Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices From a Medieval Village

Hugo’s boar hunt vividly illustrates the Brutality of Life in the Middle Ages—even for those individuals who are relatively well-off. Although Hugo enjoys the social and economic advantages that come from being the lord’s nephew, this story makes it clear that even he cannot escape the violence of medieval life. Just as lower-class individuals expose themselves to deadly risks, Hugo worries about his uncle’s insistence that he behave like a “man” and face the boar’s deadly tusks, which, as he frankly notes, “can slice a man, groin to gorge” (3). In this stark narrative, Schlitz uses similes to convey the intensity of the hunt’s effect on Hugo. For example, he almost weeps with relief and fear upon surviving the ordeal, even “gasp[ing] like a fish” (4) in the extremity of his emotion. By placing this narrative first, Schlitz introduces the brutality of medieval life in a human-animal context, rather than featuring the extreme risks to human life that appear in other chapters. Although Hugo’s life at the mercy of his abusive uncle is far from easy, the tenor of brutality is different for him because of his higher social standing.

Hugo’s narrative also introduces the novel’s recurrent focus on the coming-of-age journey, for most of the characters in the book are older children who are on the cusp of adulthood. Although they are keenly aware of the pressures and expectations that await them, they are not yet full-fledged adults. It is clear that the boar hunt is a significant rite of passage for Hugo, who risks both injury and death so that he may earn his uncle’s respect. While the lord begins by threatening Hugo, saying, “You’ll hunt like a man, or be flogged like a boy” (2), he ultimately “clap[s] [Hugo’s] back, and call[s] [him] a man” (4) upon the successful conclusion of the hunt. Thus, within the many layers of Hugo’s story, Schlitz suggests that many of the narratives will feature the difficult transition from childhood to adulthood.

By featuring Hugo in Taggot’s narrative, Schlitz interweaves the standalone tales to allow the protagonist from one chapter to display different aspects of their personality in a supporting role in someone else’s life. This technique also emphasizes the deeply interconnected nature of medieval society. For example, while the second chapter shifts to Taggot’s perspective, Hugo is the boy who brings his injured horse to her forge for help, and he also leaves her the sprig of hawthorn in thanks, proving his kindness and generosity of spirit despite his higher social status. Notably, Schlitz delays the reveal of Hugo’s identity, for Taggot observes the boy coming and begins helping the horse, before she even spares a thought for his identity. As she muses, “Hugo, they call him. / He hunts in these woods— / he killed a wild boar” (8). The mention of the boar hunt further emphasizes the interconnectedness of the narratives, and these interwoven voices create a choral effect, gradually building a composite portrait of the setting and its inhabitants.

In this section, Schlitz also uses these fictional accounts to illustrate the realities of the medieval era. In these early chapters, for example, she explains the novel’s agrarian setting and stresses the important roles that animals play during this time period. Specifically, Will’s narrative describes the difficulties of farming when the fields are not located alongside one another. By including the background section that explains the benefits and pitfalls of the typical three-field system, the author provides crucial context in an attempt to educate younger readers, and each interlude is placed adjacent to a relevant monologue. The historical background elements are further enhanced by a series of footnotes that explain unfamiliar words, holidays, and other useful topics.

To this end, the first interlude explains both the time period and the setting, adding new clarity to the oblique references in Will’s narrative. Specifically, Will describes the difficulty of moving between fields, nothing that one field was so far from another that “it took half the day to get there” (10). While these words along make it clear that Will and his father endure many hardships, the interlude explains why by stating that “peasants like Will’s father suffered if their strips of land were far apart, because hours of precious daylight were wasted as they zigzagged from field to field” (13). In this way, Schlitz provides historical context and establishes a realistic example of the effect that such practices had on people’s interactions with their environment.

In addition to the boar and horse in the first two chapters, animals often play prominent roles in the narratives, as illustrated by the story of Alice, the shepherdess whose extreme closeness with her sheep reflects her awareness that she survived her own infancy by drinking sheep’s milk after her mother’s death. Given this context, she characterizes the sheep Jilly as a sister because they drank milk from the same mother. While the author makes it clear that animals are essential to farming and food production in an agrarian society, Alice’s relationship with her beloved sheep goes even further, symbolizing hope and potential in a difficult world. For example, Alice sings a Christian-themed song to a stricken Jilly all night after the sheep suffers a life-threatening birthing process, and because of the girl’s efforts, Jilly recovers. For Alice, Jilly’s recovery is a miraculous event, and she equates this experience to the survival of a sister who overcomes a dire illness. In the end, her exaggerated sense of kinship illustrates the idea that when it comes to life-or-death circumstances, animals are in many ways no different to humans.