Benutzer:Cjoerges/Swallows and Amazons series

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Swallows and Amazons ist eine zwölfteilige Kinderbuchreihe des englischen Schrifstellers Arthur Ransome, so genannt nach dem ersten Buch der Reihe. Die Reihe spielt in der Zeit zwischen den beiden Weltkriegen. Erzählt werden die Abenteuer von verschiedenen Gruppen von Kindern, die sie hauptsächlich in den Schulferien in England erleben. Die Geschichten drehen sich um verschiedene Outdoor-Aktivitäten, wie Zelten, Goldschürfen, und vor allem Segeln.

Die Reihe ist in vielen Ländern, aber vor allem in England auch heute noch sehr beliebt. Sie trägt zur Tourismusindustrie im Lake District und in den Norfolk Broads bei, in denen die Handlung der meisten der Bücher spielt. Es gibt auch mehrere Vereine, die sich, hauptsächlich von der Reihe inspiriert, dem Studium und der Bekanntmachung von Ransomes Werken widmen. Der erste war der Arthur Ransome Club in Japan. Es gibt auch eine britische Vereinigung mit internationaler Mitgliedschaft.

Nur fünf Bücher der Reihe wurden ins Deutsche übersetzt, aktuell verfügbar ist nur der erste Teil.

Überblick

Die Serie dreht sich um mehrere Kindergruppen und deren Erlebnisse während der Ferien. Im Gegensatz zu anderen Kinderbuchreihen sind sie dabei weitestgehend keinen Gefahren durch kriminelle Erwachsene ausgesetzt, sondern binden ihr Umfeld phantasievoll in ihre Erlebnisse ein. Die Erwachsenen werden regelmäßig als 'Eingeborene' oder 'Eskimos' bezeichnet. Die Nordspitze des Sees wird zum Nordpol, ein Berg in der Nähe des Sees zu Kanchenjunga.

Zwei der Bücher, Peter Duck und Seeräuberkönigin Li, sind metafiktional. Sie erzählen Geschichten, die sich die Protagonisten der Bücher selbst ausgedacht haben.

Personen

The Swallows

• John Walker — eldest of the Walker children and Captain of the Swallow
• Susan Walker — Mate of the Swallow and the cook and domestic organizer
• Titty Walker — Able Seaman of the Swallow and the most imaginative of the Walkers. This name was the nickname of the real life Mavis Altounyan, taken from Joseph Jacobs's children's story Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse. It has caused titters among generations of children since, causing it to be changed to Kitty in the original 1963 television series of Swallows and Amazons, and Tatty for a 2016 BBC Films adaptation (but in the 1974 BBC adaptation she was Titty).
• Roger Walker — initially Ship's Boy, later Able Seaman (and Ship's Engineer in Great Northern?), mischievous, mechanical and very fond of chocolate. He is the youngest of the children apart from the baby.
• Bridget Walker — Ship's Baby who proves to be a brave member of the crew in Secret Water. Referred to as Vicky in Swallows and Amazons because of her supposed resemblance to Queen Victoria.

The Amazons

• Nancy Blackett (real name: Ruth) — Captain of the Amazon; an enterprising leader. She is an imaginative and lively tomboy who is always willing to create fantasies and adventures. Though somewhat brash and short-tempered, she nonetheless has a heart of gold and is always quick to defend the weaker and less-confident characters in the tales
• Peggy Blackett (real name: Margaret) — Mate of the Amazon, Nancy's sister; although a bit timid and unassuming, she tries to live up to Nancy's expectations

The Ds

• Dorothea Callum — imaginative romantic novelist introduced in Winter Holiday with her younger brother.
• Dick Callum — Dorothea's younger brother who is scientific and thoughtful, usually comes up with solutions to technical problems. Though younger than his sister, Dick is Captain of the Scarab and she the First Mate.

