Chivalry · Chapter
The Epilogue explained
Messire Nicolas de Caen addresses his completed book, instructing it to present itself to the lady who commissioned it and to any reader.
What happens
Messire Nicolas de Caen addresses his completed book, instructing it to present itself to the lady who commissioned it and to any reader. He defends the truth of his tales by citing his sources—Dame Jehane, Dame Katharine, Messire de Montbrison, Richard Holland, and Madame Isabella of Portugal—and acknowledges the weaker foundation of the first three stories. He reflects on the demon-tainted blood of Edward Longshanks's line, tracing the suffering it caused to wives, heirs, and England, and notes that the final portion of this history is told in 'The Red Cuckold.' He ends with a song accepting the book's inevitable oblivion, yet finding solace in the craftsman's contentment.
Themes in this chapter
Art and the Artist
Nicolas de Caen reflects on the creative process, the gap between intention and execution, and the craftsman's contentment in labor, despite the book's inevitable oblivion.
The Taint of Blood and Heredity
The epilogue explicitly discusses the demon-tainted blood inherited from Manuel of Poictesme or Foulques Plantagenet's demon wife, and the suffering it caused to wives, heirs, and England.
Sacrifice and Suffering
The taint of blood leads to suffering for the wives of the Plantagenet men, for those who inherited the blood, and for all England.
Characters to notice
- Nicolas de Caen
The author and compiler of the book, who affixes this epilogue and defends his work's veracity.
- Dame Jehane
The noble lady whose service provided Nicolas de Caen with the matter of the ninth and tenth stories.
- Lady Katharine
Remarried to a private gentleman of Wales, she confirmed the matter of the ninth and tenth stories.
- Richard Holland
An old, garrulous, and cheery person who gave Nicolas de Caen the matter of the eighth tale and information on the sixth and seventh.
- Vicomte de Montbrison
Provided the main matter of the sixth and seventh stories, and many songs in the book.
- Count Manuel
Mentioned as a possible source of the demon-tainted blood in Edward Longshanks's line.
Key passages
“Intrepidly depart, my little book, into the presence of that most illustrious lady who bade me compile you. Bow down before her judgment. And if her sentence be that of a fiery death, I counsel you not to grieve at what cannot be avoided.”
Go boldly, my little book, to the noble lady who commissioned you. Submit to her judgment, and if she condemns you to be burned, accept it without sorrow.
Nicolas de Caen sends his book to its patron, ready for either approval or destruction.
“I have pieced together these tales about the women who intermarried, not very enviably, with the demon-tainted blood of Edward Longshanks, because it seems to me that these tales, when they are rightly considered, compose the initial portion of a troubling history.”
I have assembled these stories about the women who married into the cursed lineage of Edward Longshanks, for they form the beginning of a disturbing historical account.
The author explains his purpose in compiling the tales: to document the suffering caused by the tainted Plantagenet blood.
“Yet even in your brief existence you may chance to meet with those who will affirm that the stories you narrate are not true and protest assertions which are only fables.”
During your short life, you may encounter people who claim your stories are false and dismiss them as mere fables.
Nicolas de Caen anticipates criticism of the book's veracity and instructs it on how to respond.
