Article #234-1 | Gutenberg Articles

Excerpt

Excerpt from Child Christopher and Goldilind the Fair, by William Morris

There then ye might have seen great clumps of men making no defence, but
casting down their weapons and crying mercy; and forsooth so great was
the throng, that no great many were slain; but on the other hand, but
few gat away across the water, and on them presently fell the Brimside
riders, and hewed down and slew and took few to mercy. And some few
besides the first laggards of the bowmen, it might be three hundreds in
all, escaped, and gat to Woodwall, but when they of the town saw them,
they made up their minds speedily, and shut their gates, and the poor
fleers found but the points of shafts and the heads of quarrels before
them.

But on the field of deed those captives were somewhat fearful as to what
should be done with them, and they spake one to the other about it, that
they would be willing to serve the new King, since he was so mighty.
And amidst of their talk came the captains of King Christopher, and they
drew into a ring around them, and the lords bade them look to it whether
they would be the foemen of the King, the son of that King Christopher
the Old. "If so ye be," said they, "ye may escape this time; but ye see
how valiant a man he is, and how lucky withal, and happy shall they be
whom he calleth friends. Now what say ye, will ye take up your weapons
again, and be under the best of kings and a true one, or will ye depart
and take the chance of his wrath in the coming days? We say, how many of
you will serve King Christopher."

Then arose from them a mighty shout: "All! All! One and All!" Albeit
some there were who slunk away and said nought; and none heeded them.

Explanation

**Detailed Explanation of the Excerpt from Child Christopher and Goldilind the Fair by William Morris**

Context of the Work

Child Christopher and Goldilind the Fair (1895) is a prose romance by William Morris, a key figure in the Arts and Crafts Movement and a revivalist of medieval literary forms. Morris was deeply influenced by chivalric romances, Norse sagas, and medieval chronicles, and his works often idealize a pre-industrial, heroic past. This novel is part of his later prose romances, blending myth, adventure, and social commentary—particularly on loyalty, kingship, and the moral obligations of rulers and warriors.

The story follows Child Christopher, a young prince who must reclaim his kingdom after his father’s death. The excerpt depicts a battle’s aftermath, where defeated soldiers must choose between surrender and loyalty to the new king or continued resistance.

Breakdown of the Excerpt

1. The Aftermath of Battle: Defeat and Surrender

"There then ye might have seen great clumps of men making no defence, but casting down their weapons and crying mercy; and forsooth so great was the throng, that no great many were slain; but on the other hand, but few gat away across the water, and on them presently fell the Brimside riders, and hewed down and slew and took few to mercy."

Scene Description: The passage opens with a vivid, almost cinematic depiction of a routed army. The defeated soldiers are in disarray, throwing down their weapons and begging for mercy.
Contrast in Fate:
- Some surrender en masse ("great clumps of men") and are spared because their numbers make slaughter impractical.
- Others attempt to flee across a river but are cut down by Brimside riders (allied cavalry), who show little mercy.
- A small group ("three hundreds in all") reaches Woodwall, a fortified town, but is rejected—the townspeople, fearing reprisal, shut their gates and fire arrows at the fleeing soldiers.
Themes:
- The Brutality of War: Morris does not romanticize battle; instead, he shows its chaotic, merciless nature.
- Loyalty vs. Survival: The townspeople of Woodwall abandon their own side to avoid punishment, highlighting how fear dictates allegiance.
- Fate and Power: The defeated are at the mercy of the victors, emphasizing the precariousness of life in a feudal world.

2. The Captives’ Dilemma: To Serve or Resist?

"But on the field of deed those captives were somewhat fearful as to what should be done with them, and they spake one to the other about it, that they would be willing to serve the new King, since he was so mighty."

Psychological State of the Captives: The survivors are terrified and pragmatic—they quickly consider switching allegiance to save their lives.
Motivation: Their willingness to serve King Christopher is not out of loyalty but fear and self-preservation ("since he was so mighty").
Themes:
- Power and Persuasion: The captives recognize that resistance is futile against a victorious, "lucky" king.
- The Fluid Nature of Allegiance: In medieval warfare, loyalty was often transactional—men followed the strongest leader.

