The Giant Horse of Oz

The Giant Horse of Oz by Ruth Plumly Thompson

The Giant Horse of Oz opens on the Ozure Isles, five sapphire islands hidden in the great Lost Lake of Orizon, ruled by the kindly Cheeriobed. Long ago Mombi, the wicked witch of the North, stole Cheeriobed's Queen and set the monster Quiberon to guard the lake, making the Islanders virtual prisoners. When Jewlia, the jeweler's daughter serving Quiberon that day, tells the monster stories of mortal maidens in the Emerald City, Quiberon flies into a rage and demands a mortal maid be sent to him within three days or he will destroy the Kingdom. Cheeriobed's son, Prince Philador, secretly escapes on the back of the Grand Mo-gull, king of the blue gulls, to seek help from the Good Witch of the North, Tattypoo. Meanwhile the treacherous Court Soothsayer, Akbad, steals the King's magic golden pear (meant only for the Prince in dire need), which sprouts golden wings and carries him to the Emerald City, where he kidnaps Trot, a mortal girl living with Ozma, and delivers her to Quiberon's cave. Trot escapes with the Scarecrow, who has come along with a newly animated stone statue called Benny (the Public Benefactor, brought to life in Boston and dropped into Oz). Fleeing through caverns, they trap Quiberon in a narrow passage, are captured by the shadow-people of Cave City ruled by King Silly, and are blasted free by an exploding blue ray, washing up with the old mer-man Orpah, former keeper of the King's sea horses. Philador, arriving at Tattypoo's hut, finds her mysteriously vanished and instead frees Herby, a Medicine Man trapped in a bottle by Mombi decades earlier. Guided by Tattypoo's magic thinking cap and jumping rope, they meet Joe King of the Uplanders and his fantastic telescope-legged Giant Horse, High Boy, who carries Philador and Herby onward. After adventures with the Out Keepers of Shutter Town and the whirling Round-abouties, Trot's and Philador's parties meet on the road and together ride High Boy to the Emerald City, joining forces with Ozma, the Wizard, the Scarecrow, and their friends. Back on the Ozure Isles, a boat bearing the long-lost Queen approaches just as Quiberon attacks again; Akbad, in a moment of courage, rescues her with his magic wings. Ozma and her company are magically transported to the Isles, where the Wizard turns Quiberon to stone. The Queen reveals she is Tattypoo herself — enchanted by Mombi years before and restored to her true identity after glimpsing her past in the witch's magic window. Akbad is pardoned, Cheeriobed and Orin are made King and Queen of the East over the Munchkin Country, Trot is made a Princess of the Ozure Isles, Joe King and Hyacinth become rulers of the North, and Benny chooses to remain a live stone man and Herby becomes Court Physician, both joining Ozma's court in the Emerald City.

By Ruth Plumly Thompson · First published 1928 · Genre: Fantasy, Children's Literature, Adventure Fiction · 20 chapters · 54,479 words

First lines

Far to the North, walled in on all sides by the craggy slopes of the / Munchkin Mountains, lies the great Lost Lake of Orizon. And glittering / on its blue bosom, like a large and lovely necklace, rest the Ozure / Isles of Oz. Now Oz itself, this mysterious land about which we read / and hear so often, is a large oblong Kingdom divided into four smaller / Kingdoms with the Emerald City in the exact center. Here dwells Ozma, / the present ruler, a little fairy of great gentleness and power. While / all the Kingdoms in Oz are subject to Ozma, each has its own special / sovereign.

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The Giant Horse of Oz is listed on Textopian as a novella by Ruth Plumly Thompson, dated 1928 CE.

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fantasy · adventure · children's literature · magical world · Oz universe · magical creatures · whimsical · fairy tale · quest · talking animals · enchantment · wonder

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More by Ruth Plumly Thompson