"Perhaps I cannot fix everything in this moment—stop the snatchers, or keep the women of this city safe, or even protect my own people from a king such as my brother. But I can do this. Start somewhere and keep going." —Thorn, Intisar Khanani #BookWormSat

"Corrupted by greed and wishing for glory, the humans grew power-hungry... They became warlords and princes, calling others to fight for them, continually killing for a piece of land over which they might have absolute control for a little time." —Thorn, Intisar Khanani #BookWormSat

"The prospect of visiting the king’s court, being surrounded by the wealthiest families of our land and all the vaunted beauties of their lines... me, with neither a title nor riches nor beauty to my name? No, thank you." —The Theft of Sunlight, Intisar Khanani #BookWormSat

"I felt sorry for the princess, to have attendants who would misguide her, to have come through such a harrowing experience and find herself alone yet again. It didn’t occur to me she might play her own games.” ― Intisar Khanani, The Theft of Sunlight #BookWormSat

‘Time and again, when the goblets passed and seasoned fighters got flushed with beer they would pledge themselves to protect Heorot and wait for Grendel with whetted swords.‘ ~ Seamus Heaney (trans), Beowulf. #BookWormSat 🖼 Joseph Ratcliffe Skelton, 1908.

The King’s Mother’ by Annie Garthwaite is a historical novel set during the Wars of the Roses. It follows Cecily, Duchess of York, as her son ascends the English throne in 1461. Yet Cecily is not the only mother fighting #BookWormSat 🧵

The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an "accident," #BookWormSat 🧵

Kadou, the shy prince of Arasht, finds himself at odds with one of the most powerful ambassadors at court—the body-father of the queen's new child—in an altercation which results in his humiliation. #BookWormSat 🧵

Because to outwit your rivals, first you had to know their ways and how to play their games. The Summer Queen Elizabeth Chadwick Eleanor of Aquitaine F Sandys #BookWormSat

“I do christen this isle New Camelot! But Merlin ... is not such a wondrous place already spoken for?” ~ Camelot 3000, written by Mike W. Barr and art by Brian Bolland. #BookWormSat #DCcomics #80s

“I am a spirit of no common rate, The summer still doth tend upon my state” Titania, queen of the fairies, asserts her authority over her otherwordly court (and everywhere else) 👑 'Midsummer Night's Dream' (1594-1596) #BookWormSat

#BookwormSat 📚✨ Frigg, wise Queen of the Norse gods, ruled the hearth, marriage, and fate itself. She spun the clouds on her jeweled spindle and foresaw every destiny, yet kept many secrets to protect those she loved. Even Friday bears her name: Frigg's Day. 🧵 #Frigg 🎨 John Charles Dollman, 1909

“And make them know what ‘tis to let a queen Kneel in the streets and beg for grace in vain.” Titus Andronicus - William Shakespeare #BookWormSat 🖼️ = Aaron cutting off Titus hand Act 3 engraving by Gerald Van Der Gucht (1740)

#BookwormSat 👑🧜‍♀️🌊 The Mermaid of Kessock is a Scottish star-crossed bride tale. A fisherman hid a Ceasg's scales and married her. When their child found them, she returned to the sea. Some families of the Black Isle still claim mermaid blood in their lineage. 👑✨ #Ceasg ##Royalbloodlines

#BookwormSat 👑✨ One of fantasy's most beloved queens, Galadriel of Lothlórien gifted Frodo the Light of Eärendil, a royal treasure to guide him through the darkest hours. "May it be a light for you in dark places, when all other lights go out." #Tolkien #TheFellowshipoftheRing 🎨 Andrea Piparo

“I have always known that there were spellbinding evil parts for women…I was paralyzed by the scene in which the evil Queen drinks the magic potion and changes her shape. What power, what untold possibilities!” Margaret Atwood - Curious Pursuits #BookWormSat 🖼️ = Jennie Harbour (1921)

#BookWormSat “How extraordinary the vigilance and activity of the king and duke was, ever labouring in person, and being present to command, order, reward and encourage workmen ...” John Evelyn Diary Entry 1666 - King Charles II & Duke of York help tackle the Great Fire of London 🎨Unknown Artist

#BookwormSat 👑✨ The Once and Future King may still endure. In Welsh legend, Arthur was transformed into a raven, escaping death and lingering in the shadows until his kingdom calls once more. #KingArthur #ArthurianLegend #RoyalLegends 🎨 "Gothic Raven King," by Dreamstime.

"Thy crown doth sear mine eyeballs and thy hair, Thou other gold-round brow, is like the first. A third is like the former. Filthy hags! Why do you show me this? A fourth. Start, eyes. What, will the line stretch out to the crack of doom?" - The parade of ghostly Kings before Macbeth #BookWormSat

“Yet some men say in many parts of England that King Arthur is not dead, but had by the will of our Lord Jesu into another place; and men say that he shall come again, and he shall win the holy cross.” -Thomas Malory www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/3409... #art #BookwormSat #literature #fineart #gifts

“In war, our elders may give the orders...but it is the young who have to fight.” ― T.H. White, The Once and Future King #BookWormSa @bookwormsat.bsky.social

‘Through tattered clothes small vices do appear. Robes and furred gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold, And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks. Arm it in rags, a pygmy’s straw does pierce it.’ ~ Shakespeare, King Lear. #BookWormSat

#BookWormSat "I believe that the histories that will be written about this court [Versailles] after we are gone will be better and more entertaining than any novel; I am afraid that those who come after us will not believe them & think they are just fairy tales." Elizabeth Charlotte of Palatinate