3. The Ultimatum: A Test of Loyalty

"And amidst of their talk came the captains of King Christopher, and they drew into a ring around them, and the lords bade them look to it whether they would be the foemen of the King, the son of that King Christopher the Old. 'If so ye be,' said they, 'ye may escape this time; but ye see how valiant a man he is, and how lucky withal, and happy shall they be whom he calleth friends. Now what say ye, will ye take up your weapons again, and be under the best of kings and a true one, or will ye depart and take the chance of his wrath in the coming days? We say, how many of you will serve King Christopher.'"

Dramatic Tension: The captains encircle the captives, creating a symbolic and physical barrier—they are trapped, with no escape.
Persuasive Rhetoric:
- Appeal to Fear: The captains warn that resistance now may lead to future punishment ("take the chance of his wrath").
- Appeal to Self-Interest: They praise Christopher’s valor and luck, suggesting that serving him is the wisest choice.
- Legitimacy of Rule: They emphasize that Christopher is "the best of kings and a true one", reinforcing his rightful claim to the throne.
Themes:
- Divine Right & Fate: The idea that Christopher is "lucky" (perhaps divinely favored) suggests providential rule.
- Choice and Consequence: The captives must publicly declare their loyalty, making their decision binding and visible.
- Propaganda in Leadership: The captains frame the choice in a way that makes defiance seem foolish.

4. The Mass Acclamation: Unity and Dissent

"Then arose from them a mighty shout: 'All! All! One and All!' Albeit some there were who slunk away and said nought; and none heeded them."

Collective Surrender: The majority enthusiastically pledges loyalty, their shout ("All! One and All!") suggesting unity and enthusiasm.
The Silent Few: A minority refuses to comply, slipping away unnoticed. Their silence is rebellion—they reject the new king but are ignored or dismissed.
Themes:
- Conformity vs. Resistance: The scene shows how group pressure leads most to publicly conform, even if privately some dissent.
- The Cost of Defiance: The dissenters are marginalized, their refusal rendered invisible—suggesting that resistance is futile in this moment.
- The Illusion of Unity: The loud acclamation masks the underlying divisions, a common tactic in political consolidation.

Literary Devices & Style

Medieval Diction & Archaisms:
- Morris uses old-fashioned words ("forsoth," "gat," "hewed," "quarrels") to evoke a chivalric, legendary tone.
- Phrases like "the field of deed" (battlefield) and "take the chance of his wrath" reinforce the epic, almost mythic quality.
Vivid Imagery & Sensory Detail:
- The chaos of battle is rendered through visual and auditory descriptions:
  - "casting down their weapons and crying mercy"
  - "the points of shafts and the heads of quarrels" (arrows and bolts)
  - "a mighty shout: 'All! All! One and All!'"
Repetition for Emphasis:
- "All! All! One and All!" – The triple repetition reinforces the overwhelming, unanimous (if forced) loyalty.
- "none heeded them" – Emphasizes the dissenters’ insignificance.
Dramatic Irony:
- The captives claim willingness to serve, but the reader knows many do so out of fear, not true loyalty.
- The townspeople’s betrayal of their own side foreshadows how quickly allegiances shift.
Symbolism:
- The ring of captains around the captives = entrapment, no escape.
- The shut gates of Woodwall = abandonment, self-preservation over loyalty.

Significance of the Passage

Power Dynamics in Medieval Warfare:
- The scene illustrates how conquest relies not just on strength but on psychological coercion.
- Loyalty is performative—men swear allegiance to survive, not out of conviction.
Morris’ Social Commentary:
- While set in a mythic past, the excerpt critiques blind obedience to authority and the fragility of loyalty under duress.
- The dissenters who slink away represent individual conscience, but their silence suggests how easily it is suppressed.
The Making of a King:
- Christopher’s victory is not just military but ideological—he converts enemies into followers through fear and persuasion.
- This moment legitimizes his rule, as the mass surrender appears as a voluntary acclamation.
Historical Parallels:
- The scene mirrors real medieval practices, where defeated nobles and soldiers often switched sides to retain land or life.
- It also reflects Morris’ own socialist leanings—questioning how power is maintained and who truly benefits from such systems.