The Coots

• Tom Dudgeon — competent sailor, owner and skipper of the Titmouse and (briefly) captain of the Teasel on the Norfolk Broads, in Coot Club and The Big Six.
• Bess "Port" Farland — left-handed twin and expert yacht racer
• Nell "Starboard" Farland — right-handed twin and expert yacht racer

The Death and Glories (surnames never stated):

• Joe — co-owner of the Death and Glory and owner of a white rat, 'Ratty'
• Bill — co-owner of the Death and Glory
• Pete — is the youngest co-owner of the Death and Glory and keenest fisher of the crew

The Eels

• Don (The Mastodon) — Chief of the Eels (in Secret Water)
• Daisy — Fierce and bold, acts like the chief most of the time, even though she is the youngest Eel.
• Dum — Eel, elder brother, and best eeler of the tribe.
• Dee — Eel, younger brother, though older than Daisy,

Friendly Natives

• James Turner also known as Captain Flint or Uncle Jim — the well-traveled brother of Mrs Blackett and therefore uncle to Nancy and Peggy Blackett, by whom he is considered "unfriendly" at the beginning of Swallows and Amazons. He is given his nickname by the Walker family (the Swallows) after Captain Flint of Treasure Island. After differences are resolved he becomes the closest adult ally to the Swallows and the Amazons and joins them in many adventures.
• Molly Blackett (real name: Mary) — mother of Nancy and Peggy Blackett (Peter Duck is dedicated to Mrs Robert Blackett and Mrs E.H.R. Walker)
• Mrs Walker — called Mother (or Mary by Ted) — mother of the Swallows. Australian by birth, she gives her children more freedom than was common at the time.
• Cdr Walker — called Daddy ('Ted' by Mrs Walker/Mary) — father of the Swallows and sender of the famous telegram "Better drowned than duffers if not duffers won't drown"
• Professor and Mrs Callum — parents of the Ds; Prof Callum is an archaeologist
• Jim Brading — owner of the Goblin in We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea which he lends to Cdr Walker in Secret Water
• Timothy Stedding — friend of Captain Flint, originally known as Squashy Hat the rival prospector in Pigeon Post
• Dr Dudgeon, Mrs Dudgeon, and "our baby" — Tom's family
• A.P — Mr Farland, Port and Starboard's father, the "Aged Parent" and brother to Dr Dudgeon. A widower, he works as a solicitor in [[Norwich}}.
• Mrs McGinty — Housekeeper to Mr Farland
• Mrs Barrable — Custodian of the Teasel. The children decide to make her "Admiral" of the "fleet" consisting of the Teasel and the Titmouse.
• Jim Woodall — skipper of Sir Garnet the fastest wherry on the Bure. Port and Starboard work their passage (peeling potatoes) when Sir Garnet is late with her tide and is thus able to give them a lift down to Yarmouth.
• The Billies — Old Billy and Young Billy, father and son charcoal burners, who befriend the Swallows in Swallows and Amazons and Young Billy treats Roger for his sprained ankle in Swallowdale. Young Billy is over 70 and Old Billy is 94.
• Mr & Mrs Jackson — farmers at Holly Howe, the Swallows' initial holiday location. They own the Swallow
• Mr & Mrs Dixon — farmers at Dixon's Farm, where the Swallows often go for milk, and where Dick and Dorothea stay during Winter Holiday. Mrs Dixon was nurse to Dick and Dorothea's mother when she was young. She is famous for her pork pies and also makes toffee and fudge.
• Silas — cowhand at Dixon's Farm, where the Swallows often go for milk, and where Dick and Dorothea stay during Winter Holiday. Silas and Mr Dixon make the Ds' sledge following the rescue by Dick of the cragfast sheep.
• Mr & Mrs Swainson and Mary Swainson (their granddaughter) — Farmers at Swainson's Farm where the Swallows go for milk when shipwrecked in Swallowdale; Neddy who is 90 sings them a song. Mrs Swainson is famous for patchwork quilts (mentioned in Swallowdale and in Winter Holiday). Mary darns Roger's shorts after he has slid down the Knickerbockerbreaker in Swallowdale. She also rows the Great Aunt, Miss Maria Turner, over to Captain Flint's houseboat on her way to the railway station for her holiday in The Picts and the Martyrs.
• Jacky Warriner — farmer's son met briefly by Roger & Titty in Swallowdale, in The Picts And The Martyrs he brings milk for the Ds, lends them his saw which they find in the Dogs Home, shows them how to store milk (under a stone covering a scooped-out hollow in moss), teaches them to guddle trout in the beck, and also gives them a rabbit and an onion. These latter form the main ingredients for the stew cooked by Dorothea the night before the burglary, when Nancy visits the Dogs Home at night in a rainstorm and shares the rabbit stew. Jacky is pleased to have his knife with a bone handle, which the Ds find in the Dogs Home and return to him.
• Mrs Tyson and her son Robin — In Pigeon Post; she is apprehensive about fires and they are glad to escape from Tyson's Farm to the campsite by the spring (Titty's Well). Robin lends them a crowbar for the sinking of the well.
• Mrs M. Braithwaite — usually called Cook — cook to the Blackett family.

