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Sir Nigel and the White Company
La guardia blanca
La Guardia Blanca es una novela histórica de Arthur Conan Doyle que sucede durante la Guerra de los Cien Años en países como Inglaterra, Francia y España.
285 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1891
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About the author
Arthur Conan Doyle
15.8k books24.4k followersSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.
Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.
Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.
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January 25, 2020
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's household-word fame today, of course, is as the creator of iconic fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. His science fiction novels and stories were also popular in his day, and remain influential in that genre. But he was personally proudest of his achievements as a historical novelist, and this is his best known work of that type. I actually first ran across it in my school library in junior high school, and read into Chapter 12 at that time. But then I graduated; and while my intention at the time was to obtain another copy elsewhere and continue the read, that plan got sidetracked and eventually relegated to the back burner, though never abandoned. Recently, I came back to the book after a lapse of over 50 years, and read it cover-to-cover. Having now done so, I can say that I have to agree with Doyle's own assessment, at least to the degree that this is my favorite among his novels that I've read so far (and those include all four of the Holmes novels!).
The setting here is the Middle Ages (one of my favorite periods for historical fiction!), specifically 1366-67, during the Hundred Year's War. At that particular moment, however, the English vs. French conflict was in a truce state, although feudal wars between barons and the depredations of outlaws and unemployed mercenary bands kept France in a parlous condition. For the characters here, the immediate call to arms and occasion for military adventure is the campaign of the Black Prince to restore the ousted Pedro the Cruel to the throne of Castile, in the western part of what is today Spain, which in the 1300s was not yet a unified country. (Pedro had been deposed in favor of his out-of-wedlock half-brother, Henry; the Black Prince viewed this as an intolerable breach of the rights of the lawful heir.) Our protagonist is Alleyne Edricson, second son of a Socman, or substantial free landowner, of an old Saxon line in Hampshire (an English county on the southern coast, opposite the Isle of Wight). His father died when he was very young, and he's been raised in a Cistercian abbey as a novice; but he's now turned 20, and Edric's will calls for him to spend a year outside the monastery, to determine whether or not he's called to holy orders. On the road, he soon connects with his monastery acquaintance Hordle John, a powerfully-built young peasant who ill-advisedly joined the order after being jilted by his girlfriend, but was expelled (to put it mildly, he didn't, in Catholic parlance, "have a vocation" :-) ) the same day that Alleyne left; and the two in turn quickly meet up with another fellow traveler, soldier Samkin Aylward, who's in route to the castle home of renowned warrior Sir Nigel Loring, bearing a letter inviting the latter to come to France and assume leadership of the White Company, a war-band of English archers. The reader won't be surprised to learn that Sir Nigel and our trio of friends will soon be headed for France.
Like almost all historical fiction writers of his time, Doyle's stylistic affinities were Romantic. But he also was very scrupulous about historical accuracy, to a degree that no Realist critic could fairly fault; he put in four years of serious research for this novel, and it shows in an extremely detailed and realistic picture of 14th-century society, thought and daily life. Where the fiction intertwines with real-life history, there's no departure from known fact; real-life historical figures portrayed here (and there are many, including the Black Prince, Pedro, Bertrand du Guesclin, Sir John Chandos, and others) are depicted the way their contemporaries saw them, so far as records exist. He does not, however, deliver any of this material in info-dumps, but works it seamlessly into the texture of the tale (though it's true that some episodes do seem to be included solely to illustrate some peculiarity of the time). That's no mean feat in itself. His characterizations are also vivid, round and lifelike (I don't often identify with romantic action-hero types, but I did with Alleyne!); he provides an exciting, suspenseful plot (with plenty of action, though it's mostly in the latter half of the book) and a strand of clean romance between a couple worth rooting for and wishing well.
Great fiction, though, goes deeper than the above characteristics of good fiction; it makes you think about deeper issues than "will our heroes survive?" or "will the loving pair wind up together?" That quality, too, I found here; Doyle doesn't sermonize, but messages and thoughts arise naturally out of the story. As with much action-oriented fiction of this school, there's a strong encouragement of virtues like courage, loyalty, fair and honest dealing, personal integrity, kindness and willingness to defend the weak. But while we sometimes think of medieval "chivalry" solely in those terms, to a much greater extent than either Scott (at least in Ivanhoe) or Stevenson, Doyle brings out the fact that this code, as embodied in Sir Nigel, had its dubious aspects as well: a confusion of personal "honor" with vainglory over successful lethal fighting for its own sake; the idea that physically fighting over competing claims for your special lady's superiority to all other women actually redounds to any credit to her (or you); and an over-concern with "noble" status measured by birth or an official knightly accolade. And we might add, too, an assumption that supporting your king in any quarrel he undertakes automatically qualifies as your legitimate duty. (That does not accord with classical Christian "just war" theory, even if the medieval Church did tacitly endorse the idea!) We can respect Sir Nigel, and even like him; but that's not the same thing as endorsing all of his attitudes, and we can see that the chivalric code was in serious need of some revision.
The 14th century was also a time, as Doyle points out explicitly, when the feudal, ultra class-conscious and often exploitative social order of the High Middle Ages was beginning to be questioned from below. The legitimate grievances of the lower classes are portrayed forcefully here, along with the often savagely violent social unrest in both France and England; we can see both the need for a more just society and the reality that violence against the innocent won't further that goal. (By 1891, when Doyle wrote, much social change had taken place; but the antagonism between the wealthy and powerful who think they're entitled to anything they want, vs. an underclass that's willing to throw over every ethical restraint in order to annihilate anyone they see as the enemy Other, was still alive and well --and still is in 2020.) It was also a time of increasing religious ferment, which is also deliberately brought out here. Though not a Christian himself, Doyle was respectful towards Christianity; and through Alleyne's eyes he makes a case for the legitimacy of a Christian life lived by serving others and forming a healthy family in the normal world, rather than fleeing from the world and trying to live in navel-gazing personal purity. He also implicitly critiques aspects of medieval religiosity that need critiquing --the hawking of bogus relics, the quest of the irreligious for a salvation that can be had for money without spiritual conversion, and the willingness of religious charlatans to profit off of them; and the perverted piety of the Flagellants, beating each other to ribbons in the warped belief that God took pleasure in their pain. (Nonetheless, this isn't an anti-Catholic novel, but an appeal for practical and rational piety that both Catholics and Protestants can get behind. When Alleyne says, at one point, that an offer to, in effect, sell a ticket to heaven is not part of the teachings of Mother Church, he's speaking for many Roman Catholics, then and now.)
Some readers won't get into this novel; not all will appreciate the detailed introduction to the world of the 14th century, and to the principle characters, that occupies much of the first half of the novel. Many will perceive this as too slow moving, though for my part I understood it as necessary to the author's purpose and to our bonding with the characters, and wasn't bored by any of it. Doyle's diction here is Victorian, more formal than in his less "serious" mystery and science fiction writing, often with involved sentence structure; he's quite willing to use big words if they serve best to convey his meaning, and he deliberately employs a lot of older, medieval terminology that fits into this setting. While he doesn't write dialogue in Chaucer-style Middle English (and he usually translates the speech of the Norman-descended royalty and aristocracy, many of whom still spoke French at this time), he does consciously write it with an archaic flavor, preserving a lot of medieval idiom and vocabulary. This also won't be to every taste; but I personally was able to understand it (sometimes from context), and I think most serious readers could as well. (So, if ye will hearken to my rede, and ye be a historical fiction fan, give this book a try, forsooth! :-) )
The setting here is the Middle Ages (one of my favorite periods for historical fiction!), specifically 1366-67, during the Hundred Year's War. At that particular moment, however, the English vs. French conflict was in a truce state, although feudal wars between barons and the depredations of outlaws and unemployed mercenary bands kept France in a parlous condition. For the characters here, the immediate call to arms and occasion for military adventure is the campaign of the Black Prince to restore the ousted Pedro the Cruel to the throne of Castile, in the western part of what is today Spain, which in the 1300s was not yet a unified country. (Pedro had been deposed in favor of his out-of-wedlock half-brother, Henry; the Black Prince viewed this as an intolerable breach of the rights of the lawful heir.) Our protagonist is Alleyne Edricson, second son of a Socman, or substantial free landowner, of an old Saxon line in Hampshire (an English county on the southern coast, opposite the Isle of Wight). His father died when he was very young, and he's been raised in a Cistercian abbey as a novice; but he's now turned 20, and Edric's will calls for him to spend a year outside the monastery, to determine whether or not he's called to holy orders. On the road, he soon connects with his monastery acquaintance Hordle John, a powerfully-built young peasant who ill-advisedly joined the order after being jilted by his girlfriend, but was expelled (to put it mildly, he didn't, in Catholic parlance, "have a vocation" :-) ) the same day that Alleyne left; and the two in turn quickly meet up with another fellow traveler, soldier Samkin Aylward, who's in route to the castle home of renowned warrior Sir Nigel Loring, bearing a letter inviting the latter to come to France and assume leadership of the White Company, a war-band of English archers. The reader won't be surprised to learn that Sir Nigel and our trio of friends will soon be headed for France.
Like almost all historical fiction writers of his time, Doyle's stylistic affinities were Romantic. But he also was very scrupulous about historical accuracy, to a degree that no Realist critic could fairly fault; he put in four years of serious research for this novel, and it shows in an extremely detailed and realistic picture of 14th-century society, thought and daily life. Where the fiction intertwines with real-life history, there's no departure from known fact; real-life historical figures portrayed here (and there are many, including the Black Prince, Pedro, Bertrand du Guesclin, Sir John Chandos, and others) are depicted the way their contemporaries saw them, so far as records exist. He does not, however, deliver any of this material in info-dumps, but works it seamlessly into the texture of the tale (though it's true that some episodes do seem to be included solely to illustrate some peculiarity of the time). That's no mean feat in itself. His characterizations are also vivid, round and lifelike (I don't often identify with romantic action-hero types, but I did with Alleyne!); he provides an exciting, suspenseful plot (with plenty of action, though it's mostly in the latter half of the book) and a strand of clean romance between a couple worth rooting for and wishing well.
Great fiction, though, goes deeper than the above characteristics of good fiction; it makes you think about deeper issues than "will our heroes survive?" or "will the loving pair wind up together?" That quality, too, I found here; Doyle doesn't sermonize, but messages and thoughts arise naturally out of the story. As with much action-oriented fiction of this school, there's a strong encouragement of virtues like courage, loyalty, fair and honest dealing, personal integrity, kindness and willingness to defend the weak. But while we sometimes think of medieval "chivalry" solely in those terms, to a much greater extent than either Scott (at least in Ivanhoe) or Stevenson, Doyle brings out the fact that this code, as embodied in Sir Nigel, had its dubious aspects as well: a confusion of personal "honor" with vainglory over successful lethal fighting for its own sake; the idea that physically fighting over competing claims for your special lady's superiority to all other women actually redounds to any credit to her (or you); and an over-concern with "noble" status measured by birth or an official knightly accolade. And we might add, too, an assumption that supporting your king in any quarrel he undertakes automatically qualifies as your legitimate duty. (That does not accord with classical Christian "just war" theory, even if the medieval Church did tacitly endorse the idea!) We can respect Sir Nigel, and even like him; but that's not the same thing as endorsing all of his attitudes, and we can see that the chivalric code was in serious need of some revision.
The 14th century was also a time, as Doyle points out explicitly, when the feudal, ultra class-conscious and often exploitative social order of the High Middle Ages was beginning to be questioned from below. The legitimate grievances of the lower classes are portrayed forcefully here, along with the often savagely violent social unrest in both France and England; we can see both the need for a more just society and the reality that violence against the innocent won't further that goal. (By 1891, when Doyle wrote, much social change had taken place; but the antagonism between the wealthy and powerful who think they're entitled to anything they want, vs. an underclass that's willing to throw over every ethical restraint in order to annihilate anyone they see as the enemy Other, was still alive and well --and still is in 2020.) It was also a time of increasing religious ferment, which is also deliberately brought out here. Though not a Christian himself, Doyle was respectful towards Christianity; and through Alleyne's eyes he makes a case for the legitimacy of a Christian life lived by serving others and forming a healthy family in the normal world, rather than fleeing from the world and trying to live in navel-gazing personal purity. He also implicitly critiques aspects of medieval religiosity that need critiquing --the hawking of bogus relics, the quest of the irreligious for a salvation that can be had for money without spiritual conversion, and the willingness of religious charlatans to profit off of them; and the perverted piety of the Flagellants, beating each other to ribbons in the warped belief that God took pleasure in their pain. (Nonetheless, this isn't an anti-Catholic novel, but an appeal for practical and rational piety that both Catholics and Protestants can get behind. When Alleyne says, at one point, that an offer to, in effect, sell a ticket to heaven is not part of the teachings of Mother Church, he's speaking for many Roman Catholics, then and now.)
Some readers won't get into this novel; not all will appreciate the detailed introduction to the world of the 14th century, and to the principle characters, that occupies much of the first half of the novel. Many will perceive this as too slow moving, though for my part I understood it as necessary to the author's purpose and to our bonding with the characters, and wasn't bored by any of it. Doyle's diction here is Victorian, more formal than in his less "serious" mystery and science fiction writing, often with involved sentence structure; he's quite willing to use big words if they serve best to convey his meaning, and he deliberately employs a lot of older, medieval terminology that fits into this setting. While he doesn't write dialogue in Chaucer-style Middle English (and he usually translates the speech of the Norman-descended royalty and aristocracy, many of whom still spoke French at this time), he does consciously write it with an archaic flavor, preserving a lot of medieval idiom and vocabulary. This also won't be to every taste; but I personally was able to understand it (sometimes from context), and I think most serious readers could as well. (So, if ye will hearken to my rede, and ye be a historical fiction fan, give this book a try, forsooth! :-) )
September 7, 2007
A delightful and strange adventure story in the vein of The Three Musketeers or The Scarlet Pimpernel, but also an early foreshadow of the Mannerpunk genre which grew out of Peake's Gormenghast books.
The well-researched text creates a believable world which is undoubtedly (and delightfully) removed from the modern. Not only does Doyle (of Sherlock Holmes fame) create a fairly accurate portrait of ever-warring Feudal Europe, but at least proposes a psychological type for the soldiers of the time.
Of course, to take such a type from (even contemporary) works is a bit of a silly falsehood, and with characteristic British whimsy, Doyle births a cast which seems realistic not despite but because of its deep-seated eccentricity. Of course, it is precisely this method which will grip Peake (in the wake of Chekhov) in his surrealistic works.
