Editing Roald Dahl (section)

=== Childhood ===
[[File:Roald Dahl Asta Else Alfhild Cardiff 1927A.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|At age 10 with his sisters Alfhild, Else and Asta. [[Cardiff]], 1927.]]
Roald Dahl was born in 1916 at Villa Marie, Fairwater Road, in [[Llandaff]], Cardiff, Wales, to Norwegians Harald Dahl and Sofie Magdalene Dahl (''née'' Hesselberg).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://vestraat.net/TNG/getperson.php?personID=I87052&tree=IEA |title=Harald Dahl b. 1863 Sarpsborg, Østfold d. 1920 Wales: Erik Berntsens slektssider |last=Berntsen |first=Erik |date=21 October 2020 |website=Erik Berntsens slektssider |access-date=21 October 2020 |archive-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027200439/http://vestraat.net/TNG/getperson.php?personID=I87052&tree=IEA |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Howard|2017}} Dahl's father, a wealthy [[shipbroker]] and [[self-made man]], had emigrated to Britain from [[Sarpsborg]], Norway and settled in Cardiff in the 1880s with his first wife, Frenchwoman Marie Beaurin-Gresser. They had two children together (Ellen Marguerite and Louis) before her death in 1907.<ref name="Dahl timeline"/> Roald's mother belonged to a well-established Norwegian family of lawyers, priests in the [[Church of Norway|state church]] and wealthy merchants and estate owners, and emigrated to Britain when she married his father in 1911. Dahl was named after Norwegian polar explorer [[Roald Amundsen]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/11/28/roald-dahl-life/ |title=Getting to Know the Real Roald Dahl – An Imagination for the Ages |website=The Vintage News |first=Tijana |last=Radeska |date=28 November 2018 |access-date=22 March 2019 |archive-date=22 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322184530/https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/11/28/roald-dahl-life/ |url-status=live}}</ref> His first language was [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], which he spoke at home with his parents and his sisters Astri, Alfhild, and Else. The children were raised in Norway's [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] state church, the [[Church of Norway]], and were baptised at the [[Norwegian Church, Cardiff]].{{sfn|Palfrey|2006|p=76}} His maternal grandmother Ellen Wallace was a granddaughter of the member of parliament [[Georg Wallace]] and a descendant of an early 18th-century [[Scottish people|Scottish]] immigrant to Norway.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dahl |first= Roald|date=1999 |title=I Roald Dahls kjøkken|chapter=Min mor |location=Oslo |publisher=[[Gyldendal Norsk Forlag]] |page=65 |isbn= 8205256136}}</ref>

