Fool School (38 page)

Camelot is thought to have been named for the Roman
castle of Camelodenum in Colchester.

The story of Duncan and the Blue Knight is entirely
of my own invention, but is drawn from themes in the story of
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
, which was written more or
less contemporaneously with the setting this book. The name of the
protagonist of the Blue Knight story hints at Malcolm's identity,
hint hint. Strathclyde was a kingdom inside Scotland, specifically
the lowlands nearest to Hadrian's Wall. "Snell" is Middle Scots for
"bitter," while "wodewose" means "tree-crazy" and suggests a wild
mountain man. "Ruth" is anger.

The idea of the key to heaven unlocking alternate
realities comes directly from Neil Gaiman's
Neverwhere
.

The practice of the scapegoat wasn't necessarily
observed as I describe, but the practice of sin-eaters was. A
sin-eater was a beggar who allowed priests to ritualistically put
other people's sins onto a piece of food, and the beggar would then
eat it, taking the sins upon his or her own shoulders in exchange
for money or, more often, forgiveness for petty crimes. It isn't
too great a stretch to think that a sadistic priest could easily
re-interpret this papally-endorsed practice for more sinister
purposes.

All (or, to be fair, nearly all) of the names in this
book are of the time. Aethelstan, Edward, Richard, Eadmun and
Wolfweir were all names of kings or prominent nobles of the
era.

The sequence of the Jew is my commentary on
Ivanhoe
and the romanticization of the medieval Jew in
Romantic literature. Bristol was a center for Jewish life in
Britain throughout the Middle Ages, but hatred of Jews was
profoundly deep, especially in mainland Europe, for all of recorded
history. Usury--the act of banking--was illegal for any Christian
until the Enlightenment, but legal for Jews. Business often needed
banks, but had few places to go other than Jewish moneylenders.
Resentment was often matched only by gratitude at having loans
available. I considered having Rabin get lynched, but ultimately
decided it was better for him to demonstrate the positive impact of
basic decency. I'm not certain that this is the most truthful way
to tell the story--in an alternate reality version of this
storyline, he definitely winds up murdered.

Wolfweir is a pretty fair portrait of about
three-quarters of all the girls I've ever dated. I won't name
names, but she's pretty spot-on as a representation of some of my
exes. I tend to date bossy girls.

I've taken some liberties with the subject of French
and English currency. In 1040CE, the use of currency wasn't
universal. Pennies were far and away the most common medium of
exchange--a penny was worth about ten or fifteen dollars in today's
currency, although many items were more valuable back then, like
fish, which was often reserved for royalty, while items like
leather or eggs were considerably cheaper than they are today.
Shillings and pounds as I describe them may not even have been
minted, while gold coins like Malcolm's mancus coins were often
relics of the earlier Roman era. The fact that Tom's father has
copper coins suggests poverty: France had swapped to the silver
standard about a hundred years earlier, and a copper coin would
have been of little worth. For more on the subject, check out
A
Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England,
by Ian Mortimer.

The songs I mention are all accurate to the era.
Thanks to the British Library and the University of Southampton
websites for the lyrics etc. My "Rybbesdale" lyrics are nearly
verbatim from the original, with slight variations I felt were
needed. My first draft mentioned "Greensleeves," but upon further
research I discovered "Greensleeves" was written in the 1500s.

I like to think that the Northumbrian blankets in the
acrobatics room were actually made in Qwghlm.

Some mention should also be made of all the various
movies and TV shows set in the Middle Ages I've watched over the
years,
Brother Cadfael
in particular. Robin Hood movies are
always horribly inaccurate, as are most King Arthur movies,
especially the ones that claim they're not. The Middle Ages were
bursting with color and life and were not at all the drab world
that Hollywood so often portrays.

Also note the basic lack of Knights in Shining Armor
in the story; seeing such a knight would have been incredibly rare
outside of official tournaments, where whole miniature armies would
collide in an open field, and even then, peasants of the Third
Estate weren't invited to watch. Furthermore, knights didn't travel
around in armor, full plate wasn't invented by 1040 CE, and they
would rarely even wear chainmail unless they were in an active
warzone. They'd simply be dressed as rich people, largely
indistinguishable from other rich people, and generally stayed
inside their nice manor houses set just outside of castles or
keeps.

King Hardknot, or Harthacnut, was the son of Danish
Viking invader Cnut the Great and Queen Emma, the extraordinary,
mollish ex-wife of overthrown Saxon King Aethelred. The story of
Emma is an amazingly weird story which I may someday write about;
she married the man who killed her husband and was alive to see
four immediate members of her family sit on the throne in a row,
sometimes more than one at a time. More facts about her may arise
in future books.

Some of Hero's monologue was inspired by a painting
called "The Fairy-Feller's Master Stroke."

I imagine some readers might be uncomfortable with
some of the themes in the book. I talk openly about religion and
sex, two subjects known to make casual readers antsy. My position
is that sensitive readers can stop reading anytime they like, but
if you're interested and I cut these delicate subjects out, you're
missing an important part of the story. The story I tell happens
the way I tell it. If that upsets you, perhaps a less honest book
may be your style. Nana nana boo boo.

Questions for Reading
Groups

1. Tom states that there is no God in dreams. Is this
true? Why should it be so?

2. Given what you know about the Middle Ages, was
there a way to save Liza? What would you have done in Tom's place?
Are you sure?

3. What were Tom and Malcolm meant to learn on the
road to the Fool School? Did they learn the right lessons?

4. What is the meaning of the story of the White
Stag? Are we all pursuing it? Why did Tom pine for a childhood that
never existed for him?

5. Were Tom and Malcolm justified in their treatment
of the Jew? Why did they treat him the way they did? Why did Barns
the Bailiff treat him differently?

6. Who is the Blue Knight? Why does he turn into
mist? Did Tom and Malcolm tell the story correctly?

7. What does it mean to hear the voices of angels?
Where does Tom hear them? What is the result?

8. Do we have a goblin or a ghost under our soul? Are
we fighting an inner fight? Do we all sometimes lose control?

9. Is Hero's monologue merely a dream? Is there more
to it?

10. What is the role of a jester in a king's court?
Do we have jesters nowadays?