“There they stood, ranged along the hill-sides, met

To view the last of me, a living frame

For one more picture! in a sheet of flame

I saw them and I knew them all. And yet

Dauntless the slug-horn to my lips I set,

And blew ‘Childe Roland to the Dark Tower came.'”

Stephen King took Childe Roland from Robert Browning who got it from Shakespeare. So where the heck did Shakespeare get it from?  In this episode of “Bookworm History” we’ll delve into the stories behind the tale of “Childe Roland” and examine the changes it went through on its way to King’s “The Dark Tower” epic!  Click on the title card below to check it out!