"King of the Wind" by Marguerite Henry

It's funny -- I remember this being one of my favorite books as a youngster... but I only remembered the first third or so of it.  As far as I could recall, the whole thing took place in the Middle East, but that's not true at all!  Most of it takes place in France and England.  Huh.

King of the Wind tells a fictionalized version of the life of the Godolphin Arabian, a horse whose bloodline runs through a huge number of race horses right down to modern day.  Both Secretariat and Man O'War came from his line, if that means anything to you.

In this book, a stable boy named Agba raises an orphaned Arabian colt he calls Sham in the stables of a capricious sultan.  Sham is faster than any other horse in the stables, leading Agba to nickname him King of the Wind.

The sultan decides to send some stallions to King Louis XV of France as a gift.  He chooses Sham as one of the gift stallions, and Agba gets to be one of the stable boys who accompany the horses.  They arrive in France looking terrible after the long voyage, and King Louis XV has Sham used as a cart horse.  One thing leads to another, with Sham being sold from one owner to the next, used for menial jobs and never valued for the race horse he ought to be.

Agba manages to stay with Sham through all the changes of ownership, and acquires a cat friend called Greymalkin along the way.  Agba is mute, and horses and cats don't talk, so the story gets told without loads and loads of dialog -- and it works beautifully.  Eventually, Sham gets sold to the Earl of Godolphin, and finally is recognized for the valuable horse he originally was.  Now, the real history of this horse, known as the Godolphin Arabian, is not quite so complicated or so fraught with misery, but most of what Henry adds is there to emphasize the theme of a person or a horse's true worth sometimes being hidden or unrecognized.

Gotta say, I suspect that much younger me probably read the whole book once or twice, but reread the first third over and over and over, when things were all going really well and both Agba and Sham were happy and valued, and that's why I remembered that part, but had forgotten the rest.  And I did still like that part best :-)

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for some depictions of cruelty to horses, mentions of a sultan having people beheaded, and a sequence involving jail.  Nothing too grisly or horrible, but might be hard on readers younger than 8 or 9.

This has been my 30th book read and reviewed for my fourth Classics Club list.

Wrapping Up the 2024 Tolkien Blog Party + Giveaway Winners

Thank you for joining me in celebrating J. R. R. Tolkien and his creations with me this week!  I'm sharing the link-up here one last time so you can easily find each others' posts without scrolling back and back through my feed.  Also, the party runs through today, so you are welcome to still add new post links to this!

And now, the winners of this year's giveaway!

Prize One: The Fellowship of the Ring audiobook on CD read by Andy Serkis -- Makenna Marie

Prize Two: 2 Shire Pub Sign Stickers -- Bethani Theresa

Prize Three: 3 "postage stamp" stickers -- Rosa

Prize Four: 4 LOTR "postcard" stickers -- Ivy Miranda

Prize Five: 1 leather "leaves of Lorien" mini blank book -- Victoria 

Winners, I'll be emailing you to notify you of your win and ask for a mailing address, so check your email for that!

Answers to the Ladies of Middle-Earth Unscramble

Here are the answers to Tuesday's game!  And everyone's scores are below.

1. newar steervan = Arwen Evenstar

2. onewy = Eowyn

3. sireo noctot = Rosie Cotton

4. anblerice = Celebrian

5. heriot = Ioreth

6. hitlune livenuti = Luthien Tinuviel

7. dragaliel = Galadriel

8. glewin = Elwing

9. greboldry = Goldberry

10. beliola lackviles-gangbis = Lobelia Sackville-Baggins

11. ilrange = Gilraen

12. anavyan = Yavanna

SCORES

Rosa -- 12

Olivia -- 11

Fundy Blue -- 10

Ivy Miranda -- 10

Miranda -- 6

Answers to Who Said It? Quotation Quiz

Here are the answers to Monday's game!  Everyone's scores are at the bottom of this post.  Thanks for playing!

1.  "It was a compliment, and so, of course, not true." (Merry Brandybuck, The Fellowship of the Ring)

2.  "Yet dawn is ever the hope of men." (Aragorn, The Two Towers)

3.  "I have never allowed anyone to stand me on my head." (Pippin Took, The Return of the King)

4.  "Short cuts make delays, but inns make longer ones." (Frodo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring)

5.  "Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens." (Gimli, The Fellowship of the Ring)

6.  "If you think that I have passed through the mountains and the real of Gondor with fire and sword to bring herbs to a careless soldier who throws away his gear, you are mistaken." (Aragorn, The Return of the King)

7.  "Ah! the green smell!  It is better than much sleep.  Let us run!" (Legolas, The Two Towers)

8.  "Many that live deserve death.  And some that die deserve life." (Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring)

9.  "I feel like spring after winter, and sun on the leaves; and like trumpets and harps and all the songs I have ever heard!" (Samwise Gamgee, The Return of the King)

10.  "May your beer be laid under an enchantment of surpassing excellence for seven years!" (Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring).

