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Knight's Fee
Hidden behind the battlements on the roof of the gatehouse crouched Randal the dog-boy, watching for the arrival of Hugh Goch, the new Lord of Arundel Castle. As the cavalcade approached the great gateway, a small thing happened; Randal dropped the fig he had been eating on to the nose of Hugh's mettlesome horse. It was this seemingly trivial incident that first set the boy, whose days had been spent among the castle hounds, on the path to a new life; it was the first step in his rise from dog-boy to knight--though the price he had to pay for this final honour was a heavy one.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
23 people are currently reading
775 people want to read
About the author
Rosemary Sutcliff
107 books680 followersRosemary Sutcliff, CBE (1920-1992) was a British novelist, best known as a writer of highly acclaimed historical fiction. Although primarily a children's author, the quality and depth of her writing also appeals to adults. She once commented that she wrote "for children of all ages, from nine to ninety."
Born in West Clandon, Surrey, Sutcliff spent her early youth in Malta and other naval bases where her father was stationed as a naval officer. She contracted Still's Disease when she was very young and was confined to a wheelchair for most of her life. Due to her chronic sickness, she spent the majority of her time with her mother, a tireless storyteller, from whom she learned many of the Celtic and Saxon legends that she would later expand into works of historical fiction. Her early schooling being continually interrupted by moving house and her disabling condition, Sutcliff didn't learn to read until she was nine, and left school at fourteen to enter the Bideford Art School, which she attended for three years, graduating from the General Art Course. She then worked as a painter of miniatures.
Rosemary Sutcliff began her career as a writer in 1950 with The Chronicles of Robin Hood. She found her voice when she wrote The Eagle of the Ninth in 1954. In 1959, she won the Carnegie Medal for The Lantern Bearers and was runner-up in 1972 with Tristan and Iseult. In 1974 she was highly commended for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. Her The Mark of the Horse Lord won the first Phoenix Award in 1985.
Sutcliff lived for many years in Walberton near Arundel, Sussex. In 1975 she was appointed OBE for services to Children's Literature and promoted to CBE in 1992. She wrote incessantly throughout her life, and was still writing on the morning of her death. She never married.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/rosema...
Born in West Clandon, Surrey, Sutcliff spent her early youth in Malta and other naval bases where her father was stationed as a naval officer. She contracted Still's Disease when she was very young and was confined to a wheelchair for most of her life. Due to her chronic sickness, she spent the majority of her time with her mother, a tireless storyteller, from whom she learned many of the Celtic and Saxon legends that she would later expand into works of historical fiction. Her early schooling being continually interrupted by moving house and her disabling condition, Sutcliff didn't learn to read until she was nine, and left school at fourteen to enter the Bideford Art School, which she attended for three years, graduating from the General Art Course. She then worked as a painter of miniatures.
Rosemary Sutcliff began her career as a writer in 1950 with The Chronicles of Robin Hood. She found her voice when she wrote The Eagle of the Ninth in 1954. In 1959, she won the Carnegie Medal for The Lantern Bearers and was runner-up in 1972 with Tristan and Iseult. In 1974 she was highly commended for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. Her The Mark of the Horse Lord won the first Phoenix Award in 1985.
Sutcliff lived for many years in Walberton near Arundel, Sussex. In 1975 she was appointed OBE for services to Children's Literature and promoted to CBE in 1992. She wrote incessantly throughout her life, and was still writing on the morning of her death. She never married.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/rosema...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
January 2, 2020
This book was such a pleasant surprise to me, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did! I was hooked right from the first page and absolutely loved the main character Randal. I couldn’t help but root for him the whole way through and it was so satisfying to see such a great ending for him! This is my favourite kind of book, the kind where you laugh and cheer for the characters and even shed a couple tears.
February 6, 2025
I started out this book liking it because it was a Sutcliff novel, but it felt very slow and not as interesting as many of her other books. One thing I did love from the beginning though, and perhaps it's something in all of her books, is how she won't go into detail about the big events of life but she'll poignantly and poetically describe the intricate details of the small moments. We won't see a huge battle, but we'll remember the way the moonlight was on the grass and the way the breeze sounded the night before we leave for war. In that eerie yet beautiful way she captures what's the most important memories to keep in life, and it's something that struck me again and again throughout this book.
This is also a fantastic underdog (no pun intended) tale of a nothing boy who sleeps with the dogs and acts like an animal and follows his journey as he becomes a squire. (I won't say more because spoilers). The way we get to see life during this turbulent time is masterfully written, and the ending of the book (while predicable) tugged at my heart strings in a very relatable yet painfully healing way. We see loss and change and circling back and the heartbreaking beauty of how life still goes on even when it feels like the world for us has ended.
All in all, this book won my heart in ways I did not expect. It's certainly not Sutcliff's greatest novel, but one I shall love and think about for a long, long time.
This is also a fantastic underdog (no pun intended) tale of a nothing boy who sleeps with the dogs and acts like an animal and follows his journey as he becomes a squire. (I won't say more because spoilers). The way we get to see life during this turbulent time is masterfully written, and the ending of the book (while predicable) tugged at my heart strings in a very relatable yet painfully healing way. We see loss and change and circling back and the heartbreaking beauty of how life still goes on even when it feels like the world for us has ended.
All in all, this book won my heart in ways I did not expect. It's certainly not Sutcliff's greatest novel, but one I shall love and think about for a long, long time.
