Harlequin (Cornwell novel): Difference between revisions

Harlequin
	First edition cover
Author	Bernard Cornwell
Language	English
Series	The Grail Quest series
Genre	Historical novel
Publisher	HarperCollins
Publication date	16 October 2000
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	384 pp (first edition, hardback)
ISBN	978-0-00-225965-1 (first edition, hardback)
OCLC	222757152
Followed by	Vagabond

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Harlequin (in the USA The Archer's Tale) is the first novel in The Grail Quest series by English author Bernard Cornwell, first published in 2000. The story takes place in the mid-14th century, during the Hundred Years' War.

Plot summary

Thomas grows up in the village of Hookton in Dorset, the illegitimate son of village priest Father Ralph. Thomas, a young man, has been training secretly with a bow, despite his father forbidding it. On Easter morning, 1343, Norman raiders led by French knight Sir Guillaume d'Evecque arrive. A mysterious man calling himself the Harlequin has hired them to steal a lance that Thomas's father claims is the one used by Saint George to slay a dragon. The Harlequin mortally stabs Thomas's father. Thomas kills four men, but the rest leave with the lance and captives. Thomas learns from his dying father that he is a French count who fled his evil family and that the Harlequin is Thomas's first cousin.

Three years pass. Thomas is in France with the English army, serving under Will Skeat, a successful mercenary leader. The English, commanded by William Bohun, Earl of Northampton, besiege the small city of La Roche-Derrien. However, a half dozen assaults have failed. Among the defenders is a beautiful woman who fights with a crossbow: Jeanette, the widowed Countess of Armorica. She inflicts a minor wound on an impoverished, ambitious English knight, Sir Simon Jekyll, and Jekyll vows revenge.

Skeat persuades the earl to try a new plan. Thomas has discovered a weak spot. The earl lets Thomas lead an assault. Things go awry, but Thomas and his men get into the city anyway and open the gates. Then the murdering, pillaging and raping begin. Jekyll attempts to rape Jeanette, but is stopped by the earl. The earl is obliged to give Jekyll Jeanette's property as spoils of war, but he places Jeanette and her young son under royal protection.

The earl leaves Skeat and his men to garrison the city. They guard Jeanette from Sir Simon, but she remains hostile. A French force based in Lannion under Sir Geoffrey de Pont Blanc presents the only threat, but neither side wants to fight on the other's terms. Jekyll, however, is eager for plunder, so he and his men formally battle Sir Geoffrey's force. After Jekyll loses, Skeat sets a trap, having some of his men pretend to flee in panic; Geoffrey is deceived, and his force is decimated by English longbows. Skeat lets Geoffrey go free, much to Jekyll's fury (at losing a ransom). Thomas tells Jekyll to "go and boil your arse".

Later that night, Thomas is beaten by Jekyll's men and about to have his own arse put into boiling water, but is rescued by Father Hobbe, a friend who constantly reminds him of his vow of revenge. Thomas enlists Jeanette's help to lure Jekyll into an ambush. Thomas kills Jekyll's squire and injures Jekyll, but Jekyll escapes.

Thomas and Jeanette flee to the Duke of Brittany, a close relative of her husband. The duke agrees to take care of her son, but believes lies about Jeanette and rapes her. Jeanette escapes with Thomas. She is severely traumatised, but Thomas nurses her back to health. The two then come upon an English army under King Edward III and his son, the Prince of Wales, which is about to assault the French city of Caen. Jeanette soon becomes the prince's mistress. Owing Thomas for the capture of La Roche-Derrien, the Earl of Northampton pays Jekyll to leave Thomas alone.

Thomas takes part in the successful assault on Caen. During the battle, he recognises the coat of arms of Sir Guillaume and wounds him. He also rescues a young woman named Eleanor from being raped. However, Jekyll sees him and has him hanged.

