Ten top castles in fiction

Jessamy Taylor is the author of King’s Company, an historical adventure story.

At the Guardian she tagged her ten top castles in fiction, including:

The Castle of the Forest Sauvage, from The Sword in the Stone by TH White

TH White’s castle is solid and warm, a paradise for children to grow up in. His version of medieval England, where ruddy-faced barons are fatherly landlords to a contented peasantry, is a myth – his description of an idyllic Christmas in the castle finishes: “Even the weather behaved itself”. But it’s a lovely fantasy, of freedom and security combined. As the year turns and the Wart learns his lessons from Merlin, Sir Ector’s castle is the safe home at the end of all his adventures, until he leaves for London, and the sword which waits in the stone.

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Sword in the Stone is on John Dougherty's top ten list of fictional badgers and Gill Lewis's top ten list of birds in books; it is the first part of The Once and Future King, which is among Philip Womack's best classic children's books and Lev Grossman's five top fantasy books.

--Marshal Zeringue