January 9, 2013
Here I am again, reviewing a book written before I was born. This book was another of my finds via 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up. [NB: I continue to assume that I am not yet grown up, let alone old, despite evidence suggesting otherwise]. I find that I have read many of the more recent books suggested there, at least ones of the sort that interest me, because I have been working at the library for over ten years, and tend to read books as they come in to the library. Many others I read in my childhood. But the local library was small when I was a kid, and options were limited. Knight's Fee is another of those that I never saw when I was young.
Knight's Fee is set a scant generation after the Norman Conquest of England (1066, for any of you who haven't reached that point in your history classes yet). Randal, the protagonist, is the orphaned child of a Breton soldier and Saxon (i.e local) woman. He has no family nor is he of anything like noble blood. But by a series of chances, at age 10 he is taken from his job as dog boy and becomes the companion of Bevis d'Aguillon, Norman heir of a small English manor.
Randal's rise from lowest of the low to varlet (I think I would have said "page") and then Squire would be unbelievable, except that Sutcliff somehow makes it both inevitable and yet clearly a matter of great chance, a bit of luck the boy never forgets. Nor does Sufcliff hold back on the foreshadowing. From his first arrival at the holding of Dean (the d'Aguillon home), his sense of coming home is coupled with a sense of inevitable loss. We know this isn't going to end well for everyone.
Nor is Randal very old before a chance over-hearing leads him to make an enemy whose prediction--that he "one day will weep blood for this"--is kept close to the reader's mind as events unfold. Randal grows and becomes a squire; Bevis becomes a knight, as Randal, being poor and landless, cannot.
The conclusion is no surprise, but it is not disappointing. How Randal rises to meet each challenge, how he faces loss and gain, is really what makes the book. He could continue to always be a kennel-slave who happened to get away from it. But instead he truly becomes the knight and the lord when it is thrust upon him.
The style of the book is, as expected from something written more than 50 years ago, a bit dated. It won't read to a modern kid like they are used to (though I have trouble putting my finger on the difference--something of tone and style), and you don't end up as far inside Randal's head as we are accustomed to do with characters today. But for all that, the story is very satisfying, and presents a period of history, its people and politics, in a well-researched manner without ever seeming to be anything but a good story. Writing and editing are top-notch, and vocabulary does not talk down to the young reader.
Five Stars.
Knight's Fee is set a scant generation after the Norman Conquest of England (1066, for any of you who haven't reached that point in your history classes yet). Randal, the protagonist, is the orphaned child of a Breton soldier and Saxon (i.e local) woman. He has no family nor is he of anything like noble blood. But by a series of chances, at age 10 he is taken from his job as dog boy and becomes the companion of Bevis d'Aguillon, Norman heir of a small English manor.
Randal's rise from lowest of the low to varlet (I think I would have said "page") and then Squire would be unbelievable, except that Sutcliff somehow makes it both inevitable and yet clearly a matter of great chance, a bit of luck the boy never forgets. Nor does Sufcliff hold back on the foreshadowing. From his first arrival at the holding of Dean (the d'Aguillon home), his sense of coming home is coupled with a sense of inevitable loss. We know this isn't going to end well for everyone.
Nor is Randal very old before a chance over-hearing leads him to make an enemy whose prediction--that he "one day will weep blood for this"--is kept close to the reader's mind as events unfold. Randal grows and becomes a squire; Bevis becomes a knight, as Randal, being poor and landless, cannot.
The conclusion is no surprise, but it is not disappointing. How Randal rises to meet each challenge, how he faces loss and gain, is really what makes the book. He could continue to always be a kennel-slave who happened to get away from it. But instead he truly becomes the knight and the lord when it is thrust upon him.
The style of the book is, as expected from something written more than 50 years ago, a bit dated. It won't read to a modern kid like they are used to (though I have trouble putting my finger on the difference--something of tone and style), and you don't end up as far inside Randal's head as we are accustomed to do with characters today. But for all that, the story is very satisfying, and presents a period of history, its people and politics, in a well-researched manner without ever seeming to be anything but a good story. Writing and editing are top-notch, and vocabulary does not talk down to the young reader.
Five Stars.
June 19, 2021
As an extremely ailing child, Rosemary Sutcliff spent hours having stories read to her. She grew to love historic stories, ancient legends, and the works of Rudyard Kipling. She also painted, mostly scenes inspired by history. Sutcliff's incapacitating illness (a type of early onset arthritis) also meant a great deal of time spent sitting still, observing the land, animals, and people around her.
This close observation stood her in great stead when it came to writing fiction
The plot of this incredibly enjoyable novel unfolds, not long after the Norman invasion of England in 1066, when Norman lord Robert de Belleme is taking possession of his lands in England with his younger brother, Hugh Goch, newly made Lord of Arundel.
Randal, the half-Saxon, half Breton, a completely unwanted dog-boy at Arundel Castle, annoys Hugh, who sets out to torment him. Then Herluin, the puzzling minstrel, wagers Hugh a game of chess for the boy Herluin's elegance defeats Hugh's evil temper and Randal is left in the care of Herluin's old friend, becoming best friend and eventually squire to his grandson, Bevis.
Life in the lower ranks of chivalry is hazardous, however, predominantly if you have enemies.
The story of the two boys' developing companionship across such sweeping social divide and its heartbreaking end are expressively drawn. Sutcliff fills this book—as she does all her riveting stories—with fascinating historic fact and convincing detail about life in a long-gone era.
The mowbray revolt of 1095, as mentioned in this book, really did happen, and Hugh Goch was caught up in it, just as Sutcliff has told in Knight’s Fee.
All the other campaigns and rebellions in the background of the story are historical.
