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Randall is an unloved and unwanted orphan kennel boy at Arundel Castle. And then, one fateful day, he upsets the new Lord's mettlesome horse.Against the violent and turbulent backdrop of Norman England, Sutcliff tells the moving story of a young boy who is wagered and won in a game of chess between a lord and a minstrel . . .
. Young Adult Fiction.
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Randal has lived among the castle hounds for most of his young life when the lord of the castle loses him to a traveling bard in a game of chess. He then is handed off to another knight to be a varlet and then a squire in the chance for a better life. Here he becomes fast friends with the lord's grandson and destined to be squire for his companion as they grow. A good tale of two boys coming of age together, knights and wars, and the strong love for one's home. Very well researched and beautifully told, as it seems Sutcliff's stories tend to be.
Although the second (and last) in a series the links between this and Warrior Scarlet are only hints and the two books could be read as standalones. This is an easier read - because it's set in a period I know more about and understand better, perhaps - and it was easier (for me) to empathise with the characters.
I don't love this one as much as I love Rosemary Sutcliff's Dolphin Ring series. But I do love Knight's Fee dearly, and it's an amazing book.
Upward mobility in the Middle ages: orphan boy Randall rises from kennel boy to knight in England.
Orig. published by Oxford University Press (and in U.S. by Henry Z. Walck) in 1960.Review copy.
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Author Information
83+ Works 22,245 Members
Rosemary Sutcliff was on born December 14, 1920 in East Clandon in Surrey, England. As a child she had Still's Disease, a form of juvenile arthritis. The effect of this led to many stays in hospital for painful remedial operations. She ended her formal education at fourteen, and went to Bideford Art School. She passed the City and Guilds show more examination and worked as a painter of miniatures. She felt cramped by the small canvas of miniature painting and turned to writing. Her first two books, The Chronicles of Robin Hood and The Queen Elizabeth Story, were published in 1950. Her other works included The Eagle of the Ninth, The Silver Branch, Sword Song, and the autobiography Blue Remembered Hills. She won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association for The Lantern Bearers in 1959 and the annual Horn Book Award for Tristan and Iseult in 1971. She won inaugural Phoenix Award in 1985 for The Mark of the Horse Lord and again in 2010 for The Shining Company. In 1975, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to children's literature, and was promoted to be a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1992. She died on July 23, 1992. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Awards and Honors
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
岩波少年文庫 (594)
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Is contained in
Is a (non-series) sequel to
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Knight's Fee
- Original title
- Knight's fee
- Original publication date
- 1960
- People/Characters
- Randal [Hill Of Gathering]; Bevis; Herluin; Sir Everard D'Aguillon; Hugh Goch
- Important places
- Arundel, West Sussex, England, UK; Bramber, West Sussex, England, UK; England, UK
- First words
- His name was Randal, Randal the Bastard, Randal the Thief. His father was a Breton Man-at-Arms, and his mother a Saxon lady, one of several who had waited on the old Countess. She, having nothing to live for, had died when ... (show all)he was born; his father had been killed when he was four years old, in the constant warfare along the Welsh Marches, and neither among his father's people nor his mother's was there any place for Randal.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)'It's a good Manor,' he said. 'Looks as though we're ready for the autumn sowing.'
- Original language
- English
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, Children's Books
- DDC/MDS
- 823.914 — Literature & rhetoric English & Old English literatures English fiction 1900- 1901-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PZ7 .S966 .K — Language and Literature Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Juvenile belles lettres
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 367
- Popularity
- 85,071
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (4.10)
- Languages
- 5 — Dutch, English, German, Japanese, Norwegian
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 17
- ASINs
- 8
