Howard Pyle, a chronicle by Charles D. Abbott, with an introduction by N. C. Wyeth and many illustrations from Howard Pyle's works.

CHAPTER VI

THE MIDDLE AGES
"THERE is an appreciable link between Howard Pyle's
Stories of fairyland and his work in the period of
the Middle Ages, by which term is not meant necessarily the definite historical era which goes by that name,
but a somewhat imaginary time when knights and ladies
experienced unusual adventures, when chivalry was an undeniable fact of society, when kings and princes found occasion
to hobnob with less high-born individuals. The general
spirit is very similar to that which finds its expression in
The Wonder Clock; there is the same good humor, the
same briskness and buoyancy, and the same keen interest
in fanciful plots. But to these characteristics are added
others: real historical personages figure actively, and the
stories are based, at least partly, on materials which have
been handed down from the Middle Ages themselves, on
the great tradition of medievalism. Perhaps the nearest approach to similarity, however, lies in the pictures which
accompany each venture into the field. In them appear the
same resplendent ladies, and knights in gorgeous armor,
looking as if each has been transported from some fairy
isle. Since the first of these books is the Robin Hood, and
since in the preface Howard Pyle himself expresses the spirit
of the book, it is quoted in full:
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