11 h 29 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What is a knight’s promise worth when keeping it puts his safety at risk?
The Red Romance Book brings together medieval tales of knights, kings, giants and quests from the old romances of Europe. Honor, loyalty and courage drive these adventures. A knight must keep his word, even when comfort or safety is the cost. Magic and wonders belong to a world where a promise carries real weight.
Andrew Lang gathers the tales, and Mrs. Lang retells them in plain, lively prose for young readers. These are stories rooted in the castles and market squares of Europe, where people sing and tell adventures long before novels. Here, romance means more than love: it opens a door to quests, loyal companions and dark castles.
What you’ll discover
- Knights who keep their word Follow adventures where loyalty asks more of a knight than comfort and safety allow.
- Giants, kings and wonders Enter tales where medieval adventure makes room for magic, giants and the demands of honor.
- Romance beyond love stories Discover an older meaning of romance through tales of knights, wonders and daring quests.
- Old tales, lively telling Enjoy Mrs. Lang’s plain prose, which brings these old European stories within easy reach.
- The roots of familiar adventures Meet the lone heroes, loyal companions and dark castles that still shape stories today.
Who will love it
Readers who love chivalry, enchanted castles, dragons and feuding families will find plenty to enjoy here. These adventures bring Don Quixote, Roland's circle and the Cid into one lively world of courage and magic.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A wolf carries William away from Palermo
- Two lovers escape the palace in bearskins
- Hallgerda brings trouble to every husband
- Gunnar and Njal face a feud that cannot be paid off
- A thread, a lion and a knight who forgets
- Brothers in arms and a boy who wants honor
- Don Quixote rides out to right the world
- Huon and Havelok prove themselves through trials
- Love, magic and wizards in the last tales
Who’s who
- William of PalermoA prince carried off by a wolf and raised by a cowherd, who wins the love of an emperor's daughter and escapes with her in a bearskin.
- HallgerdaA beautiful, greedy and quick-tempered woman whose marriages and quarrels stir up deadly feuds among Icelandic families.
- GunnarA strong and honorable man in Iceland, who seeks peace but is drawn into feuds by his wife.
- NjalA wise old farmer who sees the future, tries to keep peace with fines and cannot save his sons from hatred.
- UnaA princess who leaves her palace to find a champion to free her parents from a dragon, and finds a lion companion.
- Don QuixoteA gentleman of La Mancha who believes himself a knight and charges windmills and sheep, joined by his squire Sancho Panza.
- Huon of BordeauxA young knight sent to Babylon who meets Oberon, king of the fairies, and learns that boasting and lies cost him dearly.
- BradamanteA tall, warlike maiden who wears armor, wins tournaments and searches for her beloved Roger when he disappears.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 11 h 29 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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The Red Romance Book
by Andrew Lang (editor); Mrs. Lang (reteller)
A wolf carries off a little prince in Palermo, and a world of knights, fairies and giants begins.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
A huge gray wolf bounds out of a royal park in Palermo with a little prince on his back. So begins The Red Romance Book, a gathering of old tales of knights, fairies, giants and wizards, edited by Andrew Lang and retold by Mrs. Lang.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A wolf carries William away from Palermo
The first tale follows William, the young son of the king and queen of Palermo. His wicked uncle, who would gain the throne, has bribed the boy's two guardians to plot against him. Then a huge gray wolf seizes the child in the royal park and swims with him across the Strait of Messina.
In a forest near Rome the wolf tends William like a parent, feeding him fruit and telling him stories. One day a cowherd's dog finds the boy alone in his pit. An old couple take him in, and later the emperor of Rome meets him while hunting and brings him to court, where he grows up beside the emperor's daughter Melior.
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What is The Red Romance Book about?
It is a collection of retold medieval romances and sagas, with knights, fairies, giants and wizards. It includes William of Palermo, the Icelandic stories of Gunnar and Njal, the Cid, Don Quixote, Huon of Bordeaux and Bradamante.
Who wrote The Red Romance Book?
Andrew Lang edited the volume and wrote the preface. Mrs. Lang retold the stories, which come from older romances, sagas and poems in several languages.
What are romances in this book?
In the preface, Andrew Lang calls them fairy tales for grown-ups from the age of castles and tournaments. They were once sung by minstrels and later written down in long prose stories about fighting, love, giants and enchanted castles.
The author
Andrew Lang
1844–1912 · Scottish poet and folklorist
Andrew Lang was a Scottish writer born in Selkirk in 1844. He lived in London and died in Banchory in 1912. He wrote poetry, novels, literary criticism, and works on folklore. He edited The Blue Fairy Book, published in 1889, and other fairy-book collections, including The Violet Fairy Book in 1901.
More by Andrew Lang (editor); Mrs. Lang (reteller)
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