Puck of Pook's Hill

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First American edition, 1906
First American edition, 1906

Puck of Pook's Hill is a children's book by Rudyard Kipling,[1] published in 1906, containing a series of short stories set in different periods of history. The stories are all told to two children living near Pevensey by people magically plucked out of history by Puck.

  • 'Weland's Sword' is a story of Pevensey in the 11th century just before the Norman Conquest, told by Puck himself.
  • 'Young Men at the Manor' continues the previous story just after the Norman Conquest. It's told by Sir Richard Dalyngridge, a Norman knight who took part in the Conquest and was awarded a Saxon manor.
  • 'The Knights of the Joyous Venture' tells of a daring voyage to Africa made by Danes after capturing Sir Richard and his Saxon friend Hugh at sea.
  • 'Old Men at Pevensey' continues the previous stories with a tale of intrigue set in Pevensey at the beginning of the reign of Henry I, 1100 AD.
  • 'A Centurion of the Thirtieth' introduces a new story-teller, a Roman soldier named Parnesius, born and stationed in Britain in the 4th century. He tells how his military career started well because the general Magnus Maximus knew his father.
  • 'On the Great Wall' tells of the defence of Hadrian's Wall against the native Picts and Scandinavian raiders.
  • 'The Winged Hats' returns to Hadrian's Wall and the fate of Magnus Maximus.
  • 'Hal o' the Draft' is a tale of deception involving the explorer Sebastian Cabot and the privateer Andrew Barton, probably set near the end of the 15th century and told by Sir Harry 'Hal' Dawe.
  • 'Dymchurch Flit' is a fairy tale told by Puck (in disguise) and set around the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries (about 1540 AD).
  • 'The Treasure and the Law' is a story told by a Jewish moneylender named Kadmiel, of money and intrigue leading up to the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215. Here we learn the eventual fate of most of the African gold brought back to Pevensey by Sir Richard Dalyngridge.

Puck of Pook's Hill was followed four years later by a sequel, Rewards and Fairies.

The full, un-copyrighted text is available through Project Gutenberg.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Rudyard Kipling frame
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