Alan Dobie credited as playing...
Ethelred
- Ethelred: There is the sword he gave to you. What did he leave to me? Were you destined for the holy office or was it I? Why did our father leave you his sword - and me his cross?
- Alfred: I've learned to read - in Latin. In the Abbey, there are many books. Books of ancient wisdom from Greece and Rome. What do you know of the world beyond the shores of Wessex?
- Ethelred: Since our father took you to Rome when you were five years old, you've been like this.
- Alfred: Well, perhaps it did start then. Oh, what a world that was. Great buildings made of stone, full of light and music and paintings. It would be easy there to find the grace of God. Here? We're sank in darkness and ignorance, groping for wisdom. We are like - blind men at the bottom of a pit seeking to glimpse the stars.
- Alfred: Would you prefer it more if I translated?
- Ethelred: If you wish.
- Alfred: "Who that is wise, would not mix prayers with kisses. If she resists, then take the kisses that she does not give. Brute force is force women want. They love refusing what they long to give."
- Edith: This is not the Bible as I was taught it.
- Ethelred: No, but it shows that fools may write as well in Latin as in any other tongue.