The Virgin in the Ice
Encyclopedia
The Virgin in the Ice is a medieval mystery novel by Ellis Peters, first published in 1982
. It was adapted for television in 1995
by Central
for ITV
. It is the sixth novel in the Brother Cadfael series.
, when England is in the grip of civil war between the factions of King Stephen
and the Empress Matilda
. Brother Cadfael is a Benedictine
monk at Shrewsbury Abbey
. In his youth, he has been on Crusade, has been a seaman and lived for some years in Syria, but is content in his middle years with the cloistered life. In the late autumn of 1139, the Empress's armies have attacked and pillaged Worcester
. Among the many who fled the city were two noble children in the Benedictine Order's care, and a nun who was in charge of them, but they have since vanished. The children's uncle, Lawrence d'Angers, who has recently returned from the Holy Land
to enter the Empress's service, seeks leave to enter the King's lands to search for them, but he is refused permission by the King's officer in Shrewsbury, Sheriff Gilbert Prescote.
As the first snowstorms of winter sweep the countryside, Prior Leonard of the Benedictine Priory at Bromfield near Ludlow
asks for Brother Cadfael, who is a skilled physician and apothecary, to tend a monk there who has been waylaid by robbers, beaten and stabbed and left for dead in the snow. At Bromfield, the injured man, Brother Elyas, babbles about a party of refugees which might well be those sought. Cadfael rides out into the snow-covered countryside to search for them and finds one of the children, thirteen year old Yves Hugonin, sheltering with a forester. As they ride back to Bromfield through the evening, Yves tells Cadfael that he, his elder sister Ermina and her tutor, Sister Hilaria, had been staying at the smallholding
of John Druel, a relative of Ermina's childhood nurse. The headstrong Ermina eloped with a lover some nights previously. When Yves tried to follow, he became lost in the woods. Sister Hilaria is presumably safe with Druel.
As they cross a frozen stream, Cadfael sees the body of a young woman frozen into the ice, and fears that it is that of Ermina, so conceals his discovery from Yves. At Bromfield, Cadfael finds that his friend, Deputy Sheriff Hugh Beringar, has arrived to help search for the missing children, and reports his distressing find to him.
The next morning, the body is retrieved from the ice and brought to the chapel at Bromfield. As the body thaws, Cadfael sees that it is not dark of hair and eye, as Ermina was described, but fair. There is blood on the corpse, from whoever presumably ravished and smothered her. Yves enters the chapel unexpectedly, and to his horror, recognises the corpse as that of Sister Hilaria.
Cadfael and Beringar go to Druel's smallholding and find that it has been looted and destroyed by brigands, although Druel escaped to the nearby village of Cleeton. He relates that his place was attacked on the night of the first blizzards, but Sister Hilaria had left in the company of Brother Elyas a few hours before. The villagers also tell Beringar that an armed stranger later came to Cleeton, asking after the children and the nun.
Beringar hears from Ludlow that on the night Druel's place was sacked, the brigands attacked other settlements, committing indiscriminate murder. Cadfael surmises that they met Elyas and Hilaria on their way, murdered Hilaria and left Elyas for dead. Yet another settlement which was attacked even before that night was the manor
of Callowleas, which belonged to Evrard Boterel, Ermina's lover. Most of its inhabitants were killed, but Beringar finds evidence that Boterel and Ermina were able to escape to the manor of Ledwyche, which Boterel also holds. At Ledwyche, Boterel relates to Beringar, Cadfael and Yves that after their flight from Callowleas, Ermina was frantic with worry for Yves and left Ledwyche in the snowstorm to search for him. Boterel rode out after her into the blizzard, but he already had a knife wound in the shoulder, and collapsed from his wound.
