The Lantern Bearers (1959)

I didn't like this when I was younger, and reading it now, I have no idea why. It's the usual fare for Rosemary Sutcliff: a well researched story set in post-Roman Britain, drawing on real sources -- Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia, mostly, but perhaps also Wace and Layamon's Bruts. It concerns the parts pre-Arthur -- Hengist and Horsa, Vortigern and Ambrosius... It begins just as the Romans leave Britain for the last time, and covers a period of pushing back against the Saxons and their kind. The main character, Aquila, deserts from the Eagles to stay in Britain, only to be captured by the Jutes, to eventually make his way back to Britain...

There is a very mournful note in The Lantern Bearers. The feeling in The Silver Branch of being near the end of things is strong and central, here, and there are personal notes of melancholy, too: Aquila's inability to care for people after Flavia, his difficulties with his son, and the eventual strange meeting between himself and Flavia's son.

Perhaps, as a child, I just didn't like the thought of the twilight of the Roman world. I didn't like The Silver Branch as much then as I do now, either. ( )

This was the first book by Sutcliff I read. I’m so glad it was. If it had been Mark of the Horse Lord or Bonnie Dundee, I’m not sure I could have gone on. This is the story of Aquila, who deserts his legion as they leave Britain for the last time. It has a marvellous bittersweet quality to it, a sense of things ending and things beginning. As with so many of Sutcliff’s stories, the main character loses the life he thought he (and they are almost always he) was going to have, but discovers another one. For Aquila, who had dreamed of military glory, the choice to stay behind seems to wreck that. In the end, though, he finds his place, fighting with another group of Romano-Britons against the Saxon invaders.

I haven’t read it very recently, but I distinctly remember, as with so many of her books, the intensely wonderful description of place. Rutupiae, Snowdon–they are all vividly brought to life. Moreover, Sutcliff makes the time incredibly real. I don’t know if any of it is very accurate historically, but if you want excellent historical fiction, written without any pretentiousness or attempts to make the language sound old-fashioned, Sutcliff is a great place to start.

This book is also part of a larger series, starting with The Eagle of the Ninth, The Silver Branch, The Lantern Bearers, Dawn Wind, and Frontier Wolf. It also connects with Sutcliff’s Arthurian series, which I have not read. ( )

I think Sutcliff may be one of the most underrated and neglected novelists of the 20th century. These books aren't really for 'young adults', they're for people. OK, a little old-fashioned at times, occasionally a little corny, stories rather than confessionals, but they're so true. ( )

While the plot of the Lantern Bearers is a common one - loss, revenge, growth, forgiveness - Sutcliff's novel is, if not a page-turner, certainly an entertaining and enjoyable read. I took it up as something to read on the tube, but found myself reaching for it at other times too. ( )

As the fourth book in Rosemary Sutcliff's Dolphin Ring cycle, The Lantern Bearers takes on a distinctly bitterer note than the preceding novels as it chronicles the downfall of Roman power in Britain. The empire is crumbling and Rome is cutting its losses by recalling its auxiliary legions. At the last moment, the young legionnaire Aquila makes the momentous choice to go "willful missing," to abandon his position as a Roman officer and stay in his native Britain instead — "one faith kept and one faith broken" (25). As a last gesture, Aquila kindles the Rutupiae Light the night after the legions sail, sparking a legend treasured for years to come by those in Britain still faithful to Rome.

There are several distinctly adult themes moving under the current of the plot: family loyalties, forgiveness, captivity, identity, and the significance of major historical events to individuals. Aquila's sister Flavia is carried off when the Sea Wolves raid their farm, and after several years of Jutish slavery, Aquila finally finds her again. But her captivity is of a different kind now; she is married to her captor and has a son by him. Though she has the chance to escape with Aquila, she chooses to stay. And for this Aquila can never forgive her, never even begin to understand — until his own wife Ness makes a similar choice years later. "Our Lord help me! He is my man." There are many kinds of bonds.

Sutcliff also explores fragile family relationships with insight and realism not often found in historical fiction written for young people. Aquila is an indifferent husband who marries his British wife at his commander Ambrosius's wish, to strengthen ties between their peoples. He never really gets over Flavia's betrayal, and this pain colors all his relationships. He becomes a proud but emotionally distant father to a willful son who cannot understand his father's reticence. Aquila eventually does achieve a measure of trust and love in his family, but it is a hard-won victory gained over many years. Sutcliff's point seems to be that the upheavals of history are meaningful not just on an international level, but personally to those who suffer them. Really this whole story is a paring-down of the Roman-British experience after Rome started falling apart, a vast historical event in the microcosm of one man's life.

I found the Arthurian theme fascinating; unlike so many novels about Arthur (or Artos, as he is called here), this tale only includes him as a minor character, a figure on the fringes of Aquila's story. The title refers to the abstract idea of keeping a light burning in Britain, just as Aquila symbolically kindles the Rutupiae Light after its legions abandon it. Though it is not made explicit, the implication is that Artos — as well as ordinary people like Aquila and his family — will be "lantern bearers" in the chaos of Britain following the Roman withdrawal.

This is a bittersweet novel notable for its themes of family relationships, the meaning of subjugation, and the wreck of loyalties amidst a tumultuous historical period. Though all of Sutcliff's novels contain memorable characters and complex relationships, those of The Lantern Bearers stand out as particularly insightful. I would not hesitate to give this book to a young reader, but adults also will find it rewarding in both its historical and relational veracity. Excellent. ( )