The Bard's Gift

The Bard's Gift
Author: Meredith Mansfield
Publisher: Meredith Mansfield
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2020-08-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

The Reluctant Story-Teller: Sixteen-year-old Astrid keeps mostly to herself, finding companionship in the stories her grandmother used to tell. She's too shy even to talk in front of Torolf, the young man she secretly dreams of. Then the Norse god of eloquence appears in Astrid's dreams and forces her to drink the Mead of Poetry. Suddenly, she's compelled to tell her stories. In public. Even in front of Torolf. Astrid is meant to use these stories to guide her people from starvation in Greenland to a better future in Markland. A place legends claim is the abode of dragons. But not all of her fierce and independent people are willing to follow a mere girl, even the chieftain's daughter--especially when she counsels peace. Some have other plans for the new land and want to use Astrid and her gift as a tool. The Inventive Young Man Who Loves Her: Torolf never dreamed that quiet Astrid could choose him. Now he's stranded in Iceland as she sails in the opposite direction. To attain the promise of a future with Astrid, he'll have to attempt the impossible--sailing alone across the North Atlantic. Together, they might defy the plans the gods have made for them and change the fate of more than just their own people. Norse gods, Thunderbird, Norse Sagas, Norse mythology, Iceland, Greenland colon, Vinland, Markland, Noblebright

The Lore of the Bard

The Lore of the Bard
Author: Arthur Rowan
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide
Total Pages: 388
Release: 2003
Genre: Bards and bardism
ISBN: 9780738702858

The only book available on the complete practice of the Celtic bard, this title is designed for anyone drawn to the enchantment of Celtic music, myth, and poetry.

The Naming

The Naming
Author: Alison Croggon
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Total Pages: 515
Release: 2010-12-07
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0763652512

"An epic fantasy in the Tolkien tradition, with a strong girl hero. . . . I couldn’t put it down!" – Tamora Pierce Maerad is a slave in a desperate and unforgiving settlement, taken there as a child when her family is destroyed in war. She doesn’t yet know she has inherited a powerful gift, one that marks her as a member of the noble School of Pellinor and enables her to see the world as no other can. It is only when she is discovered by Cadvan, one of the great Bards of Lirigon, that her true identity and extraordinary destiny unfold. Now, she and her mysterious teacher must embark on a treacherous, uncertain journey through a time and place where the forces of darkness wield an otherworldly terror. The first book in a projected quartet, Alison Croggon’s epic about Maerad and her remarkable yet dangerous gift is a beautiful, unforgettable tale. Presented as a new translation of an ancient text, The Naming evokes the rich and complex landscape of Annar, a legendary world just waiting to be discovered.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard - Illustrated Edition

The Tales of Beedle the Bard - Illustrated Edition
Author: J. K. Rowling
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022-03-31
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9781526637895

An essential companion to the Harry Potter books, The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a collection of fairytales from the wizarding world, via the enchanted pen of J.K. Rowling. Rich with allusions and symbols from the Harry Potter stories, and enhanced with fascinating commentary from beloved sage Professor Albus Dumbledore, this is a Hogwarts Library book to treasure and enjoy for years to come. All of the gorgeous, grim and gothic detail of the Bard's five bewitching tales has been brought to life by Chris Riddell, thrice winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal. Much loved by generations of witches and wizards, and translated from the original runes by Hermione Granger, this beautiful edition is the perfect gift for Harry Potter fans. Mischievous and witty, Beedle the Bard's stories are a deeply satisfying read in the tradition of all great fables and fairytales. Kindnesses are rewarded and selfishness shown to be the ruin of many a wizard. Burping cauldrons, hairy hearts and cackling stumps are met along the way. Each tale is brought vividly to life with Riddell's trademark wry humour and elegance, including 'The Tale of the Three Brothers', familiar to readers of Harry Potter from the crucial role it plays in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Now available in a paperback format featuring a brand new cover by Chris Riddell, this edition contains all of the mesmerising illustrations from the original hardback plus an exclusive additional art print of Harry, Ron and Hermione for readers to take out and keep. Prepare to be spellbound! The Tales of Beedle the Bard is published in aid of Lumos, an international children's charity founded in 2005 by J.K. Rowling.