In 1094 there was a great rising of the Welsh, and in the next year William Rufus marched into North Wales, but the expedition had little effect; in 1096, having lent his brother, Duke Robert of Normandy, the money he needed to go on the First Crusade, he crossed the Channel to hold the Duchy while the Duke was away.
In the spring of 1097 more Welsh troubles called him back, and again he marched into Wales, but when the revolt died down in the autumn, he returned to Normandy and set himself to secure and make strong the Norman borders.
That done, he returned triumphantly to be crowned a second time in his new Westminster Hall. But less than a year later, on 2 August 1100, he was shot while hunting in the New Forest; and it was for his younger brother Henry to hold England.
Henry did not have an easy time, for Robert was back from his Crusade now, and wanted England as well as Normandy. He bought the allegiance of several of Henry’s greatest Barons with promises of lands in Normandy; and on 20 July 1101 landed at Portsmouth. On this occasion the two brothers came to terms without a battle.
Henry was to keep England but pay Robert £2000 a year, and Robert was to keep all Normandy save for Henry’s own castle of Domfront. Afterwards, Henry dealt with the Barons who had turned against him; and by spring 1102 it was Robert de Bellême’s turn, and the King drove him out of one after another of his English castles, and finally overseas.
Meanwhile, the people of Normandy who had been so glad to see Duke Robert back from his Crusade, were becoming sickened by his weakness and his cruelty; and they appealed to Henry to come and take the Duchy. In April 1105 Henry invaded in force, and though he had to draw off in August, in June of 1106 he invaded again, and in September the great battle of Tinchebrai was fought, which ended all Norman resistance to the English for a long while to come.
For the people mentioned in the novel, – most of them are real too, the greater folk anyway; de Braose and de Bellême and Hugh Goch; but not Herluin the Minstrel nor de Coucy nor Bevis nor Randal. D’Aguillon is not a real person but he comes of a real family; several d’Aguillons followed Duke William from Normandy, and by the time the Domesday Survey was made they were settled here and there right through Sussex.
Equally pleasurable are the careful descriptions of the rituals and rites of passage that marked a medieval boy's progress to the status of knighthood.
Among other things, the book teaches you the bonds of camaraderie and speaks of courage in the mouth of the most inflexible odds.
This close observation stood her in great stead when it came to writing fiction
The plot of this incredibly enjoyable novel unfolds, not long after the Norman invasion of England in 1066, when Norman lord Robert de Belleme is taking possession of his lands in England with his younger brother, Hugh Goch, newly made Lord of Arundel.
Randal, the half-Saxon, half Breton, a completely unwanted dog-boy at Arundel Castle, annoys Hugh, who sets out to torment him. Then Herluin, the puzzling minstrel, wagers Hugh a game of chess for the boy Herluin's elegance defeats Hugh's evil temper and Randal is left in the care of Herluin's old friend, becoming best friend and eventually squire to his grandson, Bevis.
Life in the lower ranks of chivalry is hazardous, however, predominantly if you have enemies.
The story of the two boys' developing companionship across such sweeping social divide and its heartbreaking end are expressively drawn. Sutcliff fills this book—as she does all her riveting stories—with fascinating historic fact and convincing detail about life in a long-gone era.
The mowbray revolt of 1095, as mentioned in this book, really did happen, and Hugh Goch was caught up in it, just as Sutcliff has told in Knight’s Fee.
All the other campaigns and rebellions in the background of the story are historical.
In 1094 there was a great rising of the Welsh, and in the next year William Rufus marched into North Wales, but the expedition had little effect; in 1096, having lent his brother, Duke Robert of Normandy, the money he needed to go on the First Crusade, he crossed the Channel to hold the Duchy while the Duke was away.
In the spring of 1097 more Welsh troubles called him back, and again he marched into Wales, but when the revolt died down in the autumn, he returned to Normandy and set himself to secure and make strong the Norman borders.
That done, he returned triumphantly to be crowned a second time in his new Westminster Hall. But less than a year later, on 2 August 1100, he was shot while hunting in the New Forest; and it was for his younger brother Henry to hold England.
Henry did not have an easy time, for Robert was back from his Crusade now, and wanted England as well as Normandy. He bought the allegiance of several of Henry’s greatest Barons with promises of lands in Normandy; and on 20 July 1101 landed at Portsmouth. On this occasion the two brothers came to terms without a battle.
Henry was to keep England but pay Robert £2000 a year, and Robert was to keep all Normandy save for Henry’s own castle of Domfront. Afterwards, Henry dealt with the Barons who had turned against him; and by spring 1102 it was Robert de Bellême’s turn, and the King drove him out of one after another of his English castles, and finally overseas.
Meanwhile, the people of Normandy who had been so glad to see Duke Robert back from his Crusade, were becoming sickened by his weakness and his cruelty; and they appealed to Henry to come and take the Duchy. In April 1105 Henry invaded in force, and though he had to draw off in August, in June of 1106 he invaded again, and in September the great battle of Tinchebrai was fought, which ended all Norman resistance to the English for a long while to come.
For the people mentioned in the novel, – most of them are real too, the greater folk anyway; de Braose and de Bellême and Hugh Goch; but not Herluin the Minstrel nor de Coucy nor Bevis nor Randal. D’Aguillon is not a real person but he comes of a real family; several d’Aguillons followed Duke William from Normandy, and by the time the Domesday Survey was made they were settled here and there right through Sussex.
Equally pleasurable are the careful descriptions of the rituals and rites of passage that marked a medieval boy's progress to the status of knighthood.
Among other things, the book teaches you the bonds of camaraderie and speaks of courage in the mouth of the most inflexible odds.
