The Lute Player

The Lute Player is a historical novel published in 1951 by the English historical novelist Norah Lofts (1904–1983). Its English subtitle is commonly given as A Novel of Richard the Lionhearted, and it is a "Richard I novel" set against the backdrop of the Third Crusade. The book places its narrative focus on a figure usually overlooked by chronicles: the king's lute player, Blondel. Through his eyes, the novel unfolds the political marriages, tribal conflicts, and expeditions between late twelfth-century Europe and the Holy Land. After inheriting the throne, Richard I embarks on the Crusade, journeys to Palestine to fight, and contends with the Saracens, while intrigue at court and beyond never ceases. Around this king, the novel portrays several women of markedly different temperaments and positions: Berengaria, Princess of Navarre, whose marriage to Richard exists in name only; Richard's mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, the queen once called the "she-wolf," who feels an almost possessive pride in and attachment to her son; and other figures whose fates are bound to theirs. The narrative extends beyond the battlefield to depict the characters' struggles among loyalty, love, and faith: the lute player's devotion to the king, his hopeless feelings for Berengaria, and his choices in exile and captivity. The author is known for solid period detail, layering chronicle-like historical fact with the perspectives of fictional characters so that the legendary king's achievements and weaknesses are revealed together. The book is long (nearly six hundred pages in the original edition), slow in pace, and focused on atmosphere and character; it is one of the more representative mid-twentieth-century Anglo-American historical novels, has been reprinted for decades, and set the narrative tone for later works about Richard the Lionheart and the lute player.