Comments on: Churchillnomics: The “Stricken Field”

By: Ron J. Ponder

Ron J. Ponder — Tue, 12 Jan 2021 14:08:43 +0000

Mr. Behm references this medieval chronicle. Does a reference to it exist? I cannot locate it. . Mr. Behm correctly says this explanation of the term is in Martha Gelhorn's book, A Stricken Field, since reprinted (see note below). You can read her remarks on her fifth page on Googlebooks. Unfortunately she credits only "A Medieval Chronicle," probably referring to the multi-volume work, The Medieval Chronicle. Some volumes are listed on Bookfinder.com but not all, and I cannot track its publishing history. I would be glad to have an exact reference. RML

By: Richard Langworth

Richard Langworth — Wed, 05 Jul 2017 17:55:07 +0000

In reply to Carl Behm III. According to Ernest Hemingway: A Comprehensive Bibliography, by Audre Hanneman, "Hemingway's anonymous epigraph for Martha Gellhorn's novel, A Stricken Field [is] credited to a 'Medieval Chronicle.'" Gellhorn's novel was published in 1940, Churchill's first usage was 1903, McRae's 1895. Unless The Medieval Chronicle was first published earlier, would it not be more likely that Gellhorn, like Churchill, read McRae? It would seem right up her alley.

By: Carl Behm III

Carl Behm III — Wed, 05 Jul 2017 17:22:21 +0000

A much earlier use of "a stricken field" is found in a Medieval Chronicle. See the full passage used as an epigraph by Martha Gellhorn in her novel of that title, A Stricken Field. While "The Unconquered Dead" may have been in Churchill's mind, one wonders whether he also had read the Chronicle. Certainly he shared the view of the old knight who says, "...A battle is fought to be won. And it is this that happens if you lose."