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Thomas The Rhymer (novel)
''Thomas the Rhymer'' is a fantasy fiction, fantasy novel by American writer Ellen Kushner. It is based on the ballad of Thomas the Rhymer, a piece of folklore in which Thomas Learmonth's love of the Queen of Fairyland, Elfland was rewarded with the gift of prophecy. The novel won the 1991 World Fantasy Award and Mythopoeic Award. Plot summary Thomas, a harper from court, befriends a humble farmer and his wife. As he begins a relationship with Elspeth, their neighbor, he is whisked to Elfland, ensnared by the Fairy Queen. After seven years he returns to Gavin, Meg, and Elspeth with a parting gift from the Queen: he can only speak the truth. Characters Thomas A minstrel who sang in the king's court. Before he is captured by the Fairy Queen, he is a carefree young man. Elspeth A young woman who falls in love with Thomas. In the seven years of his absence, her hard life makes her cynical. Gavin A rather simple crofter who takes Thomas in. The Queen of Elfland Although powe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ellen Kushner
Ellen Kushner (born October 6, 1955) is an American writer of fantasy novels. From 1996 until 2010, she was the host of the radio program '' Sound & Spirit'', produced by WGBH in Boston and distributed by Public Radio International. Background and personal life Kushner was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. She attended Bryn Mawr College and graduated from Barnard College. She lives in New York City with her wife and sometime collaborator, Delia Sherman. They held a wedding in 1996 and were legally married in Boston in 2004. Kushner identifies as bisexual. Career Kushner's first books were five Choose Your Own Adventure gamebooks. During that period, she published her first novel, '' Swordspoint'' in 1987. A sequel set 18 years after ''Swordspoint'', called ''The Privilege of the Sword'', was published in July 2006, with a first hardcover edition published in late August 2006 by Small Beer Press. ''The Fall of the Kings'' (2002) (co-authored by Sherman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Canty (illustrator)
Thomas Canty (born 1952) is an illustrator and book designer in the field of fantasy literature. Career Thomas Canty is credited with pioneering a style of book cover painting and design influenced by such 19th century romantic artists as Alphonse Mucha, Gustav Klimt, and the Pre-Raphaelites. His paintings are featured each year on the cover of the award-winning Year's Best Fantasy and Horror volumes, as well as on numerous other books in the fantasy field and beyond, including: Patricia Kennealy's Keltiad series. He has worked as an art director and designer for Donald M. Grant Publisher, and collaborated on many projects with editor/author Terri Windling, such as the ''Fairy Tales'' series (Ace Books and Tor Books) and the ''Snow White, Blood Red'' series (Avon). His poem, ''A Monster at Christmas'' was published by Grant in 1985. Canty has won two World Fantasy Awards The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction publishe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Speculative Fiction
Speculative fiction is a term that has been used with a variety of (sometimes contradictory) meanings. The broadest interpretation is as a category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, nature, or the present universe. Such fiction covers various themes in the context of supernatural, futuristic, and other imaginative realms. The genres under this umbrella category include, but are not limited to, science fiction, fantasy, horror, superhero fiction, alternate history, utopian and dystopian fiction, and supernatural fiction, as well as combinations thereof (for example, science fantasy). History Speculative fiction as a category ranges from ancient works to paradigm-changing and neotraditional works of the 21st century. Characteristics of speculative fiction have been recognized in older works whose authors' intentions, or in the social contexts of the stories they portray, are now known. For example, the ancient Greek ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Morrow & Co
William Morrow and Company is an American publishing company founded by William Morrow in 1926. The company was acquired by Scott Foresman in 1967, sold to Hearst Corporation in 1981, and sold to News Corporation (now News Corp) in 1999. The company is now an imprint of HarperCollins. William Morrow has published many fiction and non-fiction authors, including Ray Bradbury, Michael Chabon, Beverly Cleary, Neil Gaiman, Erle Stanley Gardner, B. H. Liddell Hart, Elmore Leonard, Steven D. Levitt, Steven Pinker, Judith Rossner, and Neal Stephenson. Francis Thayer Hobson was president and later chairman of the board of William Morrow and Company. Morrow authors * Christopher Andersen * Harriet Brown * Karin Slaughter * Harry Browne * Stephen Brusatte * Meg Cabot * Beverly Cleary * Charles Dickinson * Warren Ellis * Bruce Feiler * Neil Gaiman * David J. Garrow * Nikki Giovanni * John Grogan * Andrew Gross * Jean Guerrero * Joe Hill * Ismail Kadare * Steven D. Levitt * Mar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fantasy Fiction
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama. From the twentieth century, it has expanded further into various media, including film, television, graphic novels, manga, animations and video games. Fantasy is distinguished from the genres of science fiction and horror by the respective absence of scientific or macabre themes, although these genres overlap. In popular culture, the fantasy genre predominantly features settings that emulate Earth, but with a sense of otherness. In its broadest sense, however, fantasy consists of works by many writers, artists, filmmakers, and musicians from ancient myths and legends to many recent and popular works. Traits Most fantasy uses magic or other supernatural elements as a main plot element, theme, or setting. Magic, magic practitioners ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Europe, and later in Australia, North Africa, North America and South America. Ballads are often 13 lines with an ABABBCBC form, consisting of couplets (two lines) of rhymed verse, each of 14 syllables. Another common form is ABAB or ABCB repeated, in alternating eight and six syllable lines. Many ballads were written and sold as single sheet broadsides. The form was often used by poets and composers from the 18th century onwards to produce lyrical ballads. In the later 19th century, the term took on the meaning of a slow form of popular love song and is often used for any love song, particularly the sentimental ballad of pop or roc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas The Rhymer
Sir Thomas de Ercildoun, better remembered as Thomas the Rhymer (fl. c. 1220 – 1298), also known as Thomas Learmont or True Thomas, was a Scottish laird and reputed prophet from Earlston (then called "Erceldoune") in the Borders. Thomas' gift of prophecy is linked to his poetic ability. He is often cited as the author of the English ''Sir Tristrem'', a version of the Tristram legend, and some lines in Robert Mannyng's ''Chronicle'' may be the source of this association. It is not clear if the name ''Rhymer'' was his actual surname or merely a sobriquet. In literature, he appears as the protagonist in the tale about Thomas the Rhymer carried off by the " Queen of Elfland" and returned having gained the gift of prophecy, as well as the inability to tell a lie. The tale survives in a medieval verse romance in five manuscripts, as well as in the popular ballad "Thomas Rhymer" (Child Ballad number 37).Child Ballad #37. "Thomas the Rymer", The romance occurs as "Thomas off ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging from traditional building styles common to the group. Folklore also includes customary lore, taking actions for folk beliefs, the forms and rituals of celebrations such as Christmas and weddings, folk dances and initiation rites. Each one of these, either singly or in combination, is considered a folklore artifact or traditional cultural expression. Just as essential as the form, folklore also encompasses the transmission of these artifacts from one region to another or from one generation to the next. Folklore is not something one can typically gain in a formal school curriculum or study in the fine arts. Instead, these traditions are passed along informally from one individual to another either through verbal instruction or demonstr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fairyland
Fairyland (''Faerie'', Scottish ''Elfame'', c.f. Old Norse ''Álfheimr'') in English and Scottish folklore is the fabulous land or abode of fairies or ''fays''. Old French (Early Modern English ) referred to an illusion or enchantment, the land of the ''faes''. Modern English (by the 17th century) ''fairy'' transferred the name of the realm of the ''fays'' to its inhabitants, e.g. the expression ''fairie knight'' in Edmund Spenser's ''The Faerie Queene'' refers to a "supernatural knight" or a "knight of Faerie" but was later re-interpreted as referring to a knight who is "a fairy". Folklore Fairyland may be referred to simply as ''Fairy'' or ''Faerie'', though that usage is an archaism. It is often the land ruled by the " Queen of Fairy" and thus anything from fairyland is also sometimes described as being from the "Court of the Queen of " or from the Seelie court in Scottish folklore. The Scots word or ' "fairyland" has other variant forms, attested in Scottish witch trials, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prophecy
In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or preternatural knowledge, for example of future events. They can be revealed to the prophet in various ways depending on the religion and the story, such as visions, divination, or direct interaction with divine beings in physical form. Stories of prophetic deeds sometimes receive considerable attention and some have been known to survive for centuries through oral tradition or as religious texts. Etymology The English noun "prophecy", in the sense of "function of a prophet" appeared from about 1225, from Old French ''profecie'' (12th century), and from ''prophetia'', Greek ''propheteia'' "gift of interpreting the will of God", from Greek ''prophetes'' (see prophet). The related meaning, "thing spoken or written by a prophet", dates from 1300, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Fantasy Award
The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy literature, fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous annual convention as the central focus of the event. They were first given in 1975, at the first World Fantasy Convention, and have been awarded annually since. Over the years that the award has been given, the categories presented have changed; currently World Fantasy Awards are given in five written categories, one category for artists, and four special categories for individuals to honor their general work in the field of fantasy. The awards have been described by book critics such as ''The Guardian'' as a "prestigious fantasy prize", and one of the three most prestigious speculative fiction awards, along with the Hugo Award, Hugo and Nebula Awards (which cover both fantasy and science fiction). World Fantasy Award nomin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mythopoeic Award
The Mythopoeic Awards for literature and literary studies are given annually for outstanding works in the fields of myth, fantasy, and the scholarly study of these areas. Established by the Mythopoeic Society in 1971, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award is given for "fiction in the spirit of the Inklings", and the Scholarship Award for non-fiction work. The award is a statuette of a seated lion, with a plaque on the base. It has drawn resemblance to, and is often called, the "Aslan". The Mythopoeic Award is one of the "principal annual awards" for fantasy according to critic Brian Stableford. From 1971 to 1991, there was one award per category, annual but not always awarded before 1981. Dual awards in each category were established in 1992: Mythopoeic Fantasy Awards for Adult Literature and Children's Literature; Scholarship Awards in Inklings Studies, and Myth and Fantasy Studies. In 2010, a Student Paper Award was introduced for the best paper presented at Mythcon by an undergraduate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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