Other friendly characters

• Peter Duck – elderly sailor with a story of treasure in the book of the same name. He also appears in Swallowdale as Titty's imaginary friend.
• Bill – cabin boy of the Viper who joins the crew of the Wild Cat in Peter Duck.
• Missee Lee (or Miss Lee) – Chinese Cambridge-educated pirate leader in the book of the same name.
• Slater Bob – an old slate miner who tells the children tales of a lost gold seam in Pigeon Post.

Unfriendly Natives

• Maria Turner, also known as Great Aunt Maria, the Great Aunt or The G.A. – the childhood guardian of James Turner and Molly Turner, whose parents are never named. Jim and Molly address her as "Aunt Maria" and she held considerable sway as head of the family, even after Molly's marriage to Bob Blackett. As a parent figure to their mother, Great Aunt Maria clearly thought of herself as something of a grandmother-figure to her great-nieces Nancy and Peggy Blackett. However, their view of her as some sort of distant relative, as well as an overprotective adventure-spoiler, forms the basis of the conflict between the girls and her. Of the twelve completed books in the series, she makes appearances in two, Swallowdale and The Picts and the Martyrs.
• George Owdon – a Norfolk boy, older than Tom Dudgeon, in Coot Club and The Big Six. He steals and sells birds' eggs, so is an enemy of the Coots.
• Ralph Strakey – a friend of George Owdon in The Big Six, in which George and Ralph attempt to frame the Coots for theft and for setting adrift moored boats.
• The Hullabaloos – a party of five (three men and two women) who hire the Margoletta in Coot Club. Last seen in gaudy but wet yachting gear and beach pyjamas being escorted to an hotel in Yarmouth having rammed a post on Breydon Water. They are called Ronald, James and 'Livy' (Olivia?), plus an unnamed man and unnamed woman (called Jerry and Maude in the TV series Swallows and Amazons Forever).
• Mr Jemmerling – an egg collector and owner of the Pterodactyl in Great Northern?
• The Dogmudgeon – Scottish head ghillie and one of the Gaels who at first stalk the explorers in Great Northern? but later assists them against Mr Jemmerling.
• The Young Chieftain and his father The McGinty who capture Mr Jemmerling in Great Northern?; they initially think the shore party have been sent to drive the deer from their traditional breeding ground.

Other unfriendly characters

• Taicoon Chang and Taicoon Wu — leaders of the Three Island Pirates who want to chop off heads in Missee Lee.
• Black Jake and the crew of the Viper — five criminals who are after Peter Duck's treasure. The porter says Black Jake has "got the scum of the place with him in that hooker of his." Bill describes them: Simeon Boon just out from two years hard, Mogandy the negro, George (a brother of Black Jake, who is wanted by the police), and a man with a scarred face who was chucker-out or bruiser at the Ketch as Ketch Can (a fisherman's tavern in Lowestoft). Later when they climb onto the Wild Cat and attack Bill and Peter Duck, it is apparent that the others do not trust Black Jake, and that Black Jake's brother is called George (see Peter Duck, chapters 1, 13 & 30).

