The Ballad of the White Horse

Description

The Ballad of the White Horse is an epic poem by G. K. Chesterton, first published in 1911. Written in the form of a ballad, the poem is about the adventures of Alfred the Great, the Saxon King who defeated the invasion of the Danes. In a prefatory note, Chesterton notes that his poem is not historical per se, and that he has chosen to place the site of the Battle of Ethandune in the Vale of the White Horse, despite the lack of concrete evidence for this placement, and also that he has included legends about Alfred, even if they are historically unlikely. The poem is composed of eight books: The Vision of the King, The Gathering of the Chiefs, The Harp of Alfred, The Woman in the Forest, Ethandune: The First Stroke, Ethandune: The Slaying of the Chiefs, Ethandune: The Last Charge, and, The Scouring of the Horse.

This book has 98 pages in the PDF version, and was originally published in 1911.

Production notes: This ebook of The Ballad of the White Horse was published by Global Grey on the 20th February 2021. The artwork used for the cover is 'Portrait of Alfred the Great' by Samuel Woodforde.