That night, another snowstorm blows up. While Cadfael and the brothers of Bromfield are at Compline
, Yves stays with Brother Elyas, who is recovering, although disoriented. When Yves tells him that Sister Hilaria is dead, Elyas becomes distressed and walks purposefully out of the priory, into the storm, wearing only his habit. Yves pursues him, but cannot turn him back. They reach a shepherd's hut, where Elyas appears to confess in a fit of grief to despoiling and murdering Hilaria. As dawn breaks, Yves hears noises nearby and goes to seek help, but runs into the arms of the brigands. As he is obviously noble and worth a ransom, they take him prisoner, tied by a halter to a laden pack horse. He leaves a trail in the new-fallen snow for others to follow, by puncturing a skin full of red wine and letting it drip slowly.
That same dawn, Ermina Hugonin arrives at Bromfield Priory, escorted by the handsome stranger, who immediately vanishes. Ermina quickly learns of Sister Hilaria's death, and is stricken with guilt that her reckless conduct led indirectly to it. Cadfael tells her that Hilaria's ravisher and murderer alone must bear the guilt and penalty of the act. Ermina also tells Cadfael that the stranger who helped her is Olivier de Bretagne, a Syrian-born squire in her uncle's service, masquerading as a local forester. She no longer loves Boterel, and is clearly smitten by Olivier.
As the search for Yves and Elyas begins, Cadfael wonders what purpose Elyas had in mind when he walked into the blizzard, and asks to be taken to the spot where Elyas was first found injured. He then goes to where Sister Hilaria's body was found, more than a mile away. Puzzled that anyone should carry a corpse so far, he finds the nearby hut, where there are signs that Yves and Elyas sheltered there during the night, but are now gone. Inside, concealed under a heap of straw, Cadfael also finds Hilaria's wimple and habit, which are stained with blood from her attacker, and Elyas's cloak. Casting about for Yves's or Elyas's tracks, he finds that of the brigands, marked by the trail of wine drops left by Yves. He follows the trail, and discovers that the brigands have built a rough fort on top of Titterstone Clee Hill
.
The next morning, Cadfael guides Hugh Beringar's armed men to the fort. They attack, but the brigands' leader, who is recognised as a mercenary named Alain le Gaucher, forces them to draw back by holding a knife to Yves's throat. Yves is left on top of the fort's tower. As night falls, Olivier de Bretagne makes his way to the tower by stealth and overcomes the brigand guarding Yves. When he and Yves try to escape, they are detected and forced to return to the tower. Yves realises that Beringar and Cadfael cannot be far away, and beats a helmet and sword together to alert them. Beringar and his men attack again, and set fire to the fort. As the fire threatens Yves and Olivier, they try to break out, but Yves collides with le Gaucher and is taken hostage again. Brother Elyas wanders into the battle and confronts le Gaucher who, unnerved by the sight of a man he thought he had left dead, lets go of Yves. Olivier then kills le Gaucher in single combat before disappearing.
Cadfael takes the wounded back to Bromfield. Yves tells him of Elyas's apparent confession, but Cadfael establishes that when Elyas and Hilaria sheltered together in the hut, Elyas, tormented by desire, walked out leaving her alone but with his cloak for warmth. He was himself attacked by le Gaucher's men a mile away. He believes himself guilty for abandoning Hilaria to some unknown fate.
Evrard Boterel arrives at Bromfield to reclaim a stolen horse. Cadfael invites him into the chapel to pray for the dead. Inside, Ermina confronts him, dressed in Hilaria's wimple and habit, and frightens him into confessing to Hilaria's murder. She then relates to Cadfael that she turned against Boterel when he fled in terror from Callowleas rather than defend his people against the brigands. When Boterel then tried to take her by force rather than lose the lands she would bring him as a wife, she wounded him with a knife, and hid in the woods. She saw Boterel ride out to search for her, and now knows that it was he who came upon Sister Hilaria alone in the hut, and raped and murdered her in a rage against Ermina herself.
Ermina has let Cadfael know that Olivier will come for her and Yves after Compline. When Olivier arrives, Cadfael suggests waiting until Matins
, when they can leave undetected. While Cadfael and Olivier wait together, Olivier tells of his early years in Syria and of his mother, Mariam, and Cadfael realises that Olivier is his own illegitimate son.