Animal characters

• Polly – Ship's parrot, given to Titty by Captain Flint at the end of Swallows and Amazons. Also features in Peter Duck, Swallowdale and Missee Lee.
• Gibber – Ship's monkey, promised to Roger by Captain Flint at the end of Swallows and Amazons. Only features in Peter Duck and Missee Lee, in Swallowdale he is referred to as being on holiday at the zoo
• Sinbad – Ship's kitten, rescued by John when found clinging to a chicken coop in the middle of the North Sea during We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea, he also features in Secret Water
• William – the noble and heroic pug who braved the mud to save the crew of the Teasel from starvation on Breydon Water in Coot Club; also in The Big Six
• Bess – Jacky Warriner's sheepdog in The Picts and the Martyrs
• Roy – the Dixon's sheepdog in Winter Holiday
• Ringman – the Jacksons' sheepdog in Winter Holiday
• Ratty - Joe's white rat in Coot Club and The Big Six

Settings

The Swallows and Amazons series has strong links with the real world. Extensive elements of both the characters and the settings can be traced back to incidents in Ransome's life and are the raw material for much discussion and theorising about precise relationships. This contributes strongly to the series' air of authenticity.

The first book, Swallows and Amazons, and four sequels — Swallowdale, Winter Holiday, Pigeon Post and The Picts and the Martyrs — are set in and around an unnamed lake in the English Lake District. Most of the unfinished Coots in the North would also have been set on the lake had Ransome completed it before his death. The lake and the surrounding fells are based on an amalgam of Windermere and Coniston Water, places where Ransome spent much of his childhood and later life. Many places in the books can be identified with real locations in the area, though Ransome has modified the real location in producing his fictional setting. Generally, the geography of the lake resembles Windermere (though Wild Cat Island has a number of important elements from Peel Island on Coniston Water) while the fells and hills surrounding it more closely resemble the area around Coniston.

Coot Club and The Big Six are set in an accurate representation of the Norfolk Broads, particularly the small village of Horning and its surrounding rivers and broads. Coots in the North also begins in the Broads before moving to the lake in the north.

We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea and Secret Water are set in coastal Suffolk and Essex, with the former involving a voyage from Pin Mill on the River Orwell to Flushing, Netherlands and the latter the exploration of the islands of Hamford Water near Walton-on-the-Naze.

The books Peter Duck and Missee Lee involve voyages of the schooner Wild Cat to the Caribbean and the South China Sea. These stories appear to be metafictional in relation to the rest of the series, and were originally planned by Ransome (see below) as stories written by the children. The final published works, however, are presented simply as continuing adventures in the series, though different in a number of ways. Most obvious is the inclusion of fear and violence (which is mostly absent from rest of the series) and the extended voyages would have taken the children from school for unacceptably long periods. Both books are described on their title pages as "based on information supplied by the Swallows and Amazons", a description which is absent from the rest of the books in the series.

Two abandoned chapters of Peter Duck (called Their Own Story) were found in Ransome's papers held in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. They describe the story of Peter Duck being made up by the Walkers and Blacketts on a wherry in the Norfolk Broads during the winter following the events described in Swallows and Amazons. This composition was later referenced in Swallowdale, but not in Peter Duck itself.

The final complete book, Great Northern? is set in the Outer Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland. This book is sometimes included with Peter Duck and Missee Lee as metafictional because the story would involve the children being away from school during the nesting season, which is in term time. Also while the use of firearms is reasonable in the context of the plot it seems to be at odds with the more peaceful adventures of most of the rest of the series).

Zeitliche Einordnung

The following diagram shows the implied timeline of the books in the series. S, A, and D represent the main protagonists, the Swallows, Amazons, and Dick/Dorothea, respectively.

