Sirgwain and the Green Knight

"He knew that the armour he wore would offer no protection."

Writer: Justin Richards

Format: Short Story

Released: August 2026

Printed in: Time Lord Fairy Tales 15

Featuring: Ice Warrior

Synopsis

We are all stories in the end...

Sixteen tales of ancient wonder and mystery, passed down through generations of Time Lords. 

Dark, beautiful and twisted, these stories are filled with nightmarish terrors and heroic triumphs from across all of time and space.

Verdict

Sirgwain and the Green Knight was a good little story to conclude my reading of the Time Lord Fairy Tales collection! Now, it's no secret that I bought this book purely for The Doctor and the Three Witches as part of the Circuit Breaker multimedia story event, but I've really enjoyed the fifteen short stories that came before it in this collection. They're unique, random and certainly quirky so it was good that things concluded in much the same way. I knew from the title alone that this was going to feel more folky and certainly have a fairytale vibe as anytime we delve into Arthurian tales that is always going to happen. Sirgwain was certainly a character I could respect here and the titular green knight felt the same way. It took me much longer than it should have to realise that the Warrior who crashed and needed aid was an Ice Warrior! I was delighted when I realised though as I thought he was presented very well here. He was a fine representative of the Ice Warriors and whilst he was brutish, he was also respectful. I thought incorporating them into this kind of setting with the people around was great because it was a clash of two different systems of honour. It's important to both and touching upon that was nicely done here. It was also crucial to Sirgwain's survival. I thought King Harthur (ha! Could it be any more on the nose?) was a decent character but I'm not sure he quite respected honour in the same way as his knight. As far as he was concerned, they had supplied the Ice Warrior with the men and materials needed to repair his ship (or temple as they saw it) and that meant honour remained intact. It was the King who made the agreement, but still Sirgwain had to see it through as he felt honour bound. I thought that was admirable and showed he was certainly a strong knight. I liked that a lot and with a month to dwell on it while the Warrior was going through with his repairs, it must have been agony. As far as Sirgwain was concerned, going to the Ice Warrior was his day of death. There was no doubt in his mind and that can't be a fun thing to have weighing on your mind. I liked how the Ice Warrior respected Sirgwain for seeing through his part of the agreement and he was actually nothing but complimentary. He appreciated the materials and the hardworking nature of the men that helped repair his temple, and now they could be freely returned to the King. Sirgwain was ready for the final part of the bargain when it came to the blow to be reciprocated, but the Warrior knew he was an honourable man. He anticipated and accepted death, so he didn't actually need to die. I thought that was a nice way to finish things and he had one last trick with the take off of his ship now it was in full working order. A Warrior of the stars indeed. Overall, a nice way to finish the collection and just a really solid story. I'm all about stories concerning honour! 

Rating: 7/10