Elyas is recovering, Hilaria's murderer is in prison, the brigands are exterminated and Yves and Ermina are on their way to their uncle's care. With their respective tasks accomplished, Beringar and Cadfael return to Shrewsbury, with Cadfael in a daze.
The Virgin in the Ice was also adapted for BBC Radio 4
by Bert Coules
and starred Philip Madoc
as Brother Cadfael, Douglas Hodge
as Hugh Beringar and Sir Michael Hordern as the Narrator.
1982 in literature
The year 1982 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*La Bicyclette Bleue by Régine Deforges becomes France's best selling novel ever.-New books:...
. It was adapted for television in 1995
1995 in television
The year 1995 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1995.For the American TV schedule, see: 1995-96 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1950s:...
by Central
Central Independent Television
Central Independent Television, more commonly known as Central is the Independent Television contractor for the Midlands, created following the restructuring of ATV and commencing broadcast on 1 January 1982. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting...
for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
. It is the sixth novel in the Brother Cadfael series.
Plot summary
The series of novels is set during the AnarchyThe Anarchy
The Anarchy or The Nineteen-Year Winter was a period of English history during the reign of King Stephen, which was characterised by civil war and unsettled government...
, when England is in the grip of civil war between the factions of King Stephen
Stephen of England
Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...
and the Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda , also known as Matilda of England or Maude, was the daughter and heir of King Henry I of England. Matilda and her younger brother, William Adelin, were the only legitimate children of King Henry to survive to adulthood...
. Brother Cadfael is a Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
monk at Shrewsbury Abbey
Shrewsbury Abbey
The Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, commonly known as Shrewsbury Abbey, was a Benedictine monastery founded in 1083 by the Norman Earl of Shrewsbury, Roger de Montgomery, in Shrewsbury, the county town of Shropshire, England.-Background:...
. In his youth, he has been on Crusade, has been a seaman and lived for some years in Syria, but is content in his middle years with the cloistered life. In the late autumn of 1139, the Empress's armies have attacked and pillaged Worcester
Worcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
. Among the many who fled the city were two noble children in the Benedictine Order's care, and a nun who was in charge of them, but they have since vanished. The children's uncle, Lawrence d'Angers, who has recently returned from the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
to enter the Empress's service, seeks leave to enter the King's lands to search for them, but he is refused permission by the King's officer in Shrewsbury, Sheriff Gilbert Prescote.
As the first snowstorms of winter sweep the countryside, Prior Leonard of the Benedictine Priory at Bromfield near Ludlow
Ludlow
Ludlow is a market town in Shropshire, England close to the Welsh border and in the Welsh Marches. It lies within a bend of the River Teme, on its eastern bank, forming an area of and centred on a small hill. Atop this hill is the site of Ludlow Castle and the market place...
asks for Brother Cadfael, who is a skilled physician and apothecary, to tend a monk there who has been waylaid by robbers, beaten and stabbed and left for dead in the snow. At Bromfield, the injured man, Brother Elyas, babbles about a party of refugees which might well be those sought. Cadfael rides out into the snow-covered countryside to search for them and finds one of the children, thirteen year old Yves Hugonin, sheltering with a forester. As they ride back to Bromfield through the evening, Yves tells Cadfael that he, his elder sister Ermina and her tutor, Sister Hilaria, had been staying at the smallholding
Smallholding
A smallholding is a farm of small size.In third world countries, smallholdings are usually farms supporting a single family with a mixture of cash crops and subsistence farming. As a country becomes more affluent and farming practices become more efficient, smallholdings may persist as a legacy of...
of John Druel, a relative of Ermina's childhood nurse. The headstrong Ermina eloped with a lover some nights previously. When Yves tried to follow, he became lost in the woods. Sister Hilaria is presumably safe with Druel.
