Dear Mr. Cornwell, I love your books! So far I've read the Grail Quest, the Warlord Chronicles, Stonehenge, Sharpe's Tiger and I'm now reading Sharpe's Triumph. The Warlord Chronicles are by far my favorites and they have sparked an interest in Arthurian legend and the history of Celtic and Dark Age Britain in me and I thank you for writing such great books. I have a few questions about the Warlord Chronicles and also some about the Sharpe books.
1)What is the sign to avert evil and did the ancient/early Britons do it, touch iron, or spit to avert bad luck like in the books or did you make these up?
2) In the Historical Note at the end of the Winter King you wrote that you used Cadbury Castle as the setting for Camelot but did not think it to be the most likely location, what do you think is the most likely location?
3) How is "Hywelbane" pronounced? (I'm sure it's not the way I have been pronouncing it).
4) I have read that there was a St. Derfel Gadarn and I was wondering why you spelled it Cadarn in your books if the real man was called Gadarn?
5) Why does Derfel call himself (before he converts of course) a pagan? I may be wrong but I thought the word pagan was a derogatory term used by the Christians to mean any non-Christian person and I didn't think the real pagans would have called themselves that, please clear this up for me.
6) Do you plan to write any more books set in Dark Age or in Celtic Britain?
Now some Sharpe questions.
1) I'm confused about the order of the ranks in the British army and was wondering if you could tell me what they are from lowest to highest?
Do you know yet (or will you tell yet?) where and in what year your next Sharpe book will take place?
I apologize for asking you so many questions and I hope you don't mind. Thanks for taking the time out of what must be a very busy schedule to answer these. I can't wait to read the rest of the Sharpe books and The Last Kingdom and I thank you for the many hours of reading enjoyment your books have given me. P.S. Any chance of you coming to Washington D.C. or Virginia anytime soon?Thanks again. James
1) The sign seems to have been the horns (i.e. extending your index and little finger), but it's hard to be sure - but there are references to this, and to the spitting and touching iron, in various books that deal with folkways and superstitions - a good summary can be found in the Oxford Dictionary of Superstitions.
2) What I said was that I chose South Cadbury 'not because I think it the likeliest site (though I do not think it the least likely)' which is a bit convoluted, but accurate. I think South Cadbury is very likely, but so are a half dozen other hill fort sites in south-western England, and it would be almost impossible to choose between them.
3) So far as I know - Hugh-ell-bane.
4) My sources have Cadarn, yours have Gadarn, let's sort the whole thing out.
5) Derfel calls himself a pagan because he's writing late in life when he's a Christian, and anyway, lots of pagans probably assumed the label proudly, especially as it only meant 'country-dweller', so isn't a terrible insult.
6) I don't think I'll set any more books in the dark ages, unless you count the 9th century, which I'm busy writing right now.
Private (trooper in the cavalry), corporal (no lance-corporal in the Napoleonic army), sergeant (various types of sergeant, but this reply can't go on forever!). Those are the non-commissioned officers. The commissioned officers were: ensign, lieutenant, captain, major, lieutenant-colonel, colonel, brigadier general, lieutenant general, general, field-marshal.
Yes, and I'm not telling. Sorry.
I may be in Washington D.C. in the early part of next year for the American release of The Last Kingdom. Keep an eye on the Diary page as details will be posted there as soon as we receive them.