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Seven-league Boots
Seven-league boots are an element in European folklore. The boots allow the person wearing them to take strides of seven leagues per step, resulting in great speed. The boots are often presented by a magical character to the protagonist to aid in the completion of a significant task. Mention of the legendary boots are found in: * Germany – Sweetheart Roland, Adelbert von Chamisso's ''Peter Schlemiel'', Goethe's Faust (Mephistopheles uses them at the start of Part Two, Act Four ), Wilhelm Hauff's "Der Kleine Muck" * France – Charles Perrault's - ''Hop o' My Thumb'', Madame d'Aulnoy's ''The Bee and the Orange Tree'', Marcel Proust’s ''In Search of Lost Time''. * Norway – Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe - ''Soria Moria Castle'' * Britain – Jack the Giant Killer, John Masefield's ''The Midnight Folk'', C.S. Lewis's ''The Pilgrim's Regress'', Wizardoligy, ''A Guide to Wizards of the World'', Terry Pratchett's The Light Fantastic, The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Jenny N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Bee And The Orange Tree
The Bee and the Orange Tree (''L'Oranger et l'Abeille'') is a French literary fairy tale by Madame d'Aulnoy. Synopsis After many childless years, a king and queen had a daughter, whom they named Aimée. Unfortunately, a ship she was on, wrecked. As fate would have it, she drifted ashore in her cradle. Although the ogres normally ate those washed up on the shore, she was taken in by ogre couple to marry their son when she grew up. After fifteen years, the king and queen gave up hope of locating the princess. Her cousin, the second son of Aimée’s uncle, was chosen to become heir to the throne. Meanwhile, Aimée grew up among the ogres. A little ogre had fallen in love with her, but the thought of marrying him revolted her. Walking along the beach one day, she found a man and hid him from the ogres in a cave. The man happened to be her cousin, although neither of them knew the truth or could speak each other's language. After some time, the prince discovered her identity from a lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Light Fantastic
''The Light Fantastic'' is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, the second of the ''Discworld'' series. It was published on 2 June 1986, the first printing being of 1,034 copies. The title, taken from a poem by John Milton, in which it refers to dancing lightly with extravagance. The events of the novel are a direct continuation of those in the preceding book, ''The Colour of Magic''. Plot summary The book begins shortly after the ending of ''The Colour of Magic'', with wizard Rincewind, Twoflower and the Luggage falling from the Discworld. They are saved when the Octavo, the most powerful book of magic on the Discworld, readjusts reality to prevent the loss of one of its eight spells, which has resided in Rincewind's head since his expulsion from Unseen University: Rincewind, Twoflower and the Luggage end up in the Forest of Skund. Meanwhile, the wizards of Ankh-Morpork use the Rite of Ashk-Ente to summon Death to find an explanation for the Octavo's actions. Death war ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his ''Discworld'' series of 41 novels. Pratchett's first novel, ''The Carpet People'', was published in 1971. The first ''Discworld'' novel, ''The Colour of Magic'', was published in 1983, after which Pratchett wrote an average of two books a year. The final ''Discworld'' novel, ''The Shepherd's Crown'', was published in August 2015, five months after his death. With more than 85 million books sold worldwide in 37 languages, Pratchett was the UK's best-selling author of the 1990s. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1998 and was knighted for services to literature in the 2009 New Year Honours. In 2001 he won the annual Carnegie Medal for ''The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents'', the first ''Discworld'' book marketed for children. He received the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Pilgrim's Regress
''The Pilgrim's Regress'' is a book of allegorical fiction by C. S. Lewis. This 1933 novel was Lewis's first published work of prose fiction, and his third piece of work to be published and first after he converted to Christianity. It charts the progress of a fictional character named John through a philosophical landscape in search of the Island of his desire. Lewis described the novel to his publisher as "a kind of Bunyan up to date," in reference to John Bunyan's 1678 novel ''The Pilgrim's Progress'', recast with the politics, ideologies, philosophy, and aesthetic principles of the early 20th century. As such, the character struggles with the modern phoniness, hypocrisy, and intellectual vacancy of the Christian church, Communism, Fascism, and various philosophical and artistic movements. Background and Context In September 1931, Lewis, Tolkien and Dyson had the famous Night of Addison’s Walk where they walked around Magdalen College discussing myth and how Christianity ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Midnight Folk
''The Midnight Folk'' is a children's fantasy novel by John Masefield first published in 1927. It is about a boy, Kay Harker, who sets out to discover what became of a fortune stolen from his seafaring great grandfather Aston Tirrold Harker (in reality, Aston Tirrold is a village in Oxfordshire). The treasure is also sought by a coven of witches who are seeking it for their own ends. Kay's governess Sylvia Daisy Pouncer is a member of the coven. The witches are led or guided by the wizard Abner Brown. Kay Harker is aided in his quest by various talking animals, most notably Nibbins the cat, who used to be a witch's cat but has reformed. There are two other household cats: the main antagonist is Blackmalkin, and he is aided by the mysterious Greymalkin who takes his name from the witch's familiar in the opening scene of Shakespeare's ''Macbeth''. Kay Harker has various adventures—sailing on the high seas, swimming with mermaids, flying on broomsticks. At one point in the novel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Masefield
John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate from 1930 until 1967. Among his best known works are the children's novels ''The Midnight Folk'' and ''The Box of Delights'', and the poems '' The Everlasting Mercy'' and " Sea-Fever". Biography Early life Masefield was born in Ledbury in Herefordshire, to George Masefield, a solicitor, and his wife Caroline. His mother died giving birth to his sister when Masefield was six, and he went to live with his aunt. His father died soon afterwards, following a mental breakdown. After an unhappy education at the King's School in Warwick (now known as Warwick School), where he was a boarder between 1888 and 1891, he left to board , both to train for a life at sea and to break his addiction to reading, of which his aunt thought little. He spent several years aboard this ship, and found that he could spend much of his time reading and writing. It was aboard the ''Conway'' that Masef ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack The Giant Killer
"Jack the Giant Killer" is a Cornish fairy tale and legend about a young adult who slays a number of bad giants during King Arthur's reign. The tale is characterised by violence, gore and blood-letting. Giants are prominent in Cornish folklore, Breton mythology and Welsh Bardic lore. Some parallels to elements and incidents in Norse mythology have been detected in the tale, and the trappings of Jack's last adventure with the Giant Galigantus suggest parallels with French and Breton fairy tales such as Bluebeard. Jack's belt is similar to the belt in "The Valiant Little Tailor", and his magical sword, shoes, cap, and cloak are similar to those owned by Tom Thumb or those found in Welsh and Norse mythology. Jack and his tale are rarely referenced in English literature prior to the eighteenth century (there is an allusion to Jack the Giant Killer in Shakespeare's ''King Lear'', where in Act 3, one character, Edgar, in his feigned madness, cries, "Fie, foh, and fum,/ I smell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is dominated by a maritime climate with narrow temperature differences between seasons. The 60% smaller island of Ireland is to the west—these islands, along with over 1,000 smaller surrounding islands and named substantial rocks, form the British Isles archipelago. Connected to mainland Europe until 9,000 years ago by a landbridge now known as Doggerland, Great Britain has been inhabited by modern humans for around 30,000 years. In 2011, it had a population of about , making it the world's third-most-populous island after Java in Indonesia and Honshu in Japan. The term "Great Britain" is often used to refer to England, Scotland and Wales, including their component adjoining islands. Great Britain and Northern Ireland now constitute the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soria Moria Castle
Soria Moria Castle (''Soria Moria slott'') is a Norwegian fairy tale made famous by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in their classical ''Norske Folkeeventyr''. Later Andrew Lang included the story in his series of fairy tale collections in ''The Red Fairy Book''. Synopsis A poor couple had a son named Halvor who was like the Ash Lad (Norwegian: ''Askeladden''), good for nothing but to sit about groping in the ashes. One day, a skipper asked him if he would like to go to sea. He went, and a storm blew them far off course. When Halvor got off the ship, he walked and found a castle. When he reached it, a princess warned him that a troll with three heads lived there and would eat him. Halvor refused to leave. The princess fed him and asked him to try to wield a sword. He could not, and she advised him to drink from a flask; afterwards, he could wield it. He killed the troll on its return. The princess told him of her two other sisters, also held captive by troll ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jørgen Moe
Jørgen Engebretsen Moe (22 April 1813–27 March 1882) was a Norwegian folklorist, bishop, poet, and author. He is best known for the ''Norske Folkeeventyr'', a collection of Norwegian folk tales which he edited in collaboration with Peter Christen Asbjørnsen. He also served as the Bishop of the Diocese of Kristianssand from 1874 until his death in 1882. Biography Jørgen Engebretsen Moe was born at the farm of Øvre Moe in the municipality of Hole in the traditional district of Ringerike. He was the son of local farmer and politician Engebret Olsen Moe. He first met Asbjørnsen while the two were preparing for exams at Norderhov Rectory and soon found they had a shared interest in folklore. Starting in 1841, Moe traveled almost every summer through the southern parts of Norway, collecting traditions and stories from the people living in the mountainous areas. In 1845, he was appointed professor of theology in the Norwegian Military Academy. However, Moe had long in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Christen Asbjørnsen
Peter Christen Asbjørnsen (15 January 18125 January 1885) was a Norwegian writer and scholar. He and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe were collectors of Norwegian folklore. They were so closely united in their lives' work that their folk tale collections are commonly mentioned only as "Asbjørnsen and Moe". Background Peter Christen Asbjørnsen was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was descended from a family originating at Otta in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal, which is believed to have come to an end with his death. He became a student at the University of Oslo in 1833, but as early as 1832, in his twentieth year, he had begun to collect and write down fairy tales and legends. He later walked on foot the length and breadth of Norway, adding to his stories. Jørgen Moe, who was born in Ringerike, met Asbjørnsen first when he was fourteen years old, while they were both attending high school at Norderhov Rectory. The building is today the site of Ringerikes Mus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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