How we cite our quotes: Chapter, Paragraph
Quote #1
My master Otto had said this was why the Crusade was required, not merely to free Jerusalem from the Saladin's armies, but to send fighting men far from the marketplace. (7.14)
War always has a bigger effect on society than just what happens on the battleground. In this case, it gets angry brawlers away from the market, too.
Quote #2
"The fighting is already underway!" said Hubert. "Christians and Mussulmen have begun fighting in the Holy Land!"
I was bitter with disappointment at this news. I was gathering up the leather feed bags, the horses having eaten, and placing the bags in a leather-hinged trunk.
"The Christian knights are laying siege to the great castle-town of Acre," said Hubert. "But King Richard is not yet there." (15.22-24)
Sounds strange, but Sir Nigel and his band of Crusaders would be disappointed to get all the way to the Holy Land and not be able to fight. After all this prep work, it would be kind of a letdown. It's also a bit of a letdown that a war might end before the king even shows up.
Quote #3
The army loved these games, especially the squires and the yeomen foot soldiers, but as the hour of battle approached our laughter seemed too loud, our smiles too bright. (23.2)
These games are kind of like warm-ups before a sporting event—they get the soldiers' feet and reflexes moving and put them all in the zone. But the effect is kind of eerie. These guys are getting revved up to kill each other, as well as maybe be killed themselves.
Quote #4
I reassured myself—this was a battle, and I was still very much alive. More than alive—every color was bright. Hubert was alive, too, breathing hard although he was standing still. The enemy fortifications were dark with men, and a few sling stones patterned on the ground, testing the range, smacking the leather armor protecting the men driving the engine forward. There was a teasing, dreamlike quality about both the Christians and the defenders. (23.40)
There's nothing like the possibility of death to make you feel alive. Edmund experiences being super aware of his physical body, which is still pulsing with life. Around him men are dying right and left, but since he's still unharmed, the horror of his surroundings kind of seems like a dream sequence. Since he's alive and unhurt, the killing and dying seems surreal. He's not a part of it.
Quote #5
The ladder was thick with fighting men, shaking their weapons and cursing the defenders, who could not pull the ladder free from the wall. It all looked laughable. In a sickening way, a market-day brawl among neighbors. (24.6)
Edmund compares the battle to something that he's used to seeing—a fight in the marketplace. It makes sense that his mind connects the bodies pushing and shoving to something he can more easily relate to. After all, war must be hard to make sense of when you're in the thick of it.
Quote #6
All that long day Genoan ships battled through the Saracen attackers, and one by one the Christian ships rode anchor, just beyond the surf. One of the Genoan vessels caught fire, and the reflection of the flames was beautiful, a carpet of gold on the dark water as the sun began to set. (26.33)
Since the battle is at sea, Edmund isn't experiencing it with any of his senses but sight. And since it's so far away, it's reduced to color and light. It's amazing how distance can change somebody's perspective. Things always look less serious from far away, and here the war is almost like a painting.
Quote #7
I stood on something pillow soft, and looked down to see a bright blue blouse, and a beard and earring, gleaming teeth. Before I could see if the man was alive, wounded, or stunned, the army surged forward. I told myself I did not hear a dozen feet crushing the blue blouse into the earth. (29.6)
Here's another aspect of battle: You don't have time to think. There's not time to study the dead or dying at your feet. Before he knows it, Edmund is being rushed forward by the crowd, pushed away from the man he stepped on before he can see if he's alive.
Quote #8
I assured myself that I was too weary to have any feelings, and if I let myself picture a trampled body, a splash of blood, I pushed the image from my mind—perhaps because I sensed I would see worse. (30.44)
Participating in a war really calls for some serious mind over matter. While he's falling asleep, Edmund has to make a conscious effort to not think about all the horrible things he's seen. He's also being realistic. Yep, he's seen some awful stuff, but he knows he has more to see before it's all over.
Quote #9
I kept Hubert from seeing it, held his face away from the sight, although the sloppy crunch of blade and ax, and the smell of blood and fresh-torn bowels, could not be ignored. Or the cries of Christians calling out saint's names, Saint George who slew the winged serpent and the giant Saint Christopher who carried Our Lord across a wide river. A sword makes a butcher-shop whine across the bones and sinews of a neck. (33.21)
This might be the most shocking image of war in the book. King Richard's slaughter of the prisoners from Acre rattles every Crusader, knight and squire alike. Hubert can't even watch. There's something extra violent about killing unarmed, defenseless people. It's not even a battle—it's just killing.
Quote #10
Wearing chain mail and wool is like being a much stouter, slower moving man, each crook of the arm causing the mail to pinch, or to ripple with a subtle, metallic slither. With this addition of weight came an emotional solidity, too, a sense of being committed to the strength of one's horse and the skill of the mailsmith. (37.11)
Just one more added discomfort of fighting in a war: Edmund is weighed down by all of his armor. But he says that this has a kind of emotional weight, too. When he puts on his armor, he becomes one with the garb that will protect him in war.