Sign-In
Cart
The Swan Knight: A Medieval Legend, Retold from Wagner's Lohengrin
Paperback
Series: Skyhook World Classics, Book 5
ISBN13: 9781620355459
Publisher: Skyhook Press
Published: Mar 29 2017
Pages: 46
Weight: 0.18
Height: 0.11 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
The lights dim, and a weighty silence falls upon the audience. From all over Europe and America, these fifteen hundred men and women have come to spend many days in this small German town and many hours in this theater. Some are merely curious. Some are there because it's the fashion. But many have come out of devotion to the musical dramas of a composer they revere, almost worship -- a composer who himself designed and built the theater they sit in. To them, this theater is a temple, and their journey a pilgrimage.
For a full minute or more, they wait solemnly in the dark, barely daring to move, their attention resting on the curtained stage below. Then the first musical notes float up and surround them -- high, soft, sustained notes of strings and woodwinds -- from an orchestra entirely hidden from view.
The composer's devotees know what vision this shimmering music is meant to impart: the descent from Heaven of the Holy Grail, the drinking cup of Christ at the Last Supper. In their minds, they watch it draw nearer to earth, as the music grows louder and deeper and louder still, at last bursting out in horns, tympani, and cymbals. Then the Grail ascends once more, the music gradually softening until strings and woodwinds lead out as gently as they led in.
And now the curtains part, and the audience knows it will soon meet the knight who serves that Grail. . . .
For ages 10 and up. Not illustrated!
/////////////////////////////////////////////////
Aaron Shepard is the award-winning author of The Baker's Dozen, The Sea King's Daughter, Lady White Snake, and many more children's books. His stories have appeared often in Cricket magazine, while his Web site is known internationally as a prime resource for folktales, storytelling, and reader's theater. Once a professional storyteller, Aaron specializes in lively retellings of folktales and other traditional literature, which have won him honors from the American Library Association, the New York Public Library, the Bank Street College of Education, the National Council for the Social Studies, and the American Folklore Society.
Cover artist Wendy Edelson has applied her award-winning skills to a wide range of illustration projects, with clients including Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo, the Seattle Aquarium, the Pacific Northwest Ballet, the U.S. Postal Service, and the American Library Association.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////
SAMPLE
Frederick, said the king, are you certain you wish to accuse this girl?
Her dreaminess can't fool me, said Frederick. I have a witness to her crime. But my word alone should be enough, and I'm ready to defend it with my sword.
Then God alone must decide, said the king, in trial by combat. To the just he will give the victory. Elsa, who will fight for you?
The knight from my dream, said Elsa. As his reward, he shall take all my father's lands -- and myself as wife, if he'll have me.
At the king's command, the herald called, Let him who will fight for Elsa of Brabant come forth! But no one stepped forward.
Elsa told the king, He must yet be far away and not have heard. Please call again.
The king assented, and the herald called again. Let him who will fight for Elsa of Brabant come forth! But still there was no response.
Elsa knelt in prayer. Lord, tell my knight I need him now! Show him to me, just as he appeared before.
Then shouts went up from men by the river's edge.
Look!
A swan!
It's pulling a knight in a boat!
Also in
General Juvenile Fiction
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book Two the Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book Two)
Riordan, Rick
Paperback
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book One the Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book One)
Riordan, Rick
Paperback
Anne of Green Gables, 3-Book Box Set, Volume I: Anne of Avonlea; Anne of the Island; Anne of Green Gables
Montgomery, L. M.
Paperback
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Sea of Monsters, The: The Graphic Novel
Riordan, Rick
Venditti, Robert
Paperback
Mary Anne Saves the Day: A Graphic Novel (the Baby-Sitters Club #3): Full-Color Edition
Martin, Ann M.
Paperback
Dog Man: Big Jim Believes: A Graphic Novel (Dog Man #14): From the Creator of Captain Underpants: Volume 14
Pilkey, Dav
Hardcover
Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories 2: From the Creator of Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Kinney, Jeff
Hardcover
Investigators: Agents of S.U.I.T.: Sew Much Trouble
Hastings, Christopher
Green, John Patrick
Hardcover
Wings of Fire: The Dragonet Prophecy: A Graphic Novel (Wings of Fire Graphic Novel #1): Volume 1
Sutherland, Tui T.
Paperback
Dog Man: Big Jim Begins: A Graphic Novel (Dog Man #13): From the Creator of Captain Underpants: Volume 13
Pilkey, Dav
Hardcover
Cat Kid Comic Club: Collaborations: A Graphic Novel (Cat Kid Comic Club #4): From the Creator of Dog Man: Volume 4
Pilkey, Dav
Hardcover