Zeichnungen

Aktuelle Ausgaben der Reihe enthalten Zeichnungen von Arthur Ransome selbst. Die erste Ausgabe der englischen Originalversion Swallows and Amazons enthielt lediglich die Karten des Sees und von Wild Cat Island, weil Ransome die Zeichnungen von Steven Spurrier, die der Herausgeber, Jonathan Cape, beauftragt hatte, nicht gefielen. Für die zweite Auflage wurde Clifford Webb mit den Zeichnungen beauftragt, denen Ransome widerstrebend zustimmte. Webb illustrierte auch den zweiten Band, Swallowdale, aber Ransome entschied sich, die Bilder zum dritten Band, Peter Duck, selbst zu zeichnen. Da diese Erzählung vorgeblich auf den Berichten der Kinder selbst basierte, zeichnete Ransome so, wie sie es getan hätten. Diese Zeichnungen waren so beliebt, dass Ransome seine restlichen Bücher selbst illustrierte und 1938 auch eigene Bilder für Swallows and Amazons und Swallowdale zeichnete, um Webbs Bilder zu ersetzen.

Ransome's pictures were done in pen and ink with no colour, although colours have been added by some publishers in later editions. Typically, figures in the pictures are shown from the back, though there are some which show the faces of a few of the characters. Taqui Altounyan, the oldest of the children to whom the first edition of Swallows and Amazons was dedicated, recalls that "He shirked drawing faces and got over that difficulty with back views of shaggy heads of hair or hats".

Reception

The sixth book in the series, Pigeon Post, won the inaugural Carnegie Medal from the Library Association in June 1937, recognising the best 1936 children's book by a British subject. It was reviewed in The New York Times the month after J. B. Lippincott & Co. of Philadelphia published the first U.S. edition. Ellen Lewis Buell welcomed the latest work in the six-year-old series that had firmly established "a special niche in juvenile literature". She noted the children's "vivid collective imagination which turned play into serious business" (hunting a gold mine on the moors) and observed, "It is the portrayal of this spirit which makes play a matter of desperate yet enjoyable earnestness which gives their distinctive stamp to Mr. Ransome's books. ... Because he understands the whole-heartedness of youth he can invest a momentary experiment, such as young Roger's Indian scout work, with real suspense."

Series

Weihnachtsferien (engl.: Winter Holiday)

Dorothea und Dick Callum verbringen ihre Winterferien auf einem Bauernhof an einem See. Sie richten sich eine alte, etwas abgelegene Scheune als Observatorium ein. Von dort aus beobachten sie vier andere Kinder, die auf dem nahegelegenen Bauernhof Holly Howe ihre Ferien verbringen.

Coot Club

In Coot Club treffen Dorothea und Dick Callum, die beiden 'Ds', auf den 'Coot Club'. Der Coot Club besteht aus Tom Dudgeon, den Zwillingen Nell und Bess Farland, genannt 'Backbord' und 'Steuerbord' (engl.: 'Port' und 'Starboard'), sowie drei jüngeren Jungen, den 'Death and Glories' — Joe, Bill und Pete. Die 'Coots' sehen sich selbst als Vogelschutzorganisation.

Ransome siedelt die Handlung in den Norfolk Broads an, die er wirklichkeitsgetreu beschreibt. Auch die seemännischen Aspekte werden detailliert beschrieben.

Die Geschwister Dorothea und Dick Callum reisen in die Norfolk Broads, um dort die Sommerferien mit Mrs Barrable, einer Freundin der Familie, auf deren Boot Teasel zu verbringen. Sie hoffen, dort Segeln zu lernen, um in Zukunft gemeinsam mit den Walkers und Blacketts, die sie im Band Weihnachtsferien kennengelernt haben, segeln zu können. Allerdings werden sie bei ihrer Ankunft enttäuscht: Der Mann der Gouvernante musste verreisen, und nur mit den beiden segelunerfahrenen Kindern möchte diese nicht segeln.

