Kneeknock Rise by Natalie Babbitt

First published: 1970; illustrated

Subjects: Nature, religion, science, and social issues

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Folktale and moral tale

Time of work: A preindustrial age

Recommended Ages: 10-15

Locale: The imaginary country of Kneeknock

Principal Characters:

• Egan, a boy of eleven or twelve who goes on his first visit to the annual fair at the base of the mysterious Kneeknock Rise
• Ada, the female cousin with whom Egan is forced to stay during his visit
• Anson, Egan’s uncle and Ada’s father
• Gertrude, Egan’s aunt and Ada’s mother
• Ott, an uncle of Egan who generally lives with Anson and Gertrude but who has disappeared
• The chandler, a friend of Egan’s father who gives Egan a ride to the fair

Form and Content

In its fablelike account of a preadolescent boy’s visit to his relatives, Kneeknock Rise raises important questions about the nature of faith and myth and about the pressure to conform. The imaginary geography of the setting and the unusual cultural practices of the inhabitants of Kneeknock make it clear that Natalie Babbitt’s intention in writing this novel was not to create a realistic world but to invent a mythic place that was different enough from the contemporary world to make young readers think broadly about human behavior but similar enough to allow them to recognize themselves in the characters. The novel is set in the preindustrial past in a country that could be rural America but that, with its chandler, clockmaker, and fair, feels vaguely Western European, vaguely germanic.

The story in this brief, engaging novel is fairly straightforward. Egan, who appears to be about eleven or twelve in Babbitt’s own illustrations, is invited by his Uncle Anson and Aunt Gertrude to visit during the annual fair. The fair is the most popular event of the country because of its proximity to the small mountain that lends its name to the town—Kneeknock Rise. People are both appalled and intrigued by the prospect of being close to the mysterious mountain that for more than a thousand years has terrified nearby inhabitants with the strange moaning noises that rise from it on stormy nights. Egan, too, is thrilled to visit the mountain that is said to be the home of the Megrimum, the monster that the townspeople believe to be the source of the moaning and of certain rumored attacks on sheep and dogs.

Egan’s excitement about his first visit to Kneeknock and to the fair is tempered somewhat by his having to stay with his fussy aunt and his rather hostile female cousin, Ada. He is also bothered by the fact that another uncle, Ott, who normally boards with his Uncle Anson and Aunt Gertrude, has mysteriously disappeared.

Nevertheless, Egan rides to Kneeknock in the wagon of a chandler who is a friend of his father, and he enjoys the visit, despite the harangues of Ada and the nervous worrying of his aunt. During the visit, Egan comes across some poetry written by his missing uncle, and he is intrigued by the poems that speculate upon what adventurers will find on the other sides of the hills they climb and that ponder whether kings whose collected knowledge brings them worry and responsibility are truly wiser than fools who have no knowledge but are happy. Egan is attracted by the nonconformist themes of the poems, and he dreams about being an adventurer like his missing uncle. He even fantasizes about climbing Kneeknock Rise, battling and slaying the Megrimum, and returning to the village a hero, thus proving his merit and maturity to his obnoxious cousin and silly aunt.

Before long, Egan is given the opportunity to advance in the direction of his dreams. One afternoon when a storm is brewing, Ada pushes a bit too far in her teasing. All along, she has mocked him for not knowing the details of Kneeknock lore and ritual, and now she labels Egan a sissy and challenges him to climb Kneeknock Rise. He calls her bluff and does just that, much to her chagrin and to the dismay of the townspeople, who, although certain that he will be killed by the Megrimum, are too afraid of the monster themselves to make more than a half-hearted rescue attempt. Before they do so, however, Egan discovers not only that his missing uncle is resting safely on the supposedly dangerous Kneeknock Rise but also that Uncle Ott knows the secret of the Megrimum. He takes the would-be dragon slayer to the cave that the Megrimum is supposed to inhabit and shows Egan a steam vent on the cave floor. When it storms, his uncle explains, rainwater runs into the vent, is heated by underground volcanic forces, and is propelled as steam back through the vent, thus producing the famous moan of the Megrimum. The monster is nothing more than a geothermal teakettle. To test the theory, Egan throws a rock into the vent to block the opening and heads back toward the village, certain that he will be welcomed as a hero.

When the storm subsides and the villagers finally find Egan, they hurry him down from Kneeknock Rise and refuse to believe his account of the Megrimum, choosing instead to believe that he is feverish from his night out in the storm. A few begin to be convinced by Egan’s claims, however, when it begins to rain and it seems that the moan has been silenced. Suddenly, there is a great explosion and the Megrimum’s moan returns, to the great relief of the villagers.

At story’s end, Egan returns home and discovers en route that his own climb up the hill has been enlarged and distorted by local gossips and that his attempt to slay the dragon has become part of the lore of the monster.

Critical Context

Many writers have retold folktales or have written fantasy novels for readers in this age group, and some authors, such as Robin McKinley in Beauty: A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast (1978) or Jane Yolen in Briar Rose (1992), have chosen to adapt a traditional tale to another plot and setting. Natalie Babbitt, however, is notable for her particular mode of fantasy in which she uses the narrative strategies of folklore and fable to craft fantasy novels that raise large moral questions, questions that seem even more mysterious and compelling to readers because they have the feel of legends and stories from an oral tradition. Although Kneeknock Rise was designated a Newbery Honor Book in 1971 and was received warmly by reviewers, it is probably less well known than Babbitt’s Tuck Everlasting (1975), a fantasy novel that similarly explores moral issues as it presents the story of a family that has discovered a spring whose water produces eternal life. In both of these novels, it is clear that Babbitt’s gift in fantasy is to invent compelling worlds that make readers think seriously about what individuals can give one another in community and about what it means to be human.