50 pages • 1 hour read
Bernard CornwellThe Winter King
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1995A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Derfel Cadarn
Derfel Cadarn is the protagonist and narrator of the novel. In the frame narrative, he is a Christian monk living a quiet monastic life, but he recollects a time, many years ago, when he was one of Arthur’s best warriors. A Saxon raised among the Britons, Derfel is captured in a raiding party as a baby and miraculously spared from a sacrificial burning pit. This early event informs the rest of his life, as though the gods deliberately spared him to fulfill a greater purpose. Merlin is the first to recognize his potential, and he raises him on his lands and wants to make him a Druid priest, but from a young age Derfel insists that he wants to be a warrior. When circumstances allow him to fulfill his wish and become a soldier in Arthur’s army, he feels no conflict between his Saxon heritage and his duty, as “I had been raised among the Britons and my friends, loves, daily speech, stories, enmities and dreams were all British” (23). Derfel identifies himself in terms of his trusted companions rather than his bloodline. Therefore, when he meets Arthur, the seeming embodiment of the warrior prince, he eagerly takes up the chance to fight in Arthur’s service.
The novel centers around Derfel’s growth, but it is primarily his growth as a warrior. He gains experience in battle, enjoys the perks of plunder, and ultimately wins himself entry into the prestigious cult of Mithras, where soldiers on all sides of the battle lines join together to celebrate the virtues of courage, obedience, and fellowship that unite them. Derfel’s most noteworthy trait is his willingness to endanger himself on behalf of his friends, and this behavior rewards him in unexpected ways. As Ynys Trebes is falling to the Franks, he resolves to rescue the king, and in doing so rescues Merlin, his cat, and the only known record of the Druid religion. Before the climactic confrontation with Powys, he rescues Nimue from the Isle of the Dead, thereby winning the favor of Guinevere, who seeks Nimue as an ally against the Christians. However, as the narrator, Derfel is not particularly introspective, much more focused on the world around him than his own interior life. He is loyal and capable enough to earn access to the decisive moments of the plot, and the confidence of characters confessing their own motivations.
Arthur
If Derfel is the protagonist and storyteller, then Arthur is the hero, the person around whom the action of the novel revolves. In many variations of Arthurian legend, Arthur is destined for greatness, most famously in the story of the sword of the stone, whereby by pulling Excalibur out of a giant stone, the child Arthur proves beyond all doubt his rightful claim to the throne. In The Winter King, Arthur is the illegitimate son of High King Uther (as he is in many legends), and he begins the story in exile, a man whispered about as both hero and failure, having led a decisive victory in a battle that still claimed the life of the Crown Prince. When he appears on the scene, rescuing the survivors of Ynys Wydryn from Gundleus’s army, Derfel writes that “he appeared as a white, shining God come to earth” who dismounts from his warhorse and removes his armor to show kindness and gentility to the baby Mordred (116).
This contrast between his overpowering strength and kindly manner is at the heart of his personality, and it makes him both uniquely appealing and uniquely dangerous. Arthur is genuinely committed to establishing a just and peaceful order in Britain, to safeguard its people against both Saxon invaders as well as dangers closer to home. Yet he also recognizes that peace rests on a foundation of strength and that he must fight battles “on behalf of those who can’t fight for themselves” (165). Arthur may be the person most likely to hold power on Mordred’s behalf until he comes of age, but he faces at least two major obstacles. The first is the various actors who prize their own good over that of the kingdom, from Owain’s petty scheming to Gorfyddyd’s attempt to divide Britain even as the Saxons make further incursions. The second problem is Arthur’s belief in his own cause and reasonableness, which prevents him from seeing the consequences of his actions. He assumes that his impulsive marriage to Guinevere will not lead to war, as Powys could never be so foolish as to attack while the Saxons mass. He hands over a British fort to the Saxons, hoping that ultimate victory will give him the strength to repel them. None of this changes Arthur’s status as the best person to rule, but it does signal that his entirely sincere desire for peace carries with it the vast potential for tragedy.
