The Magic Ringhttp://amzn.com/0977784126# ISBN-10: 0977784126
# ISBN-13: 978-0977784127
Probably the most influential chivalric fiction you've never heard of. There's a good discussion of it in the Chivalry-Today podcast #43.
Written in the early 19th century, this book combines fantasy, historical fiction, chivalry, and epic adventure. It was originally written in German, with the last English translation sold over a century ago, before the new publisher stepped up to a restore an older, better English translation and make it available today.
Apparently the story helped pave the way for a whole genre we take for granted today, of medieval and/or gothic fantasy.
After listening to the description, I think I need to order myself a copy.
"The book that inspired Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings!
It is the twelfth century, the era of Richard the Lion-heart and the Third Crusade. Along the Danube, the tranquil world shared by the young squire Otto and his cousin Bertha is changed forever when they witness a knightly contest for possession of a magic ring. Soon both are drawn into a quest that transforms them and endangers all they love. The resulting adventures lead each to different paths of enchantment and peril, from the mysteries of Moorish Spain to the birthplace of Norse mythology. While navigating an ever-changing sea of allies and foes, both natural and magical, the two seek love, honor, survival, and a ring that possesses more power than either can possibly understand.
A seamless blend of medieval quest, epic fantasy, and Gothic nightmare, The Magic Ring draws on an impressive host of inspirations, such as Germanic folk tales and Icelandic sagas, Arthurian romance and Gothic horror. This novel has earned its place as a text of considerable historical significance, and yet it continues to offer an exhilarating reading experience for the modern audience.
This edition includes the complete original text of the first English version of The Magic Ring, the 1825 translation by Robert Pearse Gillies, as well as a scholarly introduction, a glossary of literary influences and references, and the complete text of Fouqué's 1820 short story "The Field of Terror," also translated by Gillies. "