Though once quite popular, this tale has become somewhat less well-known, perhaps because it is easy to take from it a stance of bravado, militarism, and anglocentrism. Perhaps there will come to us a dissolving of such strong self-identifications with such things that people will no longer feel a need to oppose fictional portrayals, and Doyle and Kipling may return with a grain of salt.
The well-researched text creates a believable world which is undoubtedly (and delightfully) removed from the modern. Not only does Doyle (of Sherlock Holmes fame) create a fairly accurate portrait of ever-warring Feudal Europe, but at least proposes a psychological type for the soldiers of the time.
Of course, to take such a type from (even contemporary) works is a bit of a silly falsehood, and with characteristic British whimsy, Doyle births a cast which seems realistic not despite but because of its deep-seated eccentricity. Of course, it is precisely this method which will grip Peake (in the wake of Chekhov) in his surrealistic works.
Though once quite popular, this tale has become somewhat less well-known, perhaps because it is easy to take from it a stance of bravado, militarism, and anglocentrism. Perhaps there will come to us a dissolving of such strong self-identifications with such things that people will no longer feel a need to oppose fictional portrayals, and Doyle and Kipling may return with a grain of salt.
June 3, 2017
A long time ago, I read The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle. And last year I read a collection of his poetry called Songs Of The Road. But The White Company, published in 1891, was the first of his historical novels for me, and now I can't decide whether to continue here sounding somewhat scholarly or to simply let my feelings take over.
So first the Somewhat Scholar. This book is based loosely on certain events in the life of a real true knight in shining armor by the name of Sir Neil Loring, called Sir Nigel in the book. He fought with Edward The Black Prince Of Wales during The One Hundred Years War. I had a fascinating time checking to see which of the many knights and nobles mentioned in the story were real people, and nearly all of them were.
In this story Sir Nigel was in his 40's, and although he is still very much a hero, the younger hero's role was filled by Allyene Edricson, a 20 year old orphan who had been raised in a monastery but according to his late father's will was to spend a year learning about life before he decided for himself whether to continue his monkish studies or to join the world.
Okay, enough scholarly blather. This book was AWESOME! There is jousting, there is court intrigue, there is one of the coolest ever sword fights between squires, there is humor, drama, danger, true love, visions of the future, real friendships, a siege at a castle, a march through the Pyrenees, a mysterious knight in black armor, and....and....never a dull moment!!
AND some fun words like these that John Hordle's mother yells at him when she discovers him marching off to war with Sir Nigel's soldiers. The other archers enjoyed this little scene immensely, by the way. Imagine a huge hulk of a young man being whacked about the shoulders by his tiny little mother, who happened to have a stick with her.
“You rammucky lurden,” she was howling, with a blow between each catch of her breath, “you shammocking, yaping, over-long good-for-nought. I will teach thee! I will baste thee! Aye, by my faith!”
“Whist, mother,” said John, looking back at her from the tail of his eye, “I go to France as an archer to give blows and to take them.”
“To France, quotha?” cried the old dame. “Bide here with me, and I shall warrant you more blows than you are like to get in France. If blows be what you seek, you need not go further than Hordle.”
John's mother may have thought he was a good-for-nought, but he was one of my favorite characters in the story and proved himself good-for-much. Another favorite character was Samkin Aylward the archer, who first appears in the story on a mission to deliver a letter from France to Sir Nigel. Rough and tough and thoroughly adorable was Samkin; he helped steady the youngsters that were new to the world of warfare. And he hated the new cannons that were coming into use at the time (1366). He said they took away the honor of the fight. I wonder what he would think of the way wars are waged these days. Harrow and alas, he would not be impressed, I'm sure.
I laughed, I cheered, I held my breath, I cried. And I've made a list of the other Doyle historical fiction titles available at Gutenberg and will work my way through all of them. (There's only eight ~~ he himself said that Sherlock Holmes used up too much of his time, keeping him from writing more of the historical novels that he supposedly felt were his best work, at least according to Wiki). And first up, as soon as I finish my two June challenge titles, will be the 1906 book Sir Nigel, where we get to hang out with this joyful man when he was a much younger knight. I won't need an armed varlet standing by to keep me reading, that's for sure!
So first the Somewhat Scholar. This book is based loosely on certain events in the life of a real true knight in shining armor by the name of Sir Neil Loring, called Sir Nigel in the book. He fought with Edward The Black Prince Of Wales during The One Hundred Years War. I had a fascinating time checking to see which of the many knights and nobles mentioned in the story were real people, and nearly all of them were.
In this story Sir Nigel was in his 40's, and although he is still very much a hero, the younger hero's role was filled by Allyene Edricson, a 20 year old orphan who had been raised in a monastery but according to his late father's will was to spend a year learning about life before he decided for himself whether to continue his monkish studies or to join the world.
Okay, enough scholarly blather. This book was AWESOME! There is jousting, there is court intrigue, there is one of the coolest ever sword fights between squires, there is humor, drama, danger, true love, visions of the future, real friendships, a siege at a castle, a march through the Pyrenees, a mysterious knight in black armor, and....and....never a dull moment!!
AND some fun words like these that John Hordle's mother yells at him when she discovers him marching off to war with Sir Nigel's soldiers. The other archers enjoyed this little scene immensely, by the way. Imagine a huge hulk of a young man being whacked about the shoulders by his tiny little mother, who happened to have a stick with her.
“You rammucky lurden,” she was howling, with a blow between each catch of her breath, “you shammocking, yaping, over-long good-for-nought. I will teach thee! I will baste thee! Aye, by my faith!”
“Whist, mother,” said John, looking back at her from the tail of his eye, “I go to France as an archer to give blows and to take them.”
“To France, quotha?” cried the old dame. “Bide here with me, and I shall warrant you more blows than you are like to get in France. If blows be what you seek, you need not go further than Hordle.”
John's mother may have thought he was a good-for-nought, but he was one of my favorite characters in the story and proved himself good-for-much. Another favorite character was Samkin Aylward the archer, who first appears in the story on a mission to deliver a letter from France to Sir Nigel. Rough and tough and thoroughly adorable was Samkin; he helped steady the youngsters that were new to the world of warfare. And he hated the new cannons that were coming into use at the time (1366). He said they took away the honor of the fight. I wonder what he would think of the way wars are waged these days. Harrow and alas, he would not be impressed, I'm sure.
I laughed, I cheered, I held my breath, I cried. And I've made a list of the other Doyle historical fiction titles available at Gutenberg and will work my way through all of them. (There's only eight ~~ he himself said that Sherlock Holmes used up too much of his time, keeping him from writing more of the historical novels that he supposedly felt were his best work, at least according to Wiki). And first up, as soon as I finish my two June challenge titles, will be the 1906 book Sir Nigel, where we get to hang out with this joyful man when he was a much younger knight. I won't need an armed varlet standing by to keep me reading, that's for sure!
September 1, 2016
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is without doubt one of the masters of the crime fiction & detective novels genre. Doyle’s great detective ‘Sherlock Holmes’ and his stories redefined the entire genre of crime writing. But Doyle was also a prolific writer in other areas like science fiction, romantic adventures, historical fictions and poetry.
‘The White Company’ is one of the best historical novels from Doyle set in the backdrop of medieval England, France and Spain during the fourteenth century with plenty of archers, sword fights, inspiring action scenes and exhilarating adventure. This exciting knight-in-armor story was the result of a meticulous and arduous research by Doyle on the time period of Edward III; about Hundred Years' War; the campaigns of Edward, the Black Prince and the Middle Ages in general. When published in 1891, ‘The White Company’, was an instant success and was regarded by Doyle in his own words as
"the most complete, satisfying and ambitious thing I have ever done".
In this romantic adventure tale Doyle gives a charming historical and geographic description of the Europe during the Hundred Years’ War by exposing the reader to characters full of nobility, chivalry and warrior attitude. The protagonist of the story is the young and innocent Alleyne Edricson who is freshly out exploring the world after a being raised in a monastery. Alleyne’s straightforward nature brings him two friends in the form of the vigorous archer Samkin Aylward and the hilarious and extremely strong John of Hordle. Together they join ‘The White Company’ - a free company of archers led by the brave and admired Knight Sir Nigel Loring – and Alleyne becomes the armour-bearer to Sir Nigel Loring. Soon ‘The White Company’ heads out to France and Spain in a quest brimming with hilarious situations, sword fights, danger and carnage.
While reading this book the reader may find some of the vocabulary from the era a bit of a challenge but it wont be something that will entirely stop him from enjoying a thoroughly well narrated story. I will strongly recommend ‘The White Company’ for those who love invigorating tales of good-old-style adventure and chivalry.
‘The White Company’ is one of the best historical novels from Doyle set in the backdrop of medieval England, France and Spain during the fourteenth century with plenty of archers, sword fights, inspiring action scenes and exhilarating adventure. This exciting knight-in-armor story was the result of a meticulous and arduous research by Doyle on the time period of Edward III; about Hundred Years' War; the campaigns of Edward, the Black Prince and the Middle Ages in general. When published in 1891, ‘The White Company’, was an instant success and was regarded by Doyle in his own words as
"the most complete, satisfying and ambitious thing I have ever done".
In this romantic adventure tale Doyle gives a charming historical and geographic description of the Europe during the Hundred Years’ War by exposing the reader to characters full of nobility, chivalry and warrior attitude. The protagonist of the story is the young and innocent Alleyne Edricson who is freshly out exploring the world after a being raised in a monastery. Alleyne’s straightforward nature brings him two friends in the form of the vigorous archer Samkin Aylward and the hilarious and extremely strong John of Hordle. Together they join ‘The White Company’ - a free company of archers led by the brave and admired Knight Sir Nigel Loring – and Alleyne becomes the armour-bearer to Sir Nigel Loring. Soon ‘The White Company’ heads out to France and Spain in a quest brimming with hilarious situations, sword fights, danger and carnage.
While reading this book the reader may find some of the vocabulary from the era a bit of a challenge but it wont be something that will entirely stop him from enjoying a thoroughly well narrated story. I will strongly recommend ‘The White Company’ for those who love invigorating tales of good-old-style adventure and chivalry.
December 3, 2023
On my geek blog, called the Mustache and the Beard, my best friend of 37 years and I, made lists of the top 50 novels a bibliophile should read before dying. We only had 8 books in common. One of the books that I had never heard of was The White Company by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Little-by-little, I have sought out the books on his list to be a better-rounded bibliophile.
I won't lie, this book was a chore. There are certain places where the narration is sleek, svelte, and perfectly succinct; but then there are other places where Doyle becomes ostentatiously verbose, excessively flowery, and overtly superfluous. It not only became boring, but those places would become a slog. Then, invariably something interesting would occur to drag me back in, and I would be carried along until Doyle would again decide on a circuitous route rather than the most direct one.
It was annoying, but I never considered the idea of DNF. I don't do that. My OCD would not even allow for that consideration. Here, a knight goes off to fight a war to gain acclaim and he takes a contingent of supporting characters with their own satellite quests to complete. Overall, the story is not bad, just about 100 pages too long.
I won't lie, this book was a chore. There are certain places where the narration is sleek, svelte, and perfectly succinct; but then there are other places where Doyle becomes ostentatiously verbose, excessively flowery, and overtly superfluous. It not only became boring, but those places would become a slog. Then, invariably something interesting would occur to drag me back in, and I would be carried along until Doyle would again decide on a circuitous route rather than the most direct one.
It was annoying, but I never considered the idea of DNF. I don't do that. My OCD would not even allow for that consideration. Here, a knight goes off to fight a war to gain acclaim and he takes a contingent of supporting characters with their own satellite quests to complete. Overall, the story is not bad, just about 100 pages too long.
July 5, 2012
_The White Company_ by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is equal parts boy’s own adventure and historical fiction of the Hundred Years’ War. It reminded me very much of the spirit of Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe, though it’s been so long since I read the latter story I wouldn’t want to draw too many specific comparisons. The story is that of a young aristocrat, Alleyne Edricson, who leaves the safe confines of the abbey where he was raised in order to see the world for a year before deciding on the path his life is to follow. From the first Doyle fills his tale with action that is tempered with descriptive passages detailing the varied aspects of medieval life of England and France in the fourteenth century. One gets a detailed sense of a world in which the habitations of man were widely interspersed amongst the ever present wilderness with areas of cultivation spread between.
The story Doyle tells straddles a strange line, for while there are parts that read like an idyllic paen to the simpler and purer days of yore, he does not shy away from presenting hard truths regarding the savagery, poverty, and tyranny that were also pervasive at the time. One is often left wondering whether Doyle wanted to praise or berate the era, to simplify it or acknowledge its complexities, but perhaps he simply felt that, like any other age, there was equal measure of both praise and blame to be given to it. Alleyne’s relative innocence and inexperience with the world outside of abbey walls allows him to be an excellent stand-in for the reader, as he experiences for the first time the realities of the wider medieval world. As though immersed in a kind of Canterbury Tales Alleyne meets pardoners, friars, palmers, hucksters, knights, peasants, franklins and soldiers allowing the reader to experience a veritable cross-section of medieval society in all of its varied glory. Sometimes this can come across as a bit too pat, as Doyle manages to have Alleyne cross paths with nearly every segment of medieval society on his journeys along the highways and byways of England and France.
The characters of Alleyne, with his wide-eyed innocence, and Sir Nigel Loring, with his almost simplistically quixotic belief in the tenets of chivalry, give Doyle the chance to indulge in elements of chivalric romance, while the more hard-bitten archer Samkin Aylward and his less idealistic comrades in the White Company allow for a more pragmatic look at medieval warfare to be examined. Still, for all of the historical detail that Conan Doyle may have laden his story with, it definitely seems to come down on the side of idealistic chivalry; for despite its acknowledgment of the unending warfare with the goal of plunder that turned half of France into a wasted no-man’s land, sly allusions to the inherent naiveté of many of the ideals of chivalry through the literally and figuratively myopic Sir Nigel, and various references to the downtrodden peasantry (including a scene in which a tyrannical seigneur’s castle is attacked and destroyed by a starving peasant mob) the novel still often reads like the Middle Ages as produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
It was still an enjoyable read and further goes to show me Conan Doyle’s range as a writer.
