Wyldingwode, by J. Tullos Hennig (Wode 5)

[Ulysses]

Wyldingwode (Book 5 of the Wode series)
J. Tullos Hennig
Forest Path Books, 2020
Five stars

So, Sherwood Forest (Shire Wode) survives, among the oldest forested regions of England, but a shadow of its earlier self. Tickhill Castle exists only as a historical memory and a name, its Norman gatehouse serving a later manor house. The castle itself was torn down in 1648, precisely because it had always been such a go-to stronghold for rebellious noblemen.

How does one build a happily-ever-after knowing what we know? Yes, yes, J. Tullos Hennig’s brilliant re-telling of the Robin Hood story is fiction; but it is fiction deeply rooted in cultural and historical realities of the late 12th and early 13th centuries. This is not Disney; this is not a Harlequin Romance. From the very first page, my mind was asking: what is the author going to do? How will she pull this off?

We start into the narrative six years after Robyn mysteriously disappears into the Barrow Mere in the heart of Shire Wode – dragged off by the Goddess, whose relationship with the Horned Lord seems, well, fractious. Her brother gone, Marion finds herself in an unimaginable position – mistress of Tickhill Castle—a lady!—chatting comfortably with the Earl of Huntingdon and King John of England.

What?

Gamelyn reappears from his mysterious duties at Temple Hirst, only long enough to defeat King John at a Beltane contest (what?) and impregnate his redhaired lady with a third child. Yes, third. Five-year-old Aderyn, the spitting image of her uncle Robyn, whom she’s never met; and toddler Robyn, the spitting image of his mother’s husband – the Templar priest who is also Robyn’s fated lover. (In modern terms: Robyn’s the gay one, Marion, his sister, is the straight one, and Gamelyn is the bi-guy who binds them into a critical, magical triangle). But Gamelyn has realized that the path to his ultimate union with Robyn (who’s gone) and Marion (his wife) is through his Christian vows – which are also at the core of the institution trying to crush all of them and their magic with their “iron and bells.” Just when Marion’s life gets really complicated, Gamelyn takes off to Outremer—Syria—with a holy relic so powerful that only he can find the place where it must be returned.

So that’s the layout: Robyn hidden somewhere by the Fae; Gamelyn off to the desert to find himself (if he survives); and Marion, crofter’s daughter turned chatelaine, holding down the fort (literally) and finding herself the target of every ambitious sexist nobleman (meaning every nobleman) within an arrow’s flight.

Yikes. What a hot mess.

Hennig’s path is torturous and literate. She uses language to set the mood, set the various scenes, and paint her characters in vivid colors. How could I love Marion and Robyn and Gamelyn any more? Even more, I loved Aderyn and Robbie – who’s a toddler, for Goddess’s sake!—who become the most interesting children I’ve encountered in a book in years. We learn about confusing and mysterious magical worlds; we learn about medieval life in amazing detail; and we learn about the Syrian tribe who gave us the word “assassin.” Hennig is astonishing in her breadth of detail and imagery – she makes this difficult, complicated world feel alive and immediate.

Hennig makes me weep in frustration and anxiety and, finally, happiness. This series has been astonishing in its writing, its storytelling, and its emotional richness. We all know what happened in Great Britain because we all know the history. But we also know that plenty of people in the UK still celebrate Beltane, Samhain, and the Solstices. The magic has not died. The Wode series gives us a unique entry into a long-lost world and brings the world and the magic to life.