11.  "As for me, my way home lies onward and not back." (Boromir, The Fellowship of the Ring)

12.  "Go where you must go, and hope!" (Gandalf, The Two Towers)

Scores

Victoria -- 12

Ruth -- 11

Bea -- 10

Rosa -- 9

Astrya -- 7

Lissa -- 4

Miranda -- 4

Over the River and Through the Woods: A Party Game

One last game for this year's Tolkien Blog Party!  I hope you've all been enjoying the festivities thus far, and I look forward to catching up on reading all your posts soon.  But, for now, let's play a storytelling game!

All you need to play this game is a six-sided die (or an online number generator that will give you results between 1 and 6).  Simply roll your die once for each question, and the number you roll determines the path your adventure takes.

Who are You?

What Middle-earth group do you belong to?

1.  Hobbit

2.  Man/woman of Gondor

3.  Wizard

4.  Rider of Rohan

5.  Dwarf

6.  Elf

The Quest Begins

Where are you when you receive the call to adventure?

1.  The Shire

2.  Rivendell

3.  Minas Tirith

4.  Edoras

5.  Erebor

6.  Bree

The Call 

What is your quest?

1.  catch a runaway gingerbread man

2.  help a harried mother put her kids to bed

3.  find the owner of an abandoned glass slipper

4.  rid a village of some pesky giants

5.  find the queen's stolen tarts

6.  stop a talking wolf from waylaying travelers

The Helper

Who's going along to help you on your quest?

1.  Frodo

2.  Aragorn

3.  Gandalf

4.  Galadriel

5.  Tom Bombadil

6.  Eowyn

The Adversary

Who's trying to hinder your quest?

1.  Saruman

2.  Old Man Willow

3.  Shelob

4.  Gollum

5.  Lobelia Sackville-Baggins

6.  Sauron

The Conclusion

How does it all end?

1.  You succeed and are rewarded for your efforts.

2.  You succeed, but nobody really cares.

3.  You succeed, but you're badly injured in the process.

4.  You succeed, but you and your companion are both injured.

5.  You fail, but you resolve to try again later.

6.  You fail, and your reputation is forever tarnished.

Now you simply put it all together into a little story!  Like this, based on how my rolls went:

I am a hobbit, and I'm visiting Rivendell when I'm asked to stop a talking wolf from waylaying travelers in the surrounding woods.  My friend Gandalf and I are confident we can take care of this pesky little affair before tea, but we soon discover that Gollum is intent on stopping us!  Apparently, he's made friends with the talking wolf and thinks it will help him regain his Precious.  After a great deal of annoyance and not inconsiderable danger, we succeed in convincing the talking wolf that it would be wise to go waylay orcs in Mordor instead from now on.  But I am badly injured in the process when Gollum bites me while Gandalf is "persuading" the wolf to leave.  I have to remain at Rivendell for simply weeks while my wound heals, which I don't mind a bit ;-)

Your turn!  Comments are still on moderation thanks to the previous two games, but I will publish your answers to this game as soon as I find them in my inbox so we can all get a good chuckle reading them.

Ladies of Middle-Earth Unscramble

By popular demand (okay, two people demanded it), our second game this week is an unscramble!  I'm muddled up the names of 12 women from J. R. R. Tolkien's books about Middle-earth.  These include The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings.  Some of these will be easy, some will be hard.  (To be clear, I did not include any characters who appear in the movies but not the books, such as Bard the Bowman's daughters.)

1. newar steervan

2. onewy

3. sireo noctot

4. anblerice

5. heriot

6. hitlune livenuti

7. dragaliel

8. glewin

9. greboldry

10. beliola lackviles-gangbis

11. ilrange

12. anavyan

Put your answers in a comment.  I'll reveal the answers and people's scores at the end of the party!

Who Said It? Quotation Quiz

Welcome to our first game for the 2024 Tolkien Blog Party!

Below are twelve quotations from The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.  They were all spoken by members of the Fellowship of the Ring.  Your challenge is to figure out who said each one.  (These are all from the books, though some are used in the movies too.)

Put your guesses in a comment on this post.  (I've put all comments on full moderation so I can hide your answers until the end of the party, so no one will be tempted to cheat.)  I'll post the answers and your scores on Saturday!

1.  "It was a compliment, and so, of course, not true."

2.  "Yet dawn is ever the hope of men."

3.  "I have never allowed anyone to stand me on my head."

4.  "Short cuts make delays, but inns make longer ones."

5.  "Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens." 

6.  "If you think that I have passed through the mountains and the real of Gondor with fire and sword to bring herbs to a careless soldier who throws away his gear, you are mistaken."

7.  "Ah! the green smell!  It is better than much sleep.  Let us run!"

8.  "Many that live deserve death.  And some that die deserve life." 

9.  "I feel like spring after winter, and sun on the leaves; and like trumpets and harps and all the songs I have ever heard!"

10.  "May your beer be laid under an enchantment of surpassing excellence for seven years!" 

11.  "As for me, my way home lies onward and not back."

12.  "Go where you must go, and hope!"