The story Doyle tells straddles a strange line, for while there are parts that read like an idyllic paen to the simpler and purer days of yore, he does not shy away from presenting hard truths regarding the savagery, poverty, and tyranny that were also pervasive at the time. One is often left wondering whether Doyle wanted to praise or berate the era, to simplify it or acknowledge its complexities, but perhaps he simply felt that, like any other age, there was equal measure of both praise and blame to be given to it. Alleyne’s relative innocence and inexperience with the world outside of abbey walls allows him to be an excellent stand-in for the reader, as he experiences for the first time the realities of the wider medieval world. As though immersed in a kind of Canterbury Tales Alleyne meets pardoners, friars, palmers, hucksters, knights, peasants, franklins and soldiers allowing the reader to experience a veritable cross-section of medieval society in all of its varied glory. Sometimes this can come across as a bit too pat, as Doyle manages to have Alleyne cross paths with nearly every segment of medieval society on his journeys along the highways and byways of England and France.
The characters of Alleyne, with his wide-eyed innocence, and Sir Nigel Loring, with his almost simplistically quixotic belief in the tenets of chivalry, give Doyle the chance to indulge in elements of chivalric romance, while the more hard-bitten archer Samkin Aylward and his less idealistic comrades in the White Company allow for a more pragmatic look at medieval warfare to be examined. Still, for all of the historical detail that Conan Doyle may have laden his story with, it definitely seems to come down on the side of idealistic chivalry; for despite its acknowledgment of the unending warfare with the goal of plunder that turned half of France into a wasted no-man’s land, sly allusions to the inherent naiveté of many of the ideals of chivalry through the literally and figuratively myopic Sir Nigel, and various references to the downtrodden peasantry (including a scene in which a tyrannical seigneur’s castle is attacked and destroyed by a starving peasant mob) the novel still often reads like the Middle Ages as produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
It was still an enjoyable read and further goes to show me Conan Doyle’s range as a writer.
February 14, 2024
The story is set during the Hundred Years War. The White Company was a band of English mercenaries who fought in France, Spain and Italy. Conan Doyle was a great storyteller in the traditional sense, and he did a good deal of research for his historical novels. Plenty of detail on the ways of life of the various classes in late 14th century Europe, with an emphasis upon the lives of the knights, squires and men-at-arms. Heroes, jousts, medieval warfare, derring-do, cliff-hangers and courtly love. All things considered, an enjoyable read.
February 23, 2020
The kind of book you can imagine Tom Sawyer reading before running off into the woods to pretend to be a knight.
There isn't much of a central plot here; it's more about the different scrapes that the characters get into, but everyone is interesting enough to hold the reader's attention.
There isn't much of a central plot here; it's more about the different scrapes that the characters get into, but everyone is interesting enough to hold the reader's attention.
April 29, 2019
Loved, loved, loved! Galant knights, chivalry, a dash of healthy romance makes for a great story! It’s a shame more don’t know about this classic. Sir Nigel is one of my favorites of this tale. He is such a perfect example of a good husband and all-around good manly, godly man.
March 7, 2021
ENGLISH: Historical novel set in the 100 years war, when the English, led by the Black Prince (son of Edward III and father of Richard II) supported Pedro I of Castile, while the French, led by Bertrand Du Guesclin, supported Enrique II of Trastámara.
Conan Doyle often confuses Castile with Spain. When describing Pedro I, he tends to pay attention to his nickname, "The Cruel One," given to him by his enemies, without taking into account the nickname given by his supporters: the Just. But it must be recognized that he was quite harsh with his enemies, or those whom he considered as such, although it remains to be seen what any other king of the period would have done in a similar situation.
In the first chapters, the abbot of the monastery asserts that the earth is flat, and implies that all monks think the same. Precisely in a monastery they had to know that the Earth is round, as it had been known for two millennia. Farmers and serfs may have believed it, but not more enlightened people. The trouble is that the children of the Enlightenment (Doyle is one) are quite ignorant about medieval history, apart from wars and battles.
Nor does it seem appropriate what Doyle makes the monks say and do about women, those daughters of Eve who just cause temptations. Or the nuns, who have ever always been taught that the way of nature [i.e. marriage] is the way of sin. This error has always been fought by the Catholic Church. Doyle shows he believes (wrongly) that this is or has been Catholic doctrine.
All this is part of the English Black Legend as regards the Middle Ages and the Catholic Church. I published a post about this in my blog: The myth of the Dark Ages. Conan Doyle is credulous about all these lies, just as he was credulous a few years later about spiritualisme.
In fact, in chapter 29 Doyle anticipates some of his later ideas regarding spiritualisme, when two of his characters have visions predicting a tragic future. As this is one of his oldest works, published shortly after "The sign of four," perhaps those ideas were not yet clear, as they were 35 years later, when he wrote "The Land of Mists".
ESPAÑOL: Relato ambientado en la guerra de los 100 años, cuando los ingleses, mandados por el Príncipe Negro (hijo de Eduardo III y padre de Ricardo II) apoyaban a Pedro I de Castilla, mientras los franceses, dirigidos por Bertrand Du Guesclin, apoyaban a Enrique II de Trastámara.
Conan Doyle confunde a menudo Castilla con España. Al describir a Pedro I tiende a hacer caso de su apelativo de El Cruel, que le daban sus enemigos, sin tener en cuenta el que le daban sus partidarios: el Justiciero. Pero hay que reconocer que fue muy duro con sus enemigos, o con quienes consideraba como tales, aunque habría que ver qué habría hecho cualquier otro rey de la época en una situación análoga.
En los primeros capítulos, el abad del monasterio da por supuesto que la Tierra es plana, dando a entender que todos los monjes piensan lo mismo. Precisamente en un monasterio tenían que saber que la Tierra es redonda, puesto que se sabía desde dos milenios antes. Eso lo podía creer la gente de la gleba, pero no las personas más o menos ilustradas. Lo malo es que los hijos de la Ilustración (entre los que se cuenta Doyle) son muy ignorantes sobre historia medieval, aparte de guerras y batallas.
Tampoco me parece oportuno lo que Doyle hace decir y hacer a los monjes respecto a las mujeres, esas hijas de Eva que sólo causan tentaciones. O las monjas, a las que han enseñado siempre que el camino de la naturaleza [o sea, el matrimonio] es el camino del pecado. Este error ha sido combatido siempre por la Iglesia Católica. Doyle cree (erróneamente) que esto es o ha sido doctrina católica.
Todo esto es parte de la Leyenda Negra inglesa respecto a la Edad Media y la Iglesia Católica. Publiqué en mi blog un artículo sobre esto: El mito de la Edad Oscura. Conan Doyle se muestra crédulo respecto a todas estas mentiras, como también fue crédulo algunos años después respecto al espiritismo.
De hecho, en el capítulo 29 Doyle se adelanta a sus ideas posteriores respecto al espiritismo, cuando dos de sus personajes tienen visiones que predicen un futuro trágico. Siendo esta una de sus obras más antiguas, poco posterior a "El signo de los cuatro", quizá esas ideas no estaban aún bien formadas, como ya lo estaban 35 años después en "The Land of Mists".
Conan Doyle often confuses Castile with Spain. When describing Pedro I, he tends to pay attention to his nickname, "The Cruel One," given to him by his enemies, without taking into account the nickname given by his supporters: the Just. But it must be recognized that he was quite harsh with his enemies, or those whom he considered as such, although it remains to be seen what any other king of the period would have done in a similar situation.
In the first chapters, the abbot of the monastery asserts that the earth is flat, and implies that all monks think the same. Precisely in a monastery they had to know that the Earth is round, as it had been known for two millennia. Farmers and serfs may have believed it, but not more enlightened people. The trouble is that the children of the Enlightenment (Doyle is one) are quite ignorant about medieval history, apart from wars and battles.
Nor does it seem appropriate what Doyle makes the monks say and do about women, those daughters of Eve who just cause temptations. Or the nuns, who have ever always been taught that the way of nature [i.e. marriage] is the way of sin. This error has always been fought by the Catholic Church. Doyle shows he believes (wrongly) that this is or has been Catholic doctrine.
All this is part of the English Black Legend as regards the Middle Ages and the Catholic Church. I published a post about this in my blog: The myth of the Dark Ages. Conan Doyle is credulous about all these lies, just as he was credulous a few years later about spiritualisme.
In fact, in chapter 29 Doyle anticipates some of his later ideas regarding spiritualisme, when two of his characters have visions predicting a tragic future. As this is one of his oldest works, published shortly after "The sign of four," perhaps those ideas were not yet clear, as they were 35 years later, when he wrote "The Land of Mists".
ESPAÑOL: Relato ambientado en la guerra de los 100 años, cuando los ingleses, mandados por el Príncipe Negro (hijo de Eduardo III y padre de Ricardo II) apoyaban a Pedro I de Castilla, mientras los franceses, dirigidos por Bertrand Du Guesclin, apoyaban a Enrique II de Trastámara.
Conan Doyle confunde a menudo Castilla con España. Al describir a Pedro I tiende a hacer caso de su apelativo de El Cruel, que le daban sus enemigos, sin tener en cuenta el que le daban sus partidarios: el Justiciero. Pero hay que reconocer que fue muy duro con sus enemigos, o con quienes consideraba como tales, aunque habría que ver qué habría hecho cualquier otro rey de la época en una situación análoga.
En los primeros capítulos, el abad del monasterio da por supuesto que la Tierra es plana, dando a entender que todos los monjes piensan lo mismo. Precisamente en un monasterio tenían que saber que la Tierra es redonda, puesto que se sabía desde dos milenios antes. Eso lo podía creer la gente de la gleba, pero no las personas más o menos ilustradas. Lo malo es que los hijos de la Ilustración (entre los que se cuenta Doyle) son muy ignorantes sobre historia medieval, aparte de guerras y batallas.
Tampoco me parece oportuno lo que Doyle hace decir y hacer a los monjes respecto a las mujeres, esas hijas de Eva que sólo causan tentaciones. O las monjas, a las que han enseñado siempre que el camino de la naturaleza [o sea, el matrimonio] es el camino del pecado. Este error ha sido combatido siempre por la Iglesia Católica. Doyle cree (erróneamente) que esto es o ha sido doctrina católica.
Todo esto es parte de la Leyenda Negra inglesa respecto a la Edad Media y la Iglesia Católica. Publiqué en mi blog un artículo sobre esto: El mito de la Edad Oscura. Conan Doyle se muestra crédulo respecto a todas estas mentiras, como también fue crédulo algunos años después respecto al espiritismo.
De hecho, en el capítulo 29 Doyle se adelanta a sus ideas posteriores respecto al espiritismo, cuando dos de sus personajes tienen visiones que predicen un futuro trágico. Siendo esta una de sus obras más antiguas, poco posterior a "El signo de los cuatro", quizá esas ideas no estaban aún bien formadas, como ya lo estaban 35 años después en "The Land of Mists".
August 1, 2012
This is my favorite most favorite book of all time ever. I love it for its adventure, its sweetness, its badass women (unusual for the time and even moreso for Conan Doyle,) its fun characters, and the fact that since it was originally a magazine serial, while it's exciting and fun it is episodic enough to put down when you want to do trivial things like sleep or go to work.
What I didn't realize until I reread it as an adult is how funny it is. VERY dry humor, but there's a laugh in every line if that's how you get the giggles. The characters are very snarky, and you've got a narrator with his tongue firmly planted in cheek.
If you're expecting deep secrets of the universe, you'll be disappointed. This is a pretty impressively historically accurate Technicolor romp full of awesome.
And everybody who says it's for boys? Heck no! It's for swashbucklers at heart, male or female.
What I didn't realize until I reread it as an adult is how funny it is. VERY dry humor, but there's a laugh in every line if that's how you get the giggles. The characters are very snarky, and you've got a narrator with his tongue firmly planted in cheek.
If you're expecting deep secrets of the universe, you'll be disappointed. This is a pretty impressively historically accurate Technicolor romp full of awesome.
And everybody who says it's for boys? Heck no! It's for swashbucklers at heart, male or female.
September 30, 2024
Nach eigenem Bekunden das Lieblingsbuch des Autors der Sherlock-Holmes-Geschichten und der Professor-Challenger-Reihe. Bei mir kam es im komparatistichen Projekt Jungs-Literatur Anno 1891 zu Ehren.
Seitdem ich die Krimis von Emile Gaboriau gelesen habe, dessen Mastermind-Ermittler Inspektor Lecoq von Holmes wegen seiner Verkleidungskünste und aller Kraftmeierei arg gescholten wird, hatte Conan Doyle zumindest als kreativer Kopf auf dem Krimi-Sektor abgedankt. Die Sherlock-Romane sind nur an englische oder viktorianische Verhältnisse angepasste Gaboriaus, in deren Verlauf der Ermittler halt kein ausschweifendes Liebesleben unterbringen muss.
Und was die unterhaltsame Seite von schwulen Pärchen angeht, da hat CD-Schwager E.W. Hornung klar die Nase vorn. Der Gentleman-Einbrecher Raffles und sein immer mal wieder gegen seinen Willen mit ins Spiel gezogene Adlatus und Chronist Bunny sind eine unterhaltsamere Krimi-Lektüre. Auch deshalb, weil dem overselfconfidenten Einbrecher-Mastermind, immer mal wieder, ein gewaltiger Rechenfehler unterläuft, was zu massiv erhöhtem Spannungslevel beiträgt. Während Sherlock halt seine Rechenaufgaben löst.
Zum Roman:
Vier Jahre Recherche sollen in diesem Herzensprojekt stecken und CD lässt seine Leser mehr daran teilhaben, als der Entwicklung der Handlung gut tut. Strukturell ist der Roman episodisch aufgebaut, also wie Don Quixote oder die von Cervantes parodierten Epen. Allerlei Abenteuer, triumphal ausgefochtene Turniere oder tragikomische Episoden werden aneinander gereiht.
Als große Spannungsmomente fungieren der Überfall auf ein vermeintlich sicheres Schloss durch die ausgehungerte Landbevölkerung, die der Hundertjährige Krieg um Hab und Gut und ein Dach über dem Kopf gebracht hat. Sowie eine praktisch aussichtslose Lage gegen eine massive Übermacht von Spaniern und Franzosen. In beiden Fällen erweist sich der junge Alleskönner Alleyene als rettende Instanz mittels Schießpulver (Überfall der Entrechteten und Ausgeplünderten alias Mittelalter-Indianer) bzw. Freeclimbing, um Verstärkungen herbei zu führen.
Wie bei den Vergleichsgrößen G.A. Henty oder Karl May sind die (jungen) Helden in allen Domänen überragend, ohne vorher viel Erfahrung gesammelt zu haben. Der Klosterschüler Alleyne gewinnt das Herz seiner Liebsten, die er als Damsel in Distress vor dem Zugriff des eigenen Bruders gerettet hat, aber erst aufgrund seiner literarisch-musischen Vorbildung. Wie die Helden Henty und May ist er zudem in der Lage körperlich oder zahlenmäßig überlegene Gegner zur überlisten.
Damit bin ich beim aktuellen Anlass ein paar der alten Schmöker durchzugehen. Denn gerade die britisch-viktorianischen Junghelden sind das jugendlich-männliche Gegenstück zu den Mary-Sues, die in den letzten Jahren allgemeiner Kino-Standard waren. Allesamt Existenzen, die keine schmerzhaften Lernprozesse durchlaufen oder auch mal Lehren aus unangepasstem Verhalten ziehen müssen.
Zugegeben, persönliche Entwicklung waren in den alten Ritterepen auch kein Thema, als Bonus kann man CD zugute halten, dass er die Spannung zwischen altem, ritterlichen Ehrenkodex und dem beutelüsternen Söldnertum der Bogen- und Armbrustschützen heraus arbeitet, obwohl sich der Anführer der White Company auch nur auf diesen Zug begibt, weil man sich sonst den Unterhalt der Burg nicht wirklich leisten kann.
Sinn und Unsinn des 100jährigen Krieges wird nicht wirklich thematisiert, aber die aufgezeigten Folgen des englischen Imperialismus in Landstrichen, wo man eigentlich nichts verloren hat, machen den Roman zum unfreiwilligen Antikriegsbuch. Der gut zwanzig Jahre vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg entstandene Schmöker, macht aber ganz gut nachvollziehbar, mit welcher Mentalität die Briten von 1914 in einen Weltkrieg gezogen sind. Als bestens ausgebildete Bajonettkämpfer und Kavalleristen, die erst gar nicht in einen heldenhaften Zweikampf mit dem Gegner kamen, weil eine zwei Kilometer entfernte Kanone die Reihen lichtete und die Überlebenden mit 25 Kilo Gepäck auf dem Rücken leichte Beute für deutsche Maschinengewehre wurden.
Wenn man literarische Kriterien anlegt, gibt es 3* für die Fleißarbeit der literarische Wert ist unbedeutend, im Vergleich dazu ist alles vom immer im Jungenalter stehen gebliebenen Robert Louis Stevenson 5*. Auch wegen Black Arrow, das einen ganz anderen Sog entfaltet, habe ich CDS White Company gnadenlos durchgezogen.
Seitdem ich die Krimis von Emile Gaboriau gelesen habe, dessen Mastermind-Ermittler Inspektor Lecoq von Holmes wegen seiner Verkleidungskünste und aller Kraftmeierei arg gescholten wird, hatte Conan Doyle zumindest als kreativer Kopf auf dem Krimi-Sektor abgedankt. Die Sherlock-Romane sind nur an englische oder viktorianische Verhältnisse angepasste Gaboriaus, in deren Verlauf der Ermittler halt kein ausschweifendes Liebesleben unterbringen muss.
Und was die unterhaltsame Seite von schwulen Pärchen angeht, da hat CD-Schwager E.W. Hornung klar die Nase vorn. Der Gentleman-Einbrecher Raffles und sein immer mal wieder gegen seinen Willen mit ins Spiel gezogene Adlatus und Chronist Bunny sind eine unterhaltsamere Krimi-Lektüre. Auch deshalb, weil dem overselfconfidenten Einbrecher-Mastermind, immer mal wieder, ein gewaltiger Rechenfehler unterläuft, was zu massiv erhöhtem Spannungslevel beiträgt. Während Sherlock halt seine Rechenaufgaben löst.
Zum Roman:
Vier Jahre Recherche sollen in diesem Herzensprojekt stecken und CD lässt seine Leser mehr daran teilhaben, als der Entwicklung der Handlung gut tut. Strukturell ist der Roman episodisch aufgebaut, also wie Don Quixote oder die von Cervantes parodierten Epen. Allerlei Abenteuer, triumphal ausgefochtene Turniere oder tragikomische Episoden werden aneinander gereiht.
Als große Spannungsmomente fungieren der Überfall auf ein vermeintlich sicheres Schloss durch die ausgehungerte Landbevölkerung, die der Hundertjährige Krieg um Hab und Gut und ein Dach über dem Kopf gebracht hat. Sowie eine praktisch aussichtslose Lage gegen eine massive Übermacht von Spaniern und Franzosen. In beiden Fällen erweist sich der junge Alleskönner Alleyene als rettende Instanz mittels Schießpulver (Überfall der Entrechteten und Ausgeplünderten alias Mittelalter-Indianer) bzw. Freeclimbing, um Verstärkungen herbei zu führen.
Wie bei den Vergleichsgrößen G.A. Henty oder Karl May sind die (jungen) Helden in allen Domänen überragend, ohne vorher viel Erfahrung gesammelt zu haben. Der Klosterschüler Alleyne gewinnt das Herz seiner Liebsten, die er als Damsel in Distress vor dem Zugriff des eigenen Bruders gerettet hat, aber erst aufgrund seiner literarisch-musischen Vorbildung. Wie die Helden Henty und May ist er zudem in der Lage körperlich oder zahlenmäßig überlegene Gegner zur überlisten.
Damit bin ich beim aktuellen Anlass ein paar der alten Schmöker durchzugehen. Denn gerade die britisch-viktorianischen Junghelden sind das jugendlich-männliche Gegenstück zu den Mary-Sues, die in den letzten Jahren allgemeiner Kino-Standard waren. Allesamt Existenzen, die keine schmerzhaften Lernprozesse durchlaufen oder auch mal Lehren aus unangepasstem Verhalten ziehen müssen.
Zugegeben, persönliche Entwicklung waren in den alten Ritterepen auch kein Thema, als Bonus kann man CD zugute halten, dass er die Spannung zwischen altem, ritterlichen Ehrenkodex und dem beutelüsternen Söldnertum der Bogen- und Armbrustschützen heraus arbeitet, obwohl sich der Anführer der White Company auch nur auf diesen Zug begibt, weil man sich sonst den Unterhalt der Burg nicht wirklich leisten kann.
Sinn und Unsinn des 100jährigen Krieges wird nicht wirklich thematisiert, aber die aufgezeigten Folgen des englischen Imperialismus in Landstrichen, wo man eigentlich nichts verloren hat, machen den Roman zum unfreiwilligen Antikriegsbuch. Der gut zwanzig Jahre vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg entstandene Schmöker, macht aber ganz gut nachvollziehbar, mit welcher Mentalität die Briten von 1914 in einen Weltkrieg gezogen sind. Als bestens ausgebildete Bajonettkämpfer und Kavalleristen, die erst gar nicht in einen heldenhaften Zweikampf mit dem Gegner kamen, weil eine zwei Kilometer entfernte Kanone die Reihen lichtete und die Überlebenden mit 25 Kilo Gepäck auf dem Rücken leichte Beute für deutsche Maschinengewehre wurden.
Wenn man literarische Kriterien anlegt, gibt es 3* für die Fleißarbeit der literarische Wert ist unbedeutend, im Vergleich dazu ist alles vom immer im Jungenalter stehen gebliebenen Robert Louis Stevenson 5*. Auch wegen Black Arrow, das einen ganz anderen Sog entfaltet, habe ich CDS White Company gnadenlos durchgezogen.
June 24, 2020
I actually finished this well over a week ago, so this will probably not be much of a review. The White Company contains some of the best ACD writing I've encountered. It's obvious, from the first few pages, with its English Cistercian abbey, that Conan Doyle did a tremendous amount of research for The White Company. The world of the abbey, with its tiered ordering of members, its work day, its prayer life, etc., is brought vividly to life as the giant-like novice, John of Hordle, is brought in for discipline before the elders of the abbey. He rejects that punishment in an entertaining chair-tossing scene that could have easily come from an Errol Flynn movie. As entertaining as the scene is, you can't help but notice Conan Doyle's attention to Medieval world detail. But it is an attention to detail delivered with a light touch that informs the reader, but allows the characters to breathe.
What follows are a number of adventures and mis-adventures between three intrepid friends (John Hordle, Alleyn Edricson (a clerk-in-training, also from the abbey), and Sam Aylward, a swashbuckling bowman recently back from the wars in France) as they travel through a wonderfully evoked English (and beyond) landscape. I found these travels very reminiscent of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, as you meet various "types" of inhabitants of the Medieval world. Knights, ladies, peasants, pirates, flagellants, mystics, sellers of fake relics, etc.
Anyway, these friends soon find themselves a part of Sir Nigel Loring's White Company on their way back to some rousing adventures in France, and later Spain. Sir Nigel is an interesting character, who struck me, with his flowery speeches on chivalry, bald pate, and slight frame, as a kind of Quixiote. He's also a deadly fighter. (Conan Doyle would later write a prequel novel on Sir Nigel's early days.) I thought the ending for The White Company mildly annoying, but one I knew was coming from page 1. That (modern) quibble aside, it's a fine tale told by a master story-teller.
What follows are a number of adventures and mis-adventures between three intrepid friends (John Hordle, Alleyn Edricson (a clerk-in-training, also from the abbey), and Sam Aylward, a swashbuckling bowman recently back from the wars in France) as they travel through a wonderfully evoked English (and beyond) landscape. I found these travels very reminiscent of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, as you meet various "types" of inhabitants of the Medieval world. Knights, ladies, peasants, pirates, flagellants, mystics, sellers of fake relics, etc.
Anyway, these friends soon find themselves a part of Sir Nigel Loring's White Company on their way back to some rousing adventures in France, and later Spain. Sir Nigel is an interesting character, who struck me, with his flowery speeches on chivalry, bald pate, and slight frame, as a kind of Quixiote. He's also a deadly fighter. (Conan Doyle would later write a prequel novel on Sir Nigel's early days.) I thought the ending for The White Company mildly annoying, but one I knew was coming from page 1. That (modern) quibble aside, it's a fine tale told by a master story-teller.
May 22, 2019
This one gave me rather a lot more to think about moralities and values than it probably intended to, and how to maintain character sympathy even while they do things we modern folk might well find deplorable. It was a worthy read just for that sake, and pretty exciting and occasionally tense in its own right for that matter.
February 8, 2013
Having read not only the Sherlock Holmes body of work, but the Professor Challenger stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, I was somewhat surprised to discover that the good doctor also wrote historical fiction. Indeed, The White Company takes place in a rather intriguing part of European history known (somewhat erroneously) as the Hundred Years War. The White Company is the story of a cloister-raised young nobleman who discovers that his father was wise in establishing his legacy in giving him a year in the world before he could take his vows. Alleyne Edricson begins with the novel with an enchanting innocence and manages to hang onto a great deal of it while experiencing the gritty side of life and death.
To be sure, the author writes about the futility of war with vivid images, but he also captures the rather odd idealism of romantic chivalry in the person of most of the knights which Alleyne meets, serves, fights alongside, or contends with. From a modern perspective, there are times when the reader wishes Doyle would quit having the characters lecture on chivalry and get to the action, but the action is worthwhile and interesting when it occurs. It is not as bloody as many video games or comic books of the present world, but there is carnage aplenty and the descriptions are occasionally more graphic than one would expect of an era where one spoke of lower limbs rather than legs.
One even gets a glimpse of some of Doyle’s own feelings. “In the cloisters he had heard vague talk of the law—the mighty law which was higher than prelate or baron, yet no sign could he see of it. What was the benefit of a law written fair upon parchment, he wondered, if there were no officers to enforce it.” (p. 83 in my eBook version) “It was a terrible world, thought he, and it was hard to know which were the most to be dreaded, the knaves or the men of the law.” (p. 103) And his description of pillaging rang true, “By St. Paul! It is not they who carry the breach who are wont to sack the town, but the laggard knaves who come crowding in when a way has been cleared for them.” (pp. 466-467) At another point, Doyle described the land as so hostile that “…their only passports were those which hung from their belts.” (p. 881)
When Alleyne is awestruck by appearances, a kind landlady of an inn offers this marvelous counsel, “You have had no great truck with the world or you would have learned that it is the small men and not the great who hold their noses in the air.” (p. 124) At another point, an archer contends, “Bless the lad, if he doth not blush like any girl, and yet preach like the whole College of Cardinals.” (p. 196) A few pages later, Alleyne preaches a brief sermon responding to a colleague who wants to defeat seven foes in a tournament. He says, “Here we are in the lists of life, and there come the seven black champions against us Sir Pride, Sir Covetousness, Sir Lust, Sir Anger, Sir Gluttony, Sir Envy, and Sir Sloth. Let a man lay those seven low, and he shall have the prize of the day, …” (pp. 208-209).
I learned a new word. Doyle used the word “bobance,” a word for boasting that is derived from a type of fancy cloth, on more than one occasion (p. 168). In fact, if you look up the word on the web, you’re likely to run into the direct quotation on this from the novel. And, as an instructor in the history of games, I was delighted to see a reference to the game of Hazard (a medieval predecessor to Craps): “’Mort de ma vie!’ Aylward [a companion to Alleyne] shouted, looking down at the dice. ‘Never had I such cursed luck. A murrain on the bones! I have not thrown a good main since I left Navarre. A one and a three! En avant, comarade!’” (pp. 319-20)
Doyle also brought in interesting references from history, noting “It was the age of martial women. The deeds of black Agnes of Dunbar, of Lady Salisbury and of the Countess of Montfort, were still fresh in the public minds.” (p. 331) This reminds readers of those staunch ladies who commanded the garrisons of their castles while holding off sieges while their lords were away at the wars. And I loved the reference to Geoffrey Chaucer, “…at the siege of Retters, there was a little, sleek, fat clerk of the name of Chaucer, who was so apt at rondel, sirvente, or sonson, that no man dare give back a foot from the walls, lest he find it all set down in his rhymes and sung by every underling and varlet in the camp.” (p. 349)
The story is predictable and the resolution wouldn’t force any film director to recut the ending. Indeed, Doyle even closes with a moral summary: “Let us thank God if we have outgrown their vices. Let us pray to God that we may ever hold their virtues.” (p. 1221)
To be sure, the author writes about the futility of war with vivid images, but he also captures the rather odd idealism of romantic chivalry in the person of most of the knights which Alleyne meets, serves, fights alongside, or contends with. From a modern perspective, there are times when the reader wishes Doyle would quit having the characters lecture on chivalry and get to the action, but the action is worthwhile and interesting when it occurs. It is not as bloody as many video games or comic books of the present world, but there is carnage aplenty and the descriptions are occasionally more graphic than one would expect of an era where one spoke of lower limbs rather than legs.
