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The Tale of the Cid: and Other Stories of Knights and Chivalry
Enter an enchanted world of kings and castles, heroes and damsels, fairies and dragons, magicians and giants. This collection thrills with nineteen classic romances—old-fashioned stories of high adventure spun from folk tales and sprinkled with history. These are the timeless tales of brave and steadfast knights, beautiful women, and the trials they share. Accompanied by twenty-three illustrations from renowned illustrator H. J. Ford, the stories "Una and the Lion," "How the Red Cross Knight Slew the Dragon," "How Don Quixote Was Enchanted," "How Bradamante Conquered the Wizard," "The Knight of the Sun," "Amys and Amyle," and thirteen more legends, including the unforgettable "The Tale of the Cid."
Gathered by Andrew Lang, the master collector of folk and fairy tales, these stories have been selected from cultures around the world. Captivating children and adults alike for centuries, the accounts of chivalry and daring in this edition are ready to inspire a new generation.
Gathered by Andrew Lang, the master collector of folk and fairy tales, these stories have been selected from cultures around the world. Captivating children and adults alike for centuries, the accounts of chivalry and daring in this edition are ready to inspire a new generation.
- GenresFiction
208 pages, Paperback
First published July 30, 2007
2 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Lang
2,790 books562 followersTales of the Scottish writer and anthropologist Andrew Lang include
The Blue Fairy Book
(1889).
Andrew Gabriel Lang, a prolific Scotsman of letters, contributed poetry, novels, literary criticism, and collected now best folklore.
The Young Scholar and Journalist
Andrew Gabriel Lang, the son of the town clerk and the eldest of eight children, lived in Selkirk in the Scottish borderlands. The wild and beautiful landscape of childhood greatly affected the youth and inspired a lifelong love of the outdoors and a fascination with local folklore and history. Charles Edward Stuart and Robert I the Bruce surrounded him in the borders, a rich area in history. He later achieved his literary Short History of Scotland .
A gifted student and avid reader, Lang went to the prestigious Saint Andrews University, which now holds a lecture series in his honor every few years, and then to Balliol College, Oxford. He later published Oxford: Brief Historical and Descriptive Notes about the city in 1880.
Moving to London at the age of 31 years in 1875 as an already published poet, he started working as a journalist. His dry sense of humor, style, and huge array of interests made him a popular editor and columnist quickly for The Daily Post, Time magazine and Fortnightly Review. Whilst working in London, he met and married Leonora Blanche Alleyne Lang, his wife.
Interest in myths and folklore continued as he and Leonora traveled through France and Italy to hear local legends, from which came the most famous The Rainbow Fairy Books . In the late 19th century, interest in the native stories declined and very few persons recounting them for young readers. In fact, some educationalists attacked harmful magical stories in general to children. To challenge this notion, Lang first began collecting stories for the first of his colored volumes.
Lang gathered already recorded stories, while other folklorists collected stories directly from source. He used his time to collect a much greater breadth over the world from Jacob Grimm, his brother, Madame d'Aulnoy, and other less well sources.
Lang also worked as the editor, often credited as its sole creator for his work despite the essential support of his wife, who transcribed and organised the translation of the text, to the success.
He published to wide acclaim. The beautiful illustrations and magic captivated the minds of children and adults alike. The success first allowed Lang and Leonora to carry on their research and in 1890 to publish a much larger print run of The Red Fairy Book , which drew on even more sources. Between 1889 and 1910, they published twelve collections, which, each with a different colored binding, collected, edited and translated a total of 437 stories. Lang, credited with reviving interest in folklore, more importantly revolutionized the Victorian view and inspired generations of parents to begin reading them to children once more.
Last Works
Lang produced and at the same time continued a wide assortment of novels, literary criticism, articles, and poetry. As Anita Silvey, literary critic, however, noted, "The irony of Lang's life and work is that although he wrote for a profession... he is best recognized for the works he did not write," the folk stories that he collected.
He finished not the last Highways and Byways of the Border but died.
Andrew Gabriel Lang, a prolific Scotsman of letters, contributed poetry, novels, literary criticism, and collected now best folklore.
The Young Scholar and Journalist
Andrew Gabriel Lang, the son of the town clerk and the eldest of eight children, lived in Selkirk in the Scottish borderlands. The wild and beautiful landscape of childhood greatly affected the youth and inspired a lifelong love of the outdoors and a fascination with local folklore and history. Charles Edward Stuart and Robert I the Bruce surrounded him in the borders, a rich area in history. He later achieved his literary Short History of Scotland .
A gifted student and avid reader, Lang went to the prestigious Saint Andrews University, which now holds a lecture series in his honor every few years, and then to Balliol College, Oxford. He later published Oxford: Brief Historical and Descriptive Notes about the city in 1880.
Moving to London at the age of 31 years in 1875 as an already published poet, he started working as a journalist. His dry sense of humor, style, and huge array of interests made him a popular editor and columnist quickly for The Daily Post, Time magazine and Fortnightly Review. Whilst working in London, he met and married Leonora Blanche Alleyne Lang, his wife.
Interest in myths and folklore continued as he and Leonora traveled through France and Italy to hear local legends, from which came the most famous The Rainbow Fairy Books . In the late 19th century, interest in the native stories declined and very few persons recounting them for young readers. In fact, some educationalists attacked harmful magical stories in general to children. To challenge this notion, Lang first began collecting stories for the first of his colored volumes.
Lang gathered already recorded stories, while other folklorists collected stories directly from source. He used his time to collect a much greater breadth over the world from Jacob Grimm, his brother, Madame d'Aulnoy, and other less well sources.
Lang also worked as the editor, often credited as its sole creator for his work despite the essential support of his wife, who transcribed and organised the translation of the text, to the success.
He published to wide acclaim. The beautiful illustrations and magic captivated the minds of children and adults alike. The success first allowed Lang and Leonora to carry on their research and in 1890 to publish a much larger print run of The Red Fairy Book , which drew on even more sources. Between 1889 and 1910, they published twelve collections, which, each with a different colored binding, collected, edited and translated a total of 437 stories. Lang, credited with reviving interest in folklore, more importantly revolutionized the Victorian view and inspired generations of parents to begin reading them to children once more.
Last Works
Lang produced and at the same time continued a wide assortment of novels, literary criticism, articles, and poetry. As Anita Silvey, literary critic, however, noted, "The irony of Lang's life and work is that although he wrote for a profession... he is best recognized for the works he did not write," the folk stories that he collected.
He finished not the last Highways and Byways of the Border but died.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 15, 2022
I found this slim little book some time ago in the Classics section of a local independent book store. Yes, such stores still exist though they are rare and hard to find so I tend to go out of my way to support these struggling enterprises whenever I can. This purchase was a little bit of charity on top of what else I bought that day. It is a collection of stories lifted from other books some dating back over a century. The entries are legends, myths, and tales of knighthood and chivalry which struck a nostalgic cord in my heart. What also caught my attention were the numerous illustrations that appear to be reproductions of etchings or pen and ink drawings of the type we may have seen in very old storybooks with tales of this nature. They were all quite good and took me back to my boyhood. Is is possible that my generation was the last to be enthralled with the concept of knighthood and its adventures? Alas, today I believe unless a knight is carrying a lightsaber such a character will find little attention with kids today. That's unfortunate as these stories were probably aimed at young adult readers.
The opening story does give the reader a brief biography of Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar known to history as El Cid. Yes, I saw the movie when I was a kid and Charleton Heston was probably 2 feet taller than the real El Cid. How much of the story is accurate and how much is legend is anybody's guess but it was worth reading. A good portion of the book gives us stories of the adventures of Don Quixote which is, of course, all fiction. The rest of the entries are purely mythical and enjoyable. However, the language used is quite antiquated which may be a problem for young readers. There are a lot of "hithers and yon" and "beseems and bespoke" but other than that the book may be of interest to some of you. Enjoy.
The opening story does give the reader a brief biography of Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar known to history as El Cid. Yes, I saw the movie when I was a kid and Charleton Heston was probably 2 feet taller than the real El Cid. How much of the story is accurate and how much is legend is anybody's guess but it was worth reading. A good portion of the book gives us stories of the adventures of Don Quixote which is, of course, all fiction. The rest of the entries are purely mythical and enjoyable. However, the language used is quite antiquated which may be a problem for young readers. There are a lot of "hithers and yon" and "beseems and bespoke" but other than that the book may be of interest to some of you. Enjoy.
July 13, 2024
From the inside cover, I at last determined this book to be targeted to "young adults." Oh well. I enjoyed it! I never read Don Quixote, so the stories included here were wonderful. No spoilers but I was pleasantly surprised to find Certain Favorite characters of mine included, in works I had never known existed.
Great variety, fun historical survey of stories, just enough fantasy for the "bad side" not to be disturbing. And the artwork is perfect!
Great variety, fun historical survey of stories, just enough fantasy for the "bad side" not to be disturbing. And the artwork is perfect!
September 18, 2021
I stopped reading this because it was for my students and the illustrations were not appropriate for school. Based on that, I rate it two stars. Not a far judgement, but it fits my purposes.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews