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The Dreamer of Dreams
A beautiful, dreamy story, poetic and inspired, difficult to capture in description, but easily smooth when it speaks to your soul.
Illustrated by the masterful Edmund Dulac.
Illustrated by the masterful Edmund Dulac.
191 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1915
9 people are currently reading
297 people want to read
About the author
Marie of Romania
47 books52 followersMarie of Romania (Marie Alexandra Victoria), previously Princess Marie of Edinburgh, was a British Princess by birth and Romanian Queen by marriage.
She was the eldest daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia. Her father was the second-eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Her mother was the only surviving daughter of Alexander II of Russia and Maria Alexandrovna of Hesse. She was baptised in the Private Chapel of Windsor Castle on 15 December 1875 and her godparents were the Empress and Tsarevitch of Russia, the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the Princess of Wales and the Duke of Connaught. As her father was in the Royal Navy, she spent much of her early childhood abroad, particularly in Malta.
She was the eldest daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, and Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia. Her father was the second-eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Her mother was the only surviving daughter of Alexander II of Russia and Maria Alexandrovna of Hesse. She was baptised in the Private Chapel of Windsor Castle on 15 December 1875 and her godparents were the Empress and Tsarevitch of Russia, the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the Princess of Wales and the Duke of Connaught. As her father was in the Royal Navy, she spent much of her early childhood abroad, particularly in Malta.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 18, 2016
Dec 18 edit ~~ GR friend and librarian Carol has corrected the publication date I mention in the first paragraph here. She found that the correct date was actually 1915, not the 1912 of the other edition. These old books can be great fun to discover, but learning details about them can be tricky! Thanks to Carol for the information!
First of all, the GR blurb for this edition claims incorrectly that it was published in 1889. Another edition lists the correct date of 1912, which makes much more sense, because in 1889 Queen Marie of Romania was still merely 14 year old Princess Marie of Edinburgh. Her father was Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, and her mother was the Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia. And Granny was Queen Victoria!
Why does this matter? Well, it took me while to decide about this, and naturally I may be wrong, but I think this little fable was written as a sort of guide to life or perhaps even a warning about life for Queen Marie's daughter Ileana, who was born in 1909. The book is dedicated to her:
Dedicated TO MY DAUGHTER ILEANA
"I LOOKED INTO HER EYES AND THEREIN I SAW HOPES AND DREAMS AND ALL THE PROMISES LIFE CONTAINS."
Queen Marie was chosen to be the wife of Prince Ferdinand of Romania, who was really born in Germany but his family ruled Romania. He had had an affair with one of the ladies in waiting from his mother's court, which threw everyone into a tizzy because for some weird reason the constitution at the time denied permission for a crown prince to marry a Romanian citizen. I'm curious about why, but I didn't research the topic. I was beginning to have head spins from what I had found out by that point as it was.
Okay, so there was Marie, 18 years old and married to a distant cousin and they were neither one very happy about it. But she seemed to do the best she could as far as adapting to her new homeland, and became much beloved by the people in the years she was there. But the last two of her six children were supposedly fathered by her long-time lover, even though Ferdinand claimed them as his own. Ileana was the Queen's fifth child, so if the rumor about the lover is true, she would be the first child conceived in love and not merely out of royal duty.
Meanwhile, to the story. There is a painter of unmatched skill working on a frieze in one room of King Wanda's palace. He is a favorite of the entire court, but especially of the King. However, he cannot finish his painting because he cannot paint the face of the central figure. He needs to go find the eyes he sees in his dreams before he can paint them on the wall. So off he goes, like a little boy playing hooky from school, and everyone he meets just loves him to pieces because he is so innocently wonderful and happy.
But he has long travels to endure and meets some unusual characters, like the snow maid who collects broken hearts, and an old hermit who gives him some handy gifts: tablets that will take the place of food, a magic sword, and a white falcon to guide his steps up to the highest mountain peak and beyond.
Our painter learns about many sad things in life while he is traveling, and also about duty to others being the only thing that makes life worthwhile, and how sometimes when you find your dream it can be both the happiest and the saddest moment of your life at the same time. I gotta tell you, if Queen Marie did write this story to guide or to warn her daughter, then Queen Marie was not at all a happy camper.
Eventually Ileana had problems of her own, being exiled from the country after her marriage because her brother the king was jealous of her popularity. Now I know why I never wanted to be a princess when I was growing up!
Well, anyway, the story had some clever moments, but overall it dragged (how long does it really take to climb a few ultra-high mountains, anyway? Felt like we were stomping around up there in the cold for years!) and the feel of the piece was sad. Very sad. Between my research, my guesses about Queen Marie, and the story itself, I think the messages here might have been something she needed to express or else explode. And maybe she felt she was preparing Ileana to be able to cope with all that being 'royal' means, even if she could see hope and dreams when she looked into her daughter's eyes.
