroically helps rescue Derfel's band of refugees from Gundleus, and afterword becomes the first warlord whom Derfel serves under. However, he's later revealed to be a complete bastard who embezzles tax funds, rapes prisoners, and slaughters an entire mining village (whose inhabitants were sworn to an allied kingdom) as part of an under-the-table deal. [[spoiler: That last one ends up costing him his life]]. While he certainly doesn't lack for courage or battle-prowess, he's hardly the champion he's introduced as.

* VillainousValor: Mordred, who fights with a "brute valor" and dos not shy from battle. Notably, he does not allow his men to interfere in his FinalBattle with Arthur.

A TV series adaptation of the first book, also called ''The Winter King'', was announced in 2020 for the Creator/{{ePix}} channel.

** The pagans occasionally perform human sacrifices. [[spoiler:Merlin and Nimue take it UpToEleven in ''Excalibur'' by trying to sacrifice Arthur's son, much to the latter's anger.]]

* BigBad: Gundleus is set up as this in ''The Winter King'', and he remains so to Derfel and Nimue personally until its end, but he's eclipsed as a threat to Arthur's cause long before then. [[spoiler:Lancelot]] serves as the final villain of ''Enemy of God'', but gets taken out a ways into ''Excalibur''. The final novel begins with a BigBadDuumvirate of Aelle and Cerdic, and ends with a looser one between Mordred and [[Nimue.]]

** This extends to the names of characters with no real equivalent in later works. Arthur's sons are called "Amhar" and Loholt" - "Amhar" is a 12th century form of the Welsh name "Amr" who appears in the 9th century ''Literature/HistoriaBrittonum'', while "Loholt" comes from 12th and 13th century French works like ''Érec et Énide'' and ''Perlesvaus''. "Culhwch", Arthur's kinsman from the older Welsh tale ''Culhwch and Olwen'' collected in the ''Literature/{{Mabinogion}}'', rubs shoulders with people like "Lancelot" and "Sagramor," whose names come from much later French works.

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Amhar and Loholt. Also, Dinas and Lavaine.

* ParentalFavouritism: Of all his sons, [[spoiler: Aelle seems to like Derfel the best.]]

* RapeAsDrama: Gundleus does this to Nimue, ripping out an eye in the process. Strangely enough, though, she seems more happy that she's received two of her three 'Wounds of Wisdom' than anything else, though she was in shock at the time. She consequently spent the years up to Lugg Vale angling for revenge against Gundleus. [[ColdBloodedTorture She gets it.]] As Derfel flatly remarks to Arthur at the start of ''Enemy of God'', all of Britain probably heard him screaming.

** TruthInTelevision: there have been upper-class graves discovered in Britain with people of African descent in them - Roman Britain was a truly cosmopolitan place.

* TragicKeepsake: Derfel keeps [[spoiler: a lock of his middle daughter's hair after she is brutally murdered]]. He eventually burns it, in keeping with the traditions of his people, but only after [[spoiler: he has avenged her death]].

** [[spoiler: Diwrnach. It's implied early on that he and Arthur will clash as Arthur makes a oath to Guinevere's father to take back his lost kingdom. He also serves as the ArcVillain for the first part of ''Enemy of God''. His ultimate defeat and death by Arthur is then glossed over in ''Excalibur''.

** Merlin requires a virgin to help him find the the Cauldron of Clyddno Eiddin. [[spoiler: Ceinwyn to delay consummating her relationship with Derfel in order to help him find it.]]

** Merlin and Nimue sacrifice Gawain to the gods in their ritual at Mai Dun (and attempt to sacrifice Gwydre.)

* DoingInTheWizard: An in-text example. Derfel tells things as they happened, between being privy to aspects of the story that didn't make it into the popular narrative and just by having been present at the events. As a result, he repeatedly disproves Queen Igraine's stories about Arthur, which mostly came from minstrels. For example, Igraine heard from a song that the Warriors of the Cauldron were surrounded on a remote hill and magically flew to safety. Derfel informs her that in fact they walked off through the fog. Igraine accuses him of having "old man's memory," and it is repeatedly hinted that Igraine is having his manuscript rewritten at the palace in order to accommodate her own ideas ([[FridgeBrilliance and, given that this version of events obviously didn't survive to our era, that was probably the case]]).

* DownerEnding: Not much of a spoiler if you're familiar with the historical context and/or Arthurian lore, but... [[spoiler: Arthur is seriously (perhaps fatally) wounded and departs from Britain permanently, a weakling assumes the throne of Dumnonia, the Saxons will eventually push the Britons back into the western mountains, and Derfel will live out the rest of his days as a miserable monk under the thumb of Sansum before eventually dying to buy Sansum time to escape - on the other hand, Derfel does seem to consider this a happy ending.]]

