Spear

A girl raised alone in the woods by her mother has a gift for talking to animals and a love of fighting. Disguised as a boy, she sets out to find the court of King Arthur and prove that she belongs among his knights, under the name Peretur.

At Camelot she becomes close to Nimuë, the king's magician, and she is drawn into the quest for the Grail, which she may understand better than anyone. Nicola Griffith's short, lyrical retelling of the legend of Percival is part Arthurian, part Irish myth, and gives the story to a woman.