First of all, the GR blurb for this edition claims incorrectly that it was published in 1889. Another edition lists the correct date of 1912, which makes much more sense, because in 1889 Queen Marie of Romania was still merely 14 year old Princess Marie of Edinburgh. Her father was Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, and her mother was the Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia. And Granny was Queen Victoria!
Why does this matter? Well, it took me while to decide about this, and naturally I may be wrong, but I think this little fable was written as a sort of guide to life or perhaps even a warning about life for Queen Marie's daughter Ileana, who was born in 1909. The book is dedicated to her:
Dedicated TO MY DAUGHTER ILEANA
"I LOOKED INTO HER EYES AND THEREIN I SAW HOPES AND DREAMS AND ALL THE PROMISES LIFE CONTAINS."
Queen Marie was chosen to be the wife of Prince Ferdinand of Romania, who was really born in Germany but his family ruled Romania. He had had an affair with one of the ladies in waiting from his mother's court, which threw everyone into a tizzy because for some weird reason the constitution at the time denied permission for a crown prince to marry a Romanian citizen. I'm curious about why, but I didn't research the topic. I was beginning to have head spins from what I had found out by that point as it was.
Okay, so there was Marie, 18 years old and married to a distant cousin and they were neither one very happy about it. But she seemed to do the best she could as far as adapting to her new homeland, and became much beloved by the people in the years she was there. But the last two of her six children were supposedly fathered by her long-time lover, even though Ferdinand claimed them as his own. Ileana was the Queen's fifth child, so if the rumor about the lover is true, she would be the first child conceived in love and not merely out of royal duty.
Meanwhile, to the story. There is a painter of unmatched skill working on a frieze in one room of King Wanda's palace. He is a favorite of the entire court, but especially of the King. However, he cannot finish his painting because he cannot paint the face of the central figure. He needs to go find the eyes he sees in his dreams before he can paint them on the wall. So off he goes, like a little boy playing hooky from school, and everyone he meets just loves him to pieces because he is so innocently wonderful and happy.
But he has long travels to endure and meets some unusual characters, like the snow maid who collects broken hearts, and an old hermit who gives him some handy gifts: tablets that will take the place of food, a magic sword, and a white falcon to guide his steps up to the highest mountain peak and beyond.
Our painter learns about many sad things in life while he is traveling, and also about duty to others being the only thing that makes life worthwhile, and how sometimes when you find your dream it can be both the happiest and the saddest moment of your life at the same time. I gotta tell you, if Queen Marie did write this story to guide or to warn her daughter, then Queen Marie was not at all a happy camper.
Eventually Ileana had problems of her own, being exiled from the country after her marriage because her brother the king was jealous of her popularity. Now I know why I never wanted to be a princess when I was growing up!
Well, anyway, the story had some clever moments, but overall it dragged (how long does it really take to climb a few ultra-high mountains, anyway? Felt like we were stomping around up there in the cold for years!) and the feel of the piece was sad. Very sad. Between my research, my guesses about Queen Marie, and the story itself, I think the messages here might have been something she needed to express or else explode. And maybe she felt she was preparing Ileana to be able to cope with all that being 'royal' means, even if she could see hope and dreams when she looked into her daughter's eyes.
January 5, 2023
This beautiful vintage fantasy is not just about princesses, but was written by actual royalty, Marie Alexandra Victoria, who was a princess of the British royal family of Saxe-Coburg, but after marrying King Ferdinand I, she became the last Queen of Romania from 1914-1927. She was actually a fairly prolific author, and "Dreamer of Dreams" was her second book, published in 1913.
Now, when I read fantasy, I tend to like the stories that are 1) rich in allegory and based in ancient mythology, 2) more intimate in scale, and 3) imbue a sense of childlike wonder. For this reason, I am not a huge fan of large scale battles over the fate of a world that is obviously make-believe. I like dwarves and elves and dragons and wizards, but their appearance needs to be sparing in order to not spoil the sense of awe that they represent. "Dreamer of Dreams" checked all those boxes for me.
So what do I mean? Well, first I should give you a brief synopsis. This is a quest story about a young artist's personal growth. He is painting a fresco for King Wanda, which despite his youth, he hopes to already be his crowning achievement. But he doesn't know quite how to paint the eyes of the queen who is the centerpiece of the work. But he sees those eyes in an inspirational dream. He decides to never paint again until he finds the woman to whom those eyes belong. So he sets off wandering through sunny forests and crossing tumultuous seas in search of his muse, armed only with his flute. Along the way, he encounters many enchanting maidens who tempt him away from his goal, but they ultimately do not have the quality he seeks.
