Tag Archives: Sherwood

03/30/13

Great Historical Fiction/Fantasy Novels

History is anthroplogy for the past.  Great historical fiction brings you into that past world and makes it accessible.  Would life in thirteenth century Wales chew me up and spit me out?  No doubt.  But that doesn’t mean I can’t spend many happy hours living there.  I am also partial to the fantasy element of historical fiction in part because I acknowledge that past lives are truly inaccessible to me and if I wanted to read about something that was absolutely true, I would get the non-fiction version.  That said the following are some of my most favorite books:

SherwoodSherwood by Parke Godwin.  He’s written a lot of books, but this one has always pulled me in.  I’ve read it innumerable times.  From Publisher’s Weekly:  “Godwin sets his highly satisfying retelling of the Robin Hood legend in the time of William the Conqueror, when the bastard of Normandy was pacifying his unruly new country. After the Saxon thane of Denby is killed at York, his son Edward Aelredson, nicknamed Robin, succeeds to the land, located next to Sherwood Forest. The young thane is outraged by the blinding of one of his men in retaliation for poaching King William’s deer; when his attempt to reason with the sheriff of Nottingham turns to violence, Robin is outlawed. Before fleeing, Robin marries his love, Marian Elfrics, who is then sent to serve William’s queen. Robin and four followers–Welsh woodsman Will Scatloch, blacksmith John Littlerede and Father Beorn and his sexton Tuck–commence the exploits that make them famous and give heart to the downtrodden Saxons. Denby is given to the sheriff, who falls in love with Marian and begins to develop a grudging respect for Robin. An attempt to enlist the two men in a treasonous plot draws them together unwillingly but fatefully. Godwin ( Waiting for the Galactic Bus ) depicts these epochal times vividly and colorfully, with carefully etched characterizations of Normans and Saxons.”

AvalonAvalon by Stephen Lawhead.   There are thousands of books about King Arthur, but this is one of the few that was actually fun.  Hint–he doesn’t die in the end :)   Publisher’s Weekly liked it too:  “In this rousing postcript to Lawhead’s bardic Pendragon Cycle (Taliesin, Merlin, Arthur, Pendragon, Grail), such a monstrous evil stalks near-future Britain that an ancient Welsh prophecy will be fulfilled: the Thames will reverse its course, Avalon will rise again from the cold gray sea and Arthur will return. A series of Royals so rotten that the Brits can’t wait to dump the whole stinking lot enables scheming Prime Minister Waring to creep trick by political dirty trick toward Magna Carta II, the abolition of the monarchy. Far in the Highlands, though, former career officer James Arthur Stuart feels destiny stir within him. He is Arthur, come again to exalt Britain and its grand old values:  goodness, compassion, mercy, charity and justice. Accompanied by his enigmatic adviser Embries, his boon drinking buddy Calum McKay and the lissome Jenny, James struggles to come into his own, proving his mettle against modern monsters: skinheads armed with pit bulls, the fickle hydra of the press and the redheaded “total dish” Moira, Arthur’s old witchy nemesis who destroyed Camelot. By the time James ousts Moira’s insidiously treacherous buffalo-wing- and pizza-chomping politicos, Lawhead makes even aristocracy-phobes want to stand up at the skirl of the pipes and cheer on the eternal virtues James represents. In revisiting nearly every romantic Arthurian clich? and playing off snappy contemporary derring-do against the powerful shining glimpses of the historical Arthur he created, Lawhead pulls off a genuinely moving parable of good and evil.”

