Gerfalcon

Gerfalcon is set in Neustria, an imagined fourteenth-century France, and follows Raoul, young heir to the barony of Marckmont, described by his creator as "a blend of elf and owl and boy." More drawn to literature and music than to the knightly virtues of war, Raoul is nonetheless swept into a series of trials as he grows to manhood: he falls in love, survives assassination attempts, rescues the witch-coven leader Red Anne, and enters the perilous service of the brigand Count Lorin de Campscapel. After enduring the dangers of Campscapel's castle, Raoul finally comes into his inheritance. First published in 1927, Gerfalcon is the opening volume of Leslie Barringer's Neustrian Cycle, an early and influential work of historical fantasy set in an invented medieval France.