September 16, 2012
Decent, but not as gripping as other Sutcliff stories I've read. It's the story of how Randal, the orphan of a Breton knight and a Saxon woman, is rescued from his life as a dog-boy at age 10 and eventually becomes a knight himself, and of his close friendship with a Norman boy, Bevis.
It's also a story of how the Norman ruling class and Saxons came to have a common English identity. The climactic scene is the battle of Tenchebrai against the still-French Normans, which the English won by using some tactics that the Saxons had used at the Battle of Hastings. There are a lot of politics and allegiances and side-switching leading up to this battle, which Sutcliff has Randal overhear or learn about while he's growing up. She manages to make some of this fit in reasonably well with his own story, but I had to skim over a lot of it to keep myself interested.
The bits about Randal and Bevis being best best friends ever are adorable; I also liked Randal's relationship with all the dogs in the story, and the wise woman Ancret.
There's a somewhat predictable future-love-interest in the form of a cranky, lonely girl who also likes dogs, but she barely appears and has no real importance to the story apart from being future-love-interest. Randal meets her, argues with her, thinks "well that's an interesting and vexatious girl, now where's Bevis?" and that's really it. I wish she'd got to do something else.
Oh -- and after an early scene in which Randal and Bevis use a woman's size as an insult against her, Sutcliff partly makes up for it with this lovely sentence:
It's also a story of how the Norman ruling class and Saxons came to have a common English identity. The climactic scene is the battle of Tenchebrai against the still-French Normans, which the English won by using some tactics that the Saxons had used at the Battle of Hastings. There are a lot of politics and allegiances and side-switching leading up to this battle, which Sutcliff has Randal overhear or learn about while he's growing up. She manages to make some of this fit in reasonably well with his own story, but I had to skim over a lot of it to keep myself interested.
The bits about Randal and Bevis being best best friends ever are adorable; I also liked Randal's relationship with all the dogs in the story, and the wise woman Ancret.
There's a somewhat predictable future-love-interest in the form of a cranky, lonely girl who also likes dogs, but she barely appears and has no real importance to the story apart from being future-love-interest. Randal meets her, argues with her, thinks "well that's an interesting and vexatious girl, now where's Bevis?" and that's really it. I wish she'd got to do something else.
Oh -- and after an early scene in which Randal and Bevis use a woman's size as an insult against her, Sutcliff partly makes up for it with this lovely sentence:
She leaned quickly forward and took the packet from him, her plump face alight with eagerness -- for the marriage, made by Red William for his own ends, had grown to be a happy one, and the Lady Aanor, who had first come to Bramber riding her big white mare as lightly as a boy, was running to soft, sweet fat, like a full-blown rose in the sunshine.
March 27, 2019
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.
June 26, 2010
I LOVE Rosemary Sutcliff's writing. This book was amazing! It is definately going on my list of favorite works by her. My absolute favorite is still "The Mark of the Horse Lord" but this is close second. A very close second...
Randal is an orphan and a dog boy. For as long as he can remember he has been kicked around and tossed from one place to another. In twist of fate, his life suddenly gains some solidity after he accidentally drops a half eaten fig off a rampart and onto a horse carrying a very important man. His life is only spared after a minstrel wins Randal's life away from the lord in a chess game. He in turn passes Randal off to an honourable old knight who promises to raise Randal up alongside his grandson, Bevis. The two become best friends and share everything. The story follows Randal and Bevis from the age of ten to early twenties. They experience a range of emotions as life takes them through war, witch hunts, love, revenge, and learning what loyalty means. A GREAT read.
Recommended Titles:
"Blood Red Horse", while about the crusades, is set during the same time period as "Knight's Fee" and follows the same sort of learning curve that all squires and/or knights of the time would have experienced.
Although set about 700 years earlier, "The Mark of the Horse Lord" is another great piece of literature by Rosemary Sutcliff and gives more background about the "old" ways of England. Also a great story of coming into ones own.
Randal is an orphan and a dog boy. For as long as he can remember he has been kicked around and tossed from one place to another. In twist of fate, his life suddenly gains some solidity after he accidentally drops a half eaten fig off a rampart and onto a horse carrying a very important man. His life is only spared after a minstrel wins Randal's life away from the lord in a chess game. He in turn passes Randal off to an honourable old knight who promises to raise Randal up alongside his grandson, Bevis. The two become best friends and share everything. The story follows Randal and Bevis from the age of ten to early twenties. They experience a range of emotions as life takes them through war, witch hunts, love, revenge, and learning what loyalty means. A GREAT read.
Recommended Titles:
"Blood Red Horse", while about the crusades, is set during the same time period as "Knight's Fee" and follows the same sort of learning curve that all squires and/or knights of the time would have experienced.
Although set about 700 years earlier, "The Mark of the Horse Lord" is another great piece of literature by Rosemary Sutcliff and gives more background about the "old" ways of England. Also a great story of coming into ones own.
June 16, 2022
Rereading old favorites is a dangerous business, but I'm happy to say this one held up. It's a truly wonderful book. The characters are believable and memorable, the descriptions vivid, the story contemplative yet utterly captivating. The tension between Christianity and the Old Faith, never fully resolved, is particularly well done. And certain scenes... wow. Sutcliff is an incredible writer.
I have loved this book since I first read it as a child, and I love it still. Highly recommended.
I have loved this book since I first read it as a child, and I love it still. Highly recommended.
February 13, 2017
This was quite good, though I'm afraid I became bored for a short while near the end.
