How we cite our quotes: Chapter, Paragraph
Quote #1
Winter Star grew calm under the stroke of Hubert's comb. I tried to make my question sound casual. "I thought Christians were forbidden to speak to a man like Rannulf." (7.10)
Edmund is really confused to see a man like Rannulf hanging around Sir Nigel. In their world, Christians from the West are not allowed to associate with pagans from the East. But everyone is kind of ignoring the fact that Rannulf is clearly, as they say, not from around here.
Quote #2
In my heart I was alive with excitement, each starling's chuckle an adventure to me. I was far from the place I knew, so far that I was in a foreign land already, although we were still in England. I affected the manner of a war wise traveler, but inside I was ablaze with curiosity. (10.9)
Edmund has packed his bags and is off to see the Great Unknown. He's never been so far from home, and even though he's still in England, it feels like a foreign country. All of his senses are on edge as he listens to the birds sing; every step is part of a new experience.
Quote #3
Nigel chuckled. "They are taking us to Normandy."
This news meant very little to me. The second, and finest, map of the world I had ever studied had been spread out on Father Joseph's table. I had stopped by that afternoon to deliver a just-repaired chalice. Father Joseph saw the look in my eye and explained, saying, "This is a true map of Earth under Heaven." (12.31-32)
Edmund's geographical knowledge is limited, but he does recall seeing a map one time. All he remembers, though, is seeing a huge mass of places and names he'd never heard before. So when Nigel tells them they're crossing over into France, it's all Greek to Edmund.
Quote #4
"All of England was a little crumb to the west of a mighty hill. On the summit stood a castle, with towers from which grew fruit trees.
"Jerusalem," explained Father Joseph reverently, "is the center of the world." (12.34)
Even though Jerusalem was kind of the definition of "foreignness" to them, England considers it the center of their world. Why? Because it's the center of the Church—where Jesus lived. This only amps up Edmund's excitement about going there. Compared to Jerusalem, England's like a tiny dot on the periphery of the map.
Quote #5
"The pagans we call Mussulmen. I know little about them, I am pleased to say. They have taken the Holy City from the Christians, but I am certain, Edmund, that they look in great measure as we do." (13.27)
Edmund and Hubert, in their lack of experience, think that the people who live in the Holy Land look like monsters. Nigel corrects them and assures them that even though they may be a little barbaric, they're just normal human beings. Two legs, ten fingers, classic people stuff. Talk about having no knowledge of the outside world.
Quote #6
A line of turbaned, bearded men gazed down at us, with a show of smiles. The cloths on their heads were brilliant colors, a dyer's pride, plum scarlet, peacock blue. The swords at their hips were crescents, like the early moon, and the sun flashed from the steel. (14.36)
This is the first glimpse of the foreign world that the Crusaders see as they get close to Venice. It sounds like something from Aladdin, too. The men are wearing turbans and bright colors, and their swords are even shaped differently—like a scimitar rather than the straight Crusader weapons.
Quote #7
"They betray their own Infidel brothers?" I asked.
"It is strange," admitted Nigel. "There is no understanding what men raised under the sun will do. Perhaps the heat makes them all half mad." (15.3-4)
Here's some more serious superstition. Nigel is explaining to Edmund that the men on the spice ships sometimes lend the Crusaders a helping hand. Which seems confusing because they're part of the other side, right? Nigel gives the excuse that maybe they're crazy because of all that sunlight. Typical comment coming from an Englishman.
Quote #8
I had expected the Holy Land to be a place of miracle, angels at wellheads, saints in caves. It was even better than that. This was a land of wild thyme and date palms, huge trees with wooden plumes for leaves. Bees touched the flowering weeds, and hills lifted and fell to the east, bare of forest. The streams were but a trickle through black stones where they touched the sea. (22.34)
Edmund's expectations of the Holy Land actually don't match up to how beautiful it is. He had this vague sort of idea involving heavenly things (you know, because it's the Holy Land), but he's totally mesmerized by all the exotic plants. Compared to home, it's a tropical paradise. It's like he's walked into the Garden of Eden itself.
Quote #9
"There was your chance to run a pagan through to the heart," said Hubert, "and you traded by-your-leaves, like two wives at a fair."
"He was a knight-at-arms, at his ease," I said, using the lines from a lay about a knight outside his lady's garden, one of Miles's favorites. (25.55)
Here, Hubert is an example of how dangerous it is to see people as the "Other." He and Edmund met a Saracan knight at a well, and since they weren't in the middle of battle, Edmund was polite to him. Hubert thinks that Saracans exist only to be killed, though, and aren't worthy of being treated as human beings. Tsk tsk, Hubert.
Quote #10
I had heard of the camel-leopard, a beast with spots and a huge body, who could call out with the voice of a beautiful woman. The firmament overlooked many such wonders: the griffin, half lion, half eagle, that guarded buried treasure; the harpy, half woman, half bird, who tormented travelers. (35.28)
Here's another infamous example of Edmund's imagination. Also, let's just take a moment and imagine what a camel-leopard would actually look like. Would it just be a giraffe?