The Warlord Chronicles or The Warlord Trilogy is a series of three novels about Arthurian Britain written by Bernard Cornwell. The story is written as a mixture of historical fiction and Arthurian legend. The books were originally published between 1995 and 1997 by Penguin and Michael Joseph in the United Kingdom and by St. Martin's Press in the United States, in hardcover and paperback editions, each with different ISBNs. It is currently being adapted for television as The Winter King. Books in the trilogy The Winter King (1995) Enemy of God (1996) Excalibur (1997) Treatment of legend and history The story is written as if it took place in Dark Age Britain as described in the original Welsh legends, with appropriate types of technology, culture, warfare, and attitudes. Cornwell also weaves later additions such as Merlin and Lancelot into the plot. Like other "historical" takes on the Arthurian legends, the series postulates that Post-Roman Britain was a difficult time for the native Britons, being threatened by invasion from the Anglo-Saxons in the East and raids from the Irish in the West. At the same time, they suffered internal power struggles between their petty kingdoms. Like Marion Zimmer Bradley in her novel The Mists of Avalon, Cornwell also presumes friction occurred between the old Druidic religion and Christianity. The protagonist of the series is Derfel Cadarn (pronounced Derv-el), based on the part-legendary Saint Derfel and on Bedivere. Cornwell's Derfel is a Saxon brought up as a Briton by Merlin, the greatest of all Druids. In the course of the story, he becomes a great warrior and one of Arthur's warlords in his war against the Saxons. Derfel is one of Arthur's closest advisers and friends, is one-handed, and casts Excalibur into the sea after the Battle of Camlann. Merlin, meanwhile, concerns himself with trying to restore the old gods of Britain. Other characters from the Arthurian mythos are given significant twists. For example, Lancelot, always portrayed as the most virtuous and the mightiest of Arthur's knights, here is depicted as an arrogant, cowardly, and self-serving petty prince, whose legendary feats and martial prowess are crafted through the songs of the bards and a fictional reputation that he himself carefully cultivates. Sagramor is a Hungarian prince in the Lancelot-Grail Cycle, but is depicted here as a Numidian veteran of the old Roman Army who joined Arthur's service after the collapse of the