The Story of King Arthur and His Knights - Howard Pyle

The Story of King Arthur and His Knights (Pyle, 1903)

Pyle retells classic Arthurian legends while adding some tales of his own. The Story of King Arthur covers the fabled beginnings:  the sword in the stone, the getting of Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake, the wooing of Guinevere, and the establishment of the Round Table.

Again, Pyle's prose is enchanting. Using the same semi-olde style from Robin Hood, he mixes an almost liturgical descriptive style ("and the two knights came together, and the sound of their horses was like thunder, then they burst their spears upon their shields") with poetic, enchanting descriptions of scenery and landscapes. Grand pageantry and pastoral idylls mix freely with knightly combat and mystical magic.

Most of the episodes include a somewhat didactic ending, deriving the moral of the story for young readers, but these morals are typically spot-on, and they add charm to the story. There is plenty of action, intigue, and danger, and the characters are nuanced with real faults and foibles. The "noble" Arthur going incognito as a gardener's boy proves a worthless and insubordinate employee, and his "noble" knights treat him like a nobody before they realize who he is. Sir Gawaine begrudgingly agrees to wed an old woman who saved Arthur's life, and Sir Pellias lets himself be captured repeatedly by lesser knights hoping to catch a glimpse of their lady, his love. The stories are instantly engrossing and eminently entertaining.

Pyle would go on to write three other Arthur books, which I will keep on my radar. Such enjoyable reading is hard to come by.

Arbitrary rating:  4 out of 5 fabled beginnings

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood - Howard Pyle

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (Pyle, 1883)

In this classic collection, American author and illustrator Howard Pyle brings the old English folk tales and ballads of Robin Hood to life, collecting them together in a semi-unified narrative that offers blissful escape, adventure, and humor.

Perhaps the ultimate bromance, Pyle's Robin Hood is filled with brawlers who turn into buddies, merry pranks, light-hearted outlawry, and other archetypal male bonding scenarios.  Poor Maid Marian gets two mentions in passing as Robin briefly calls her to mind before moving on to some new adventure. This version is all about brotherhood, excellence in combative sport, and Robin's peculiar sense of justice. Rich, stingy fellows like the Sherrif of Nottingham and the Bishop of Hereford each have their turn footing the bill for a dinner party in Sherwood Forest, which, aside from the part where their money is removed from them, they can't help but enjoy, being in such merry company.

Though Pyle is mostly remembered today as an artist and illustrator, and indeed his black-and-white faux-medieval illustrations for Robin Hood are classics in and of themselves, his skill as a prose writer and storyteller should not be overlooked. Pyle weaves intriguing and entertaining tales with enviable ease and grace, drawing you in to the landscape and characters as naturally as a brook running through the forest.

And of course, the stories are classics:  Robin winning the Sherrif's archery tournament in disguise, Friar Tuck and Robin forcing each to give the other a piggy-back ride across a river, Little John busting the head of the Sherrif's lackey who refuses to open the kitchen for him, and diverse daring rescues of compatriots from pending execution or near incarceration. As Pyle says in his preface: "You who so plod amid serious things that you feel it shame to give yourself up even for a few short moments to mirth and joyousness in the land of Fancy; you who think that life hath nought to do with innocent laughter that can harm no one; these pages are not for you."

Arbitrary rating: 4 out of 5 brawlers turned buddies

Puck of Pook's Hill - Rudyard Kipling

Puck of Pook's Hill (Kipling, 1906)

It has been a long time since I've read Kipling, and I wasn't sure what to expect from this lesser-known children's book, but I was delighted to find a masterful collection of subtly intertwined stories mixing history, fantasy, and realistic intrigue.

The framing story involves two kids acting out Midsummer Night's Dream in their yard, which happens to be a fairy circle. Puck himself materializes and promises to tell them stories of old England, either from his own mouth or from the mouths of real people from history. They meet a noble Norman knight who came over with William the Conqueror and embraces Saxon life; a Roman centurion guarding Hadrian's Wall against the Picts and Vikings; a Renaissance architect who uncovers smugglers in his hometown; and a money-lending Jew (aren't they all? sheesh) whose wise dealing leads to the signing of the Magna Carta. Each chapter is bookended by poems relating to the story or theme.

I had forgotten how simply yet powerfully Kipling writes. Nary a wasted word in the evocative prose, while the poetry almost created its accompanying music on its own. When I was young, I read The Jungle Books, Captains Courageous, and various short stories and poems for content only - I think I need to go back and reread them to soak in the splendid writing technique. I guess Rudyard didn't win the Nobel Prize for nothing.

The only weakness (other than the anti-Semitic stereotype, though to be fair, the story displays the opposite of an anti-Semitic sentiment) is the framing story.  The kids are fairly faceless and don't do much besides listen, but we get glimmers of childish enthusiasm here and there. The stories are also geared heavily toward British children as a celebration of their history, but they are so well told, any nationality of child (or adult) could enjoy them.

Arbitrary rating: 4 out of 5 enchanted fairy circles