September 23, 2016
I love Rosemary Sutcliffe's writing, and I love knights. I especially love this tale set in Norman England, with it's complexities of class, power and war. What I loved most about this story was that it is a tale of friendship between two boys and their coming of age in 11th century Briton, as well as the coming of age of England itself. Sutcliffe's novels can be read by early reading young people, teenagers or adults with ease as they contain great details and dialogue, only suggest violence and have no inappropriate content. I think it could be read aloud to 6-7 year olds, or read by advanced readers 7 year olds and up. It describes a time of the 'old religion' before England became a Christian country, yet there are no frightening pagan or spiritualist themes to worry parents. This book gives a lovely overview and insight into a time of history as well as introducing themes of friendship, responsibility, human value and the power of class to restrict it.
June 19, 2021
This book made me cry. It really did and despite the fact I am a very emotional person I don't cry in every book which makes this special. There is something so familiar about this book. I long to curl up in a chair and reread it and experience it all again. Wonderful characters, excellently drawn setting, wonderful historical detail. Rosemary Sutcliff does it again!
December 2, 2008
One can really see why so many current novelists cite Sutcliffe as an inspiration. The healing woman, the child destined for glory, the single evil villian who constantly reappears - it's all here.
December 23, 2019
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.
January 29, 2024
AO Y7✔️
Amazingly fantastic! I love finding books that I never knew I always loved 😍
Amazingly fantastic! I love finding books that I never knew I always loved 😍
April 5, 2011
Knight’s Fee was an effective period-based novel because not only does it include actual events and historical facts from the period, it can also double as a medieval-esque torture device.
This novel had a few saving graces. One of which is Sutcliff’s meticulous attention to detail as it relates to life during the Norman period. Following Randal’s progression from hound-boy to knight, while not enthralling, was at least instructional. Loyalty was valued and an important part of working relationships within this world. The protagonist Randal is described as being faithful. When he is rewarded because of his actions at the end of the novel, he is praised and told, “He who keeps faith in one thing, even to the breaking of his heart, is like to keep it in all” (265).
As it was written for young adults, Sutcliff uses similes and emotions that are relatable to readers that age. Randal was consistently compared to the dogs that he so closely identified with. Sutcliff writes, again tying in the theme of loyalty, “Herluin had said once that Randal had lived with hounds so long that, together with most their faults, he had learned their chief value of faithfulness” (262). While I did not enjoy reading Knight’s Fee, I will admit that I see its value.
From a critical standpoint, Knight’s Fee was too dry and did not include enough action. If I struggled to get through it, I honestly do not know how a young adult would have the patience or interest. The main character had no real personality of his own, instead he was constantly objectified, by both the characters and the author. Herluin plays a game of chess for the boy. Sutcliff (quite literally) throws his personality to the dogs. The boy is constantly having the world around him forced on him. He did not move the plot, the plot moved on its own and, like a lazy river, Randal floated slowly down it for 285 pages. Occasionally he would hit a minor rapid or be turned around in an eddy, but through it all he was utterly helpless and hopelessly boring. Perhaps if Sutcliff had included a waterfall or two, or had given him a small paddleboat, the story would have taken on new life and meaning. Unfortunately however, she did not, and the story was about as interesting as a textbook…possibly even less.
This novel had a few saving graces. One of which is Sutcliff’s meticulous attention to detail as it relates to life during the Norman period. Following Randal’s progression from hound-boy to knight, while not enthralling, was at least instructional. Loyalty was valued and an important part of working relationships within this world. The protagonist Randal is described as being faithful. When he is rewarded because of his actions at the end of the novel, he is praised and told, “He who keeps faith in one thing, even to the breaking of his heart, is like to keep it in all” (265).
As it was written for young adults, Sutcliff uses similes and emotions that are relatable to readers that age. Randal was consistently compared to the dogs that he so closely identified with. Sutcliff writes, again tying in the theme of loyalty, “Herluin had said once that Randal had lived with hounds so long that, together with most their faults, he had learned their chief value of faithfulness” (262). While I did not enjoy reading Knight’s Fee, I will admit that I see its value.
From a critical standpoint, Knight’s Fee was too dry and did not include enough action. If I struggled to get through it, I honestly do not know how a young adult would have the patience or interest. The main character had no real personality of his own, instead he was constantly objectified, by both the characters and the author. Herluin plays a game of chess for the boy. Sutcliff (quite literally) throws his personality to the dogs. The boy is constantly having the world around him forced on him. He did not move the plot, the plot moved on its own and, like a lazy river, Randal floated slowly down it for 285 pages. Occasionally he would hit a minor rapid or be turned around in an eddy, but through it all he was utterly helpless and hopelessly boring. Perhaps if Sutcliff had included a waterfall or two, or had given him a small paddleboat, the story would have taken on new life and meaning. Unfortunately however, she did not, and the story was about as interesting as a textbook…possibly even less.
January 25, 2011
Knight's Fee by Rosemary Sutcliff
Knight's Fee is perfect, but only if you need a cure for insomnia or would like to commit reader's suicide. After one unlucky moment involving a dropped apple, a mere dog-boy Randal finds himself being dragged to a cruel whipping. The visiting minstrel spared him, changed his luck and secured a new life for Randal in a new village. In his new home, Randal had to make friends with Bevis, then learn to be a good squire. The reader watches Randal advance from a mere dog-boy to a land-owning knight, but not without witnessing the twisted motives and heartache caused by society's desire to advance ranks. Rosemary Sutcliff has definitely done her research of the medieval time period thoroughly, which is all too evident in her detail-filled yet snail-paced and frequently interrupted plot. The historic details could have been very interesting if she had not flooded my brain immediately with famous names that did not influence the plot in even the slightest degree. Accompanying a British history course, this book would be a great supplemental tool to add cultural details, but only after a thorough debriefing on political goings-on of medieval Britain.
