The Hawk of May

by Ann Lawrence, Shirley Felts (Illustrator)

Genres: Fantasy

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Ann (Margaret) Lawrence was born in England in 1942. She wrote more than fifteen highly original fantasy novels and collections of stories for children, including The Hawk of May, which was highly commended for the Guardian Award.

Since her tragically early death in 1987 her work has continued to gain in reputation and has been published in the USA, Germany, Sweden and Japan.

Reviews

[Capn · Rating 5 out of 5]

"All I require is the answer to a question. If Sir Gawain can give me the right answer, let him be deemed innocent. If not, his life is forfeit."
Grim Gormsson had arrived at King Arthur's New Year Court and accused the King's nephew, Sir Gawain, of extremely dishonourable conduct. Gawain could not defend himself by relating what had really happened, because he'd promised he wouldn't. The only way for him to prove that the dreadful charge was false was by ordeal - and the test was set by Grim.
And the question? What is it that women most desire?
Gawain has a year to answer. As he collected replies he found himself exposed to great temptations; all of which would allow him to escape what seemed to him an inevitable fate and let him live.
But to fail - either by not arriving at court or by not answering correctly - would plunge the country immediately into strife and misery, undoing all the good King Arthur had achieved.
Yet the hardest test of all came when, offered the right answer to his riddle, Gawain had to undergo in exchange an ordeal so bizarre and unlikely that more than any other it put his chivalry truly to the test.
Jacket design and illustrations by Shirley Felts

If you haven't heard of the excellent Ann Lawrence before, it might be because she died rather suddenly at a relatively young age. But not before writing some very good books - Tom Ass; or, The Second Gift, Between the Forest and the Hills, The Good Little Devil, THE CONJUROR'S BOX, etc.,... but it's this one, The Hawk of May, which seemed to get the most accolades. It took me awhile to find a copy of it.

I'm really NOT the person who should be reviewing this book. I don't know a thing about the Arthurian legend, really, apart from the names of the principal players and a little about Merlin and his life, and that's mostly tangential - I'm a huge fan of The Dark Is Rising Sequence, and so picked up some incidental knowledge via Merriman et al.. I knew of Gawain, but I don't know much about his purported history. So I can't, unfortunately, tell you if Lawrence has taken the mythology of Gawain in a completely new direction here, or has built upon the usual narrative, or what. I feel unequal to the task.

The summary above (the inside flap) is spoiler-rich, which I hate, but lays bare the plot of this story. To me, the untutored-in-classics-and-history-and-literature reader, this felt an awful lot more akin to the HBO series of A Game of Thrones than I would have liked (I enjoyed that series, but, oof, the stress!). Lawrence was brilliant, though - she can have you smirking and giggling in spite of horrific injustices and seriously uncomfortable situations without making light of the subject matter. So I summarized the first chapter as a cross between that scene in Jeeves and Wooster* where Pauline Stoker is found in Bertie's bed wearing his heliotrope pyjamas (and hilarious panic ensues), and 'The Red Wedding' or some build-up to it involving Walder Frey (or maybe Craster) in A Game of Thrones (*I have read all the Jeeves stories, but have watched the Fry & Laurie series since and this has supplanted the text version in my brain, it seems).

So we have Gawain, the good and gallant and prominent, being framed for what amounts to sexual assault, and all for some very complex political reasons. And because he is stubbornly good and honourable and decent, he's going to lose his head for the sake of the moral right.

The next chapter was to introduce all the players at court: Arthur, Gwynevere, Bishop Baldwin, Duke Cador of Cornwall (and family), King Urien of Rheged (who is married to Morgan le Fay), Sir Kay the seneschal, Sir Bedwyr the King's captain, Gawain's brothers (Agravain, Gaheris and Gareth, all Princes of Orkney), Ywain his cousin (and son of King Urien), and Percy (Perceval) who is the son of the dowager Queen Elaine. We have this statement:

(Queen Morgan too is conspicuously absent. It is six months since the failure of her plot to assassinate her husband and King Arthur and put her young lover Accolon on her brother's throne. The manner of her escape and her present whereabouts are still unknown. Queen Morgause of Orkney and Lothian has never appeared at her brother's court, and so is never missed)

I have issues with too many characters in a story. I don't think Lawrence could, in fact, leave any of these guys out. It is a bit like A Game of Thrones that way, too - lots of moving pieces, lots of claims to fealty and thrones and dynasties, etc. But I felt well over my head with the comment about Morgan le Fay - she did what?! Holy crap! And that's all we're going to hear about it?! I . . . I might need to do some reading on Wikipedia or something. Yikes.

