The Squire's Tales: Difference between revisions

Line 1:

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 “[[~~Tristram~~ and ~~Isolde (Literature)~~|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.

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 “[[Tristan and 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.

The series is notable for its humor, as well as the fact that Morris' extensive knowledge of Arthurian legend means that some of the stories he retells are ones that not everyone would know (with plenty of [[Genius Bonus|genius bonuses]] for those who ''are'' familiar with the source texts). Also, the point of view characters tend to be not the knights themselves, but squires, pages, or women, resulting in a unique perspective on the knights' activities and the opportunity for many a [[Lampshade Hanging]].

Line 57:

* [[The Joy of X|Joy Of X]] - An X's Tale: There is even a "squire's tale" in the Chaucer originally too.

* {{spoiler|[[Kill'Em All]]}}

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

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

* [[Knight Errant]]: Of course.

* [[Knight in Shining Armor]]: Morris writes Lancelot as a deconstruction of this trope.

Line 82:

* [[Romantic Two-Girl Friendship]]: Sarah and Ariel in ''The Princess, the Crone, and the Dung-Cart Knight.''

* [[Royals Who Actually Do Something]]: Arthur, as well as various others throughout the series. Parsifal becomes one when he gets married.

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

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

** Rhience, in ''The Lioness and Her Knight''. He says himself he makes a much better fool than a knight.

* [[Sdrawkcab Name]]: [[Lampshaded]] in Gerald Morris' novel ''The Ballad of Sir Dinadan'':

Line 100:

* [[Wholesome Crossdresser]]: Terence crossdresses to help rescue Sir Gawain from a dungeon.

* [[World Half Empty]]: At the end of ''Legend of the King'', but it's not entirely hopeless.

* [[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.

* [[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.

** Also averted by Kai, which [[Never Live It Down|comes back to bite him]]. A lot.

* [[Year Inside, Hour Outside]]: Other way around; time passes more slowly in Faery than in the regular world. In ''The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady'' Terence and Gawain come back to find that ''seven years'' have passed and everyone thinks they're dead.