Men of Iron is a story written by Howard Pyle of Myles Falsworth, who was only eight when a knight in black armor rode into his father's castle with murder in mind. The event changed Falsworth's life, brought disgrace to his family, and fostered his own training for knighthood so that he might challenge the king's own champion and win back his family's honor. Howard Pyle (March 5, 1853 - November 9, 1911) was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people.

The Lady of Shalott is a Victorian ballad by the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson. It is loosely based on the Arthurian legend of Elaine of Astolat, as recounted in a thirteenth-century Italian novella titled Donna di Scalotta. Tennyson wrote two versions of the poem, one published in 1833, of 20 stanzas, the other in 1842, of 19 stanzas. In 1881 Dodd, Mead and Company commissioned Pyle to illustrate with color drawings two small children's books, The Lady of Shalott and Yankee Doodle. These projects, the first entire volumes that he illustrated, were among the earliest American experiments...