The Runaway Shadows
"The Runaway Shadows, or A Trick of Jack Frost" is a twentieth-century
"The Runaway Shadows" was first published on 5 June 1901, in some of the newspapers that had published Baum's American Fairy Tales in the spring of the same year. The story was projected as part of that collection, but was omitted when the book was published in October 1901.[1][2]
The story was reprinted in the April 1962 issue of
Plot summary
On the coldest day of the year, the Frost King allows his son
The King of Thumbumbia dies, and courtiers come to his nephew the Prince to elevate the boy to the throne — but they are amazed to see that the boy casts no shadow. Lady Lindeva, next in line for the crown, suffers the same strange infirmity. The Earl Highlough,[4] the "chief man in all the kingdom," comes to investigate — though by this time the runaway shadows have returned to their young master and mistress. The Prince becomes King, with Lady Lindeva as his Queen.
References
- ^ Michael O'Neal Riley, Oz and Beyond: the Fantasy World of L. Frank Baum, Lawrence, KS, University Press of Kansas, 1997; p. 72.
- ^ L. Frank Baum, American Fairy Tale, with an Introduction by Martin Gardner, New York, Dover, 1978; Introduction, p. xiii.
- ^ L. Frank Baum, The Runaway Shadows and Other Stories, with an Introduction by C. Warren Hollister, Escanaba, MI, International Wizard of Oz Club, 1980.
- ^ Typical Baum wordplay: the kingdoms of Hiland and Loland occur in John Dough and the Cherub.
External links