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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
You will love this book if you enjoy knights and dragons, fairy kings and wizards, brave ladies and loyal friends, and like to sample many tales in bright, easy language.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Romances are fairy tales for grown-ups
- Friends protect the lovers in hiding
- Friendship faces the strain of revenge
- Lies turn small wrongs into danger
- Wisdom matters as much as bravery
- Truth endures when appearances deceive
- Honor can be noble and absurd
- Trust gives magic its true value
- Different adventures share loyalty and courage
Who’s who
- William of PalermoA stolen prince raised by a cowherd, he grows into a brave knight and wants to marry the emperor's daughter.
- HallgerdaA tall, beautiful and greedy woman whose proud temper brings trouble to every husband and neighbor around her.
- GunnarThe strongest and most skilled man in Iceland, who wants peace and keeps faith with his wise friend Njal.
- UnaA princess who rides far to find a champion to free her parents from a dragon.
- The CidA Spanish knight who defends his father's honor, serves his king and wins great fame against the Moors.
- Don QuixoteA poor gentleman who reads so many chivalry books that he sets out to become a knight and right wrongs.
- Sancho PanzaA simple farmer who follows Don Quixote as squire, hoping to govern an island, and sees what is really there.
- BradamanteA woman knight who wins tournaments and journeys to free her beloved Roger from a wizard.
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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The Red Romance Book in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
The Red Romance Book
by Andrew Lang (editor); Mrs. Lang (reteller)
A wolf carries off a little prince, and a boy sobs over a book he must finish in this gathering of knightly tales.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
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“The end should be different from the beginning”
In short
Why would a boy sit sobbing over a book? Andrew Lang opens this collection with that very scene.
The Red Romance Book at a glance
- Reading time
- About 6 h 25 min5 h 5 min fast, 7 h 40 min slow
- Length
- 91,600 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Romances are fairy tales for grown-ups
Andrew Lang begins by saying what a romance is. It is a story book for grown-ups, from the days when castles, knights and tournaments filled daily life. The tales were fairy stories dressed up and drawn out. Instead of an unnamed king, they gave the adventures to named people such as Arthur and Charlemagne.
Before people could read, minstrels sang these stories in rhyme. From the singer, listeners learned that cowards and traitors come to a bad end, and that strong people must help the weak. Later the poems became prose and were copied by hand, packed with fights, love, giants and magicians.
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Details
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 7 h 25 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Lang, Leonora Blanche. The Red Romance Book. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-red-romance-book.
Lang, L. B. (2026). The red romance book. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-red-romance-book
Lang, Leonora Blanche. The Red Romance Book. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-red-romance-book.
@book{lang2026red,
author = {Lang, Leonora Blanche},
title = {The Red Romance Book},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-red-romance-book}
}
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What is The Red Romance Book about?
It is a collection of medieval romances retold for young readers. The stories feature knights, dragons, wizards, fairy kings and brave ladies, drawn from Iceland, France, Italy, Spain, England and ancient Rome.
Who wrote The Red Romance Book?
Andrew Lang edited the book and wrote the preface, while Mrs. Lang retold the tales. The stories themselves come from sagas, poems and old romances, including Spenser, Cervantes and Apuleius.
What is a romance in this book?
A romance is a long adventure story from the Middle Ages, first sung by minstrels in rhyme and later written down in prose. It is full of fighting, love, giants, magic, enchanted castles and flying horses.
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.
“The end should be different from the beginning”
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