Fact, Fiction & Folklore

Arundel Castle is a real place you can still visit today. Although much of what you see now is the result of restoration work in the 19th century, the castle has stood on that spot since medieval times, originally built in 1067 - nearly 1,000 years ago!

Although we tend to call it Bevis Tower today, this part of the castle was originally called Beaumont Tower, as seen in the book.

Along with a wide variety of weaponry, Bevis's famed sword known as Morglay is proudly on display in Arundel Castle.

Castle interiors weren’t warm and cosy. As the book explains in the first chapter, they were more often than not cold, uncomfortable and messy, with straw and grassy plants laid out on the floor for insulation.

The staggered up and down pattern on castle towers is called a crenellation. Crenellations are made up of merlons (the upright parts) and crenels (the gaps). These were used for people to hide behind if they were under attack and arrows were flying towards them.

Castles are usually found near rivers for water supply and hills to improve defence. After all, it's much harder to attack a castle if you have to run up hill to get to it, avoiding arrows and hauling up heavy weapons and armour.

In the book, Jim can’t read – and that would have been very normal in medieval times because most people back then couldn’t. Reading was a skill reserved for clergy, lawyers, scribes, royalty, nobility and maybe a few merchants.

Libraries were usually small and had more scrolls than books. After all, before the printing press came along, all books were all handmade!

Swanbourne Lake is a real place, although it's very different today than it used ot be. In medieval times, it used to be a much smaller mill pond that powered a water wheel that would have ground flour and sawed wood.

Princess Katherine never existed or appears in the original medieval Bevis tale, but her name is a nod to Katherine Howard, Henry VIII’s fifth wife and ancestor of the current Duke of Norfolk, who lives at Arundel Castle today.

There isn’t really a fountain in the Arundel Castle’s courtyard made out of a legendary giant’s helmet.

Arundel Castle was never home to kings, but it has been home to a long line of dukes – just like it is today.

Bevis didn’t really invent cricket, but it is a reference to Arundel Castle Cricket Ground.

The Bevis of medieval literature was a brave character who would never have been afraid of heights.

Bevis of Hampton was said to be a giant, but in reality, he probably wasn’t a real giant. Instead, he was likely just very, very tall!

Arundel doesn’t really have a series of riddles and secret crystal balls hidden in alcoves… At least, not as far as we know.

Morglay is an enormous sword – but it was never hidden in Arundel Castle, waiting to be reclaimed, and it can actually be wielded by anyone strong enough – even if they’re not a real giant!

In the original tale, Yvor and Ascopard weren’t eaten by a dragon. Yvor wasn't even Josian's brother! Instead, Yvor was the evil King of Mombraunt who hated Bevis and sent Ascoaprd to attack him – but Bevis ended up making Ascopard his page!

King Ermin wasn’t the King of Arundel or King of Sussex. In fact, by the time Arundel Castle was built in 1067, there hadn’t been a King of Sussex for over 200 years! King Ermin & Princess Josian are from the original medieval tale about Bevis, but instead of living in Arundel, they actually lived in Armenia. And strangely, in the original medieval story, Bevis and Josian become more than just friends!

In the medieval romance, Saber was Bevis’s uncle, but he was never a famous dragon-slaying knight. Nor did Bevis lose his wife and child to a dragon. However, the original Bevis did also have a very tragic backstory.

Knuckers were fierce water-dragons from Sussex folklore, most famously wreaking havoc in Lyminster. Knucker comes from the Old English word nicor, meaning water dragon.

Knuckers were said to live in deep pools of water called knuckerholes that were dotted all over Sussex in Binstead, Lyminster, Lancing, Shoreham and Worthing. Like the book, legend says that they were so deep that six bell ropes from a local church couldn’t even reach the bottom (although the Lyminster knuckerhole is only about thirty feet deep!).

There are various stories of how knuckers were defeated – and two are included in the book! One version tells the story of a knight who defeated the knucker after the King of Sussex promised his daughter’s hand in marriage. This knight’s gravestone is said to be the Slayer’s Slab on display in St Mary Magdalene Church in Lyminster.

An alternate story of how a knucker is defeated has a local boy called Jim Puttock who cooked a poisoned pie that he left as a trap for the dragon who greedily gobbled it up. Perhaps he may have been the hero whose gravestone is now known as the Slayer’s Slab in St Mary Magdalene Church in Lyminster.

Although widely associated with Arundel (and despite having adventures abroad), the original tale of Bevis refers to him as Bevis of Hampton – as he’s called in the book. That’s because he was originally from Hampton, now known as Southampton. In fact, there are references to Bevis in Southampton even today; although spelled differently, you can find Bevois Hill, Bevois Valley, The Rockstone (formerly known as Bevois Castle), Ascupart Street and Josian Walk.

Although the medieval tale never mentions Bevis having family on the Isle of Wight, legend has it that Bevis was able to walk through the sea to the island without getting his head wet.

In the original tale, after King Ermin makes Bevis a knight, he is given a horse named Hirondelle by Josian. Even in the tale, Hirondelle is a loyal and loving horse, but unlike the book, he will only ever let Bevis ride him.

According to legend, Bevis Tower (originally known as Beaumont Tower) is where Bevis used to live. There, he was given a whole ox to eat each week, along with barrels and barrels of beer.

Legend says that Bevis did indeed throw his sword from Arundel Castle to decide where he would be laid to rest.

Bevis defeats a dragon in the original medieval romance as well, only that one probably wasn’t a knucker – and their battle was near Cologne in  Germany, instead of Arundel in England.