Diehard Arthur fans might be disappointed, however, since the king himself doesn't appear until two-thirds of the way through the book and our initial impression of him is less than favorable. Bradshaw's perspective on Gwalchmai and his internal struggles shines a new light on a character too often underutilized. But Hawk of May is actually quite stirring, and it's an excellent novel for fans of Arthurian lore. Along the way, he discovers that he's really quite the warrior after all. Then he's magically transported to Britain, where he's captured by Saxons, encounters a magical horse to help him escape, and stumbles directly into a meeting with his elder brother Agravain, now in Arthur's company. Fleeing the queen's demonic curse, he takes refuge in a small cove - and is whisked away by a magical boat to the Isles of the Blessed, where nearly three years pass in a single night and the Celtic Lord of Light, Lugh of the Long Hand, gifts him with the magical sword Caledvwlch. It doesn't take long for the boy to be overwhelmed by his mother's evil, however, and he flees one Samhain night after granting a quick and merciful death to Morgawse's intended ritual sacrifice, a loyal fighter in Lot's service. He knows he'll never be a great warrior, and so he turns instead to the dark magic of his mother. He's perhaps the best horseman on the Orcade Islands (or Orkneys) where his father holds his realm, but he's an average swordsman and spearman at best. Rather, he's a young boy, overshadowed by his demanding father Lot, his warrior brother Agravain and his sorceress mother Morgawse.

Too, he's not the brave warrior we see in some versions of the Arthur saga, or the gruff bully we see in others. For one thing, he bears a different name - the Gaelic variant Gwalchmai (literally, 'Hawk of May'). Gillian Bradshaw's novel Hawk of May gives us Gawain as we've never seen him before. In texts delving into the historical Arthur, I've read that, before the French Romantics invented the knight Lancelot, the greatest hero of King Arthur's legend (besides Arthur himself, of course) was Gawain. Rambles.NET: WHO, WHAT Gillian Bradshaw, Hawk of May

Hawk of May by Gillian Bradshaw