The Squire's Tale

The Squire’s Tale (1998), a children’s fantasy novel by Gerald Morris, is the first in a popular ten-book series that reimagines Arthurian tales. The story is about a mysterious young orphan raised by a hermit. Terence becomes the squire to the young Sir Gawain of Orkney and goes on adventures with his new master. Along the way, they meet an eccentric cast of characters, become true friends, and discover the secret of Terence’s parentage.

The book begins as Terence meets Gawain in a clearing. Since Gawain raided one of Terence’s snares, Terence invites him back to the hermit’s house for a meal. The hermit, Trevisant, remembers the future as though it were his past, and remembers his past as if it is the future, so he already knows Terence leaves with Gawain. After dinner, a rude knight Hautubris interrupts, demanding their food. Gawain and the knight fight; Gawain kills Hautubris. Before they leave, Trevisant gives Gawain a boon: his strength will wax and wane with the sun
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Gawain and Terence ride on toward Camelot. Terence learns how to care for horses and armor, use a bow and arrows, horseback ride, and his other duties. Along the way, they find Tor, a prickly young man who is also traveling to Camelot to be knighted. However, when the three of them finally reach Camelot, they find the city making war preparations. Although Arthur has consolidated most of the kingdoms under his rule, there are still outliers who resist him. Chief among the rebels are the Five Kings, who have amassed an army to challenge Arthur for the throne.

Gawain is made a knight when Terence tells the king about how he defeated Sir Hautubris. The king gives Tor the opportunity to distinguish himself in the war to earn his own knighthood. Terence and Gawain join the war column, but Terence soon notices signals in the hills. Wary of ambush, Sir Kai, Gawain, Tor, and Terence slip away to investigate. Terence goes alone through the underbrush—he has faerie blood and a talent for sneaking up on things—and he meets Robin, a mischievous sprite who helps him to spoil the ambush plans. Terence steals a ring from the Five Kings, a ring that would give them a legitimate claim to the throne. He narrowly escapes, with the Kings in close pursuit. Kai, Gawain, and Tor dispatch the Kings, and the leaderless armies disband after pledging fealty to Arthur.



After the war, peace descends upon Camelot and Arthur weds Guinevere in a glittering, lavish ceremony. However, the wedding feast is interrupted by a huge white hart, pursued by an equally fine hound. The stag and hound wreck the hall before escaping. Then, an ugly hag rides into the hall after them, chiding them all—especially Gawain—for failing to recognize an adventure. Arthur assigns Gawain to pursue the hart, and Tor to find the hound.

When Gawain and Terence find the hart, it has already been killed by the pack of hounds Gawain brought to track the animals. Another knight sees the dead hart and kills the hounds, blaming Gawain for the stag’s death. He and Gawain fight, until a lady tearfully asks Gawain to spare the knight who is her lover. The knight puts the lady between himself and Gawain, and Gawain accidentally kills her. He makes the shameful knight bear the lady’s head to Arthur.

Meanwhile, Tor has found adventures of his own. When they catch up to him, they find that Tor has acquired a squire of his own (a dwarf named Plogun) and fought with a knight who yielded to him. However, a damsel wants Tor to kill the knight because he is a murderer. Tor is thus faced with a conundrum of honor—he is honor-bound to provide service for the lady, but it would be unchivalrous to kill a yielded opponent. The lady attacks the knight with a dagger, and when the knight tries to kill her, Tor chops off his head and gives it to the lady, commanding her to take it to Arthur and explain what happened.



Robin reappears, telling Terence that Gawain must take the advice of the next relative he meets to continue his quest. Shortly afterward, they meet Morgan, Gawain’s aunt, and the knight that she cursed, Sir Marhault. The three knights ride on to their next adventure and meet three questing damsels: an elderly woman, a middle-aged woman, and a girl of nineteen. Each knight chooses a lady and rides off with her. Gawain gets the youngest: a bloodthirsty, chattering girl who abandons him to ride off with another knight at the first opportunity.

They meet Nimue, the Lady of the Lake, during an adventure involving a knight madly in love with a lady who loves tormenting him. She takes them to the Otherworld where are given hospitality for the evening. Ganscotter warns Terence about an evil Enchantress who wants to be queen and who will kill any kings in her way. Ganscotter also tells Gawain that he will be given the title of The Maiden’s Knight, revealing that the hag who chided him at the beginning of the adventure of the hart and hound is his daughter, Lorie. They fall in love and she becomes young and beautiful. She asks him to choose her either beautiful or ugly, and Gawain defers the decision back to her. It is Gawain’s final test, and when he passes, the castle fades away. Terence and the heartbroken Gawain ride to their appointment with Tor and Marhault, and all the knights recount their adventures. Tor went with his lady to her home so she could train him how to fight and joust properly, and Marhault defeated a giant.

They return to Camelot to find Merlin gone, having ridden away with Nimue. Moreover, Arthur is ill. Terence suspects enchantment. In the dead of night, he and Gawain ride away from court to find the Enchantress, revealed to be Morgause, Gawain’s mother. Terence defeats her, and her spell on Arthur is broken. Robin returns to congratulate Terence, and to reveal that Ganscotter is his father. Instead of taking Ganscotter’s invitation to live in the Otherworld, Terence decides to remain in the mortal world and continue serving Gawain.



The book was a Mythopoeic Fantasy Award Nominee for Children’s Literature. Using Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, Morris rewrites Arthurian legends for a younger audience. Sometimes encountering situations where there is no easy answer, the heroes face tests of honor, chivalry, loyalty, and courtesy. With humor and empathy, he also rescues Sir Gawain’s reputation, which was historically sullied in order to promote Lancelot as the greatest hero.