Heartwarming / The Saxon Stories

• Alfred gets one when Gisela dies. He genuinely liked her and eventually says to Uhtred, "May your gods give you comfort". For arch Christian Alfred, who has done his level best to convert Uhtred on prior occasion, this is Serious Business.
  • It's even more poignant than that - the actual line is "I pray your gods give you comfort," which is even more striking as it skirts pretty close to breaking the first commandment, and thus goes against one of the key tenets of Christianity. This is a big deal given that it's Alfred we're talking about. Which really makes it even more heartwarming, considering Alfred doesn't even like Uhtred all that much.
  • He also comes to like and hold Uhtred in high regard. He's quoted directly by Aethelflaed, who says that he always called Uhtred "his miracle worker", and indirectly by Aethelstan (who was quoting Aethelflaed's quote of Alfred), as "a kind man who tries to hide his kindness." The former is especially remarkable, because, again, Alfred - it's no small thing for someone like Alfred to call anyone a miracle worker, let alone a defiant pagan like Uhtred. The latter is a particularly keen observation, but also a demonstration that he's both overcome his prejudice against Uhtred's paganism and his first impression of Uhtred as a bloodthirsty savage (which, to be fair, wasn't entirely inaccurate...).
  • In turn, Uhtred's developing respect for Alfred, remarking that for all that he dislikes Christianity, he accepts that Christianity's strict rules drive some people to do good, and that Alfred was one of them. More than that, even though he reckons Alfred would have been much happier as a studious monk, they made him set the standard for The Good King which to one extent or another, Uhtred judges every other monarch by. This comment is notable because it's time to come at a contrast to Aethelstan, who Uhtred sourly notes has let the crown change him, becoming very grand - while Alfred was ambitious for the sake of England, Aethelstan is ambitious for his own sake (he gets better).
• Uhtred Uthredson/Father Judas despite having been disowned by his father, still comes to his deathbed and delivers his last rites.
  • In War Lord Uhtred and Father Judas (now going by Oswald) finally reconcile for good, with Uhtred tearfully admitting that for all the bad things and harsh words between them, he is proud of Oswald and all that he achieved as a priest and later Bishop. Just as well, since Oswald is killed shortly thereafter by assassins sent after Aethelstan; but that's another trope entirely.
• Pretty much any time the normally callous and intimidating Uhtred gets a Pet the Dog moment, before he starts mellowing out in later books.
• The morning after Alfred's death, Uhtred finds his enemy-turned-friend Steapa sitting alone with tears on his face. Uhtred doesn't say anything, but just sits down next to him, and stays with him through the funeral.
• When Alfred is on his deathbed, Uhtred goes to Winchester. He leaves Finan, his right-hand man, behind and instead takes with him Osferth, Alfred's bastard son — who Alfred, in shame, has never acknowledged and long avoided.
  Osferth frowned at me. "Why did you bring me here, lord?" he asked.
  "Why not?"
  "You could have brought Finan, but you chose me."
  "You don't want to see your father?"
  He said nothing for a while, then turned to me and I saw there were tears in his eyes. "Yes, lord."
  "That's why I brought you."
  • This then leads to Osferth and Alfred reconciling, just days before Alfred's death. Alfred apologises to Osferth for leaving him with the stain of bastardry, and tells him he's proud of him.
• Pyrlig's introduction. Uhtred is at an absolute low point after the death of his son, when suddenly this big Welsh priest bursts into his hut with a handful of eggs, takes charge of lunch, and starts cheerfully gossiping and joking with Uhtred and Iseult. This would be odd enough, given that every other priest who's heard of Uhtred hates him (just as he hates them), but then, in mid gossip...
  "Don’t just stir the eggs, girl! Beat them! I hear your son died?”
  “Yes,” I answered stiffly.
  “I am sorry,” he said with genuine feeling, “I am truly sorry, for to lose a child is a desperate hard thing. I sometimes think God must like children. He takes so many to him. I believe there’s a garden in heaven, a green garden where children play all the time. He’s got two sons of mine up there, and I tell you, the youngest must be making the angels scream. He’ll be pulling the girls’ hair and beating up the other boys like they were goose eggs.”