Knight's Fee is perfect, but only if you need a cure for insomnia or would like to commit reader's suicide. After one unlucky moment involving a dropped apple, a mere dog-boy Randal finds himself being dragged to a cruel whipping. The visiting minstrel spared him, changed his luck and secured a new life for Randal in a new village. In his new home, Randal had to make friends with Bevis, then learn to be a good squire. The reader watches Randal advance from a mere dog-boy to a land-owning knight, but not without witnessing the twisted motives and heartache caused by society's desire to advance ranks. Rosemary Sutcliff has definitely done her research of the medieval time period thoroughly, which is all too evident in her detail-filled yet snail-paced and frequently interrupted plot. The historic details could have been very interesting if she had not flooded my brain immediately with famous names that did not influence the plot in even the slightest degree. Accompanying a British history course, this book would be a great supplemental tool to add cultural details, but only after a thorough debriefing on political goings-on of medieval Britain.
February 19, 2025
Knight's Fee is the story of a boy, Randal, with no family who cares for and lives with the dogs in the earliest days of England as a united country. He accidentally drops a half-eaten pear onto the lord of the castle, and he is almost flogged to death until a minstrel takes pity on him and offers the lord a wager the lord can't resist.
Knight's Fee is a book that took me a good three chapters to get into, and, even then, parts of it were hard going because of the vocabulary of the times. Once I got into it, though, I could not put it down.
In some important ways, this story reminded me of The Little White Horse, another 1001 Kids book. Both books explore the idea of home, and both books see the process is rooted in an almost mystical experience. Both books also explore the idea of kinship and friendship, and, again, both books see that process is rooted in an almost mystical experience as well.
A 1001 Children's Book You Must Read.
Knight's Fee is a book that took me a good three chapters to get into, and, even then, parts of it were hard going because of the vocabulary of the times. Once I got into it, though, I could not put it down.
In some important ways, this story reminded me of The Little White Horse, another 1001 Kids book. Both books explore the idea of home, and both books see the process is rooted in an almost mystical experience. Both books also explore the idea of kinship and friendship, and, again, both books see that process is rooted in an almost mystical experience as well.
A 1001 Children's Book You Must Read.
September 19, 2021
Beautifully written; there is something timeless in this simple but very moving tale and ultimately it is a wonderful meditation on life and its cycles, of what is important and worthwhile. I found it heartwarming, heartbreaking, and full of subtle, invaluable life lessons. My first Sutcliff book, I loved every page and didn’t want it to end, but the ending is perfect. My Sutcliff journey has begun!
January 28, 2026
This is a reread for me but it’s been long enough that I don’t remember most of the details.
CCs:
Worldview:
There is a tension between “The Old Faith” of pagan worship distilled down through Iceni and Saxon influences and the “new” Christianity that was spreading slowly through England. Some traditional practices and festivities of the Old Faith were still celebrated, and sometimes beliefs mixed together (ex—making a sign of the Cross after taking about the Evil Eye) as the people waded through sorting out truth from superstition; William the Red was alleged to have been of the Old Faith and also suspected to have been the “sacrificial king” required to usher in the new generation/era; a healer woman who also follows the Old Faith is the subject of a witch hunt by a mob of alleged believers, led by a “friar”; a few characters seem to possess foresight to a certain measure, one woman correctly prophesies questions pertaining to a battle and accurately predicts that Randal will be a knight.
Romance :
A handful of brief events occur to indicate a probable relationship between Gisella and Randal, but there’s nothing physical that occurs, more like a lot of fighting than anything romantic; the extent of tenderness between them is when Gisella gifts Randal a token of a rosemary branch before he goes to his first battle and he keeps it in a pouch around his neck with his other most treasured possession.
Foul language: one of Randal’s known names was “the Bastard”; the Lord’s name is taken in vain as angry exclamations; h—l; a cook complains about the s—ts who have bad work habits as kitchen staff; b—ch is used in its original context to refer to a female dog;
Disturbing/Violence: the man who “raised” Randal whipped him as a disciplinary tactic; as a boy of about 10 yo Randal has been used to being kicked by others; Randal is publicly beaten by Hugh Goch during a party and comes close to being whipped almost to death (ultimately he isn’t whipped in this scene but the threat is written out); others see the striped condition of Randal’s back from past whippings; Bevis beats Randal bloody during a fight over their friendship; Randal is “sold” to the winner of a chess game between two grown men; a dogfight occurs and Randal inserts himself into it to stop another character from being harmed, sustaining injuries to himself.
Deceit/Theft:
Randal’s other name is “the Thief” since he steals his provisions, having no other supply of them; Randal steals Bevis’ most precious possession in a fit of humiliated anger; a character assuming the clothing of a friar riles up a mob into a frenzied witch hunt with the intent to kill;
Death: the main character’s mother died in childbirth and father died in war when Randal was four years old; Hugh Goch is said to have been killed in battle being shot through the eye; during a witch hunt confrontation, the false friar attacks and (ultimately) mortally wounds Sir Everard, who succumbs to his wound about a year later; his murderer is revealed during the fight by Randal, who marks the murderer’s face with sword cuts; Bevis is mortally wounded during battle and dies in Randall’s arms; a plot that runs for most of the story is that of Randal overhearing plots against the king at the time and keeps the information to himself for several years before he weaponizes it against one of the conspirators, a greedy thief, as blackmail, earning the murderous hatred of the man he was trying to blackmail; Randal avenges Bevis by killing Thiebault de Coucy, a traitor and lying murderer who was responsible for Sir Everard’s death and now Bevis’; an old dog is suspected to have been intentionally put out of its misery by another character to relieve its grieving its master.