As they cross a frozen stream, Cadfael sees the body of a young woman frozen into the ice, and fears that it is that of Ermina, so conceals his discovery from Yves. At Bromfield, Cadfael finds that his friend, Deputy Sheriff Hugh Beringar, has arrived to help search for the missing children, and reports his distressing find to him.
The next morning, the body is retrieved from the ice and brought to the chapel at Bromfield. As the body thaws, Cadfael sees that it is not dark of hair and eye, as Ermina was described, but fair. There is blood on the corpse, from whoever presumably ravished and smothered her. Yves enters the chapel unexpectedly, and to his horror, recognises the corpse as that of Sister Hilaria.
Cadfael and Beringar go to Druel's smallholding and find that it has been looted and destroyed by brigands, although Druel escaped to the nearby village of Cleeton. He relates that his place was attacked on the night of the first blizzards, but Sister Hilaria had left in the company of Brother Elyas a few hours before. The villagers also tell Beringar that an armed stranger later came to Cleeton, asking after the children and the nun.
Beringar hears from Ludlow that on the night Druel's place was sacked, the brigands attacked other settlements, committing indiscriminate murder. Cadfael surmises that they met Elyas and Hilaria on their way, murdered Hilaria and left Elyas for dead. Yet another settlement which was attacked even before that night was the manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of Callowleas, which belonged to Evrard Boterel, Ermina's lover. Most of its inhabitants were killed, but Beringar finds evidence that Boterel and Ermina were able to escape to the manor of Ledwyche, which Boterel also holds. At Ledwyche, Boterel relates to Beringar, Cadfael and Yves that after their flight from Callowleas, Ermina was frantic with worry for Yves and left Ledwyche in the snowstorm to search for him. Boterel rode out after her into the blizzard, but he already had a knife wound in the shoulder, and collapsed from his wound.
That night, another snowstorm blows up. While Cadfael and the brothers of Bromfield are at Compline
Compline
Compline is the final church service of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours. The English word Compline is derived from the Latin completorium, as Compline is the completion of the working day. The word was first used in this sense about the beginning of the 6th century by St...
, Yves stays with Brother Elyas, who is recovering, although disoriented. When Yves tells him that Sister Hilaria is dead, Elyas becomes distressed and walks purposefully out of the priory, into the storm, wearing only his habit. Yves pursues him, but cannot turn him back. They reach a shepherd's hut, where Elyas appears to confess in a fit of grief to despoiling and murdering Hilaria. As dawn breaks, Yves hears noises nearby and goes to seek help, but runs into the arms of the brigands. As he is obviously noble and worth a ransom, they take him prisoner, tied by a halter to a laden pack horse. He leaves a trail in the new-fallen snow for others to follow, by puncturing a skin full of red wine and letting it drip slowly.
That same dawn, Ermina Hugonin arrives at Bromfield Priory, escorted by the handsome stranger, who immediately vanishes. Ermina quickly learns of Sister Hilaria's death, and is stricken with guilt that her reckless conduct led indirectly to it. Cadfael tells her that Hilaria's ravisher and murderer alone must bear the guilt and penalty of the act. Ermina also tells Cadfael that the stranger who helped her is Olivier de Bretagne, a Syrian-born squire in her uncle's service, masquerading as a local forester. She no longer loves Boterel, and is clearly smitten by Olivier.
As the search for Yves and Elyas begins, Cadfael wonders what purpose Elyas had in mind when he walked into the blizzard, and asks to be taken to the spot where Elyas was first found injured. He then goes to where Sister Hilaria's body was found, more than a mile away. Puzzled that anyone should carry a corpse so far, he finds the nearby hut, where there are signs that Yves and Elyas sheltered there during the night, but are now gone. Inside, concealed under a heap of straw, Cadfael also finds Hilaria's wimple and habit, which are stained with blood from her attacker, and Elyas's cloak. Casting about for Yves's or Elyas's tracks, he finds that of the brigands, marked by the trail of wine drops left by Yves. He follows the trail, and discovers that the brigands have built a rough fort on top of Titterstone Clee Hill
Titterstone Clee Hill
Titterstone Clee Hill, sometimes referred to as Clee Hill or Titterstone Clee, is a hill in the rural English county of Shropshire, rising at the summit to 533 m above sea level....
