The Lantern Bearers (Sutcliff novel)

The Lantern Bearers is a historical adventure novel for children written by Rosemary Sutcliff and published in 1959, with illustrations by Charles Keeping. Set in Roman Britain in the 5th century, it is the story of a British Roman's life after the final withdrawal of Roman troops from Britain.

Although part of a series of loosely-connected books—it follows The Eagle of the Ninth and The Silver Branch and precedes Sword at Sunset— the themes in The Lantern Bearers are more complex than in the prior books. Issues of loss, estrangement, and loyalty are more complicated, pulling main characters in conflicting directions. Reviewers tend to regard it as appropriate for a slightly older readership than its predecessors.

The title comes from a remark made by one of the characters, "We are the lantern bearers, my friend; for us to keep something burning, to carry what light we can forward into the darkness and the wind". The effort to maintain what the protagonists see as the light of civilisation against Saxon barbarians is central to the plot of the book.

The Lantern Bearers won the Carnegie Medal for literature.

Summary

The story is set during the turbulent years following the withdrawal of the last Roman troops from Britain. The land is reeling under the onslaught of Saxon raiders, the Pict War and a slave revolt. Vortigern, the British-Celtic cheiftain, has invited Hengest the Saxon and his tribe to fight the Picts, and relies on Roman soldiers to hold the Saxons in check. Rome is increasingly under threat from the barbarian hordes surrounding it on all sides and cannot afford to deal with the problems of a distant province.

18 year-old Aquila, descendent of Marcus Flavius Aquila, is a Decurion of Roman cavalry, serving in the Auxillary legion at Rutupiae. The story begins when Aquila is home on leave at the family farm in the Downs, with his blind father Flavian, younger sister Flavia and trusted servants who have served his family for years. Flavian and Aquila discuss the situation. The few remaining Romans, including Aquila's father Flavian, look upon Ambrosius Aurelianus, the descendent of a Welsh princess and a Roman soldier, as the last hope of Britain. Aquila is interrupted before dinner and hastily recalled to Rutupiae where he is informed that all Roman troops will be withdrawing from Britain in three days on orders from Rome. Caught by surprise, Aquila struggles between loyalty to his duty and attachment with his homeland. At the last minute, he decides that he belongs to Britain and not Rome and so deserts the army. As the last of the legions sail away, he lights the beacon at Rutupiae for the last time.

He returns home, only to have the farm attacked by a raiding party of Saxons two days later. In the skirmish, Aquila kills the leader of the band but is soon overpowered by the many assailants. He is forced to watch while a tall blond giant carries away Flavia forcibly. The raiders kill everyone else on the farm and burn down everything. Aquila is left tied to a tree for the wolves as revenge for killing the Saxon.

The Saxons are followed by a band of Jutish raiders, who find Aquila and take him to Jutland. Aquila spends nearly 3 years as a slave, during which time he learns that the Saxons who murdered his family and destroyed his home were no chance band of raiders but sent there by Hengest as revenge on Flavian and others who had dared to write to Consul Aetius in Rome pleading for help against Vortigern and the Saxons. Flavian had been betrayed by a bird-catcher who used to carry messages between the Roman plotters. Often tormented by visions of his sister screaming for help, Aquila bides his time for the day he can return, find his sister and take revenge on the bird-catcher.

Bad harvests force the Jutes to accept Hengest's invitation to settle in Britain. Aquila sails with them and returns to Britain only to find Rutupiae forsaken and devastated. With the Romans gone and Vortigern too powerless to resist, Hengest has free run of the land. Aquila plots his escape from the Saxon camp when he chances upon Flavia, who is now married to the man who abducted her and has a year-old child by him. She helps him escape but refuses to come with him, telling him that she cannot leave her husband and child. Devastated by her apparent betrayal, Aquila leaves alone and bitter.

He stumbles upon Brother Ninnias who lives by himself in a forest, the lone survivor of a Saxon raid upon his abbey. Brother Ninnias cuts away the thrall-ring around Aquila's neck and gives him food and shelter. During his stay with the monk, Aquila learns that the bird-catcher had betrayed his father only after being tortured by the Saxons and had died soon after. Denied his revenge as well as his sister, Aquila realises he no longer has a purpose in life. Brother Ninnias advises him to take up his father Flavian's cause and offer his service to the Prince of Britain, Ambrosius Aurelianius.

Aquila travels to Dynas Ffaraon, Ambrosius's stronghold in the Welsh mountains and is soon accepted into one of the prince's inner Companions. But past hurt and bitterness makes him wary of people and he soon begins to be called 'Lone Wolf'. Ambrosius tries to unite the people of Britain - Celts and Romans alike - to fight the Saxons. He tells Aquila to marry one of the two daughter of Cradoc, a Celtic chieftain whose life Aquila had once saved during battle, as an alliance to unite the two peoples and Aquila chooses spirited Ness over the beautiful elder sister, Rhyanidd. At first Aquila is quite indifferent to Ness and she resents him for taking her away from her home and her people. As years pass by, Aquila learns to let go of his hurt and open up to the others, especially after the birth of his son who he names Flavian in his father's memory. When the Celt-Roman alliance breaks, Ness chooses to stay with him instead of leaving with her father and Aquila begins to understand his sister Flavia's decision to stay with her Saxon husband.

In the years of skirmishes, uneasy truce and battles that follow, Ambrosius finally scores a decisive victory over the Saxons with the help of Artos (Arthur), his nephew, and Aquila. During the fight, Aquila sees a young dark-haired boy resembling his sister. He tries to dismiss it as a dream but comes upon the boy lying unconscious on the road and realises that it is indeed Flavia's son. With Brother Ninnaus' help, he tends to the boy's injuries, hides him from British soldiers and sends him back to his mother with a message for her. Later Aquila publicly confesses his deed to Ambrosius on the night of the banquet celebrating Ambrosius' ascension as the High King of Britain. Ambrosius listens to the whole story and forgives him. Aquila finally feels free and content even though he knows that the respite he and his people have found is only temporary and they cannot hold off the invaders from Britain forever.

External links

• Official website with more on book and author