History Literature / SwordAtSunset

** Among the older spellings, Guenhumara for Guinevere is notable for probably being a [[InconsistentSpelling misspelling]] in the manuscript tradition that modern editors/translators used as the "right" form, so it's less Sutcliff's fault than theirs. The Welsh form of Guinevere is Gwenhwyfar, and the same Latin source text for the spelling Guenhumara also spells the name as Guenhuuara i.e Guenhuvara, which is much closer to Gwenhwyfar. It's not "Guinemere" after all, so it's more likely that at some point, some copyist mistook "uu" i.e. "uv" for "um" rather than that the name was really spelled with an M at some point.

-->"Another interesting feature of ''Sword at Sunset'' is the fact that, if compared to other contemporary novels, it also shows the emergence of a new Arthurian tradition: Sutcliff’s elimination of Launcelot, whom she replaces with Bedwyr as the queen’s lover, has been accepted by Creator/MaryStewart, Joan Wolf, Gillian Bradshaw, and others and has thus been included in the recognized catalogue of adaptable features."

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Besides using older spellings of Arthurian names (like Medraut for Mordred) along with possibly Arthurian-related period-appropriate names (such as Artorius, a real Latin name though its link to Arthur is speculative, as is Artos the Celtic word for bear), the spelling Utha for Uther is peculiar to Sutcliff. Notably, she also used it in her later non-demythified retellings of Arthurian legends.

* FiveManBand: Artos's closest companions fit the roles, though Guenhumara isn't a member of the Company: Artos is TheHero; Bedwyr is TheLancer; boisterous Cei is TheBigGuy; TheMedic Gwalchmai is TheSmartGuy; Guenhumara is TheChick.

* TriangRelations: Artos and Guenhumara enter into an ArrangedMarriage, to his best friend Bedwyr's dismay. Artos falls in love with Guenhumara, but his sexual dysfunction hurts their marriage and Guenhumara blames him for the death of their only child. Years later Guenhumara and Bedwyr fall in love, and Artos repudiates them both. Years later still, Bedwyr leaves Guenhumara behind to rejoin Artos.

* LousyLoversAreLovers:: The problem isn't explicitly described, but Artos and Guenhumara's sex life is... lacking.

** GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Averted. The problem isn't explicitly described, but Artos and Guenhumara's sex life is. . . lacking.
** PreClimaxClimax: Except that one time, because they think they're about to die of scurvy in a snowbound fortress.

''Sword at Sunset'' is a HistoricalFiction novel by Creator/RosemarySutcliff published in 1963, one of the first modern novels to [[{{Demythification}} Demythify]] Myth/KingArthur. A generation after the departure of UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire, Artos, bastard nephew of the High King Ambrosius Aurelianus of Britain, forms a Company of three hundred cavalrymen to spearhead a united British front against the invading UsefulNotes/AngloSaxons.