Contents
From the dust jacket:
During the thirteenth century in what is today the republic of Mali stood a kingdom whose fame had spread throughout Africa. Its founder was the lion king Sundiata, Sword of Islam, and this extraordinary epic celebrates his life and the history of the great empire of old Mali. Handed down for hundreds of years from one storyteller to another, the legend matches in power and beauty the classic epics of the Western world.
Men shook their heads sadly at Sundiata's birth, for the child was as formless as mud, with an enormous head that flopped from side to side. Yet a prophecy had foretold that the ugly, crippled baby would one day be more noble than Alexander the Great. In seven years Sundiata would rise from the dust to challenge the accursed Sumanguru, despotic ruler of old Mali and the slave of unholy demons.
Drawing on both ancient and modern sources, Roland Bertol has created a lyrical and profoundly moving version of this little-known legend. Man's battle against the dark powers, his triumph over the nameless terror, are hauntingly described.
During the thirteenth century in what is today the republic of Mali stood a kingdom whose fame had spread throughout Africa. Its founder was the lion king Sundiata, Sword of Islam, and this extraordinary epic celebrates his life and the history of the great empire of old Mali. Handed down for hundreds of years from one storyteller to another, the legend matches in power and beauty the classic epics of the Western world.
Men shook their heads sadly at Sundiata's birth, for the child was as formless as mud, with an enormous head that flopped from side to side. Yet a prophecy had foretold that the ugly, crippled baby would one day be more noble than Alexander the Great. In seven years Sundiata would rise from the dust to challenge the accursed Sumanguru, despotic ruler of old Mali and the slave of unholy demons.
Drawing on both ancient and modern sources, Roland Bertol has created a lyrical and profoundly moving version of this little-known legend. Man's battle against the dark powers, his triumph over the nameless terror, are hauntingly described.
Pages
x; 81
Awards
Sequoyah Book Award (Nominee — Children's — 1973)
Notable Children's Book (1970)