Book Review: Huon of the Horn

This book claims on the cover, in extremely large print, to be by Andre Norton. This claim is somewhat misleading. AN certainly had a hand in, but is hardly the author. This book is a modernization of a 1534 english translation of the 13th century French chanson de geste, Huon de Bordeaux (which is itself set in the 9th century). I would have preferred to read the 1534 version, actually, but this one had the virtue of actually being on my bookshelf, which wins many points. Judging by my knowledge of similar sources, the "modernization" is actually quite light, mostly in spelling. The sentence structure and grammar feel authentically period to me.

The story itself is about one of Charlemagne's knights, Huon of Bordeaux. Well, only technically one of Charlemagne's knights. This is one of the sub-genre of "knight pisses off Charlemagne and is exiled; adventures ensue". Charlemagne himself dies halfway through the story, but Huon remains on bad terms with his heir.

This book is also one of the earliest examples of what will later become known as High Fantasy. Huon's adventures include a large number of Way Cool fantastic elements: giants, a griffon, a magnetic castle, fallen angels, huge serpents, a side trip very near Hell, magic items of various sorts. The most notable of these, however, is doubtless the strong supporting role of Oberon, king of Elfland. A little googling shows that this was actually Oberon's first appearance! As with many "first appearances", it is also, chronologically, his last. At the end of the story, he goes to heaven, leaving Elfland to be ruled jointly by Huon and King Arthur. So all the modern fiction that has Oberon as ruler of Faeire after ~900 AD is one big continuity error :-) [Shakespeare is not indicted on this count: Midsummer's is set in classical times, well before Huon.]

There are some elements which may not appeal to the modern reader. Like all of the chansons de geste, it present Christianity as factual. The "shotgun-on-the-wall" rule of Chekov has clearly not been invented yet; Huon receives a number of magical items whose full powers he never exploits. But, those points aside, this is a really good adventure story. Highly recommended.

[In the category of "I wish I had a time machine", I see in the entry about Huon at encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com that "...in Philip Henslowe's diary there is a note of a performance of a play, Hewen of Burdocize, on December 28, 1593."]

Book Review: Huon of the Horn

This book claims on the cover, in extremely large print, to be by Andre Norton. This claim is somewhat misleading. AN certainly had a hand in, but is hardly the author. This book is a modernization of a 1534 english translation of the 13th century French chanson de geste, Huon de Bordeaux (which is itself set in the 9th century). I would have preferred to read the 1534 version, actually, but this one had the virtue of actually being on my bookshelf, which wins many points. Judging by my knowledge of similar sources, the "modernization" is actually quite light, mostly in spelling. The sentence structure and grammar feel authentically period to me.

The story itself is about one of Charlemagne's knights, Huon of Bordeaux. Well, only technically one of Charlemagne's knights. This is one of the sub-genre of "knight pisses off Charlemagne and is exiled; adventures ensue". Charlemagne himself dies halfway through the story, but Huon remains on bad terms with his heir.

This book is also one of the earliest examples of what will later become known as High Fantasy. Huon's adventures include a large number of Way Cool fantastic elements: giants, a griffon, a magnetic castle, fallen angels, huge serpents, a side trip very near Hell, magic items of various sorts. The most notable of these, however, is doubtless the strong supporting role of Oberon, king of Elfland. A little googling shows that this was actually Oberon's first appearance! As with many "first appearances", it is also, chronologically, his last. At the end of the story, he goes to heaven, leaving Elfland to be ruled jointly by Huon and King Arthur. So all the modern fiction that has Oberon as ruler of Faeire after ~900 AD is one big continuity error :-) [Shakespeare is not indicted on this count: Midsummer's is set in classical times, well before Huon.]

There are some elements which may not appeal to the modern reader. Like all of the chansons de geste, it present Christianity as factual. The "shotgun-on-the-wall" rule of Chekov has clearly not been invented yet; Huon receives a number of magical items whose full powers he never exploits. But, those points aside, this is a really good adventure story. Highly recommended.

[In the category of "I wish I had a time machine", I see in the entry about Huon at encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com that "...in Philip Henslowe's diary there is a note of a performance of a play, Hewen of Burdocize, on December 28, 1593."]