3. "I think the King is but a man, as l am. The violet smells to him as it doth to me. The element shows to him as it doth to me. All his senses have but human conditions. His ceremonies laid by, in his nakedness he appears but a man." Henry V. #BookWormSat 🎨 Historic UK

After some unknown tiff between dandy supreme Beau Brummell and the Prince of Wales, they met again at a society event in 1813 hosted by Lord Alvanley. The Prince Regent pointedly snubbed Brummell, who responded by asking: 'Alvanley, who's your fat friend?' His days at court were over. #BookWormSat

'The king believes that even if he were not the king, he would still be a great man. This is because God likes him. ' 📚 Hilary Mantel, The Mirror and the Light 🖼️ Diego Velázques, Philip IV in Brown and Silver (detail) #BookWormSat #RoyalCourts #VelázquesBOTD

‘Mediocrities can tolerate being surrounded only by flatterers who conceal their mediocrity.’ ~ Maurice Druon, The Strangled Queen. #BookWormSat

I think the King is but a man, as I am. The violet smells to him as it doth to me; the element shows to him as it doth to me; all his senses have but human conditions. His ceremonies laid by, in his nakedness he appears but a man. Shakespeare, HENRY V, 4.1 #BookWormSat #ButaMan #HenrytheFifth

#BookWormSat The Shadow Kingdom (Weird Tales, Aug 1929) by Robert E. Howard. Featuring Kull of Atlantis, king of Valusia. "The statecraft of the Seven Empires is a mazy, monstrous thing..." Art credit in alt text.

'I was always desired. But now I am valued. And that is a different thing, I find.' 📚 Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall 🖼️ Diego Velázques, Portrait of María Anna #BookWormSat #RoyalCourts #VelázquesBOTD

HAMLET: A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm. QUEEN: What dost thou mean by this? HAMLET: Nothing but to show you how a king may go a progress through the guts of a beggar. Shakespeare, HAMLET, 4.3 #BookWormSat #Hamlet #DigestiveSystem

'No ruler in the history of the world has ever been able to afford a war. They're not affordable things. No prince ever says, "This is my budget, so this is the kind of war I can have." ' 📚 H.Mantel, Wolf Hall 🖼️ D.Velázques, The Surrender of Breda (detail) #BookWormSat #RoyalCourts #VelázquesBOTD

🌿⚔️🌿"I will tell you something else, King, which may be a surprise for you. It will not happen for hundreds of years, but both of us are to come back." 📖T. H. White - The Once and Future King. #BookWormSat #FolkloreSunday #MythologyMonday

"Let us understand each other, milord," replied D'Artagnan, "and let us weigh things well beforehand, in order that there may be no mistake. I am in the service of the King & Queen of France, and form part of the company of M. des Essarts's guards." ~ The Three Musketeers, A. Dumas. #BookWormSat

The tale of Dunmail, the last 'King of Cumbria' is perhaps based on the historical, Dyfnwal ab Owain, King of Strathclyde more: "Folklore of the Lake District" bardofcumberland.com/folklore/ #bookwormsat #lakedistrict 📷 "The Last King of Cumbria"; a short film I directed for Bardsea-Green Films

Roland the Farter was a medieval flatulist, a jester for King Henry II. Each year, he was obliged to perform "saltum, siffletum, pettum" (a jump, a whistle, and a fart) all done at once for the King's court at Christmas. #bookwormsat 💨

James VI of Scotland was known for his love of unusual pets and owned a lion, tiger, beaver and armadillo. The armadillo regularly accompanied the King, carried on horseback by his groom. #bookwormsat #Scotland

For #BookWormSat "Eight centuries ago on the edge of the marsh men had built the huge cathedral, or it may have been seven centuries ago, or perhaps nine—it was all one to the Wild Things." Lord Dunsany-Kith of the Elf Folk. (artwork mine)

Everything ends. Summer ends. Happiness ends. Days of joy are followed by days of sorrow. Even the gods will meet their end in the last battle of Ragnarok when all the evil of the world brings chaos and the sun will turn dark Bernard Cornwell, Sword of Kings #BookWormSat

“When I looked into them I knew suddenly what these creatures were, and I was afraid. They were the sins, the filthy, immortal sins of those courtly men and women.” (Lord Dunsany) 🎨 Sidney Sime #BookwormSat

There's a popular story about a staging of 'Antony & Cleopatra' at the Lyceum in the 19th C. During an Act 2 scene of bacchanalian excess in Cleopatra's court, an old lady in the front row was heard to comment: 'Dear! Dear! What a contrast to the home life of our own dear Queen.' #BookWormSat

That's gotta be considered a win #bookwormsat The Unbeheaded King by L. Sprague deCamp. 1983, cover art by Darrell K. Sweet. #booksky

When your personal magician puts you in suspended animation on #bookwormsat The King of the World's Edge by H Warner Mann. 1967, cover art by Jack Gaughan. #booksky

#BookWormSat Possibly the earliest depiction of King Arthur's court, a precursor to the Camelot of later tradition, is found in the tale of Culhwch and Olwen. Located at Celliwig in Cornwall, it is portrayed as a place of great wealth and splendour, with many of Arthur's retinue described in detail.

Schir, lat it neuer in toune be tald That I suld be ane Ȝowllis ȝald… —William Dunbar (c. 1459–1530), “Petitioun of the Auld Gray Hors, Dumbar” – where the poet appeals to his patron, James IV, King of Scots, for funds to buy new clothes for Christmas #BookWormSat #poem #poetry #medievalsky