The Boy Apprenticed to an Enchanter

The Boy Apprenticed to an Enchanter

Padraic Colum is one of the most acclaimed storytellers of all time. Author of The King of Ireland’s Son, The Children of Odin and The Children’s Homer, his stories are bigger than life, sparking children’s imagination and carrying them through the world of myths and legends.

The Boy apprenticed to an Enchanter is filled with intrigue, mystery and adventure. It tells the tale of Eean, the fisherman’s son, who vanquishes the evil Zabulun with the aid of Merlin the Magician, Bird-of-Gold and the King’s horses. His quest takes Eean to the Tower of Babylon where he defies his master, and he and Bird-of-Gold flee to Chiron the Centaur and Hermes Trismegistus in a desperate search of a helpmeet. Finally they come to the magical Island of the White Tower which rises into sight out of the western ocean on midsummer’s day, there to meet Merlin and to confront Zabulun in a final battle.

About the Author

Padraic Colum (1881–1972) was born in Longford, Ireland, and typifies the best of the early twentieth-century renaissance of Irish literary. His books for children have delighted several generations, and they are as welcome today as they were when first published. For his contribution to children’s literature, in 1961 he was awarded the Regina Medal by the Catholic Literary Association.