.
The next morning, Cadfael guides Hugh Beringar's armed men to the fort. They attack, but the brigands' leader, who is recognised as a mercenary named Alain le Gaucher, forces them to draw back by holding a knife to Yves's throat. Yves is left on top of the fort's tower. As night falls, Olivier de Bretagne makes his way to the tower by stealth and overcomes the brigand guarding Yves. When he and Yves try to escape, they are detected and forced to return to the tower. Yves realises that Beringar and Cadfael cannot be far away, and beats a helmet and sword together to alert them. Beringar and his men attack again, and set fire to the fort. As the fire threatens Yves and Olivier, they try to break out, but Yves collides with le Gaucher and is taken hostage again. Brother Elyas wanders into the battle and confronts le Gaucher who, unnerved by the sight of a man he thought he had left dead, lets go of Yves. Olivier then kills le Gaucher in single combat before disappearing.
Cadfael takes the wounded back to Bromfield. Yves tells him of Elyas's apparent confession, but Cadfael establishes that when Elyas and Hilaria sheltered together in the hut, Elyas, tormented by desire, walked out leaving her alone but with his cloak for warmth. He was himself attacked by le Gaucher's men a mile away. He believes himself guilty for abandoning Hilaria to some unknown fate.
Evrard Boterel arrives at Bromfield to reclaim a stolen horse. Cadfael invites him into the chapel to pray for the dead. Inside, Ermina confronts him, dressed in Hilaria's wimple and habit, and frightens him into confessing to Hilaria's murder. She then relates to Cadfael that she turned against Boterel when he fled in terror from Callowleas rather than defend his people against the brigands. When Boterel then tried to take her by force rather than lose the lands she would bring him as a wife, she wounded him with a knife, and hid in the woods. She saw Boterel ride out to search for her, and now knows that it was he who came upon Sister Hilaria alone in the hut, and raped and murdered her in a rage against Ermina herself.
Ermina has let Cadfael know that Olivier will come for her and Yves after Compline. When Olivier arrives, Cadfael suggests waiting until Matins
Matins
Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also...
, when they can leave undetected. While Cadfael and Olivier wait together, Olivier tells of his early years in Syria and of his mother, Mariam, and Cadfael realises that Olivier is his own illegitimate son.
Elyas is recovering, Hilaria's murderer is in prison, the brigands are exterminated and Yves and Ermina are on their way to their uncle's care. With their respective tasks accomplished, Beringar and Cadfael return to Shrewsbury, with Cadfael in a daze.
Media adaptation
The book was shown the first episode in the second series (and sixth episode overall) in the Cadfael series by Central Television. The plot of the episode differed more than most from the original novel. The action was moved from Ludlow to Cadfael's "home" abbey of Shrewsbury; Brother Elyas's part was replaced by that of Cadfael's young and callow assistant in the herb gardens, Brother Oswin, and extra plot elements were introduced to explain the presence of the brigands and the final unmasking of the murderer.The Virgin in the Ice was also adapted for BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
by Bert Coules
Bert Coules
Bert Coules is an English writer, mainly for the BBC, who has produced a number of adaptations and original works. He works mainly in radio drama but also writes for TV and the stage.-Early years:...
and starred Philip Madoc
Philip Madoc
Philip Madoc is a Welsh actor who has had many television and film roles.One prominent role was the title character in the BBC Wales drama The Life and Times of David Lloyd George...
as Brother Cadfael, Douglas Hodge
Douglas Hodge
Douglas Hodge is an English actor, director, and musician who trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.Hodge is a council member of the National Youth Theatre for whom, in 1989, he co-wrote Pacha Mama's Blessing about the Amazon rain forests staged at the Almeida...
as Hugh Beringar and Sir Michael Hordern as the Narrator.