If you’re here from the Reshelving Alexandria 52 Book Challenge 2026, the list below has categories this book would fit into:
2. A story with forgiveness after a great betrayal
3. A book with a person who chose mercy over revenge
4. A story with friendship between unlikely people
5. A book with a character who rescues someone in danger
10. A book with an unlikely hero who helps others
15. A book with a teacher who changes lives
16. A story with a character who chooses honesty when lying would be easier
17. A book with a character who stands up for the powerless
18. A novel about second chances
19. A story with kindness across cultural or racial lines
22. A novel where an enemy becomes a friend
23. A story with a foster or adopted child
24. A book with a character who stands up for someone being bullied
30. A story about building a legacy for the world that follows after us
33. A book with a primarily blue and white cover
34. A book with empathy across political or ideological differences
35. A book about foresight, responsibility, and the effort to avert harm
39. A novel with kindness in a harsh setting
43. A book with protecting children in crisis
44. A story with helping someone who can never repay you
45. A novel where love is proven through action, not words
47. A story with choosing responsibility over comfort
48. A novel with hope in hopeless circumstances
49. A book with a moral choice that costs everything
51. A novel with a character who becomes a better human
52. A book that left you believing more in humanity
CCs:
Worldview:
There is a tension between “The Old Faith” of pagan worship distilled down through Iceni and Saxon influences and the “new” Christianity that was spreading slowly through England. Some traditional practices and festivities of the Old Faith were still celebrated, and sometimes beliefs mixed together (ex—making a sign of the Cross after taking about the Evil Eye) as the people waded through sorting out truth from superstition; William the Red was alleged to have been of the Old Faith and also suspected to have been the “sacrificial king” required to usher in the new generation/era; a healer woman who also follows the Old Faith is the subject of a witch hunt by a mob of alleged believers, led by a “friar”; a few characters seem to possess foresight to a certain measure, one woman correctly prophesies questions pertaining to a battle and accurately predicts that Randal will be a knight.
Romance :
A handful of brief events occur to indicate a probable relationship between Gisella and Randal, but there’s nothing physical that occurs, more like a lot of fighting than anything romantic; the extent of tenderness between them is when Gisella gifts Randal a token of a rosemary branch before he goes to his first battle and he keeps it in a pouch around his neck with his other most treasured possession.
Foul language: one of Randal’s known names was “the Bastard”; the Lord’s name is taken in vain as angry exclamations; h—l; a cook complains about the s—ts who have bad work habits as kitchen staff; b—ch is used in its original context to refer to a female dog;
Disturbing/Violence: the man who “raised” Randal whipped him as a disciplinary tactic; as a boy of about 10 yo Randal has been used to being kicked by others; Randal is publicly beaten by Hugh Goch during a party and comes close to being whipped almost to death (ultimately he isn’t whipped in this scene but the threat is written out); others see the striped condition of Randal’s back from past whippings; Bevis beats Randal bloody during a fight over their friendship; Randal is “sold” to the winner of a chess game between two grown men; a dogfight occurs and Randal inserts himself into it to stop another character from being harmed, sustaining injuries to himself.
Deceit/Theft:
Randal’s other name is “the Thief” since he steals his provisions, having no other supply of them; Randal steals Bevis’ most precious possession in a fit of humiliated anger; a character assuming the clothing of a friar riles up a mob into a frenzied witch hunt with the intent to kill;
Death: the main character’s mother died in childbirth and father died in war when Randal was four years old; Hugh Goch is said to have been killed in battle being shot through the eye; during a witch hunt confrontation, the false friar attacks and (ultimately) mortally wounds Sir Everard, who succumbs to his wound about a year later; his murderer is revealed during the fight by Randal, who marks the murderer’s face with sword cuts; Bevis is mortally wounded during battle and dies in Randall’s arms; a plot that runs for most of the story is that of Randal overhearing plots against the king at the time and keeps the information to himself for several years before he weaponizes it against one of the conspirators, a greedy thief, as blackmail, earning the murderous hatred of the man he was trying to blackmail; Randal avenges Bevis by killing Thiebault de Coucy, a traitor and lying murderer who was responsible for Sir Everard’s death and now Bevis’; an old dog is suspected to have been intentionally put out of its misery by another character to relieve its grieving its master.
