The Squire's Tales: Difference between revisions

{{tropework}}

A series of young adult novels by Gerald Morris, taking place during the rule of [[King Arthur]]. Some characters, such as Sir Gawain and his squire Terence (a creation of Morris', whose name is a nod to T. H. White, author of [[The Once and Future King]]) and of course Arthur, appear in all the books. Mostly, Morris deals with the legends' [[Loads and Loads of Characters]] by having a rotating cast of characters, and each book deals with a different story out of Arthurian legend (sometimes combining several stories into one narrative, such as ''The Ballad of Sir Dinadan'', where the title character deals with the events of both “Culwch and Olwen” and “[[TristramTristan and Isolde (Literature)Iseult|Tristram and Isolde]]”). Each book has a different main character, except for the first two and the ninth (all the ones with “Squire” in the title), where it's Terence.

== There are ten books in the series: ==

** Subverted with {{spoiler|Dinadan and Brangienne}}, who have the belligerence and the emotional connection, but apparently not the sexual attraction part of the trope. They end up concluding that while they could never marry anyone else, they'd just as soon not marry each other either.

* [[Celibate Hero]]: Sir Dinadan.

* [[Character Development]]: For lots of the less well-known characters such as Gaheris, Dinadan, and Luneta. Also what rescues Lancelot and Guinevere from the [[Rescued Fromfrom the Scrappy Heap|Scrappy Heap]], starting after ''The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady''.

* [[Distressed Damsel in Distress]]: Usually by dint of being [[Too Dumb to Live]]; all of the main female characters avert this, except Guinevere. Occasionally a [[Decoy Damsel]], such as the case of Lyonesse.

{{quote| "Only by maintaining their faith, selflessness, and honor, can Morgause and Mordred banish and defeat dark magic from England forever."}}

* [[I Cannot Self-Terminate]]: After Sir Gawain accidentally kills a man's wife, the man falls to his knees and begs Gawain to kill him. Gawain doesn't, instead forcing him to go to Arthur's court.

* [[King in Thethe Mountain]]: As per the original legend.

* [[Narrative Profanity Filter]]: Used a lot. For instance, in ''The Squire's Quest'', "Kai... uttered a series of short, very blunt words. Terence sympathized with him. He didn't use those particular words himself, but had to admit that sometimes they felt right."

** From ''The Lioness and Her Knight'':

{{quote| "I'm [[Sarcasm Mode|shocked, utterly shocked]]," Rhience said. "Aghast, no less. I would never have imagined that a gently born young lady like you would have even known such words, let alone utter them! And all strung together like that, too!" }}

* [[Neutral Female]]: Lampshaded and mocked, along with the [[Distressed Damsel in Distress]].

* [[No Sense of Direction]]: Sir Gareth. One of his brothers comments that he "needs a trail of breadcrumbs to find his own chamber pot".

* [[Open Secret]]: In ''The Ballad of Sir Dinadan''. Tristram and Isolde have the world's least secret love affair—literally everyone but Isolde's husband knows, and he at least suspects. This is mostly because Tristram has been riding about the country telling everyone in great detail about the vow of silence he has taken and how he can never even say his true love Isolde's name.

** The trope also applies to Lancelot and Guinevere's affair in the ''The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady'', though in this case it's treated more seriously due to the effect it has on Arthur and the court.

* [[Rescued Fromfrom the Scrappy Heap]]: Lancelot and Guinevere in universe; Morris also does this for Kai.

* [[Tricksters]]: [[A Midsummer NightsNight's Dream|Robin]], the faery that helps out Terence (and others) sometimes.

{{quote| "Tramtris. That was the best he could come up with. Didn't you realize it was Tristram?"}}

{{quote| '''Arthur:''' I am not completely certain whether I have just witnessed a proposal or a challenge, but I wish you both very happy.}}

* [[Wouldn't Hit a Girl|Wouldn't Hit A Girl]]: Upheld by most of the heroic characters, but also played with. In one book, Sir Gawain finds out that Gaheris informed a potential (male) opponent that he would "never raise a sword against the skirts of womanhood." The other guy showed up in a skirt, and poor Gaheris let him win. Gawain is very disgusted with him.

[[Category:TheMatter Squiresof TalesBritain]]