The book truly captures a dream-like sense of otherworldly beauty that I look for in fantasy. For example, our hero crosses into a snowy forest, and encounters little ghostly lights floating in the darkness. He chases them deeper into the forest as they tease and beckon, slipping through his fingers and always evading examination, until (you Elsa fans will love this) he comes across the beautiful Snow Queen, hovering along the ice with a wreath of glow worms for a crown. She takes him to her castle of ice, surrounded by a garden of twinkling Christmas trees. The whole scene is described very vividly and sweeps you away to your childhood, where a fairy might be in every flower and a gnome in every hollow of a tree.
This novel has some of the earliest examples of familiar fantasy tropes, particularly the glowing magical sword. The tone changes from a mild travelogue adventure to one with greater stakes once the young artist finds an old sage and a little girl on a treacherous mountain pass. From there, I'll say no more about this story for fear of spoiling too much. I'll just say that this reminded me of "Ice" by Anna Kavan, with similar themes, though more coherent. My only complaint is that it seemed a little too self-consciously melodramatic, especially in the latter half, as if Queen Marie were trying a little too hard to tug at heart strings.
Overall, this was a pleasant four-star surprise for me, and I think readers who enjoy fairy tales and mythology will also have a good experience with this one. If you get a copy, make sure you find one with the original illustrations by Edmund Dulac, whose Orientalist aesthetic is perfectly at home here as it would be in a volume of The Arabian Nights or a collection by Hans Christian Andersen.
Do you know of any other fiction written by royalty? Let me know in the comments below.
Now, when I read fantasy, I tend to like the stories that are 1) rich in allegory and based in ancient mythology, 2) more intimate in scale, and 3) imbue a sense of childlike wonder. For this reason, I am not a huge fan of large scale battles over the fate of a world that is obviously make-believe. I like dwarves and elves and dragons and wizards, but their appearance needs to be sparing in order to not spoil the sense of awe that they represent. "Dreamer of Dreams" checked all those boxes for me.
So what do I mean? Well, first I should give you a brief synopsis. This is a quest story about a young artist's personal growth. He is painting a fresco for King Wanda, which despite his youth, he hopes to already be his crowning achievement. But he doesn't know quite how to paint the eyes of the queen who is the centerpiece of the work. But he sees those eyes in an inspirational dream. He decides to never paint again until he finds the woman to whom those eyes belong. So he sets off wandering through sunny forests and crossing tumultuous seas in search of his muse, armed only with his flute. Along the way, he encounters many enchanting maidens who tempt him away from his goal, but they ultimately do not have the quality he seeks.
The book truly captures a dream-like sense of otherworldly beauty that I look for in fantasy. For example, our hero crosses into a snowy forest, and encounters little ghostly lights floating in the darkness. He chases them deeper into the forest as they tease and beckon, slipping through his fingers and always evading examination, until (you Elsa fans will love this) he comes across the beautiful Snow Queen, hovering along the ice with a wreath of glow worms for a crown. She takes him to her castle of ice, surrounded by a garden of twinkling Christmas trees. The whole scene is described very vividly and sweeps you away to your childhood, where a fairy might be in every flower and a gnome in every hollow of a tree.
This novel has some of the earliest examples of familiar fantasy tropes, particularly the glowing magical sword. The tone changes from a mild travelogue adventure to one with greater stakes once the young artist finds an old sage and a little girl on a treacherous mountain pass. From there, I'll say no more about this story for fear of spoiling too much. I'll just say that this reminded me of "Ice" by Anna Kavan, with similar themes, though more coherent. My only complaint is that it seemed a little too self-consciously melodramatic, especially in the latter half, as if Queen Marie were trying a little too hard to tug at heart strings.
Overall, this was a pleasant four-star surprise for me, and I think readers who enjoy fairy tales and mythology will also have a good experience with this one. If you get a copy, make sure you find one with the original illustrations by Edmund Dulac, whose Orientalist aesthetic is perfectly at home here as it would be in a volume of The Arabian Nights or a collection by Hans Christian Andersen.
Do you know of any other fiction written by royalty? Let me know in the comments below.
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April 9, 2023dnf- maybe it’s because reading fairy tales back to back is too much but I think this one was too long and not enough actually happens. And now you can tell she is a catholic too! Some very beautiful scenes. I might try again… maybe…
August 4, 2015
absolutely BEAUTIFUL and enchanting story which is a departure from many of the books written today, Unusual and magical, stunning
April 19, 2023
Greek tragedy meets fairy tale. The entire book is written with beautiful descriptions of the characters, landscape, and adventures. Although beautiful, it has incredibly tragic scenes.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews