Fairy Tales and stories for childrens. Book 13

Fairy Tales and stories for childrens. Book 13:  1. The Little Duke, or Richard the Fearless; 2. Le Morte d’Arthur.


1. The Little Duke, or Richard the Fearless 

1854

The Little Duke, the first of C.M. Yonge's historical tales for children, appeared as a serial in her magazine The Monthly Packet in 1851. In 1854 a longer version on good paper, attractively illustrated and priced five shillings was brought out by Parker and Sons who had published Yonge's first best-seller, The Heir of Redclyffe, the previous year.

The main character is Richard Duke of Normandy, the great grandfather of William the Conqueror. At the beginning of the tale he is a boy of eight, who succeeds to the dukedom when his father is murdered in 943 A.D. His overlord King Louis carries the boy off to the French court. There his life seems to be in danger, and he is rescued by his faithful squire and returns to Normandy. There the serial ends, but the book continues with an account of the subsequent struggle between the Normans and French. It concludes with a summary of Richard's life, stressing his magnanimity.


2. Le Morte d’Arthur

Publication: 1485

Le Morte d'Arthur (originally spelled Le Morte Darthur, Middle French for “the death of Arthur”) is a reworking of traditional tales by Sir Thomas Malory about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, and the Knights of the Round Table. Malory interprets existing French and English stories about these figures and adds original material (e.g., the Gareth story).

Le Morte d'Arthur was first published in 1485 by William Caxton, and is today perhaps the best-known work of Arthurian literature in English. Many modern Arthurian writers have used Malory as their principal source, including T. H. White in his popular The Once and Future King and Tennyson in The Idylls of the King.