Robert F. Young (1915-1986) was an American public school janitor. In addition to maintaining what I can only assume to have been immaculate hallways and washrooms in Bufallo, NY schools, he is also remembered for having written five novels, as well as a few dozen short Science Fiction stories, novellas and novelettes. His authorial production started in 1953 with a sale to Startling Stories. Later sales were made to Playboy, The Saturday Evening Post, Collier’s and Analog.

This story is inspired in part by Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales and features a rogue time traveler named Tom Mallory who transits to 6th century Europe in search of an unparalleled treasure. Perhaps Terry Gilliam or Michael Palin filched this as a story seed for their 1981 classic Time Bandits?

A Knyght Ther Was
By Robert F. Young; Read by Roger Melin
6 Zipped MP3 Files or Podcast – Approx. 2 Hours 19 Minutes [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: LibriVox.org
Published: January 23, 2010
“But the Knyght was a little less than Perfect, and his horse did not have a metabolism, and his ‘castle’ was much more mobile—timewise!—than it had any business being!” In 2178, once time travel had become a simple task, it had also been outlawed. Those who chose to ingnore this law were known as time-thieves, and Tom Mallory was among the best of them. When he learns the precise whereabouts of the Holy Grail in 542, he sets out to obtain it with the intention of returning it to the 22nd century to make a handsome profit and to settle on Get-Rich-Quick Street. Off to the year 542 he travels to the castle of Carbonek where the great Knight Sir Launcelot is said to have possession of the Sangraal. First published in Analog Science Fact & Fiction July 1963.

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Trailer for Time Bandits (1981):

[Thanks also to Betty M. and Annise]

Posted by Jesse Willis