Résumé
Résumé de Le Dragon de Wantley
Go deeper: the whole of Le Dragon de Wantley
About 2 h to read.À qui s’adresse-t-il ?
You will love this if you enjoy fairy tale mischief, a narrator who chats with the reader, quick comic scenes, a sweet romance and a plot full of schemes and surprises.
De quoi parle ce livre ?
What would you do if a dragon were drinking your wine cellar dry? Sir Godfrey Disseisin, a baron with a famous temper, must answer that question one snowy week before Christmas, in the days of King John. Owen Wister wrote The Dragon of Wantley as a merry tale with a clever heroine, a hot-headed young knight and a monster that has some very odd habits. The trouble starts in the cellar.
Dans ce résumé
- 1A baron, his wine and a thirsty dragonFree
- 2An old legend names a brave daughter
- 3The holy monks hide a very worldly secret
- 4A young knight arrives and falls in love
- 5Elaine thinks while Geoffrey fights
- 6A tale of tricks, told with a wink
Point clé 1 sur 6
A baron, his wine and a thirsty dragon
The story opens at Wantley Manor, where Sir Godfrey Disseisin rules a household of servants who each pass their scoldings down the ladder. Sir Godfrey cares more about his wine than almost anything, and he roars if the claret is too cool.
The cause is the Dragon of Wantley, which has plagued the district for thirteen years. It burns the fields, eats the sheep and now has broken into the cellar three nights running. Whelpdale must tell the baron that a hundred and twenty-eight gallons are gone, and the poor boy explains that everyone hid under the bed. Sir Godfrey storms downstairs in full armor, throwing a ham through a window on the way.
The humor comes from how seriously everyone takes the wrong thing. A monster that devours harvests is bad, but a monster that drinks the Burgundy is a crisis. That mix of grand danger and small vanity sets the tone for everything that follows.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
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Go deeper: the whole of Le Dragon de Wantley
About 2 h to read.Questions about Le Dragon de Wantley
What is The Dragon of Wantley about?
It follows a baron whose wine cellar is raided at night by a dragon. His daughter Elaine and a young knight named Geoffrey try to deal with the monster before Christmas. The tale is full of schemes, love and comic mishaps.
Is the dragon in The Dragon of Wantley real?
The book tells you early on that the dragon is part of a scheme run by the Guild of Go-as-you-Please, who hide behind monks' robes. The fun comes from watching the characters work that out.
Who wrote The Dragon of Wantley and when?
Owen Wister wrote it. It is a comic tale set in the reign of King John and was published in the early 1890s with illustrations. Its narrator playfully disputes another account of the dragon's defeat.
What is the legend of the Dragon of Wantley?
In the story, villagers say the dragon is punishment for the baron's ancestor, who refused to join a Crusade. It will leave only when a certain young woman faces it alone on Christmas Eve.
Is The Dragon of Wantley easy to read?
It has ten chapters, quick scenes, lively talk and a friendly narrator who speaks to the reader and explains the jokes. The story moves steadily from a wine cellar mystery to a Christmas Day finale.
Cite this edition
Wister, Owen. The Dragon of Wantley. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-dragon-of-wantley.
Wister, O. (2026). The dragon of Wantley. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-dragon-of-wantley (Original work published 1892)
Wister, Owen. The Dragon of Wantley. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-dragon-of-wantley.
@book{wister2026dragon,
author = {Wister, Owen},
title = {The Dragon of Wantley},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-dragon-of-wantley},
note = {First published 1892}
}