One even gets a glimpse of some of Doyle’s own feelings. “In the cloisters he had heard vague talk of the law—the mighty law which was higher than prelate or baron, yet no sign could he see of it. What was the benefit of a law written fair upon parchment, he wondered, if there were no officers to enforce it.” (p. 83 in my eBook version) “It was a terrible world, thought he, and it was hard to know which were the most to be dreaded, the knaves or the men of the law.” (p. 103) And his description of pillaging rang true, “By St. Paul! It is not they who carry the breach who are wont to sack the town, but the laggard knaves who come crowding in when a way has been cleared for them.” (pp. 466-467) At another point, Doyle described the land as so hostile that “…their only passports were those which hung from their belts.” (p. 881)
When Alleyne is awestruck by appearances, a kind landlady of an inn offers this marvelous counsel, “You have had no great truck with the world or you would have learned that it is the small men and not the great who hold their noses in the air.” (p. 124) At another point, an archer contends, “Bless the lad, if he doth not blush like any girl, and yet preach like the whole College of Cardinals.” (p. 196) A few pages later, Alleyne preaches a brief sermon responding to a colleague who wants to defeat seven foes in a tournament. He says, “Here we are in the lists of life, and there come the seven black champions against us Sir Pride, Sir Covetousness, Sir Lust, Sir Anger, Sir Gluttony, Sir Envy, and Sir Sloth. Let a man lay those seven low, and he shall have the prize of the day, …” (pp. 208-209).
I learned a new word. Doyle used the word “bobance,” a word for boasting that is derived from a type of fancy cloth, on more than one occasion (p. 168). In fact, if you look up the word on the web, you’re likely to run into the direct quotation on this from the novel. And, as an instructor in the history of games, I was delighted to see a reference to the game of Hazard (a medieval predecessor to Craps): “’Mort de ma vie!’ Aylward [a companion to Alleyne] shouted, looking down at the dice. ‘Never had I such cursed luck. A murrain on the bones! I have not thrown a good main since I left Navarre. A one and a three! En avant, comarade!’” (pp. 319-20)
Doyle also brought in interesting references from history, noting “It was the age of martial women. The deeds of black Agnes of Dunbar, of Lady Salisbury and of the Countess of Montfort, were still fresh in the public minds.” (p. 331) This reminds readers of those staunch ladies who commanded the garrisons of their castles while holding off sieges while their lords were away at the wars. And I loved the reference to Geoffrey Chaucer, “…at the siege of Retters, there was a little, sleek, fat clerk of the name of Chaucer, who was so apt at rondel, sirvente, or sonson, that no man dare give back a foot from the walls, lest he find it all set down in his rhymes and sung by every underling and varlet in the camp.” (p. 349)
The story is predictable and the resolution wouldn’t force any film director to recut the ending. Indeed, Doyle even closes with a moral summary: “Let us thank God if we have outgrown their vices. Let us pray to God that we may ever hold their virtues.” (p. 1221)
April 6, 2016
This very much follows the same storyline and tropes as the prequel, "Sir Nigel," to the point that it feels more like a rehash of the plot. What I'm noticing is that you like one or the other depending on which you read first, for both novels are too similar to offer something different. Perhaps that this one has a group of characters as the protagonists, and not just Loring as in the other novel, and that its more adventure-focused, which makes sense as this is an archer's company at war.
Enjoyable is the right word for this novel, but I'm still left with a feeling that it wasn't substantial enough. It's more for young readers who delight in classic swashbuckling than for me.
Enjoyable is the right word for this novel, but I'm still left with a feeling that it wasn't substantial enough. It's more for young readers who delight in classic swashbuckling than for me.
January 18, 2015
I loved this one. I'm very happy I discovered this pearl by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, an author I've come to appreciate after reading all the Sherlock Holmes short stories and novellas available.
I was surprised to read Doyle engaged with a historical novel, and at the depth of his research. Also the writing style is quite different from the elegant, yet very fresh style employed in the Sherlock Holmes stories, it aims to capture the spirit of the time portrayed, which is the earlier part of the Hundred Years War.
This novel centers around four characters, mainly Alleyne Edricson and Sir Nigel Loring, and then the veteran archer Samkin Aylward and freshly recruited John of Hordle. The book is riddled with comic relief scenes, and it's intriguing to see how the author conveyed the medieval feel with impeccable British humor.
The descriptions of the landscape are lavish, rich, masterfully rendered, and those of the scenes, people and objects carefully depicted. I lack the historical background to judge the minutiae, but with a modern word, the world-building is truly compelling and I was amazed at Doyle's writing style versatility. The registry is intentionally archaic, probably to further immerse the reader in the epic of the time, but wholly understandable (just a little galore of thou, art, shalt, fain, rede and the likes, it's never bad to learn new words after all), even for me who read English as a secondary language. It's atmospheric!
The characters are wonderfully stereotyped, in a very clever manner because each integrates with the others to sweep the reader in the English countryside, on-board overloaded vessels, in the lists at Bordeaux, in the war-stricken French countryside until the lands of Spain. Doyle subtly, and none-too-subtly at times, intertwines his own views about classes, the roles of men and women in the society and the widespread inequality between peasants and gentles, highlighting the much more "advanced" philosophy of England (let's state facts, there's still a royal family in the UK) compared with the other rules of the period, and its archery might.
The book mainly follows pious Alleyne, when, being twenty of age, he is released to the world from the abbey of Beaulieu as per his deceased sire's will, so he can see it with his own eyes before committing his life one way of another. Doyle critics the church's tenets, petty rules and conservative attitude which ensnares men in a "narrow, stagnant circle of existence" with a sharp-edged sarcasm, but also through young Alleyne, grown-up but ignorant of the world, presents a colorful society rife with "injustice and violence and the hardness of man to man", where the lights and shadows of life are never clearly divided.
As he travels on, he meets with a motley of characters exacerbating the various aspects of humanity, the good and the bad, and he's soon accompanied by Sir Loring, the steadfast embodiment of the ballads' ideal of chivalry (at least in manner), roguish bear-sized John, still berated by his elder mother and witty, picaresque Aylward, whose vision of the world and manner of speech are a joy from start to end.
The reader learns with the naive protagonist that "what men are and what men profess to be are very wide asunder" and at times, "ignorance may be more precious than wisdom", so not to lose faith in your neighbor by too much cynicism.
The namesake White Company is met way into the second half of the book, but the tale centers around it and eventually the Spanish campaign of prince Edward of England.
The story is interesting, featuring knights, romance, family feuds, feat-of-arms, tilts, romance, battle, bloodshed, military strategies, a little coming-of-age () and it's quite fast-paced, even rushed at the end (I felt the last part could have been elaborated further); it's totally, utterly, absolutely hilarious, partial to the "grandeur anglaise" -but it's not impeding, apart probably from the scene of chapter XXIX- and describing human condition with a levity of great quality. Vividly recommended.
"Your Company has been, then, to bow knee before our holy father, the Pope Urban, the prop and centre of Christendom?" asked Alleyne, much interested. "Perchance you have yourself set eyes upon his august face?"
"Twice I saw him," said the archer [Aylward]. "He was a lean little rat of a man, with a scab on his chin. The first time we had five thousand crowns out of him, though he made much ado about it. The second time we asked ten thousand, but it was three days before we could come to terms, and I am of opinion myself that we might have done better by plundering the palace. His chamberlain and cardinals came forth, as I remember, to ask whether we would take seven thousand crowns with his blessing and a plenary absolution, or the ten thousand with his solemn ban by bell, book and candle. We were all of one mind that it was best to have the ten thousand with the curse...."
I was surprised to read Doyle engaged with a historical novel, and at the depth of his research. Also the writing style is quite different from the elegant, yet very fresh style employed in the Sherlock Holmes stories, it aims to capture the spirit of the time portrayed, which is the earlier part of the Hundred Years War.
This novel centers around four characters, mainly Alleyne Edricson and Sir Nigel Loring, and then the veteran archer Samkin Aylward and freshly recruited John of Hordle. The book is riddled with comic relief scenes, and it's intriguing to see how the author conveyed the medieval feel with impeccable British humor.
The descriptions of the landscape are lavish, rich, masterfully rendered, and those of the scenes, people and objects carefully depicted. I lack the historical background to judge the minutiae, but with a modern word, the world-building is truly compelling and I was amazed at Doyle's writing style versatility. The registry is intentionally archaic, probably to further immerse the reader in the epic of the time, but wholly understandable (just a little galore of thou, art, shalt, fain, rede and the likes, it's never bad to learn new words after all), even for me who read English as a secondary language. It's atmospheric!
The characters are wonderfully stereotyped, in a very clever manner because each integrates with the others to sweep the reader in the English countryside, on-board overloaded vessels, in the lists at Bordeaux, in the war-stricken French countryside until the lands of Spain. Doyle subtly, and none-too-subtly at times, intertwines his own views about classes, the roles of men and women in the society and the widespread inequality between peasants and gentles, highlighting the much more "advanced" philosophy of England (let's state facts, there's still a royal family in the UK) compared with the other rules of the period, and its archery might.
The book mainly follows pious Alleyne, when, being twenty of age, he is released to the world from the abbey of Beaulieu as per his deceased sire's will, so he can see it with his own eyes before committing his life one way of another. Doyle critics the church's tenets, petty rules and conservative attitude which ensnares men in a "narrow, stagnant circle of existence" with a sharp-edged sarcasm, but also through young Alleyne, grown-up but ignorant of the world, presents a colorful society rife with "injustice and violence and the hardness of man to man", where the lights and shadows of life are never clearly divided.
As he travels on, he meets with a motley of characters exacerbating the various aspects of humanity, the good and the bad, and he's soon accompanied by Sir Loring, the steadfast embodiment of the ballads' ideal of chivalry (at least in manner), roguish bear-sized John, still berated by his elder mother and witty, picaresque Aylward, whose vision of the world and manner of speech are a joy from start to end.
The reader learns with the naive protagonist that "what men are and what men profess to be are very wide asunder" and at times, "ignorance may be more precious than wisdom", so not to lose faith in your neighbor by too much cynicism.
The namesake White Company is met way into the second half of the book, but the tale centers around it and eventually the Spanish campaign of prince Edward of England.
The story is interesting, featuring knights, romance, family feuds, feat-of-arms, tilts, romance, battle, bloodshed, military strategies, a little coming-of-age () and it's quite fast-paced, even rushed at the end (I felt the last part could have been elaborated further); it's totally, utterly, absolutely hilarious, partial to the "grandeur anglaise" -but it's not impeding, apart probably from the scene of chapter XXIX- and describing human condition with a levity of great quality. Vividly recommended.
"Your Company has been, then, to bow knee before our holy father, the Pope Urban, the prop and centre of Christendom?" asked Alleyne, much interested. "Perchance you have yourself set eyes upon his august face?"
"Twice I saw him," said the archer [Aylward]. "He was a lean little rat of a man, with a scab on his chin. The first time we had five thousand crowns out of him, though he made much ado about it. The second time we asked ten thousand, but it was three days before we could come to terms, and I am of opinion myself that we might have done better by plundering the palace. His chamberlain and cardinals came forth, as I remember, to ask whether we would take seven thousand crowns with his blessing and a plenary absolution, or the ten thousand with his solemn ban by bell, book and candle. We were all of one mind that it was best to have the ten thousand with the curse...."
November 2, 2023
Here reside some of my very best literary friends. Who wouldn’t feel better for a visit with the staunch Sir Nigel or the true Alleyne? Then again bluff John or hearty Samkin are bound to stir you up to wholehearted friendship. Really, you ought to meet them. Doyle takes these delightful characters and sets them in a world of danger, homely joys, political intrigue, unfaltering loyalty, evil, good, sorrow, joy, death, and life, our world. He puts them through dire perils and crazy escapades. And makes you care for each one.
Then there is Doyle’s steady, humorous style. He certainly uses it to poke fun at the beliefs and practices he disagrees with. But, he also uses it to encourage the reader to live life steadfastly to the honor of truth and right. I think he was sadly mistaken in many of his beliefs, but I love the way he handles history and those men who made our culture what it is today.
Encapsulated in his own words. “Let us thank God if we have outgrown their vices. Let us pray to God that we may ever hold their virtues.”
Enjoy! - (2023)
One of Doyle's best works. I love the characters, and the plot line while not surprising is interesting. It's a fine adventure story. The nobility and morals are very well put. While it is not a Christian book, it is very clean. The beginnings of the Protestant Reformation is looked on favorably, and the Catholic Church comes in for a deal of censure.
Then there is Doyle’s steady, humorous style. He certainly uses it to poke fun at the beliefs and practices he disagrees with. But, he also uses it to encourage the reader to live life steadfastly to the honor of truth and right. I think he was sadly mistaken in many of his beliefs, but I love the way he handles history and those men who made our culture what it is today.
Encapsulated in his own words. “Let us thank God if we have outgrown their vices. Let us pray to God that we may ever hold their virtues.”
Enjoy! - (2023)
One of Doyle's best works. I love the characters, and the plot line while not surprising is interesting. It's a fine adventure story. The nobility and morals are very well put. While it is not a Christian book, it is very clean. The beginnings of the Protestant Reformation is looked on favorably, and the Catholic Church comes in for a deal of censure.
November 18, 2023
Doyle, one of the most venerated authors of the English language, shows in this novel that the Holmes stories are just a fraction of his literary skill. Within this volume lies a tale of a forgotten time, a story of a young man of noble blood who leaves his clerkship at a monastery and goes on a great adventure through France and Spain, a squire to the legendary knight Sir Nigel, the embodiment of the chivalric order. Doyle's prose sets the scenes perfectly, imparting upon the reader a perfect image of life and scenery in the fourteenth century. I feel that he puts it best in his dedication -
To the hope of the future
The reunion of the English-speaking races
This little chronicle of our common
Ancestry is inscribed
A must read for all.
To the hope of the future
The reunion of the English-speaking races
This little chronicle of our common
Ancestry is inscribed
A must read for all.
Want to read
January 8, 2026Unannotated Book in F. Scott Fitzgerald's College of One
November 17, 2025
a mountain of the finest cheese
prose as gloriously tumbled as a mighty castle wall
TO FRANCE, AND TO THE WORLD
The White Company follows three main characters, who all end up in service to the same Lord;
our Bishonen protagonist, Alleyne Edricson, is descnded from Sazon nobility and was raised by monks
in him are combined the masculine and feminine, the martial and the christian
he is a reasoning pre-Rennaisance rennaisance man, and for the reader, an avatar of near-20th (19th) century morality
as a condition of his upbringing, set by his now-dead father, Allayne was to be raised by monks, but, on such and such a birthdate, he was to be sent forth into the outer world for one year, to make do for himself, and to have a look at it. Once that year is done he must decide forever more; the Cloister or the Dale.
