 Early edition cover | |
| Author | E. Nesbit |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | H. R. Millar |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy,Children's Novel |
| Publisher | T. Fisher Unwin |
Publication date | 1908 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Followed by | Harding's Luck |
The House of Arden is anovel for children written by the English authorE. Nesbit and published in 1908.
A boy named Edred Arden inherits the title of Lord Arden and the dilapidated Arden Castle. He and his sister Elfrida aretreasure hunting for the lost treasure of the Ardens and, with the help of the magicalMouldiwarp, they travel back in time searching for clues. The past events they witness include
The final episode, in which the children rescue their father from a lost civilization in South America, is reminiscent of the legends ofEl Dorado and otherCities of Gold.
A sequel,Harding's Luck, was published in 1909, in which the nominally Tudor character of "cousin Richard Arden", who acts somewhat mysteriously in the original book, including recognising a Kodak camera, is given something of a backstory.[1]
The device of a pair of characters, a brother and a sister named Edred and Elfrida, who travel back in time fromEdwardian England, guided by a magical character,Mouldiwarp, always meeting a similar pair of characters in each of the earlier centuries that they visit, is the central plot device in the book.J. R. R. Tolkien's unpublished attempt at a time travel novel,The Lost Road functions in the same way.The Lost Road has father/son pairs named Edwin/Elwin, Eadwine/Aelfwine, Audoin/Alboin, Amandil/Elendil (all meaning "Bliss-friend/Elf-friend" in Old English, Old High German, and Lombardic). Nesbit's Edred and Elfrida, too, have according to the Tolkien scholar Virginia Luling "intriguing[ly]" similarOld English names to Tolkien's paired characters; Edred is "Bliss-counsel", while Elfrida is "Elf-strength".[2]
The House of Arden public domain audiobook atLibriVox | This article about achildren's novel of the 1900s is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. See guidelines for writing about novels. Further suggestions might be found on the article'stalk page. |
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