The Queen of the Fays

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THE QUEEN OF THE FAYS & OTHER MARVELOUS TALES
edited, introduced & adapted by Brian Stableford

Stories by Catherine Bernard, François Fénelon, Louis de Mailly and Jean de Préchac.

cover by Mike Hoffman


 I can send you back to your father as I found you, or render you mistress of my kingdom. I’m the King of the Gnomes, and you’ll be their queen!


This volume includes three tales by Catherine Bernard (1662-1712), one of the originators of contes de fées, that deliberately subvert not merely their narrative strategy, but also their entire mythology; two enigmatic allegories of French history as seen through the prism of faerie by Jean de Préchac (1647-1720); four stories by François Fénelon (1651-1715), and The Illustrious Fays, a collection of tales by Chevalier de Mailly (1657-1724), which shows how the contes de fées quickly became suited to very different narrative purposes.
 
The variety embraced by these stories is a striking illustration of the versatility of a format that seemed, at first, to be rather narrow. If some of stories seem more stereotyped and less ambitious, the spectrum they display is not lacking in color and variety, and the more flamboyant of them make significant additions to the imagery assembled by the core writers of the original school.

Contents: 
Introduction 
Stories by Catherine Bernard:
   Inès de Cordova 
   The Rose-Bush Prince
   Riquet with the Crest 
Stories by Jean de Préchac:
  Peerless
  The Queen of the Fays 
Stories by François Fénelon:
   The Story of Rosimond and Braminte
   The Story of Florise
   The Story of King Alfaroute and Clariphile
   The Story of an Old Queen and a Young Peasant Girl 
The Illustrious Fays by the Chevalier de Mailly:
   Blanche-Belle
   The Magician King
   Prince Roger
   Fortunio
   Prince Guerini
   The Queen of the Isle of Flowers
   The Favorite of the Fays
   Beneficent, or, Quiribirini
   The Princess Crowned by the Fays
   The Unfortunate Fraud
   The Inaccessible Island 
Stories from Nouveaux contes de fées (1718):
   The Little Green Frog
   The Flying Ship
   Prince Perinet; or, The Origin of Pagodas
   Rose-Red, White and Black
   Aphinge; or, The Green Monkey
   The Satin Physician
   The Rainbow Prince