With him in the Monestary is Hordle John, a massive local lad
he sent himself to the monks after being stiched up by a girl,
but, being a massive boisterous, earthy worldling of a man, he gets kicked out with prejudice about the same time Allayne is sent forth with grace
the two end up travelling together, and soon run into our third protagonist; the Archer Samkin Aylward,
late returned from the wars in France, laden down with purloined treasures, he runs into them in an ale-house, wrestles Hordle John (literally) into joining his 'White Company', a band of mercs, and suggests to Alleyen that he should join up too
after a dark incident with his brutish brother, Alleyne does indeed join the other two in the 'White Company', under the leadership of our forth major character; Sir Nigel Loring, and off they go to France, for adventure!
NO HAWKSWOOD
At no point at all does Sir John Hawkswood turn up
and he was the main reason I bought this book!
(During the Italian Wars, a man called John Hawkswood lead an Anglo-German mercinary group called 'The White Company' and, through political and military cunning of a high degree, ended up ennobled by a city-state (I forget which one). He is the source of the phrase "An italianised Englishman is the devil incarnate" and his adventures also provided core inspriation for 'The Band of the Hawk' in Berseark.
Well he is not in this at all. They make mention that he has gone off with half the company into Italy, leaving the other half behind and thats about it.
NO COLOUR FOR N.C.WYETH
I read what I think is an Amazon reproduction of the 'Seawolf Press 100th Anniversery edition and, while most aspects of the book were good; harback, what looks like a sewn binding, reproduction of the original (superior) fonts and titles, the single most important thing was utterly botched; the absolutely gorgeous original N.C.Wyeth full-page illustrations are in dirty, grainy black and white instead of GLORIOUS COLOUR. This blows beyond and possible conception of blowing.
There are lots of 'spot' B&W illustrations, I think these are by James Daugherty, these are fine and are reproduced fine. But BEWARE, this book has NO John Hawkswood, and may have NO colour N.C. Wyeth.
A 19TH CENTURY MIDDLE AGES
actually this came out in 1920
and the postscript seems to directly reference WWI and suggest the oncoming WWII
still this feels totally, overwhelmingly, a book of the 19th Century*
there is nothing modern about it
idealism, colour, incident, heroism, earnestness
this is in many ways an 'ideal' book
with an ideal hero serving an ideal lord
this idealism may be why the book spends so long getting to the war,
and so little time there
in purely plot terms, the whole thing is a great build up to an extended martial action which, for the protagonist, is over very quickly
Conan-Doyle does have some interest in the facts
and while his storybook world continually offers elegantly weighted scenes for his hero to exhibit his nobility
war, ultimately, and in its details, is not a noble venture
even as the quartet arrive in the borders of a war-ravaged France, they find the Lords horrid, the peasants rebellious, and their own brethren of the White Company eagerly bantiting around, presumaby ruining life for everyone
this means that in a book about a 'Mercinary Company' during some very middle-ages wars, the only people Alleyne gets to fight are; evil Pirates (they have murdered civillians), maddened peasants (provoked but vile), and one battle against an overwhelmingly large force under the Spanish king, in which he performs heroically but after which he is knocked out, knighted while asleep, wakes up, goes home, marries bae and becomes Lord of the Manor
(*I have since learned that 'The White Company' was originally serialised in the late 19C, which makes sense.)
A BOOK OF MEDIEVAL ENCOUNTERS
peak goblin mode Conan-Doyle knows a bunch of stuff about the Middle Ages and wants you to encounter ALL of it - the result is a random-table generator combining classic-adventure story elements (by page 50 three seperate women have been rescued from danger at three different water crossings), and heres-something-weird-about-history tweets
a hyper-compressed book-of-the-world, as crammed with stuff and incident as a Breugel painting
this is not high literature but it is High Entertainment
you literally cannot walk a MILE in Conan-Doyle Merrie England without runnin into;
A WALK ON DAY ONE;
A Fuller of Lymington who has had his clothes cozened from his back (by Hordle John)
A Charcoal-burners wife
Two acrobats who hop around on their heads, wearing motley, playing pipes
pair of Dominican monks
Grey Friar looking for stewed eels
Three labourors whistling carrying a bittern
Schitzo cripple with a wooden leg
Old dame from Witlshire with a stick trying to cross a ford
pair of bandits, one black, one white (who rob the dame)
the bailiff of Southampton and six archers (who kill the bandits)
A STOP AT THE 'PIED MERLIN'
Dame Eliza - a landlady
Hordle John
a pair of Foresters, Hugh
three or four under-keepers or verderers
Floyting Will, a middle-aged gleeman with 'a gilt harp, blotched with many stains and with two of its string missing'
one man 'with a trimming of fur to his coat'
one in 'a dirty russet suit with a long sweepig doublet' and 'a cunning foxy face with keen twingling eyes and a peaky beard'
three' rough unkempt fellows with tangled beards and matted hair'
'a peasant in a rude dress of undyed sheepskin, with the old fashioned galligaskins about his legs' - a rebellious fellow!
'a gaily dressed young man with striped cloak jagged at the edges and parti-coloured hosen'
Wat the Limmer
Samkin Aylward, archer of the White Company
six common drudges
DAY TWO
the blood drops of a stricked deer
two flaggelents in tall white caps, flagellating each other
the cottage of a fingerless bowman training his two young sons to kill the scots who took his thumbs
a "Queenly Doe"
A "rough, powerful peasant, with a cap and tunic of untanned sheepskin, leather breaches and galligaskins round legs and feet" (its the same one)
King Edward of England
the black-browed Baron Brocas "Black hound of Gascony"!
the evil Socman of Minstead (Alleynes brother)
Lady Maud, a 'pert' Normal noblewoman, and her hawk (victims of the Socman)
Bertrand, a "green-clad page with laughing eyes, and long curls floating behind him"
A woodman, "axe upon his shoulder"
Various nature encounters "a white-necked sea-eagle" etc etc
Miscellaneous road encounters ""beggars and couriers, chapmen and tinkers - cheery fellows for the most part"
five seamen from Poole "rude red-faced men" who make Alleyne drink from a great pot
A Knight Hospitaller
two scholars with five dried herrings, disputing the doctrines of Dun Scotus vs Willie Ockham (they come to blows)
"shock-haired labourers and red-cheeked children"
Samkin Alyward losing his clothes to Hordle John in a game of dice
Two russet-clad varlets, Lady Loring and Sir Nigel Loring!
SIR NIGEL LORING
Peak Knight Energy and, since he appears in half the scenes from this point on, _another_ (fourth) protagonist for our tale. The heart of gold, the fighting cock, the rose of Loring, robably everyones favourite character;
'"All is lost!" he cried. "The castle is taken and on fire, the seneschal is slain, and there is naught left for us."
"On the contrary," quoth Sir Nigel, "there is much left to us, for there is a very honourable contention before us, and a fair lady for whom to give our lives. There are many ways in which a man might die, but none better than this."'
Short, stooped, middle-aged, balding and slightly blind (lime in his eyes during a siege), Sir Nigel is probably the bravest man imaginable, an extremely competant knight, swordsman and military commander, limited only by his near sight and at times deluded-to-the-point-of-madness impetious bravery. There is no force or fortress he will not attack, no Lady he will not defend, no holy man to whom he will not throw his purse, he is simply unstoppable
'"I can well remember that two leagues from the town of Rheims I met a very valiant and courteous cavalier of France, with whom I had gentle and most honourable contention for upwards of an hour. It hath ever grieved me that I had not his name, for he smote upon me with a mace and went upon his way ere I was in condition to have much speech with him; but his arms were an allurion in cheif above a fess azure. I was also on such occasion thrust through the shoulder by Lyon de Montcourt, whom I met on the high road betwixt Libourne and Bordeaux. I met him but the once, but I have never seen a man for whom I bear a greater love and esteem. And so also with the squite Le Bourg Capillet, who would have been a very valient captain had he lived."
"He is dead then?" asked Alleyne Edricson.
"Alas! it was my ill fate to slay him in a bickering which broke out in a field near the township of Tarbes. I cannot call to mind how the thing came about..."'
of what unies the curiosity of the character, and perhaps is the key to the book, is his great, passionate, and sicere love of utterly murderous violence, and of honour, and of his Lady. Sir Nigel genuinely adores the violence of combat, is utterly without fear of death (less it be dishonourable), a veteran of an hundred campaigns, his is tactiaclly and strategically skilled, but far far far too imeptious. He speaks of violence, and of his relationships with men through violence, as a kind of sincere love. An en-nobling intimacy. It is beyond strange how closely aligned in him are love and death, the open sincerity of friendship and the murderous exchange of steel. For him every combat is almost a friendship.
He is utterly intoxicating and, if real, would perhaps be an utter mad-man to be lead by. But this surely is how men like to be lead; by a curteous, honourable, respectful gentlemen who loves his wife and who is also insanely brave, dives into every combat and consistently wins every time. (In the Final Battle Sir Nigel is captured by the Spanish and the White Company slain almost to the last man. We think we have seen the last of him, but in a handful of paragraphs towards the end of the book we learn he and Samkin Aylward were sold into slavery on a Turkish Galley, lead a slave revolt, made it to another ship, took that over and sailed home just in time for the end of the book. Only what one would expect from Sir Nigel.)
THEMES
THE WORLD OF COLURFUL VIOLENCE
As extreme as Sir Nigels character is, it is probably the key to the book and to the world Conan-Doyle is describing. As we learned long ago from Hugh Cook, every soldier is by necessity, an amnesiac, and the world of violence as described _from within_, by men of willing violence, is very utterly totally different to the world of violence as described by anyone else in that world, or by those looking down on it through cascades of falling time, as if it were bugs beneath a glass.
THE CLOISTER VS THE WORLD
Its difficult to believe that there could be any meaningful conflict between the Monks world of Christian Peace and order and the vivd, brawling, wild outside world - our story only starts when two of its characters are ejected from the cloisters and everything gets more and more interesting from that point on. In the grand weighing of Innocence vs Experience 'The White Company' comes down hard, as any true adventure story must, on the side of Experience.
But Conan-Doyle at least has not forgotten and its curious that in the books final chapter, it is Alleyne Edricson, raised and beloved by monks, who, on encountering another, last, emblematic scene; that of a staring sylite and a happy family, speaks out for the world, while Hordle John, now comfortably middle-class after capturing a spanish Knight, and who joined the closter because a woman did him wrong, and was kicked out for being rough, ends up speaking for the eternal
'"There lies the image of our past and of our future," cried Aleyne, as they rode upon their way. "Now, which is better, to till God's earth, to have happy faces round one's knee, and to love and be loved, or to sit forever moaning over one's own soul, like a mother over a sick babe?"
"I know not about that," said John, "for it casts a great cloud over me when I think of such matters. But I know that my crown was well spent, for the man had the look of a very holy person. As to the other, there was nought holy about him that I could see, and it would be cheaper for me to pray for myself than to give a crown to one who spent his days in digging for lettuces."
prose as gloriously tumbled as a mighty castle wall
TO FRANCE, AND TO THE WORLD
The White Company follows three main characters, who all end up in service to the same Lord;
our Bishonen protagonist, Alleyne Edricson, is descnded from Sazon nobility and was raised by monks
in him are combined the masculine and feminine, the martial and the christian
he is a reasoning pre-Rennaisance rennaisance man, and for the reader, an avatar of near-20th (19th) century morality
as a condition of his upbringing, set by his now-dead father, Allayne was to be raised by monks, but, on such and such a birthdate, he was to be sent forth into the outer world for one year, to make do for himself, and to have a look at it. Once that year is done he must decide forever more; the Cloister or the Dale.
With him in the Monestary is Hordle John, a massive local lad
he sent himself to the monks after being stiched up by a girl,
but, being a massive boisterous, earthy worldling of a man, he gets kicked out with prejudice about the same time Allayne is sent forth with grace
the two end up travelling together, and soon run into our third protagonist; the Archer Samkin Aylward,
late returned from the wars in France, laden down with purloined treasures, he runs into them in an ale-house, wrestles Hordle John (literally) into joining his 'White Company', a band of mercs, and suggests to Alleyen that he should join up too
after a dark incident with his brutish brother, Alleyne does indeed join the other two in the 'White Company', under the leadership of our forth major character; Sir Nigel Loring, and off they go to France, for adventure!
NO HAWKSWOOD
At no point at all does Sir John Hawkswood turn up
and he was the main reason I bought this book!
(During the Italian Wars, a man called John Hawkswood lead an Anglo-German mercinary group called 'The White Company' and, through political and military cunning of a high degree, ended up ennobled by a city-state (I forget which one). He is the source of the phrase "An italianised Englishman is the devil incarnate" and his adventures also provided core inspriation for 'The Band of the Hawk' in Berseark.
Well he is not in this at all. They make mention that he has gone off with half the company into Italy, leaving the other half behind and thats about it.
NO COLOUR FOR N.C.WYETH
I read what I think is an Amazon reproduction of the 'Seawolf Press 100th Anniversery edition and, while most aspects of the book were good; harback, what looks like a sewn binding, reproduction of the original (superior) fonts and titles, the single most important thing was utterly botched; the absolutely gorgeous original N.C.Wyeth full-page illustrations are in dirty, grainy black and white instead of GLORIOUS COLOUR. This blows beyond and possible conception of blowing.
There are lots of 'spot' B&W illustrations, I think these are by James Daugherty, these are fine and are reproduced fine. But BEWARE, this book has NO John Hawkswood, and may have NO colour N.C. Wyeth.