Conclusion: A Moment of Forced Unity

This excerpt is a microcosm of Morris’ themes—power, loyalty, and the cost of resistance. The defeated soldiers’ dilemma is not just about survival but about how authority is established and maintained. The loud, unified shout of allegiance masks the fear and dissent beneath, a reminder that kingship is as much about perception as it is about strength.

Morris, while romanticizing the medieval past, does not shy away from its brutality. The passage serves as both a dramatic turning point in the story and a commentary on the nature of rule—where loyalty is often a matter of necessity, not choice.

Questions

Question 1

The passage’s depiction of the defeated soldiers’ shift in allegiance is most analogous to which of the following historical or psychological phenomena?

A. The Stockholm Syndrome, wherein captives develop emotional bonds with their captors as a survival mechanism.
B. The Domino Theory, wherein the collapse of one political entity precipitates the sequential fall of adjacent ones.
C. The Bandwagon Effect, wherein individuals adopt the beliefs or behaviors of a group due to perceived momentum or inevitability of its success.
D. Cognitive Dissonance, wherein individuals rationalize their actions to align with their self-image despite contradictory evidence.
E. The Bystander Effect, wherein individuals fail to intervene in a crisis due to the presence of others sharing responsibility.

Question 2

The narrative voice in the passage most closely aligns with which of the following stances toward the defeated soldiers’ pledge of loyalty?

A. Cynical detachment, exposing the hollowness of their oaths while refusing to judge their pragmatism.
B. Moral indignation, condemning their betrayal of former allegiances as cowardly and opportunistic.
C. Romantic idealism, framing their surrender as a noble recognition of a rightful and virtuous king.
D. Tragic fatalism, portraying their choice as an inevitable consequence of war’s inescapable brutality.
E. Ambivalent realism, acknowledging the coercion underlying their decision while implying its strategic necessity.

Question 3

The phrase "Albeit some there were who slunk away and said nought; and none heeded them" serves primarily to:

A. underscore the moral superiority of the dissenters by contrasting their silence with the vociferous conformity of the majority.
B. highlight the inefficacy of quiet resistance in a context where collective action is the only viable form of opposition.
C. introduce a note of ambiguity into the narrative, suggesting that the captains’ report of unanimous loyalty may be unreliable.
D. reinforce the theme of power’s ability to marginalize dissent by rendering it invisible or irrelevant to the dominant narrative.
E. foreshadow future betrayals within Christopher’s ranks, as those who refuse to pledge now may later become internal threats.

Question 4

Which of the following best describes the rhetorical strategy employed by the captains when they ask, "how many of you will serve King Christopher?"

A. A false dilemma, framing the choice as binary (service or defiance) while obscuring the possibility of neutral or conditional allegiance.
B. An appeal to ethos, leveraging the captains’ own authority as representatives of a just and legitimate king.
C. A straw man, misrepresenting the soldiers’ potential resistance as uniformly foolish or self-destructive.
D. An ad hominem, implying that those who refuse to serve lack the wisdom to recognize Christopher’s superiority.
E. A red herring, diverting attention from the immediate consequences of refusal to vague future rewards for compliance.

Question 5

The passage’s treatment of the townspeople of Woodwall—who shut their gates against the fleeing soldiers—is most thematically resonant with which of the following literary motifs?

A. The scapegoat, wherein a community purges its guilt by sacrificing a marginalized group.
B. The trickster, wherein a seemingly weak entity outmaneuvers a stronger one through cunning.
C. The fallen hero, wherein a once-noble figure is reduced to desperation by circumstance.
D. The closed gate, wherein a fortress or community symbolizes exclusion, self-preservation, and the fragility of solidarity.
E. The false haven, wherein a place of expected refuge reveals itself to be a trap or illusion.

Solutions and Explanations

1) Correct answer: C

Why C is most correct: The Bandwagon Effect describes the tendency of individuals to adopt the behaviors or beliefs of a group due to its perceived momentum or inevitability. The passage depicts soldiers swiftly pledging loyalty to King Christopher after witnessing his military dominance, not out of genuine conviction but because resistance appears futile and alignment with the victor seems the only viable path. This aligns with the psychological phenomenon where people "jump on the bandwagon" of a perceived winning side.