Half-dead, Thomas is rescued by Eleanor, Sir Guillaume's illegitimate daughter. Sir Guillaume reveals that he kept the lance because he was not paid the balance owed (a monk absconded with it). The Harlequin killed Sir Guillaume's family and severely injured him. Sir Guillaume and Thomas become friends with a common goal: to kill the Harlequin. Thomas is nursed back to health by a Jewish doctor named Mordecai. He learns a great deal about his family from a churchman. His father was a member of the infamous Vexille family - the former counts of Astarac and Cathar heretics. Thomas also learns that the Vexilles are rumoured to possess the Holy Grail.

Jeanette turns the prince against Jekyll, and Jekyll is ordered to leave the army. He joins the French, entering the service of the Harlequin, later revealed to be Guy Vexille, Count of Astarac.

Thomas returns to the English army with Eleanor, who becomes his lover. He rejoins Will Skeat's band and helps the English escape the much larger French army assembled by King Philip VI of France by finding a river ford. The English defeat the French guarding the ford in the Battle of Blanchetaque.

Eventually, however, the English, hungry and tired, are forced to fight the Battle of Crécy. During the epic battle, the English achers, Thomas among them, play a major role; when they run out of arrows, they join the hand-to-hand fighting. Thomas spots the distinctive black lance of St. George, used by Vexille's right-hand man as a standard. The man is killed. When Thomas tries to get the lance, he encounters Jekyll. Jekyll quickly gains the upper hand and is about to dispatch him, but Sir Guillaume kills Jekyll. Sir Guillaume then spots a man he suspects is Guy Vexille, but has to be rescued by Thomas (from the English). Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales is trapped under a fallen horse, with Vexille about to strike, so Thomas grabs the lance of St. George and desperately lunges at him. The ancient lance breaks apart when it strikes Vexille's armour, but it distracts him, giving others time to protect the prince. Vexille severely wounds Skeat in the head before fleeing with the rest of the French. Against everyone's expectations, the English have won a decisive victory.

Afterward, the Earl of Northampton sets Sir Guillaume's ransom: he is to take the unresponsive Skeat to Mordechai in the forlorn hope he can be healed. If he cannot be cured, the earl expects Thomas to take his place next spring.

Characters in Harlequin

Thomas of Hookton
Will Skeat - Thomas's friend and leader, a mercenary captain in the service of the Earl of Northampton
William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton - English nobleman and military commander
Guy Vexille, Count of Astarac
Sir Guillaume d'Evecque
Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales - heir to the English throne
Edward III of England - King of England and father of Edward of Woodstock
Sir Simon Jekyll
Jeanette
Charles of Blois, Duke of Brittany
Eleanor
Philip VI of France - King of France
Ralph Vexille - Thomas's father and Guy's uncle

References

"Harlequin details". FantasticFiction. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
"Bernard Cornwell's biog". imdb. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
"Bernard Cornwell's official page on the title". bernardcornwell.net. Archived from the original on 25 December 2007. Retrieved 26 March 2008.