A 19TH CENTURY MIDDLE AGES
actually this came out in 1920
and the postscript seems to directly reference WWI and suggest the oncoming WWII
still this feels totally, overwhelmingly, a book of the 19th Century*
there is nothing modern about it
idealism, colour, incident, heroism, earnestness
this is in many ways an 'ideal' book
with an ideal hero serving an ideal lord
this idealism may be why the book spends so long getting to the war,
and so little time there
in purely plot terms, the whole thing is a great build up to an extended martial action which, for the protagonist, is over very quickly
Conan-Doyle does have some interest in the facts
and while his storybook world continually offers elegantly weighted scenes for his hero to exhibit his nobility
war, ultimately, and in its details, is not a noble venture
even as the quartet arrive in the borders of a war-ravaged France, they find the Lords horrid, the peasants rebellious, and their own brethren of the White Company eagerly bantiting around, presumaby ruining life for everyone
this means that in a book about a 'Mercinary Company' during some very middle-ages wars, the only people Alleyne gets to fight are; evil Pirates (they have murdered civillians), maddened peasants (provoked but vile), and one battle against an overwhelmingly large force under the Spanish king, in which he performs heroically but after which he is knocked out, knighted while asleep, wakes up, goes home, marries bae and becomes Lord of the Manor
(*I have since learned that 'The White Company' was originally serialised in the late 19C, which makes sense.)
A BOOK OF MEDIEVAL ENCOUNTERS
peak goblin mode Conan-Doyle knows a bunch of stuff about the Middle Ages and wants you to encounter ALL of it - the result is a random-table generator combining classic-adventure story elements (by page 50 three seperate women have been rescued from danger at three different water crossings), and heres-something-weird-about-history tweets
a hyper-compressed book-of-the-world, as crammed with stuff and incident as a Breugel painting
this is not high literature but it is High Entertainment
you literally cannot walk a MILE in Conan-Doyle Merrie England without runnin into;
A WALK ON DAY ONE;
A Fuller of Lymington who has had his clothes cozened from his back (by Hordle John)
A Charcoal-burners wife
Two acrobats who hop around on their heads, wearing motley, playing pipes
pair of Dominican monks
Grey Friar looking for stewed eels
Three labourors whistling carrying a bittern
Schitzo cripple with a wooden leg
Old dame from Witlshire with a stick trying to cross a ford
pair of bandits, one black, one white (who rob the dame)
the bailiff of Southampton and six archers (who kill the bandits)
A STOP AT THE 'PIED MERLIN'
Dame Eliza - a landlady
Hordle John
a pair of Foresters, Hugh
three or four under-keepers or verderers
Floyting Will, a middle-aged gleeman with 'a gilt harp, blotched with many stains and with two of its string missing'
one man 'with a trimming of fur to his coat'
one in 'a dirty russet suit with a long sweepig doublet' and 'a cunning foxy face with keen twingling eyes and a peaky beard'
three' rough unkempt fellows with tangled beards and matted hair'
'a peasant in a rude dress of undyed sheepskin, with the old fashioned galligaskins about his legs' - a rebellious fellow!
'a gaily dressed young man with striped cloak jagged at the edges and parti-coloured hosen'
Wat the Limmer
Samkin Aylward, archer of the White Company
six common drudges
DAY TWO
the blood drops of a stricked deer
two flaggelents in tall white caps, flagellating each other
the cottage of a fingerless bowman training his two young sons to kill the scots who took his thumbs
a "Queenly Doe"
A "rough, powerful peasant, with a cap and tunic of untanned sheepskin, leather breaches and galligaskins round legs and feet" (its the same one)
King Edward of England
the black-browed Baron Brocas "Black hound of Gascony"!
the evil Socman of Minstead (Alleynes brother)
Lady Maud, a 'pert' Normal noblewoman, and her hawk (victims of the Socman)
Bertrand, a "green-clad page with laughing eyes, and long curls floating behind him"
A woodman, "axe upon his shoulder"
Various nature encounters "a white-necked sea-eagle" etc etc
Miscellaneous road encounters ""beggars and couriers, chapmen and tinkers - cheery fellows for the most part"
five seamen from Poole "rude red-faced men" who make Alleyne drink from a great pot
A Knight Hospitaller
two scholars with five dried herrings, disputing the doctrines of Dun Scotus vs Willie Ockham (they come to blows)
"shock-haired labourers and red-cheeked children"
Samkin Alyward losing his clothes to Hordle John in a game of dice
Two russet-clad varlets, Lady Loring and Sir Nigel Loring!
SIR NIGEL LORING
Peak Knight Energy and, since he appears in half the scenes from this point on, _another_ (fourth) protagonist for our tale. The heart of gold, the fighting cock, the rose of Loring, robably everyones favourite character;
'"All is lost!" he cried. "The castle is taken and on fire, the seneschal is slain, and there is naught left for us."
"On the contrary," quoth Sir Nigel, "there is much left to us, for there is a very honourable contention before us, and a fair lady for whom to give our lives. There are many ways in which a man might die, but none better than this."'
Short, stooped, middle-aged, balding and slightly blind (lime in his eyes during a siege), Sir Nigel is probably the bravest man imaginable, an extremely competant knight, swordsman and military commander, limited only by his near sight and at times deluded-to-the-point-of-madness impetious bravery. There is no force or fortress he will not attack, no Lady he will not defend, no holy man to whom he will not throw his purse, he is simply unstoppable
'"I can well remember that two leagues from the town of Rheims I met a very valiant and courteous cavalier of France, with whom I had gentle and most honourable contention for upwards of an hour. It hath ever grieved me that I had not his name, for he smote upon me with a mace and went upon his way ere I was in condition to have much speech with him; but his arms were an allurion in cheif above a fess azure. I was also on such occasion thrust through the shoulder by Lyon de Montcourt, whom I met on the high road betwixt Libourne and Bordeaux. I met him but the once, but I have never seen a man for whom I bear a greater love and esteem. And so also with the squite Le Bourg Capillet, who would have been a very valient captain had he lived."
"He is dead then?" asked Alleyne Edricson.
"Alas! it was my ill fate to slay him in a bickering which broke out in a field near the township of Tarbes. I cannot call to mind how the thing came about..."'
of what unies the curiosity of the character, and perhaps is the key to the book, is his great, passionate, and sicere love of utterly murderous violence, and of honour, and of his Lady. Sir Nigel genuinely adores the violence of combat, is utterly without fear of death (less it be dishonourable), a veteran of an hundred campaigns, his is tactiaclly and strategically skilled, but far far far too imeptious. He speaks of violence, and of his relationships with men through violence, as a kind of sincere love. An en-nobling intimacy. It is beyond strange how closely aligned in him are love and death, the open sincerity of friendship and the murderous exchange of steel. For him every combat is almost a friendship.
He is utterly intoxicating and, if real, would perhaps be an utter mad-man to be lead by. But this surely is how men like to be lead; by a curteous, honourable, respectful gentlemen who loves his wife and who is also insanely brave, dives into every combat and consistently wins every time. (In the Final Battle Sir Nigel is captured by the Spanish and the White Company slain almost to the last man. We think we have seen the last of him, but in a handful of paragraphs towards the end of the book we learn he and Samkin Aylward were sold into slavery on a Turkish Galley, lead a slave revolt, made it to another ship, took that over and sailed home just in time for the end of the book. Only what one would expect from Sir Nigel.)
THEMES
THE WORLD OF COLURFUL VIOLENCE
As extreme as Sir Nigels character is, it is probably the key to the book and to the world Conan-Doyle is describing. As we learned long ago from Hugh Cook, every soldier is by necessity, an amnesiac, and the world of violence as described _from within_, by men of willing violence, is very utterly totally different to the world of violence as described by anyone else in that world, or by those looking down on it through cascades of falling time, as if it were bugs beneath a glass.
THE CLOISTER VS THE WORLD
Its difficult to believe that there could be any meaningful conflict between the Monks world of Christian Peace and order and the vivd, brawling, wild outside world - our story only starts when two of its characters are ejected from the cloisters and everything gets more and more interesting from that point on. In the grand weighing of Innocence vs Experience 'The White Company' comes down hard, as any true adventure story must, on the side of Experience.
But Conan-Doyle at least has not forgotten and its curious that in the books final chapter, it is Alleyne Edricson, raised and beloved by monks, who, on encountering another, last, emblematic scene; that of a staring sylite and a happy family, speaks out for the world, while Hordle John, now comfortably middle-class after capturing a spanish Knight, and who joined the closter because a woman did him wrong, and was kicked out for being rough, ends up speaking for the eternal
'"There lies the image of our past and of our future," cried Aleyne, as they rode upon their way. "Now, which is better, to till God's earth, to have happy faces round one's knee, and to love and be loved, or to sit forever moaning over one's own soul, like a mother over a sick babe?"
"I know not about that," said John, "for it casts a great cloud over me when I think of such matters. But I know that my crown was well spent, for the man had the look of a very holy person. As to the other, there was nought holy about him that I could see, and it would be cheaper for me to pray for myself than to give a crown to one who spent his days in digging for lettuces."
January 22, 2010
A few, sorrily disjointed, thoughts.
Wow--felt like reading Sir Walter Scott.
Fun book. Truly a "boys" book--moreso than I found I could take--almost. Filled with battles, blood and descriptions of armor and weapons, ad nauseum.
Set during the 100 years war.
Super characters, unique and whimsical.
Was the age of chivalry really like that? Seriously, there was a passage that talked about how the knights would take a vow to do some great feat of arms for their ladies, and that an eye-patch would be the symbol of that vow, and that the knights wouldn't take them off until they'd felt they'd done something truly terrific--it cracked me up. Think on it, hundreds of knights in a battle with eye-patches on. Gee whiz.
The idea of battle for honor's sake, not for need, but purely to do a feat of arms to win honor in the name of the fair loved maiden. Gag. Surely that wasn't really what the 100 years war was about--men with nothing better to do?? :) Not likely, but it made the story funny.
I appreciated that the author mentioned several times that the clean life/pure living of the hero was what saved him in many of his perils.
Ancient Catholicism baffles me.
The modern reader seriously needs a good dictionary to go with this book. On a single page one might find 20 instances where it would come in handy. Want to know what an arbalast is? Or none-meat? Now I know.
There was a certain passage that had me a bit puzzled, as I sat pondering it--did it mean what I thought it meant? If so, men never do change, but seems a more modern thing to say...
The hero (who has been reared in an Abbey among monks and is on his first journey out into the world) is walking along with two chance companions; they meet a man who professes to be training his sons up to revenge him upon the hateful Scots. After they leave him, the old soldier remarks:
"I have a liking for that north countryman," he remarked presently. "He hath good power of hatred. Couldst see by his cheek and eye that he is as bitter as verjuice. I warm to a man who hath some gall in his liver."
"Ah me!" sighed Alleyne (monkish hero). "Would it not be better if he had some love in his heart?"
"I would not say nay to that. By my hilt! I shall never be said to be traitor to the little king. Let a man love the sex. Pasques Dieu! they are made to be loved, les petites, from whimple down to shoe-string! I am right glad, mon garcon, to see that the good monks have trained thee so wisely and so well."
"Nay, I meant not worldly love, but rather that his heart should soften towards those who have wronged him."
The little king?? Ha ha.
Very fun and very different from what we all think of when we think of Conan Doyle.
Not the very BEST in the blood & morality tales, but a good runner-up.
BTW: ILLUSTRATIONS BY N.C. WYETH--AWESOME!!
Wow--felt like reading Sir Walter Scott.
Fun book. Truly a "boys" book--moreso than I found I could take--almost. Filled with battles, blood and descriptions of armor and weapons, ad nauseum.
Set during the 100 years war.
Super characters, unique and whimsical.
Was the age of chivalry really like that? Seriously, there was a passage that talked about how the knights would take a vow to do some great feat of arms for their ladies, and that an eye-patch would be the symbol of that vow, and that the knights wouldn't take them off until they'd felt they'd done something truly terrific--it cracked me up. Think on it, hundreds of knights in a battle with eye-patches on. Gee whiz.
The idea of battle for honor's sake, not for need, but purely to do a feat of arms to win honor in the name of the fair loved maiden. Gag. Surely that wasn't really what the 100 years war was about--men with nothing better to do?? :) Not likely, but it made the story funny.
I appreciated that the author mentioned several times that the clean life/pure living of the hero was what saved him in many of his perils.
Ancient Catholicism baffles me.
The modern reader seriously needs a good dictionary to go with this book. On a single page one might find 20 instances where it would come in handy. Want to know what an arbalast is? Or none-meat? Now I know.
There was a certain passage that had me a bit puzzled, as I sat pondering it--did it mean what I thought it meant? If so, men never do change, but seems a more modern thing to say...
The hero (who has been reared in an Abbey among monks and is on his first journey out into the world) is walking along with two chance companions; they meet a man who professes to be training his sons up to revenge him upon the hateful Scots. After they leave him, the old soldier remarks:
"I have a liking for that north countryman," he remarked presently. "He hath good power of hatred. Couldst see by his cheek and eye that he is as bitter as verjuice. I warm to a man who hath some gall in his liver."
"Ah me!" sighed Alleyne (monkish hero). "Would it not be better if he had some love in his heart?"
"I would not say nay to that. By my hilt! I shall never be said to be traitor to the little king. Let a man love the sex. Pasques Dieu! they are made to be loved, les petites, from whimple down to shoe-string! I am right glad, mon garcon, to see that the good monks have trained thee so wisely and so well."
"Nay, I meant not worldly love, but rather that his heart should soften towards those who have wronged him."
The little king?? Ha ha.
Very fun and very different from what we all think of when we think of Conan Doyle.
Not the very BEST in the blood & morality tales, but a good runner-up.
BTW: ILLUSTRATIONS BY N.C. WYETH--AWESOME!!
Read
March 29, 2016It's kind of interesting to read totally mediocre genre stuff of previous generations, just sort of as an artifact. But this book is basically pretty stupid. Doyle has done his homework and there are some interesting bits about monks, but it's mostly pure melodrama, and the characterization is shoddy as a tree house made by drunken children. It's basically just a bit pile of shit, but I didn't mind it while I was reading it.
Want to read
June 26, 2020Synopsis: Sir Nigel Loring leads a rollicking band of adventurers, his company of knights, in the 14th century's Hundred Years War.
July 1, 2024
No fue para mi.
October 23, 2022
Readers of The White Company may be comforted to know that they are reading precisely the kind of book by Arthur Conan Doyle that he wanted you to read. Conan Doyle did not wish to be remembered for Sherlock Holmes, and thought his historical works were his best.
Alas, posterity has decreed otherwise. If you named the five most famous Conan Doyle characters, all or most of them come from the Sherlock Holmes stories – Holmes, Watson, Moriarty, Mycroft and perhaps Irene Adler. Professor Challenger might take the fifth place instead, thanks to The Lost World. On the whole, few people are talking about Brigadier Gerard and Sir Nigel.
Sir Nigel is the essential hero of The White Company, though he takes a long time to appear in the book. We instead follow the fortunes of Alleyne Edricson, the character who has the misfortune to be the inevitable dull protagonist of the book.
