Disease could wipe out an army quicker than any battle.

Always keep your foes confused. If they are never certain who you are or what you want, they cannot know what you are like to do next.

Let his sword break and his shield shatter, Sansa thought coldly as she shoved out through the doors, let his courage fail him and every man desert him.

Every man should lose a battle in his youth, so he does not lose a war when he is old.

If I was a soldier going to war, I'd be pretty scared the night before a battle. It's a scary thing. And I want my readers to feel that fear as they turn the page.

Under the Mountain dark and tall
The King has come unto his hall!
His foe is dead,
the Worm of Dread,
And ever so his foes shall fall.

The sword is sharp, the spear is long,
The arrow swift, the Gate is strong;
The heart is bold that looks on gold;
The dwarves no more shall suffer wrong.

The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,
While hammers fells like ringing bells
In places deep, where dark things sleep,
In hollow halls beneath the fells.

-from The Hobbit (Dwarves Battle Song)