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+{{short description|2000 historical novel by Bernard Cornwell}}
-{{about|the Bernard Cornwell Grailquest novel|other uses|Harlequin (disambiguation)}}
+{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
 {{infobox book | <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] -->
 | name          = Harlequin
@@ Line 25: / Line 26: @@
 }}
-'''''Harlequin''''' (in the USA '''''The Archer's Tale''''') is the first novel in [[The Grail Quest]] series by [[Bernard Cornwell]], taking place in the mid-[[fourteenth century]].
+'''''Harlequin''''' (in the USA '''''The Archer's Tale''''') is the first novel in ''[[The Grail Quest]]'' series by English author [[Bernard Cornwell]], first published in 2000. The story takes place in the mid-14th century, during the [[Hundred Years' War]].
-==Plot introduction==
-The narrative tells how Thomas of Hookton leaves his native [[Dorset]] to fight against the [[French people|French]] in [[Brittany]] and, afterwards, at the [[battle of Crecy]] in [[Picardy]]. It is a tale of [[longbow]]s and butchery, especially when England's [[archery|archers]] swarm into the [[Normandy|Norman]] city of [[Caen]]. And over it all, like a dream, hovers the [[Holy Grail|Grail]] which is the epitome of [[chivalry]] and [[Christianity|Christian]] decency, qualities which are in desperately short supply as the armies of France and England struggle at the beginning of what will be known as the [[Hundred Years War]].
 ==Plot summary==
+Thomas grows up in the village of Hookton in [[Dorset]], the illegitimate son of village priest Father Ralph. Thomas, a young man, has been training secretly with a bow, despite his father forbidding it. On Easter morning, 1343, Norman raiders led by French knight Sir Guillaume d'Evecque arrive. A mysterious man calling himself the [[Harlequin]] has hired them to steal a lance that Thomas's father claims is the one used by [[Saint George and the Dragon|Saint George to slay a dragon]]. The Harlequin mortally stabs Thomas's father. Thomas kills four men, but the rest leave with the lance and captives. Thomas learns from his dying father that he is a French count who fled his evil family and that the Harlequin is Thomas's first cousin.
-;Prologue:
-The narrative begins in the village of Hookton, where Thomas is growing up under his once mad father, who is also the village priest. Thomas has been training secretly with a bow, despite the fact that his father forbids it. On Easter Morning, 1343, a Norman party of raiders arrive under the command of Sir Guillaume d'Evecque, a French Knight whose crest is a blue field with three golden hawks on it. Also with Sir Guillaume is a warrior dressed all in black, known simply as the Harlequin, who has hired Sir Guillaume to carry out the raid to steal Hookton's treasure, the Lance of [[Saint George|St. George]]. The Harlequin, who is Thomas's cousin kills Thomas' father, and the lance is stolen. Thomas manages to reach his bow and kill four of the raiders, but the Harlequin and Sir Guillaume both escape.
+Three years pass. Thomas is in France with the English army, serving under Will Skeat, a successful mercenary leader. The English, commanded by [[William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton|William Bohun, Earl of Northampton]], besiege the small city of [[La Roche-Derrien]]. However, a half dozen assaults have failed. Among the defenders is a beautiful woman who fights with a [[crossbow]]: Jeanette, the widowed Countess of Armorica. She inflicts a minor wound on an impoverished, ambitious English knight, Sir Simon Jekyll, and Jekyll vows revenge.
+Skeat persuades the earl to try a new plan. Thomas has discovered a weak spot. The earl lets Thomas lead an assault. Things go awry, but Thomas and his men get into the city anyway and open the gates. Then the murdering, pillaging and raping begin. Jekyll attempts to rape Jeanette, but is stopped by the earl. The earl is obliged to give Jekyll Jeanette's property as [[Looting|spoils of war]], but he places Jeanette and her young son under royal protection.
+The earl leaves Skeat and his men to garrison the city. They guard Jeanette from Sir Simon, but she remains hostile. A French force based in Lannion under Sir Geoffrey de Pont Blanc presents the only threat, but neither side wants to fight on the other's terms. Jekyll, however, is eager for plunder, so he and his men formally battle Sir Geoffrey's force. After Jekyll loses, Skeat sets a trap, having some of his men pretend to flee in panic; Geoffrey is deceived, and his force is decimated by English longbows. Skeat lets Geoffrey go free, much to Jekyll's fury (at losing a [[ransom]]). Thomas tells Jekyll to "go and boil your arse".
