author
William Henry Frost
1863–1902
A Brown-educated journalist and storyteller, he turned legends, opera, and folklore into lively books for younger readers. His work helped bring King Arthur, Wagner, and Irish fairy tales to a broad American audience at the end of the 19th century.
3 Audiobooks
Fairies and Folk of Ireland
by William Henry Frost
The Knights of the Round Table: Stories of King Arthur and the Holy Grail
by William Henry Frost
The Wagner Story Book: Firelight Tales of the Great Music Dramas
by William Henry Frost
About the author
Born in North Providence, Rhode Island, on March 18, 1863, he graduated from Brown University in 1886 and soon moved into newspaper work. Archival and biographical sources connect him with the New York Tribune, where he worked as a reporter and later covered drama, showing the mix of literary and theatrical interests that shaped his books.
He is remembered mainly for retellings written for general and younger readers, including The Wagner Story Book, The Court of King Arthur, The Knights of the Round Table, and Fairies and Folk of Ireland. Those books reworked big cultural traditions—opera, Arthurian legend, and folklore—into clear, inviting narratives rather than scholarly treatments.
He died in 1902. Although not widely known today, his books remained accessible through library and public-domain collections, and they still show a gift for making older stories feel warm, readable, and adventurous.