If you’re here from the Reshelving Alexandria 52 Book Challenge 2026, the list below has categories this book would fit into:
2. A story with forgiveness after a great betrayal
3. A book with a person who chose mercy over revenge
4. A story with friendship between unlikely people
5. A book with a character who rescues someone in danger
10. A book with an unlikely hero who helps others
15. A book with a teacher who changes lives
16. A story with a character who chooses honesty when lying would be easier
17. A book with a character who stands up for the powerless
18. A novel about second chances
19. A story with kindness across cultural or racial lines
22. A novel where an enemy becomes a friend
23. A story with a foster or adopted child
24. A book with a character who stands up for someone being bullied
30. A story about building a legacy for the world that follows after us
33. A book with a primarily blue and white cover
34. A book with empathy across political or ideological differences
35. A book about foresight, responsibility, and the effort to avert harm
39. A novel with kindness in a harsh setting
43. A book with protecting children in crisis
44. A story with helping someone who can never repay you
45. A novel where love is proven through action, not words
47. A story with choosing responsibility over comfort
48. A novel with hope in hopeless circumstances
49. A book with a moral choice that costs everything
51. A novel with a character who becomes a better human
52. A book that left you believing more in humanity
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 15, 2022
This book was superb. I've read one of Sutcliff's books before, but this one amazed me with how much I loved it. This book tells the story of a boy growing to be a man in late 11th century England. The period is fascinating to me, being the mingling of the Anglo-Saxon culture with the newly ascendant Norman. But was this a neat and ordered process? Of course not. I know not all the history of this period, so it is challenging for me to know how accurate the author's details are here, but it has the feeling and richness of truth. I breathed ancient England air while I read this and was simply delighted by the story that Sutcliff told here. Her writing style is sublime and I could read pages and pages and pages of her descriptive passages. I wish I could have walked the fields of long ago Sussex and laid my eyes upon the pasturelands and rolling green country. Alas that I cannot. But...this book was almost as good? At first I felt the characterization was a touch weak and artificial but in actuality? It just took a while for me to understand the characters and understood their world as they did and see through their eyes. I wish I could read this book again for the first time, but I suppose I will have to settle for re-reading it again often. As I surely will. This book is not just happy and joyous and peaceful. There is treachery and war and sorrow and pain. But there is also beauty. There is also joy. There are moments of wonder and bliss. And so when reading, my heart sang.
May 22, 2023
Amblesideonline Year 7
I really loved living in the world of Saxons and Normans, squires and knights for these past 2 weeks. This is a story of honor, duty, loyalty, devoted friendship, courage, and forgiveness; a story that I always crave but rarely find. I was confused by some of the historical politics and names, but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the story at all. I’ll probably find a corresponding chapter from Our Island Story to have my kids skim over for the background. I know they’ll all love it. Even if they get teary-eyed as much as I have.
Also, I’ve now ordered another half dozen of Rosemary Sutcliff’s books, they definitely need a home in my family library.
Notes for myself: Historical background: quick review together of Battle of Hastings, skim chapters 26-28 of Our Island Story. From The Penguin Atlas of British and Irish History: Pages 72 (the blurb The Norman conquest of England), map on page 73, and The Disputed Succession section pages 74-75.
I really loved living in the world of Saxons and Normans, squires and knights for these past 2 weeks. This is a story of honor, duty, loyalty, devoted friendship, courage, and forgiveness; a story that I always crave but rarely find. I was confused by some of the historical politics and names, but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the story at all. I’ll probably find a corresponding chapter from Our Island Story to have my kids skim over for the background. I know they’ll all love it. Even if they get teary-eyed as much as I have.
Also, I’ve now ordered another half dozen of Rosemary Sutcliff’s books, they definitely need a home in my family library.
Notes for myself: Historical background: quick review together of Battle of Hastings, skim chapters 26-28 of Our Island Story. From The Penguin Atlas of British and Irish History: Pages 72 (the blurb The Norman conquest of England), map on page 73, and The Disputed Succession section pages 74-75.
Read
September 8, 2023Beautifully told tale of friendship, harmony, love...hardship, discord, betrayal and so much more...
Rosemary Sutcliffe is one of my favourites. She writes for young people and adults with lovely descriptions of the Areas surrounding the action with such detail that there is a feeling of "you are there" throughout all her books.
I love the complex characters and relationships she develops in her writing that accentuates the tales' settings and ebents.
I just love her books...one learns so much about the eras she covers the language used and the locations where the stories take place.
I love her books.
Rosemary Sutcliffe is one of my favourites. She writes for young people and adults with lovely descriptions of the Areas surrounding the action with such detail that there is a feeling of "you are there" throughout all her books.
I love the complex characters and relationships she develops in her writing that accentuates the tales' settings and ebents.
I just love her books...one learns so much about the eras she covers the language used and the locations where the stories take place.
I love her books.
June 16, 2017
Out of sight of the patrolling sentinels, Randal sits on the gatehouse roof. The orphan is more at home with the hounds he tends, but he yearns to see the new Lord arrive at Arundel Castle. As he leans over the battlements to watch the procession, a fig slips from Randal's hand and lands right on the nose of Hugh Goch's horse. The accident is small, but it will change Randal's entire life.
Another underrated Rosemary Sutcliff historical novel. She is so good; especially if you enjoy novels set in medieval Britain.
Another underrated Rosemary Sutcliff historical novel. She is so good; especially if you enjoy novels set in medieval Britain.
December 7, 2018
This novel was our fist experience with Rosemary Sutcliff and we were not disappointed! There is such feeling and experience in her writing, and it makes you want to read more or her works. We chose this story to supplement our son’s history studies and it was a fantastic addition. There is always something special about “older” writing and its simple but classic nature.
May 21, 2019
This book was classified as a children's book but it I thought it was a good read for adults too, especially if you're interested in medieval English history. It was actually pretty historically accurate which is kind of rare in fiction books.
April 18, 2022
Family read-aloud. A hard, sad, beautiful story with a hopeful ending. I thought it might be too depressing for the kids, but one of them immediately asked for a sequel when we finished, and said he really liked it.
August 25, 2018
One of my favourite Sutcliffes so far. On the lighter side and for younger readers, but still good depth of characters and story.
April 5, 2020
Actually cried at the end of this one.
September 19, 2022
Rosemary Sutcliff never disappoints. Beautiful and heart-wrenching historical fiction set in the years following the Norman conquest.
December 14, 2022
I liked this book. When you finish a chapter, you are already in the next.
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