# Richard Holland — Chivalry character guide

> Richard Holland in Chivalry by James Branch Cabell.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Tall Richard

**First appearance:** 0004-i-the-story-of-the-sestina

## Snapshot

The exiled Richard of Bordeaux, called Tall Richard, who has wandered Asia and returns to Wales with narrowed eyes and a scheme to bait a tiger with his own defenceless body.

## Who they are

Richard has spent years in the East, assumed his half-brothers' surname, and received Glyndwyr's summons that England is now fit pasture for the White Hart. He proposes to wait, disguised and apparently unguarded, at Caer Idion so that Henry of Lancaster will come in person to make sure of his death — a trap Glyndwyr's hundred men will close. Yet Richard himself has grown indifferent to whether the scheme succeeds, insisting no man can rule otherwise than abominably; that weary skepticism, set against Glyndwyr's undimmed hatred, is what makes his gamble so strange and so compelling.

## Relationships

### [Branwen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/chivalry_se/characters/branwen)

_romantic_

Branwen and Richard Holland share a passionate but secret romance, fraught with obstacles from their respective social positions.

### [Messire Gwyllem](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/chivalry_se/characters/messire_gwyllem)

_friendship_

Messire Gwyllem is Richard Holland's closest companion and fellow knight, bound by shared adventures and mutual respect.

### [Messire Gwyllem](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/chivalry_se/characters/messire_gwyllem)

_friendship_

Messire Gwyllem is Richard Holland's closest companion and fellow knight, bound by shared adventures and mutual respect.

### [Branwen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/chivalry_se/characters/branwen)

_romantic_

Branwen and Richard Holland share a passionate but secret romance, fraught with obstacles from their respective social positions.

### [Branwen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/chivalry_se/characters/branwen)

_romantic_

Branwen and Richard Holland share a passionate but secret romance, fraught with obstacles from their respective social positions.

### [Messire Gwyllem](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/chivalry_se/characters/messire_gwyllem)

_friendship_

Messire Gwyllem is Richard Holland's closest companion and fellow knight, bound by shared adventures and mutual respect.

## In the story

### [VIII: The Story of the Scabbard](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/chivalry_se/chapters/viii-the-story-of-the-scabbard)

Former King Richard, now living incognito as a shepherd at Caer Idion, having renounced his claim to the throne.

### [The Epilogue](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/chivalry_se/chapters/the-epilogue)

An old, garrulous, and cheery person who gave Nicolas de Caen the matter of the eighth tale and information on the sixth and seventh.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/chivalry_se/characters/richard_holland
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/chivalry_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/chivalry_se/characters