16321632 by Eric Flint.  This is the book that sparked a series, many of which are not actually written by Flint, but it’s the best of the bunch.  20th century people plunked down in 1632 Germany.  Awesome.   It’s even available for free download at Amazon right now:  http://www.amazon.com/1632-Ring-of-Fire-ebook/dp/B00BEQLQNE/ref=zg_bs_6157855011_f_2

BCPBrother Cadfael’s Penance by Ellis Peters.  I’ve read all her books multiple times, and she saved the best for last.  “In Brother Cadfael’s 20th chronicle, Peters deftly binds the medieval monk’s new adventure with family ties, moving from issues intensely public to problems determinedly private. Olivier de Bretagne, who (unknown to himself) is Brother Cadfael’s son, has been taken prisoner during England’s dynastic war between two grandchildren of William the Conqueror. Cadfael is determined to find Olivier, although to do so he must leave the monastery without his abbot’s “leave or… blessing.” The search begins badly when, at an unsuccessful peace conference, Yves Hugonin, Olivier’s hot-headed brother-in-law, picks a fight with Brien de Soulis, a commander who may know where Olivier is held-but won’t say. When Brien is found murdered, Yves is abducted by one who holds him responsible for the killing, and then Cadfael has two men to find. In the process, he delicately explores puzzles related to Brien’s death and to shadowy deeds in the larger political scene. While Cadfael does his usual excellent sleuthing, Peters succeeds at an equally subtle game, demonstrating how personal devotion can turn to enmity-and how such enmity can be forestalled by justice and mercy.” This book is out of print and not available on Kindle. Ellis Peters’ heirs, if she had any, are losing out.

01/11/13

Robin Hood Review (spoilers)

I just watched movie again and had to comment on it.  Since I’m a sap for anything medieval, I knew I would probably enjoy Ridley Scott’s, Robin Hood, even if his movies are generally too violent for my taste.  I have to say that I liked the movie more than I thought I would.  He refrained from his usual slo-mo blood spray as the hero kills another man (or dies himself), for which I was grateful. 

In summary, the movie follows Robin from France, where he was in King Richard’s train, to England, where he falls into an impersonation of the dead heir to the Locksley lands.   To be fair, Robin did impersonate the poor dead Sir Locksley initially, but he approached the dead man’s family on the up-and-up.  Meanwhile, John, now King John as Richard died in a final siege in France on his way home from the Crusades, has put his trust in the wrong man.  This Englishman, Godfrey, was a nursling with John, and thus is trusted by him above all others.  King John strips William Marshal of his station and gives it to Godfrey.  Unfortunately, Godfrey is secretly in league with the King of France and decides he must hunt Robin down since Robin knows of this alliance.  Naturally, Robin evades him and proceeds to rally the unhappy northern English lords against John, who has put his Godfrey in charge of collecting taxes.  Unbeknownst to John, Godfrey is killing English people and besieging towns, all to foment unrest and open the way for the King of France to attack a divided England.  Clever, actually.

Ultimately, the barons force King John to promise to sign the Magna Carta (15 years early) and the King of France is defeated at the sea, along with the Godfrey, whom Robin kills.  Robin is one of the leaders in the battle (having earned Willliam Marshal’s respect, natch).  But somehow (and this is never explained) King John discovers that Robin is a fraud and in a fit of anger not only refuses to sign the Magna Carta but outlaws Robin.  No idea how that happened.

Although the plot is full of holes and historical inaccuracies, I liked the character development, I liked Russell Crowe in this role, and I thought Cate Blanchette made an interesting 40-something Marian.  Nitpicking, the color of her hair was odd and she wore it down all the time, but she was appropriately sharp-witted.  Virtually all the characters and situations, barring King John himself and William Marshall, one of the greatest knights of his age, are fabrications, including the evil Godfrey.  Louis, the Prince of France, not the King of France, did plan to invade England at one point–was invited in, in fact, by the rebel barons–but not until 1215.

From Wikipedia:  “At first, in November 1215, Louis simply sent the barons a contingent of knights to protect London. However, even at that stage he also agreed to an open invasion, despite discouragement from his father the King of France and from the Pope.  This came in May 1216 – , watchmen on the coast of Thanet detected sails on the horizon, and on the next day, the King of England and his armies saw Louis’s troops disembark on the coast of Kent. John decided to escape to the Saxon capital of Winchester, and so Louis had little resistance on his march to London. He entered London, also with little resistance, and was openly received by the rebel barons and citizens of London and proclaimed (though not crowned) king at the cathedral. Many nobles, including Alexander II of Scotland for his English possessions, gathered to give homage to him.