** Owain, the Champion of Dumnonia, is a partial example. He's set up to be an important supporting character to the protagonists after he heroically helps rescue Derfel's band of refugees from Gundleus, and afterword becomes the first warlord whom Derfel serves under. However, he's later revealed to be a complete bastard who embezzles tax funds, rapes prisoners, and slaughters an entire mining village (whose inhabitants were sworn to an allied kingdom) as part of an under the table deal. [[spoiler: That last one ends up costing him his life]]. While he certainly doesn't lack for courage or battle-prowess, he's hardly the champion he's introduced as.

** Derfel is arguably too complicit with Merlin and Nimeu's machinations (which is understandable, given that he grew up with them), and it eventually comes back to haunt him in ''Excalibur''.

* FourStarBadass: Arthur, Sagramor, and later on, Derfel.
** Also Aelle.

* HeroicBastard: Arthur, Derfel, Galahad (although the latter is Lancelot's illegitimate half-brother in this work rather than his illegitimate son).

* HeterosexualLifePartners: Derfel and Galahad share "everything except women". Galahad even becomes the lone Christian on the quest for a pagan artifact simply because he wants to help his friend.

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Lancelot isn't historical, but he's unusually portrayed as a complete bastard.

* IJustWantToBeNormal: Arthur's fondest wish. Probably the reason why he gives in to {{lawful stupid}}ity. (See below.)

* LaserGuidedKarma: Gundleus rapes Nimue and tears out one of her eyes while attempting to claim the throne of High King for himself. At the end of the book, after having backstabbed his way through every second chance he got, he falls into Nimue's hands, and she is very intent on [[PayEvilUntoEvil paying evil unto evil]]. Cue ColdBloodedTorture. It isn't outright stated what she did to him, but the next book starts shortly after, with Derfel noting that "all of Britain" must have heard Gundleus' screaming.

* ManipulativeBastard: Merlin. He plays Derfel (and everyone short of Cerdic) like a violin. As his point on the Chessmaster page shows, he could quite conceivably have ruled Britain from behind the scenes if he so chose.

* BadassMoustache: Cuneglas boasts a particularly epic one.

* NotSoDifferent: It can be easy to see Merlin and Sansum this way. Both are [[TheFundamentalist fundamentalists]] who reject Arthur's vision of a just and tolerant society, both actively work to create a Britain that is devoid of anyone who doesn't follow their religion, and operate through guile and manipulation. Merlin just has way more charisma, and the luxury of a sympathetic narrator.
** A closer comparison would be Sansum and Nimue, for the simple fact that Merlin learned to compromise, whereas Nimue only ever cared about communing with the gods.

''The Warlord Chronicles'' (also known as ''the Warlord Trilogy'', ''the Excalibur Trilogy'', etc.) are a series of books by Creator/BernardCornwell that retell the [[KingArthur Arthurian legends]] in a fashion that is much closer to being historically accurate than the traditional legends, although many of the additions that were added to the original Celtic legends (such as Myth/{{Merlin}} and Lancelot) are still present and used in interesting ways. The series deals with war, religion and politics in post-Roman Britain in an unflinching way.

* HeterosexualLifePartners: Derfel and Galahad share "everything except women." Galahad even becomes the lone Christian on the quest for a pagan artifact simply because he wants to help his friend.

* AscendedExtra: The series is notable for focusing on lesser known characters, such as Derfel and Sagramor, instead of more famous characters such as Gawain, Kay and Bedivere. In fact, most of the individual Knights of the Round Table are barely mentioned at all while Derfel, Sagramor, and Culhwch effectively act as Arthur's PowerTrio.

* DemotedToExtra: Gawain, Kay, and Bedivere barely appear [[spoiler:and are killed off quickly]]. Rather unusual for [[{{Demythification}} "historical"]] Arthurian retellings, since in the earliest version of the legends the last two formed a PowerTrio with Arthur, while Gawain was Arthur's best warrior before Lancelot was introduced. Derfel takes on their usual roles somewhat, and at the end he is the [[SoleSurvivor only surviving]] warrior of Arthur [[spoiler: who throws Excalibur into the sea after the last battle]].