Alleyne begins life in one white company – a holy order of monks at Beaulieu – and moves onto another White Company, led by Sir Nigel. Despite the title of the book, I am a little uncertain about what the White Company does. Conan Doyle is surprisingly vague, but we gather they are mercenaries of a sort.
After leaving the monks for a year’s sabbatical Alleyne falls in with two members of the White Company, John of Hordle, a novice in the same holy order who is thrown out for bad behaviour, and Samkin Aylward, a proficient archer. They travel together until they arrive at the home of Alleyne’s brother.
Hopes that this sibling will look after Alleyne prove premature. Simon, the Socman of Minstead, hates his brother, as much of the money of the estate went into Alleyne’s monastic education. In any case, Simon is a corrupt and brutal crook. After rescuing a young lady from Simon’s clutches, Alleyne is forced to leave, and rejoin his former companions.
When he meets The White Company, Alleyne finds that the lady he rescued is the daughter of their leader, Sir Nigel Loring. Inevitably they fall in love, but Sir Nigel sets off for France and Spain to seek glory and honour, and takes The White Company, including Alleyne, with him. Here they meet with a number of adventures and fight bravely in Spain at the Battle of Nájera.
What is the spark that is missing which prevents The White Company from being as memorable as the Sherlock Holmes stories? Part of the problem is that it is an historical adventure story, and such tales, though entertaining, are never scintillating because of their nature.
The historical adventure story can falter on two points. Firstly, the author can slow the action down with too much historical minutiae, mistaking well-researched for well-written. Secondly, the tales are essentially samey when the action comes – damsels in distress, brave knights, villainous lords, tournaments and jousting, and battles.
Conan Doyle slips into both of these errors, regrettably. The narrative is constantly stopping while characters discuss aspects of medieval life such as fighting or religion, and the reader is asked to wait until it starts up again. This continues even late in the book when Sir Nigel’s push towards the final battle is interrupted by an archery contest, allowing Conan Doyle to show off his knowledge of different bows.
There are limits to what Conan Doyle will share with us, however. We cannot expect to see soldiers with dysentery or gangrene, for example. This is strictly the romantic part of history.
This is not terrible or tedious matter, but it does get in the way of the storytelling, and may explain why the book is longer than many Conan Doyle works. There is an amusing passage where our heroes are duped into buying fake holy relics, a common fraud at the time, and Conan Doyle has a dig at a pardoner, just as Chaucer did. How can you take money for pardoning people’s sins, and still be moral?
As this is Conan Doyle, he is more credulous about spiritualism however, and he includes a character who is a medium. She predicts a number of dangers, which all prove correct. With another writer, we would put this down to artistic foreshadowing, but I fear Conan Doyle really believes in this guff.
Regarding the book’s action, it is standard heroics, with rescues, fights and battles, and characters who are entirely conventional. Jousting and contests are as dull as a game of Quidditch, since it is very clearly signposted who will win.
Sir Nigel is of interest in that he is short and has poor eyesight, reflecting his age, In every other respect he is merely a brave and gallant knight with nothing to distinguish him from any other historical fiction hero. He does wear a patch over his eye until he performs a brave deed, but that seems more silly than helpful.
It must have been an interesting time, if knights really behaved that way, jumping in to defend the honour of any woman who asks. What a good way to get rid of a boring husband, or to spite your neighbour? Just tell a knight that he affronted your honour, and he will attack the man without any enquiring into the matter beforehand.
The gallant Sir Nigel is determined to fight any wrongs he comes across as a point of honour. I can think of one good example he might have considered. What about an invading army that devastates the landscape of a country so that a king can lay spurious claim to the throne of the country he is invading? Come to think of it, Sir Nigel is on the side of that king.
Conan Doyle is not really capable of questioning whether it is right to attack another country and despoil the countryside for no reason but gain. He was a supporter of the British Empire after all. Would he feel the same if Britain had been invaded by France on and off for over a hundred years, with much damage being done, based on a false claim to the British throne?
In all fairness, Conan Doyle is an imaginative enough writer to put across the other view. Since this is a time when England was successful against France, he can show some generosity towards the defeated side. This leads to one or two awkward moments.
At a tournament, a disguised Frenchman asks to fight English knights. He does so with distinction and honour. When the English offer to praise his gallantry, it all goes horribly wrong. The French knight instead delivers a speech attacking the English for the devastation they have done to his country before riding off.
Suddenly the sense that war is all just sport and invading another country is just a jolly adventure is briefly exposed as something more sinister. Later when Sir Nigel passes through France, Conan Doyle describes some of the damage done by invading armies. It is a surprising touch, and one for which we can honour Conan Doyle.
One of the more curious prophecies by the noblewoman who is a medium is when she warns Sir Nigel that his castle is under attack. (The attacker proves to be Sir Alleyne’s brother.) Since The White Company cannot go home, there is nobody to protect Sir Nigel’s wife and daughter, and they must save themselves by their own efforts.
The impolitic foolishness of fighting wars abroad while neglecting the safety of your own family pass seemingly unnoticed by Conan Doyle. Curiously the defenders seem able to manage quite well without The White Company’s help, thereby depriving us of a heroic return to destroy the enemy at home reminiscent of the end of Lord of the Rings.
The White Company is not widely-read today, and Conan Doyle’s bid to be remembered as a writer of historical romances must be considered a failure. That is as it should be. The White Company is an entertaining enough read, but it lacks the memorable touches that appear in Conan Doyle’s best writing. Medieval knights are just not as much fun as consulting detectives or bad-tempered scientist explorers.
Alas, posterity has decreed otherwise. If you named the five most famous Conan Doyle characters, all or most of them come from the Sherlock Holmes stories – Holmes, Watson, Moriarty, Mycroft and perhaps Irene Adler. Professor Challenger might take the fifth place instead, thanks to The Lost World. On the whole, few people are talking about Brigadier Gerard and Sir Nigel.
Sir Nigel is the essential hero of The White Company, though he takes a long time to appear in the book. We instead follow the fortunes of Alleyne Edricson, the character who has the misfortune to be the inevitable dull protagonist of the book.
Alleyne begins life in one white company – a holy order of monks at Beaulieu – and moves onto another White Company, led by Sir Nigel. Despite the title of the book, I am a little uncertain about what the White Company does. Conan Doyle is surprisingly vague, but we gather they are mercenaries of a sort.
After leaving the monks for a year’s sabbatical Alleyne falls in with two members of the White Company, John of Hordle, a novice in the same holy order who is thrown out for bad behaviour, and Samkin Aylward, a proficient archer. They travel together until they arrive at the home of Alleyne’s brother.
Hopes that this sibling will look after Alleyne prove premature. Simon, the Socman of Minstead, hates his brother, as much of the money of the estate went into Alleyne’s monastic education. In any case, Simon is a corrupt and brutal crook. After rescuing a young lady from Simon’s clutches, Alleyne is forced to leave, and rejoin his former companions.
When he meets The White Company, Alleyne finds that the lady he rescued is the daughter of their leader, Sir Nigel Loring. Inevitably they fall in love, but Sir Nigel sets off for France and Spain to seek glory and honour, and takes The White Company, including Alleyne, with him. Here they meet with a number of adventures and fight bravely in Spain at the Battle of Nájera.
What is the spark that is missing which prevents The White Company from being as memorable as the Sherlock Holmes stories? Part of the problem is that it is an historical adventure story, and such tales, though entertaining, are never scintillating because of their nature.
The historical adventure story can falter on two points. Firstly, the author can slow the action down with too much historical minutiae, mistaking well-researched for well-written. Secondly, the tales are essentially samey when the action comes – damsels in distress, brave knights, villainous lords, tournaments and jousting, and battles.
Conan Doyle slips into both of these errors, regrettably. The narrative is constantly stopping while characters discuss aspects of medieval life such as fighting or religion, and the reader is asked to wait until it starts up again. This continues even late in the book when Sir Nigel’s push towards the final battle is interrupted by an archery contest, allowing Conan Doyle to show off his knowledge of different bows.
There are limits to what Conan Doyle will share with us, however. We cannot expect to see soldiers with dysentery or gangrene, for example. This is strictly the romantic part of history.
This is not terrible or tedious matter, but it does get in the way of the storytelling, and may explain why the book is longer than many Conan Doyle works. There is an amusing passage where our heroes are duped into buying fake holy relics, a common fraud at the time, and Conan Doyle has a dig at a pardoner, just as Chaucer did. How can you take money for pardoning people’s sins, and still be moral?
As this is Conan Doyle, he is more credulous about spiritualism however, and he includes a character who is a medium. She predicts a number of dangers, which all prove correct. With another writer, we would put this down to artistic foreshadowing, but I fear Conan Doyle really believes in this guff.
Regarding the book’s action, it is standard heroics, with rescues, fights and battles, and characters who are entirely conventional. Jousting and contests are as dull as a game of Quidditch, since it is very clearly signposted who will win.
Sir Nigel is of interest in that he is short and has poor eyesight, reflecting his age, In every other respect he is merely a brave and gallant knight with nothing to distinguish him from any other historical fiction hero. He does wear a patch over his eye until he performs a brave deed, but that seems more silly than helpful.
It must have been an interesting time, if knights really behaved that way, jumping in to defend the honour of any woman who asks. What a good way to get rid of a boring husband, or to spite your neighbour? Just tell a knight that he affronted your honour, and he will attack the man without any enquiring into the matter beforehand.
The gallant Sir Nigel is determined to fight any wrongs he comes across as a point of honour. I can think of one good example he might have considered. What about an invading army that devastates the landscape of a country so that a king can lay spurious claim to the throne of the country he is invading? Come to think of it, Sir Nigel is on the side of that king.
Conan Doyle is not really capable of questioning whether it is right to attack another country and despoil the countryside for no reason but gain. He was a supporter of the British Empire after all. Would he feel the same if Britain had been invaded by France on and off for over a hundred years, with much damage being done, based on a false claim to the British throne?
In all fairness, Conan Doyle is an imaginative enough writer to put across the other view. Since this is a time when England was successful against France, he can show some generosity towards the defeated side. This leads to one or two awkward moments.
At a tournament, a disguised Frenchman asks to fight English knights. He does so with distinction and honour. When the English offer to praise his gallantry, it all goes horribly wrong. The French knight instead delivers a speech attacking the English for the devastation they have done to his country before riding off.
Suddenly the sense that war is all just sport and invading another country is just a jolly adventure is briefly exposed as something more sinister. Later when Sir Nigel passes through France, Conan Doyle describes some of the damage done by invading armies. It is a surprising touch, and one for which we can honour Conan Doyle.
One of the more curious prophecies by the noblewoman who is a medium is when she warns Sir Nigel that his castle is under attack. (The attacker proves to be Sir Alleyne’s brother.) Since The White Company cannot go home, there is nobody to protect Sir Nigel’s wife and daughter, and they must save themselves by their own efforts.
The impolitic foolishness of fighting wars abroad while neglecting the safety of your own family pass seemingly unnoticed by Conan Doyle. Curiously the defenders seem able to manage quite well without The White Company’s help, thereby depriving us of a heroic return to destroy the enemy at home reminiscent of the end of Lord of the Rings.
The White Company is not widely-read today, and Conan Doyle’s bid to be remembered as a writer of historical romances must be considered a failure. That is as it should be. The White Company is an entertaining enough read, but it lacks the memorable touches that appear in Conan Doyle’s best writing. Medieval knights are just not as much fun as consulting detectives or bad-tempered scientist explorers.
March 26, 2025
This novel by Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes) is worlds apart from a 19th century detective story.
It follows Alleyne, a young man who up until the events of the book is living in a monastery on the decree of his now deceased father. He leaves the monastery to experience the world for a year.
He is a thoughtful, spiritual and peaceful young man who is cautious of the evils and sin which he has been told runs free outside the monastery walls. He doesn’t like violence and urges people to settle their differences with words
He quickly meets Sam Aylward, a grizzled bowman who has returned from France to find a new leader for the titular White Company, a notorious “free company” that is basically a band of soldiers marauding through a war-torn France.
Through various twists and turns, Alleyne ends up heading to France with Sam Aylward, John of Hordle (a big oaf they meet) and Sir Nigel Loring, a famous knight who has been lured out of retirement to have one last pillage.
They meet a few amusing characters along the way, and get themselves into some exciting and interesting hijinks and scuffles, including fighting pirates, brawling in taverns, fighting the French, fighting the Spanish, massacring the French, and jousting.
A lot of characters spend a lot of time name-dropping honourable knights and lords they’ve met, pointing out pennons and banners and saying things like “that is Sir English Breakfast Muffin of McDonalds, who held the breach at the siege of Le Petite Croissant against the stout Gascony cavalier Marquis de Frog”
Everyone in this book is obsessed with duelling, jousting and honour. Basically everyone’s reason for existing is to find the most chivalrous knight possible and “best them in a small feat of arms” in the name of their woman, and England.
By the end of the book, any trace of the thoughtful, peaceful lad who left the monastery is gone. He throws himself wholeheartedly into the fighting and killing. Any moral conflict or inner turmoil over slaying French peasants and pillaging their lands is absent, which is very disappointing and could have made the book a lot more interesting philosophically.
From a historical standpoint, it was a very interesting insight into the worldview and life of 12th century England.
6.5 out of 10
June 17, 2018
Arthur Conan Doyle alle prese col romanzo storico: un racconto medievale, con tanto di cavalieri, duelli, complotti ed una spolverata di horror.
Ho colto il suggerimento della parola del mese per scoprire questo libro, abbastanza piacevole da leggere e storicamente accurato (almeno per le mie conoscenze).
I personaggi non sono sempre credibili nei comportamenti, ma ciò non toglie che ACD riesca comunque a creare un’atmosfera medievale realistica, con momenti intriganti e colpi di scena.
Il finale è, ahimè, troppo prevedibile.
2,5*
Ho colto il suggerimento della parola del mese per scoprire questo libro, abbastanza piacevole da leggere e storicamente accurato (almeno per le mie conoscenze).
I personaggi non sono sempre credibili nei comportamenti, ma ciò non toglie che ACD riesca comunque a creare un’atmosfera medievale realistica, con momenti intriganti e colpi di scena.
Il finale è, ahimè, troppo prevedibile.
2,5*
January 3, 2020
This is officially the first time I've ever read a full length non- Sherlock Holmes novel from Arthur Conan Doyle. Luckily I enjoyed this adventure even though it's so different. It's a good experience following this company of characters. If you're interested in The Three Musketeers, this is definitely for you.
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