There are more characters, of course, as the story unfolds - Gawain's sister Florei is an interesting one, and then there's Gudrun, his accuser, and several other women of varying ages and stations. Some more men, too - a hermit, and another more... mythological. And a disembodied Merlin, but I knew that bit of the legend already. And the faithful steed, Gwyngaled, and equally faithful dog, Gelert, which sounds as if he's a red setter or early precursor of the breed.

What I disliked about this story is the personal injustice that Gawain bravely faces. It's awful. Imagine being wrongfully accused of rape and being executed for it (sadly, it happens...). Gawain can't be pardoned, or there will be an uprising against Arthur in re: nepotism and injustice for the poor. Gawain, it turns out, can't even be afforded a truly fair trial, either, being the King's nephew - anything can be seen as leniency, and so, for the sake of the kingdom (and his honour and the moral right), he's effectively condemned. He's got a year left to live, though, because of the conditions of the 'ordeal' that the accuser's father has laid. It's basically a guess-the-password-or-die sentence, and no one holds any hope that he's going to guess the solution, including Gawain.

So off he goes, and the year passes swiftly, but as you can imagine it isn't a very comfortable one for Gawain, who begins to avoid civilization (for obvious reasons). Here there are some interesting events and chance (or fated) meetings, and some references to mythology that whooshed right over my head (again, I don't really feel up to the task of reviewing this! If you're well versed in the Arthurian Legend, please read this and review it fully - I'll probably learn something!).

I hesitate to categorize this book as 'fantasy' - it's hard when it comes to mythology, anyway, but there isn't a great deal of magic involved in this particular story, although there is some (and I didn't really anticipate it until it happened).

I am loathe to give any more information away - I didn't know if Gawain was going to live or be executed at the end of the book - and what happened after that I hadn't heard of before (again, I'm NOT the person to be reviewing this in full!). So I don't even know if it was entirely Lawrence's creation or if she was working from an existing framework or what.

The other big thread in this book, which is very cool considering it is unfolding in parallel to a fradulent charge of sexual assault against a blameless man, is the feminist narrative of "what a woman most desires". And again, Lawrence is amusing, so there is plenty of room for levity in that, but also, of course, some tragedy, much oppression, and the usual crap women have to deal with in a male-centric society. Interestingly, too, we have the contrast of the Cornish women, i.e. Morgan le Fay's bloodlines (incl. Gawain's sister Florei), who do not seem to lack power or influence, but who are somewhat (or completely, depending on the individual in question) villainous. There's a lot to pick apart here - again, someone with a background in Women's Studies would be a better reviewer than myself! All I can say is that, like all good books, it foments further reflection.

I've given this 5 full stars, because, man, Lawrence - I think she was extremely gifted. It was an absorbing read, somewhat disquieting at times, and I was left thinking I'll have to (and would like to) re-read this sometime in the future, especially if I read anything more on the Arthurian front (and I have a few books lined up that likely have some relevant content).

[Candy Wood]

Published in 1980 and apparently never reprinted even though it was nominated for the Guardian Children's Fiction Award, this is an utterly delightful retelling of the story of Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady. Realistic details of medieval clothing, households, and customs make the fantasy elements seem more matter-of-fact, the characters seem more real than in a sword-and-sorcery novel. What makes it a children's book? It's only 192 pages, with some black-and-white illustrations that don't add a lot, but the characters are almost all adults, and the basic situation (Gawain is accused of rape) is certainly adult. It was published by Macmillan Children's Books, though, so it must be one. Mustn't it? Typically for Ann Lawrence, a gentle humor adds to the familiar story. I especially like the hermit who gets Gawain drunk and almost tricks him into taking over the hermit role (which seems to involve making up rhymes about the weather and folk remedies). But how anyone might actually read the book except in a collection like the British Library's, I don't know--most of the used copies offered on Amazon UK have been weeded from public libraries. I recommend it anyway!

[Katharine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rereading an old favourite can be dangerous but this didn't disappoint. A lovely reworking of the story of Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady which broadens it out to include the politics of King Arthur's court and the scheming of his sisters. Sir Gawain is a gorgeous hero and everyone else is nicely drawn. The writing veers between a mythical quest, fairytale romance and some lovely humorous touches. A shame this book isn't better known or more widely available.

[Elissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The parts where Gawain actually spent time among women, working and helping them seemed really cut short, it also really needed more Ragnelle
and of course its all Morgan's fault! *sighs heavily*
I guess Ann Lawrence tried to take some inspiration from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight here - not sure why she felt the need to