The Squire’s Tale

Author: Gerald Morris

Terence’s life is simple, even predictable. He lives with an old hermit named Trevisant in an isolated forest, hunting and gathering to provide for their basic needs. Trevisant has raised him for fourteen years, ever since Terence was a baby. He has never known who his parents were, because Trevisant can only remember events from the future, and can tell Terence nothing about his past.
One day, Terence meets a young man in the woods. He is Gawain, on his way to Camelot to swear fealty to King Arthur and (he hopes) to become a knight of the Round Table. Terence invites Gawain home to dinner, and is surprised when Trevisant greets Gawain as “the Maiden’s Knight”. Trevisant has already packed Terence’s possessions and sends him off to be Gawain’s squire.
After that, Terence’s life gets a bit more complicated, and much less predictable. He has to adjust to court life and the hierarchy there, and then he and Gawain go on a quest that takes them all over England. They even stumble into the Land of Faerie, where things are quite different from what they are used to. Terence keeps meeting a mysterious little man who gives him advice and guidance, but who never shows himself to anyone else. Terence has visions that show him an evil plot that only he can overthrow, and he eventually learns the secret of his parentage.

This is the first of an ongoing series (eight books so far). Readers will probably recognize the story of Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady, as well as other episodes from classic stories of King Arthur and his knight. Gerald Morris stays true to the substance of the Arthurian legends, but puts his own original and humorous stamp on the tales.