Many of John’s supporters, sensing a tide of change, moved to support the barons. Gerald of Wales remarked: “The madness of slavery is over, the time of liberty has been granted, English necks are free from the yoke.” On 14 June Louis captured Winchester (John had already left) and soon conquered over half of the English kingdom.”

John died in October of 1216, however, and the barons immediately decided they’d rather be ruled by his son, Henry III (then only 9) with William Marshal as regent.  By September of 1217, all of Louis’ English barons had defected back to Henry and he sailed back to France.  None of this is in the movie, of course.

I had hoped that certain aspects of the plot would make more sense when watched a second time. To a certain degree they did, because I watched the Director’s Cut (I always recommend Ridley Scott’s Director’s cuts–he puts way to much into his movies, and then cuts them, leaving key plot points on the floor). I enjoyed this movie.

p.s. I don’t think my eyes deceived me when the opening text said something about the unrest in England ‘at the turn of the twelfth century’. To my eyes, that should read ‘turn of the thirteenth century’ since it is set in the 1200s. A quick Google search shows me, however, that for the British, the phrase means either 1100 or 1200 so Scott’s usage is correct. Still looks wrong to me :)

01/10/12

The Welsh Robin Hood

The idea of ‘Robin Hood’–one who steals from the rich and gives to the poor–or even someone who is on the side of the weak and downtrodden against the unjust ruler, is very old.  One of my favorite books, Sherwood by Parke Godwin, sets the story in the time of the Norman conquest, making Robin a Saxon thane.  Sadly, it’s out of print, but you can get it used from Amazon.com:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0688052649/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&qid=1326154880&sr=1-5&condition=used

We have other choices for Robin Hood that are set in Wales:

Bran ap Brychan:  Stephen Lawhead’s King Raven series focuses on this possible hero.  Like Parke Godwin’s, Sherwood, Lawhead places his Robin Hood at the time of the Norman conquest–though of Wales, not England.  Bran, the “heir to the throne Elfael, has abandoned his father’s kingdom and fled to the greenwood. There, in the primeval forest of the Welsh borders, danger surrounds him—for this woodland is a living, breathing entity with mysterious powers and secrets, and Bran must find a way to make it his own if he is to survive.”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Raven_Trilogy

I have not been able to find any evidence that Bran ap Brychan was a real person.

Dafydd ap Siencyn:  During the War of the Roses (1468), Dafydd declared himself for the Lancastrian cause and brought his men into the fight dressed all in green (thus leading to the Robin Hood association).  ”A native of the Conwy Valley and kinsmen of the Wynn family, Siencyn used a rocky outcrop in the Gwydir forest as his base, the cave where he lived known locally as Carreg Y Gwalch.  Dafydd ap Siencyn led a band of men to Denbigh, the main Yorkist stronghold in North Wales, and burned the entire garrison. The king was said to be furious and gave the order to William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke to “lay waste to the whole Conwy Valley”.”  http://www.llanrwst.net/history.asp?contentcatid=2&contentid=15

“He received a pardon in 1468, and later he was appointed Constable of Conwy Castle, after killing his predecessor. Dafydd is said to have died of wounds received in a brawl, and he composed two poems on his deathbed.”  http://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dafydd_ap_Siencyn

Twm Sion Cati:  ”Although commonly referred to as ‘The Welsh Robin Hood, Twm Siôn Cati (c1530-1609) deserves better respect. He was of noble blood, a poet and a heraldic bard of renown. Many of the escapades attributed to him probably flowed from the imagination of various novelists.
According to recent research, it is possible that he hid in the famous cave at Rhandir-mwyn to escape religious persecution rather than to avoid the wrath of people who had been tricked by him.”  http://www.rhandirmwyn.net/twmsioncati/story.html

For once, I don’t have a bias towards the Welsh version, as one of these characters are particularly heroic and there’s nothing inherent in the legend that implies he was Welsh.  But it’s fun to speculate.