The Breton Girl

The young Anglonorman Roger has always played second fiddle to his elder brother William. When William is killed in 1086, Roger is certain that he can now earn his father’s respect, but nothing he says or does is good enough. Only the sword master Oswulf has an open ear for Roger’s sorrows. A year later, Roger gets to know a girl named Gwennaol, but his father, Sire Geoffrey, orders that the two shall not meet or see each other again. Oswulf suggests that Gwennaol might hide a secret about Sire Geoffrey, so Roger arranges to meet Gwennaol clandestinely in spite of his father’s orders. He slowly falls in love with her, but before he can uncover the truth, rumours spread about his being an illegitimate son of his mother and thus excluded from legal succession to Sire Geoffrey’s estate. When Roger’s alleged father is tried for treason and adultery, his death during the court proceedings is taken as divine proof. Roger can enlist the priest to vouch for his legitimate lineage, but the cleric is killed before he can testify. While the servants blame Roger for the two deaths, one of the maids is killed in an attack that

was destined for Roger’s mother. The situation gets out of control and Roger must flee.

Time is short: Roger’s younger brother will soon turn 14, at which age he is to become Sire

Geoffrey’s official successor. A trip to Everwic early in 1088 confirms Roger’s legitimacy,

but also the plot of the Norman barons against the King as well as Sire Geoffrey’s role in it.

On his return, Roger can at last speak with Gwennaol. She tells him that her mother was

engaged to Oswulf and that she was raped by Roger’s father. After giving birth to Roger’s

unwanted half-sister, she gave the baby to Gwennaol’s grandmother in the priory and

drowned herself. When Sire Geoffrey learned about his bastard daughter, he ordered for her to be kept in the priory in order to conceal his crime. Roger can prove his legitimate claim to his inheritance and he also knows the secret about his father, but he has lost Gwennaol. He has also not been able to clear his name with regard to the three murders, when a suspicion arises in him. Roger goes to see Gwennaol’s grandmother, whose words lead him to his last and decisive battle: In front of the others, he

challenges the sword master to a fight for life or death. For it is Oswulf who took revenge on all those people who did not help his fiancée when she needed it most: the Seneschal, who concealed the crime; the priest, who did not help Gwennaol after the rape; Roger’s mother, who put up with her husband’s behaviour. Roger and Gwennaol are just pawns in the game to completely and utterly destroy Sire Geoffrey and his family.

Yet Oswulf fails to bring his grisly plan to an end. Badly injured, Roger defeats the sword master, but instead of seeking bloody revenge, he obtains a full pardon for him. For the last time, Roger visits the priory. He finds out that Gwennaol’s grandmother deceived them all. Gwennaol is, in fact, not Sire Geoffrey’s, but Oswulf’s daughter. Oswulf himself

was only a means to an end, used by Gwennaol’s grandmother to take revenge on Normans and Anglosaxons for driving her daughter into suicide and killing the rest of her family.Nothing is holding Roger back now: He renounces his inheritance, leaves his father to be judged by his liege lord and takes Gwennaol with him on his way north, where he will join the fight against the rebellious barons.