Reynart Bois-de Fresnes, also known as the Chequered Knight, was one of the knights errant who served Toussaint and became a friend of the witcher, Geralt and once accompanied him on a hunt for a cockatrice in Beauclair.
Biography[]
Sometime in the Spring of 1267 he, like his compatriots, made regular knightly vows in honor of Duchess Anna Henrietta. This time, he made a vow on a flying crane that he'd take down 15 marauders by Yule in December and, until he fulfilled it, he wouldn't reveal his name, his personal coat of arms (instead taking on a red and gold chequered pattern with the duchess' initials), drink, or eat beef.[1][2]
In October 1267, he was patrolling along Toussaint's border right around the druids' circle, Caed Myrkvid, when the druids and pilgrims fell under attack from Schirrú, Nightingale and his gang, and corrupt Nilfgaardian soldiers (who normally wouldn't have dared crossed over into the duchy). During one such fight he was overwhelmed by some of the gang, who proceeded to drag him off, but Geralt, who'd also been nearby trying to defend himself, ran after and killed the gang members, saving the knight. Together, they made their way through the forest to where some of Geralt's company was held up, trying to hold off the attackers. Reynart later came to the witcher's defense when Milton de Peyrac-Peyran and a couple other knights swooped in to kill them, having mistaken Geralt and Milva for bandits.
After the fighting, he traveled with Geralt's company to Beauclair, filling them in on all that'd transpired between Dandelion and the duchess 6 years ago and what became of Duke Raymund.
Later, on Yule, he traveled with Geralt to one of his contracts in the area to kill a cockatrice, afterwards showing he was a shrewd businessman, knowing who he could get a bit more gold out of for the corpse and for some of the valuable feathers.
The following year, in late February of 1268, he died during a clash with marauders on the Cervantes Pass and was posthumously awarded a medal.[2]
Trivia[]
- His name (as his cousin) is a reference to Brian de Bois-Guilbert from Ivanhoe (written by Sir Walter Scott). Bois means "wood/woods/woodland" in French and fresnes means "ash trees" in Old French (frênes in modern French).
- In The Lady of the Lake (at the beginning of Chapter Three), Reynart mentions that his mother "must have sensed something" naming him after the "sly fox from the well-known cycle of fables", a reference to Reynard the Fox (from which the modern French word for "fox" renard comes from).
- His horse's name was Bucephalus in reference to the horse of Alexander the Great.
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