Kurz nach ihrer Ankunft auf der Teasel helfen sie Tom, sich zu verstecken. Der Junge ist auf der Flucht vor einer Gruppe von Radaumachern (engl.: hullabaloos) - Urlaubern, die lautstark feiernd die Gewässer der Gegend mit ihrem gemieteten Motorboot Margoletta befahren. Dabei hatten sie ihr Boot unwissentlich direkt vor dem Nest eines Blässhuhns (engl.: coot) festgemacht. Die Bitte von Joe, woanders festzumachen, um den Vogel nicht bei der Nestpflege zu stören, hatten die Urlauber ignoriert. Daraufhin löste Tom heimlich die Mooringleinen ihres Bootes, und das Boot trieb von dem Nest weg. Die Urlauber hatten Tom aber noch wegrudern sehen, und nahmen die Verfolgung auf.

Nachdem Tom an Bord der Teasel aufgenommen ist, können die Ds gemeinsam mit ihm als Skipper und Mrs Barrable doch noch mit der Teasel auf Fahrt gehen. Später stoßen auch noch die Zwillinge Backbord und Steuerbord dazu, die zuhause aufgehalten worden waren. Gemeinsam befahren sie die Norfolk Broads von ... bis.... Mit ihnen fährt die Angst, dass Tom doch noch von den Radaumachern entdeckt wird, die die Suche nach ihm nicht aufgegeben haben. Als die Teasel und auch Toms Jolle, die Titmouse, bei Nebel und Niedrigwasser auf dem Breydon Water auf Grund laufen und festsitzen, können sie der Crew der Margoletta nicht mehr entkommen. Allerdings rammt die Margoletta im letzten Moment eine Dalbe und versinkt. Die Deaths and Glories können die Margoletta in seichtes Wasser ziehen und ihre Besatzung retten.

Secret Water

Die Walker-Kinder zelten gemeinsam mit den Blacketts und haben von ihrem Vater den Auftrag erhalten, die Inselwelt um sie herum zu kartieren. Dabei lernen sie die Eels kennen. In einem Wettlauf gegen die Zeit versuchen sie, ihren Auftrag zu erledigen.

Die Handlung schließt sich zeitlich an We didn't mean to go to sea an. Die Darstellung des Handlungsortes orientiert sich am Hamford Water, einem Naturschutzgebiet in Essex.

The Big Six

Die Death and Glories werden beschuldigt, die Vertäuungen mehrere Boote gelöst und außerdem Schäkel gestohlen zu haben. Nur Tom Dudgeon sowie die Dorothea Dick Callum glauben an ihre Unschuld. Gemeinsam versuchen die sechs, die wahren Täter zu überführen.

Handlungsort sind die Norfolk Broads.

The Coots in the North

unvollendet beim Tod Ransomes 1967, Abschnitte wurden 1988 von Hugh Brogan zusammen mit anderen kurzen Werken veröffentlicht

Adaptations

Im September und Oktober 1963 strahlte die BBC Swallows and Amazons als sechsteilige Serie aus, gegen die Arthur Ransome heftige Abneigung äußerte.

1974 produzierte EMI eine Filmversion von Swallows and Amazons, mit Virginia McKenna und Ronald Fraser.

1984 verfilmte die BBC die Bände Coot Club und The Big Six als Fernsehserie unter dem Titel Swallows and Amazons Forever!.

In 2010, a stage musical version of the first book in the series was created at Bristol Old Vic, adapted by Helen Edmundson with music by Neil Hannon, and directed by Tom Morris. The show was successful, and was taken on tour, including a stint in London's West End.

A new film version of Swallows and Amazons by Harbour Pictures and BBC Films was released in the United Kingdom on 19 August 2016. As with the 1963 version, the film changes the character Titty′s name, this time to 'Tatty' in keeping with the original fairy story names.

In 2018 a stage adaptation of the series by Bryony Lavery opened at Storyhouse, Chester.

External links

Wikiquote: the Swallows and Amazons series – Zitate

• The Arthur Ransome Society
• The Nancy Blackett Trust
• Northern River Pirates society (via the Internet Archive)
• Sailing Swallow
• Swallows and Amazons information and news website
• All Things Ransome
• Vorlage:IMDb title
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{{SwallowsandAmazonsbooks}} {{Works about sailing}} [[Category:Swallows and Amazons series]] [[Category:Fiction set in the 1930s]]