The Warlord Chronicles (also known as the Warlord Trilogy, the Excalibur Trilogy, etc.) are a series of books by Creator/BernardCornwell that retell the [[KingArthur Arthurian legends]] in a fashion that is much closer to being historically accurate than the traditional legends, although many of the additions that were added to the original Celtic legends (such as Myth/{{Merlin}} and Lancelot) are still present and used in interesting ways. The series deals with war, religion and politics in post-Roman Britain in an unflinching way, even when it comes down to the brutality and injustice of the period.

** This extends to the names of characters with no real equivalent in later works. Arthur's sons are called "Amhar" and Loholt" - "Amhar" is a 12th century form of the Welsh name "Amr" who appears in the 9th century ''Literature/HistoriaBrittonum'', while "Loholt" comes from 12th and 13th century French works like ''Érec et Énide'' and ''Perlesvaus''. "Culhwch", Arthur's kinsman from the older Welsh tale ''Culhwch and Olwen'' collected in ''Literature/TheMabinogion'', rubs shoulders with people like "Lancelot" and "Sagramor," whose names come from much later French works.

* CoolSword: Excalibur, of course. Also known as Caledfwlch, the Sword of Rhydderch. It’s one of the Thirteen Treasures of Britain.

* {{Deconstruction}}: The whole series is a massive deconstruction of the Arthurian mythos. You can begin by saying that [[{{Demythification}} there's no anachronistic chivalry, jousting, plate armour,]] that the setting is TheDungAges with all its appropriate ignorance, superstition and brutality, and that would ''still'' just be the start of the deconstructions.

* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler: Agricola's]] death at the battle of Mynydd Baddon literally merits all of five words. While not a main character, he was still a major supporting player in the story thus far, so it really feels like he got the short end of the stick there.

* TheDungAges: Gone are the High Medieval trappings that are usually associated with Arthurian lore; Cornwell portrays the brutal reality of Dark Age Britain.

* EndOfAnAge: Roman civilization is still very much alive in some areas of Britain and Brittany, but it is steadily and rapidly giving way to TheDarkAges. One of the major themes of the series is Arthur's desperate, but ultimately futile attempts to save civilization from sliding into ruin.

* Myth/{{Merlin}}: One of the most memorable depictions. Ever.

* MysteryCult: The men-only cult of Mithras is accurately portrayed as a very secretive religion. Initiates must go through trials and ordeals in order to become full-fledged members, and adherents are not allowed to divulge any details about the cult to non-members. This doesn't stop Merlin from knowing all about it, of course.
** Guinevere’s women-only cult of Isis also has shades of this trope.

* [[RealMenLoveJesus Real Men Love Mithras]]: The cult of Mithras is portrayed as a soldiers' religion, with no women being allowed to join. Only warriors who are highly respected are allowed into its ranks. It's not quite as secretive as Derfel thinks, though, as Merlin can recite the opening initiation.

* TokenEnemyMinority: Given how most Christians are depicted in the stories, Galahad (and, to a lesser extent, Tewdric, Emrys, and Bedwin) could be said to function as one of these.
** And eventually Derfel himself, of course. [[spoiler: Not exactly by choice, though.]]
*** This is a distinct theme in Cornwell's writing. When the main protagonists aren't pagans (Derfel and Uhtred) they tend to be fairly irreligious (Sharpe, Starbuck), and they all have run-ins with nasty priests. Considering Cornwell's DarkAndTroubledPast, this is not surprising. However most of them have devout Christian best friends, e.g. Galahad, Fathers Willibald, Beocca and Pyrlig and of course Sergeant Harper.
*** Derfel is actually one since the beginning, being a Saxon in Arthur's army.

* NudeNatureDance: Olwen the Silver does this.

* RunawayFiance: Happens twice, and each time both parts of the couple are supposed to marry someone else. [[spoiler: In Arthur and Guinevere's case, it starts a war. Derfel deciding he wants Ceinwyn starts the downfall of Camelot. Despite these results, both couples end things reasonably happy.]]

** Derfel heavily resembles [[spoiler: Aelle, save for the blond hair, with Merlin having figured out the relation long ago because of this - he remarks at one point, after Derfel had charged into battle, enraged, that all he needed was the trademark bear skin cloak to ''be'' Aelle.]]

*** This is a distinct theme in Cornwell's writing. When the main protagonists aren't pagans (Derfel and Uhtred) they tend to be fairly irreligious and run across nasty priests (Sharpe, Starbuck). Considering Cornwell's DarkAndTroubledPast, this is less than surprising. However most of them have devout Christian best friends, e.g. Galahad, Fathers Willibald, Beocca and Pyrlig and of course Sergeant Harper.