Public-domain ebook
by Greene, Frances Nimmo; Kirk, Dolly Williams
Language: en6,122 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Historical Novels·Children & Young Adult Reading·Mythology, Legends & Folklore
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #25651.
With Spurs of Gold is a juvenile historical adventure that strings together a series of short narratives about famous knights and their deeds. The authors explain that they have drawn on chronicles, legends, and reputable histories, even noting where they have leaned on Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered for minor details. The book opens with a scholarly preface that outlines the balance between fact and imagination, followed by a contents list that promises episodes ranging from Roland and the Cid to Charlemagne, the Crusades, and Sir Philip Sidney. The introductory sections then launch into a sweeping overview of the Moorish conquest of Spain, the rise of Charlemagne, and the origins of the Crusades, setting the stage for the individual stories that follow. Each tale is prefaced by a poetic “rule for the gallant knight,” reinforcing the work’s focus on chivalric conduct and moral instruction.
The prose reflects a late‑19th‑century educational style, blending earnest narration with occasional archaic diction and verse. It reads like a classroom text that also aims to entertain, offering vivid, first‑person speeches and dramatized dialogues while remaining anchored in the historical record. Young readers who enjoy learning about medieval heroes, the romance of crusading knights, and moral lessons presented in a formal, almost didactic tone will find this collection appealing. It suits those who appreciate a blend of history and legend told in a measured, period‑appropriate voice.
The opening · free to read
In the preparation of the book many histories, chronicles, and legends have been consulted, and it is hoped that a fair degree of accuracy has been attained where the narrative belongs to the domain of history. The stories of Roland and the Cid, of course, are largely legendary, and there is evidently a considerable admixture of fiction in the contemporary accounts of Godfrey and Richard. The authors have endeavored to follow recognized historical authority closely when practicable; but historians differ so widely among themselves that it is often impossible to determine which version of events is most reliable. No important fact has been stated without good historical authority, but one or two minor incidents of Godfrey's life and crusade were taken from Tasso's "Jerusalem Delivered." In the treatment of a few unimportant events, some imaginative details and circumstances strictly in harmony with the meagre historical record of facts have been added to give color and interest to the narrative. Also in several instances where the subject-matter of a conversation or speech is purely legendary, or is given by historians in the third person, it has been put in the first person in order to render the story livelier and more vivid. No other liberties have been taken with facts as related by historians of learning and repute.
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