-;Brittany:
-The book then moves forward by three years. Thomas has gone to France to serve in the English army and take vengeance on his father's killers. He is serving under a competent commander, Will Skeat, and the army is besieging the city of La Roche-Derrien. The army assaults the city and is beaten back with many losses. Among the city defenders is the Blackbird, a woman who fights with a crossbow. Her real name is Jeanette, and she is the countess of Armorica. She wounds an English knight, Sir Simon Jekyll, in the arm after the assault, and Jekyll vows revenge.
+Later that night, Thomas is beaten by Jekyll's men and about to have his own arse put into boiling water, but is rescued by Father Hobbe, a friend who constantly reminds him of his vow of revenge. Thomas enlists Jeanette's help to lure Jekyll into an ambush. Thomas kills Jekyll's squire and injures Jekyll, but Jekyll escapes.
-Skeat and Thomas later visit the army commander, the Duke of Normandy. Thomas has discovered a way to assault the city from the rear- a weak wooden palisade is all that prevents the army's entry, and they are weakly placed. The Earl gives Thomas permission to lead an assault, with Jekyll in nominal command (though everyone in the army hates him). Thomas and his men successfully penetrate the city, open the gates and the town is sacked. During the onslaught Jekyll encounters Jeanette and attempts to rape her, but is prevented by the Earl, who walks in on him with his pants down.
+Thomas and Jeanette flee to the Duke of Brittany, a close relative of her husband. The duke agrees to take care of her son, but believes lies about Jeanette and rapes her. Jeanette escapes with Thomas. She is severely traumatised, but Thomas nurses her back to health. The two then come upon an English army under King [[Edward III of England|Edward III]] and his son, [[Edward the Black Prince|the Prince of Wales]], which is about to assault the French city of [[Caen]]. Jeanette soon becomes the prince's mistress. Owing Thomas for the capture of La Roche-Derrien, the Earl of Northampton pays Jekyll to leave Thomas alone.
-Jekyll is excommunicated for his actions, but the war calls the Earl away to another campaign. Skeat and his men, including Thomas, are left to garrison the captured city. Thomas and his men guard Jeanette from Sir Simon, but Jeanette will not let them in her house. As the days go by, Skeat and his men conduct a series of raids on French villages. A small French force from Lannion under the command of Sir Geoffrey de Pont Blanc attempts to destroy Skeat's army, but Skeat refuses to fight him. Jekyll, however, is eager for plunder, so he and his men battle Sir Geoffrey's force. Jekyll loses the battle despite putting up a powerful defense, and Geoffrey then attempts to charge Skeat's archers. His force is mowed down and destroyed by the English longbows, and Thomas captures him, but lets him go, to Jekyll's fury. Thomas' response is to tell Jekyll to "go and boil your arse".
+Thomas takes part in the [[Battle of Caen (1346)|successful assault on Caen]]. During the battle, he recognises the coat of arms of Sir Guillaume and wounds him. He also rescues a young woman named Eleanor from being raped. However, Jekyll sees him and has him hanged.
-Later that night, Thomas is ambushed by Jekyll's men and brutally beaten, but he is saved by Father Hobbe, a friend who constantly reminds him of his vow of revenge. Thomas then befriends Jeanette and the two make a plan to take revenge on Jekyll. Skeat and his men then move to attack Lannion, weakened by the loss of Geoffrey's force. During the attack Geoffrey is killed by Thomas. A French relief force attempts to destroy the English, but they are destroyed by Skeat's archers. That night, Thomas and Jeanette lure Jekyll out of the town. He attempts to rape Jeanette again, and Thomas tries to kill him, he shoots Jekyll's squire, and injures Jekyll but Jekyll escapes.
+Half-dead, Thomas is rescued by Eleanor, Sir Guillaume's illegitimate daughter. Sir Guillaume reveals that he kept the lance because he was not paid the balance owed (a monk absconded with it). The Harlequin killed Sir Guillaume's family and severely injured him. Sir Guillaume and Thomas become friends with a common goal: to kill the Harlequin. Thomas is nursed back to health by a Jewish doctor named Mordecai. He learns a great deal about his family from a churchman. His father was a member of the infamous Vexille family - the former counts of Astarac and [[Cathar]] heretics. Thomas also learns that the Vexilles are rumoured to possess the [[Holy Grail]].