The Bard

The Bard
Author: Robert Crawford
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 480
Release: 2021-06-08
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1400832845

No writer is more charismatic than Robert Burns. Wonderfully readable, The Bard catches Burns's energy, brilliance, and radicalism as never before. To his international admirers he was a genius, a hero, a warm-hearted friend; yet to the mother of one of his lovers he was a wastrel, to a fellow poet he was "sprung . . . from raking of dung," and to his political enemies a "traitor." Drawing on a surprising number of untapped sources--from rediscovered poetry by Burns to manuscript journals, correspondence, and oratory by his contemporaries--this new biography presents the remarkable life, loves, and struggles of the great poet. Inspired by the American and French Revolutions and molded by the Scottish Enlightenment, Burns was in several senses the first of the major Romantics. With a poet's insight and a shrewd sense of human drama, Robert Crawford outlines how Burns combined a childhood steeped in the peasant song-culture of rural Scotland with a consummate linguistic artistry to become not only the world's most popular love poet but also the controversial master poet of modern democracy. Written with accessible elan and nuanced attention to Burns's poems and letters, The Bard is the story of an extraordinary man fighting to maintain a sly sense of integrity in the face of overwhelming pressures. This incisive biography startlingly demonstrates why the life and work of Scotland's greatest poet still compel the attention of the world a quarter of a millennium after his birth.

In Gratitude for All the Gifts

In Gratitude for All the Gifts
Author: Magdalena Kay
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2012-01-01
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1442644982

In Gratitude for All the Gifts explores the literary and cultural links between the bestselling, Nobel Prize-winning Northern Irish poet Seamus Heaney and the preeminent Eastern European poets of the twentieth century, including fellow Nobel laureate Czeslaw Milosz and Zbigniew Herbert. Magdalena Kay opens new ground in comparative literary studies with her close analysis of Heaney's poetic work from the perspective of the English-speaking West's attraction, and especially Heane''s own attraction, to Eastern European poetry. While placing Milosz and Herbert in their cultural contexts and keeping an eye on the poems in their original Polish, this innovative and energetic study focuses on how Heaney encountered their work in translation. In Gratitude for All the Gifts thus allows us to see what happens when poetic forms, histories, and themes travel between countries and encourages us to understand cultural crossing not just thematically, but also in terms of form, voice, and aesthetic intent.

Magic's Price

Magic's Price
Author: Mercedes Lackey
Publisher: Astra Publishing House
Total Pages: 354
Release: 1990-07-03
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1101127457

Groundbreaking epic fantasy series in Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar universe • Lambda-Award winning novels with heartfelt high adventure and magic Valdemar—the once-peaceful kingdom protected by the magic of its Herald-Mages—is now besieged on all fronts. The king lies near death, the neighboring land of Karse wages a relentless war against Valdemar, and the forces led by a master of dark forbidden magic are massing to strike the final devastating blow against the kingdom. And Vanyel, the most powerful Herald-Mage Valdemar has even known, has become the primary target of the evil which is reaching out to poison all the land. With all his fellow mages slain, Vanyel alone remains to defend his people against the dark master’s army. Yet a dream vision has revealed to Vayel the fate which awaits should he and his Companion Yfandes take up the dark master’s challenge. And if either Vanyel or Yfandes falters, the dream will become a horrifying reality in which both Valdemar and its last Herald-Mage must pay the ultimate price.

The Gift of Dark Hollow

The Gift of Dark Hollow
Author: Kieran Larwood
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 275
Release: 2018-08-07
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1328518914

The Longburrow series is Middle-earth for middle graders as readers are drawn deeper and deeper into the story of the young rabbit Podkin One-Ear fighting to save his land from evil. Hiding with fellow refugees, Podkin, Paz, and Pook are temporarily safe in Dark Hollow Warren. But their enemies—the evil Gorm—still search for them. The rabbits’ only hope may be to locate twelve magical Gifts and use them to defeat the Gorm. The fate of all rabbitkind is at stake, and danger lurks at every turn. It will take all the siblings’ courage and ingenuity to find the Gifts, battle the Gorm, and stay alive. Action and intrigue infuse the second installment of a series that shows that anyone—even little rabbits—can do great things.