Blaedud the Birdman — Vera Chapman

Long before mankind conquered the air, Blaedud the Birdman lived and loved in England.

Prince Blaedud was Lord of the Tribes of Britain, but the sky was his domain. Each night he dreamed a great dream -- of a splendid Bird-Woman who swooped down and spirited him up above the clouds. To achieve his dream he built suits of wax and feathers, magnificent gliders of wood and silk. Yet the love of his life, the white-blond Princess Elen, feared his perilous obsession with all her heart. Educated by Druids, granted wings by a beautiful naked sorceress, banished and rescued from a swineherd's mud-cursed realm, he risked his kingdom for the secret of flight, a secret that could dash him to pieces -- or change the destiny of man.