-;Normandy:
-Thomas and Jeanette can no longer stay at [[La Roche-Derrien]], as Jekyll will kill them both, so they decide to take refuge with the Duke of Brittany who Jeanette is related to through her husband. The Duke, however, is inhospitable; He rapes Jeanette and kidnaps her son, but Jeanette escapes with Thomas. She is traumatised by the event, but Thomas nurses her back to health. The two then rejoin the main English army under Edward III that has invaded the channel. Jeanette becomes attached to the Black Prince as a Lady of Honour. Thomas takes part in the [[battle of Caen (1346)|assault on the French city of Caen]]. During the battle he recognises the coat of arms of Sir Guillaume d'Evecque, and shoots him in the thigh. He also rescues a young woman named Eleanor from being raped by an English man-at-arms. As he leaves the house, Jekyll sees him and knocks him unconscious, afterwards leaving him to hang.
+Jeanette turns the prince against Jekyll, and Jekyll is ordered to leave the army. He joins the French, entering the service of the Harlequin, later revealed to be Guy Vexille, Count of Astarac.
-Thomas is rescued by Eleanor, who is revealed to be Sir Guillaume's illegitimate child. Sir Guillaume appears to Thomas with a missing eye, along with the wound Thomas gave him. Sir Guillaume tells Thomas that it was the Harlequin who gave him the wound. Sir Guillaume, like Thomas, wants to kill the Harlequin, and the two become friends. Thomas is nursed back to health by a Jewish doctor named Mordecai. Meanwhile, Jeanette confronts Jekyll in front of the Prince, who has Jekyll banished from the army. Thomas learns a great deal about his family from Sir Guillaume and a churchman in Caen. His father was a member of the infamous Vexille family- the former counts of Astarac and descendants of the [[Cathar]] heretics. Thomas also learns that the Vexille family may be in possession of the Holy Grail, and the Harlequin had gone to Hookton to find it as well as the Lance of St. George. Despite this new information Thomas decides to return to the English army with Eleanor who becomes his lover and simply be an archer for the time being. Before the fight, the king of England comes to unite the army to strengthen the dark mood they are in. Skeat is knighted by the king.
+Thomas returns to the English army with Eleanor, who becomes his lover. He rejoins Will Skeat's band and helps the English escape the much larger French army assembled by King [[Philip VI of France]] by finding a river ford. The English defeat the French guarding the ford in the [[Battle of Blanchetaque]].
-Meanwhile, Sir Simon Jekyll decides to join the French army for a chance to take revenge on both Jeanette and the Black Prince. He impresses several knights through his battle skills, and even manages to defeat a black knight- the Harlequin, who reveals himself to be Guy Vexille, the Count of Astarac, and Thomas' cousin.
+Eventually, however, the English, hungry and tired, are forced to fight the [[Battle of Crécy]]. During the epic battle, the English achers, Thomas among them, play a major role; when they run out of arrows, they join the hand-to-hand fighting. Thomas spots the distinctive black lance of St. George, used by Vexille's right-hand man as a standard. The man is killed. When Thomas tries to get the lance, he encounters Jekyll. Jekyll quickly gains the upper hand and is about to dispatch him, but Sir Guillaume kills Jekyll. Sir Guillaume then spots a man he suspects is Guy Vexille, but has to be rescued by Thomas (from the English). Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales is trapped under a fallen horse, with Vexille about to strike, so Thomas grabs the lance of St. George and desperately lunges at him. The ancient lance breaks apart when it strikes Vexille's armour, but it distracts him, giving others time to protect the prince. Vexille severely wounds Skeat in the head before fleeing with the rest of the French. Against everyone's expectations, the English have won a decisive victory.
-;Crécy:
-Thomas manages to rejoin Will Skeat's band and helps the English defeat a French force guarding a river ford in the [[battle of Blanchetaque]]. The two armies then line up for [[Battle of Crécy|battle at Crécy]]. Sir Guillaume, Sir Simon, and Guy Vexille are all on the French side. During the epic battle the French are massacred by the English arrows, but the fighting soon becomes hand to hand. Jekyll encounters Thomas on the battlefield and attempts to kill him, but Sir Guillaume stabs Jekyll in the side and kills him, as Jekyll is in Vexille livery.  Sir Guillaume then encounters Vexille and tries to kill him, as do Thomas and Skeat. Vexille severely wounds Skeat in the head, and Sir Guillaume is nearly killed by the English, though Thomas rescues him. Guy manages to escape, though not before he recognises Thomas.
+Afterward, the Earl of Northampton sets Sir Guillaume's ransom: he is to take the unresponsive Skeat to Mordechai in the forlorn hope he can be healed. If he cannot be cured, the earl expects Thomas to take his place next spring.
-Skeat is sent to Mordecai to recover and Sir Guillaume is set free to help him.
 == Characters in ''Harlequin'' ==
-* Thomas of Hookton - protagonist, illegitimate son of a priest, archer in the English army
+* Thomas of Hookton
-* Will Skeat - Thomas's friend and commander, a captain in the service of the Earl of Northampton
+* Will Skeat - Thomas's friend and leader, a mercenary captain in the service of the Earl of Northampton
 * [[William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton]] - English nobleman and military commander
-* Guy Vexille, Comte d'Astarac - Thomas's cousin, his father's murderer and the antagonist, the Harlequin
+* Guy Vexille, Count of Astarac
-* Sir Guillaume d'Evecque - French knight
+* Sir Guillaume d'Evecque
 * [[Edward, the Black Prince|Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales]] - heir to the English throne
-* [[Edward III of England|King Edward III of England]] - King of England and father of Edward of Woodstock
+* [[Edward III of England]] - King of England and father of Edward of Woodstock
-* Sir Simon Jekyll - Thomas's sworn enemy, a poor English knight
+* Sir Simon Jekyll
+* Jeanette
-* Jeanette - daughter of a rich Breton merchant, widow of the Count of Armorica
-* [[Charles I, Duke of Brittany|Charles of Blois, Duke of Brittany]] - Kidnapper of Jeanette's son
+* [[Charles I, Duke of Brittany|Charles of Blois, Duke of Brittany]]
+* Eleanor
-* Eleanor - Sir Guillaume's illegitimate daughter
-* [[Philip VI of France|King Philip VI of France]] - King of France
+* [[Philip VI of France]] - King of France
-* Ralph Vexille - Thomas's father and Guy's uncle, the priest in Hookton and a former madman
+* Ralph Vexille - Thomas's father and Guy's uncle
 {{reflist}}
 == References ==
-* {{cite web | title=Harlequin details | last= | first= | work=FantasticFiction | url=http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/bernard-cornwell/harlequin.htm  | date= | accessdate=2008-03-26 }}
+* {{cite web | title=Harlequin details | work=FantasticFiction | url=http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/bernard-cornwell/harlequin.htm  | access-date=2008-03-26 }}
-* {{cite web | title=Bernard Cornwell's biog | last= | first= | work=imdb | url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0180486/bio  | date= | accessdate=2008-03-26 }}
+* {{cite web | title=Bernard Cornwell's biog | work=imdb | url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0180486/bio  | access-date=2008-03-26 }}
-* {{cite web | title=Bernard Cornwell's official page on the title | last= | first= | work=bernardcornwell.net | url=http://www.bernardcornwell.net/index.cfm?page=2&BookId=33 | date= | accessdate=2008-03-26 | deadurl=yes | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071225035055/http://www.bernardcornwell.net/index.cfm?page=2&BookId=33 | archivedate=2007-12-25 | df= }}
+* {{cite web | title=Bernard Cornwell's official page on the title | work=bernardcornwell.net | url=http://www.bernardcornwell.net/index.cfm?page=2&BookId=33 | access-date=2008-03-26 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071225035055/http://www.bernardcornwell.net/index.cfm?page=2&BookId=33 | archive-date=2007-12-25 }}
 {{Bernard Cornwell}}
@@ Line 81: / Line 79: @@
 [[Category:2000 British novels]]
 [[Category:Thomas of Hookton novels]]
-[[Category:1340s in fiction]]
+[[Category:Novels set in the 1340s]]
-[[Category:Novels set in the 14th century]]
+[[Category:Novels set in Dorset]]
-[[Category:Edward III of England]]
+[[Category:Novels set in France]]
+[[Category:Cultural depictions of Edward III of England]]
 [[Category:Edward the Black Prince]]
+[[Category:Books with cover art by Paul Bacon]]
+[[Category:HarperCollins books]]
+[[Category:Harlequin]]
+[[Category:Hundred Years' War literature]]