Merlin
Merlin does not make an appearance until the second half of the book, but even when his whereabouts are unknown, and rumors of his death run wild, Merlin casts an enormous shadow over the narrative. He is the most prominent of the few remaining Druids, followers of the ancient pagan religion that thrived in Britain before the coming of the Romans four centuries earlier. A wealthy landowner, he has used his domain of Ynys Wydryn to assemble “children who had been snatched from the Gods […] who could help him re-establish the old true religion in Rome-blighted Britain” (19). However, his interests are so far-reaching that he fails to invest sufficient time or energy in any of his various projects, well represented by his chambers, which have collected a large and impressive array of dusty relics. For much of the book, Merlin’s ambitions (and sometimes his voice) are represented by Nimue (the name associated in Arthurian legend with the Lady of the Lake), who explains to Derfel Merlin’s quest to restore the old gods. He is known far and wide as an exceptionally wise man, but given his extensive absence, many begin to wonder if he is still alive, and his power and influence are beginning to wane.
Merlin’s reappearance is a complete surprise, with Derfel rescuing him entirely by accident upon discovering that he disguised himself as an old Christian priest studying in the Ynys Trebes library. He is quick-witted and acerbic, switching between long tirades about his studies to barbs at Derfel’s expense. As Derfel describes him: “when he looked at you it seemed like he could read the secret part of your heart and, worse still, find it amusing” (287-88). In his wide-ranging travels, he has managed to find one of the only surviving documents of ancient Druid rituals, the most useful asset yet in his quest to revive the old ways. Shortly after arriving in Britain, he disappears swiftly and reappears just as swiftly, rescuing Arthur from the wrath of King Gorfyddyd, whom he insults without fear of retribution. Merlin’s character is also the most closely linked to the mythical elements of the Arthurian legend—his quest for the Knowledge of Britain is a clear pagan parallel to the quest for the Holy Grail and will play a more central role in the action of Enemy of God and Excalibur.
Guinevere
Arthur’s great love in the legends, and in many variations also his betrayer and undoing, Guinevere has long been an archetype of beauty and grace as well as cunning and caprice. In medieval Europe, these were commonly viewed as the twin sides of femininity, with the Virgin Mary representing the former and Eve the latter. Cornwell’s rendition of the character is not so extreme in either direction, but he does operate within a similar framework. One of the first things Derfel says about Guinevere is that she was not especially beautiful. He introduces her as “a woman of strong lines and high bones, and that made for a good face and a handsome one but hard, so hard” (199). He adds that if there have been “thousands who were better […] I doubt there have been many so unforgettable as Guinevere” (199). She wins Arthur’s affections mostly by her charm and intelligence, including a razor-sharp wit not normally associated with ladylike conduct.
Given that their marriage prompts a political crisis and ultimately war, there is intense speculation as to why Arthur chose her. Just as Arthur does not consider himself a typical warlord who leverages his power for self-advancement, he chafes at the standard idea of a queen, a submissive figure responsible for bearing heirs and overseeing courtly protocol. He is also surely attracted by her absolute faith in him, or at least her “idea of him” (218), especially since Arthur sometimes struggles to see the gap between his conduct and his idealized self-representation.
Guinevere plays a relatively minor role within The Winter King, except as the inciting incident behind the main conflict. In her scenes, she is witty but shallow, filling her court with only beautiful things. She is ambitious to secure Arthur’s legacy yet limits her actions to a series of religious rituals that Arthur finds harmless and a bit amusing. Guinevere will emerge as a much more central figure in the latter books, but in the meantime Aileann, the spurned mother of Arthur’s twin sons, issues a powerful warning. When Derfel pays her a courtesy visit, she says that Guinevere reminds her of Arthur’s mother, “very striking and very strong” (385), and that the harder Arthur tries to please her, the more Guinevere will come to value herself as a part of Arthur’s political project.