Dahl's sister Astri died from [[appendicitis]] at age seven in 1920 when Dahl was three years old, and his father died of pneumonia at age 57 several weeks later.<ref name="biography"/> Later in the same year, his youngest sister, Asta, was born.<ref name="Dahl timeline" /> Upon his death, Harald Dahl left a fortune assessed for probate of £158,917 10s. 0d. (equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|158917.5|1920|r=0}}}} in {{Inflation-year|UK}}).{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}<ref name="probate">{{cite web |url=https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar?surname=Dahl&yearOfDeath=1920#calendar |title=Dahl, Harald |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=1920 |website=probatesearchservice.gov |publisher=UK Government |access-date=25 September 2021 |archive-date=25 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925191150/https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar?surname=Dahl&yearOfDeath=1920#calendar |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Bratberg |first=Øivind |date= 2016 |title= Roald Dahl: Grensesprengeren |chapter=Utvandrere |location=Oslo |publisher=Dreyer |page=23|isbn= 9788282651806}}</ref> Dahl's mother decided to remain in Wales instead of returning to Norway to live with relatives, as her husband had wanted their children to be educated in English schools, which he considered the world's best.{{sfn|Wheeler|2006|p=9}} When he was six years old, Dahl met his idol [[Beatrix Potter]], author of ''[[The Tale of Peter Rabbit]]'' featuring the mischievous [[Peter Rabbit]], the first licensed fictional character.<ref>{{cite news |title=First look at Roald & Beatrix starring Dawn French with special cameo from Bill Bailey, 17 November 2020 |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/comedy/2020-11-17/roald-and-beatrix-dawn-french-bill-bailey-news/ |access-date=6 October 2022 |publisher=Radio Times |archive-date=20 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201220194802/https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/comedy/2020-11-17/roald-and-beatrix-dawn-french-bill-bailey-news/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Peter Rabbit blazed a trail still well trod |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/peter-rabbit-blazed-a-trail-still-well-trod-c9zdfx2c6nk |access-date=6 October 2022 |work=[[The Times]] |archive-date=6 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006143043/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/peter-rabbit-blazed-a-trail-still-well-trod-c9zdfx2c6nk |url-status=live}}</ref> The meeting, which took place at Potter's home, [[Hill Top, Cumbria|Hill Top]] in the [[Lake District]], north west England, was dramatised in the 2020 television film, ''[[Roald & Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title=When is Roald and Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse on TV?, 30 November 2020 |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-11-30/roald-beatrix-tail-of-curious-mouse-release-date/ |access-date=6 October 2022 |publisher=Radio Times |archive-date=21 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201221150136/https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-11-30/roald-beatrix-tail-of-curious-mouse-release-date/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Potter">{{cite news |title=Roald & Beatrix is a slow-burning, yet heart-warming Christmas tonic for fans of all ages, 24 December 2020 |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-12-24/roald-and-beatrix-sky-review/ |access-date=6 October 2022 |publisher=Radio Times |archive-date=24 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224235431/https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-12-24/roald-and-beatrix-sky-review/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:11 High Street, Llandaff (Jan 2023).jpg|thumb|left|[[11 High Street, Llandaff|Mrs Pratchett's former sweet shop in Llandaff]], Cardiff, has a [[blue plaque]] dedicated to Dahl. His autobiography ''[[Boy (autobiography)|Boy: Tales of Childhood]]'' recalls the prank he and his friends played on her using a jar of gobstoppers.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/8253467.stm |title=Blue plaque marks Dahl sweet shop |date=14 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230112824/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/8253467.stm |archive-date=30 December 2021 |publisher=BBC. |access-date=24 December 2014}}</ref>]]
Dahl first attended [[The Cathedral School, Llandaff]]. At age eight, he and four of his friends were [[caning|caned]] by the headmaster after putting a dead mouse in a jar of [[gobstopper]]s at the [[11 High Street, Llandaff|local sweet shop]],<ref name=IND/> which was owned by a "mean and loathsome" old woman named Mrs Pratchett.<ref name=IND/> The five boys named their prank the "[[Boy (autobiography)#Great mouse plot of 1924|Great Mouse Plot of 1924]]".{{sfn|Sharp|2005|p=516}} Mrs Pratchett inspired Dahl's creation of the cruel headmistress [[Miss Trunchbull]] in ''[[Matilda (novel)|Matilda]]'', and a prank, this time in a water jug belonging to Trunchbull, would also appear in the book.<ref>{{cite news |title=Matilda by Roald Dahl: Quentin Blake's sketches and original artwork |url=https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/matilda-by-roald-dahl-quentin-blakes-sketches-and-original-artwork |access-date=8 October 2022 |publisher=British Library |archive-date=8 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008120030/https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/matilda-by-roald-dahl-quentin-blakes-sketches-and-original-artwork |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Dahl's childhood sweetshop and its influence on his books |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-wales-37301448/dahl-s-childhood-sweetshop-and-its-influence-on-his-books |access-date=8 October 2022 |work=BBC News |date=13 September 2016 |archive-date=22 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922220330/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-wales-37301448/dahl-s-childhood-sweetshop-and-its-influence-on-his-books |url-status=live}}</ref> Gobstoppers were a favourite sweet among British schoolboys between the two World Wars, and Dahl referred to them in his fictional [[Everlasting Gobstopper]] which was featured in ''[[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory]]''.{{sfn|Ayto|2012|p=154}}

Dahl transferred to St Peter's boarding school in [[Weston-super-Mare]]. His parents had wanted him to be educated at an [[Public school (United Kingdom)|English public school]], and this proved to be the nearest because of the regular [[Aust Ferry|ferry link]] across the [[Bristol Channel]]. Dahl's time at St Peter's was unpleasant; he was very homesick and wrote to his mother every week but never revealed his unhappiness to her. After her death in 1967, he learned that she had saved every one of his letters;<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/arts/sites/roald-dahl/pages/media-2000-school.shtml | title= Roald Dahl's School Days | publisher= BBC Wales | access-date= 24 January 2010 | archive-date= 25 February 2010 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100225091719/http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/arts/sites/roald-dahl/pages/media-2000-school.shtml | url-status= live}}</ref> they were broadcast in abridged form as BBC Radio 4's ''[[Book of the Week]]'' in 2016 to mark the centenary of his birth.<ref name="BBC Book of the Week 2016" /> Dahl wrote about his time at St Peter's in his autobiography ''[[Boy (autobiography)|Boy: Tales of Childhood]]''.{{sfn|Dahl|2013a|pp=85—161}} Excelling at [[conkers]]—a traditional autumnal children's game in Britain and Ireland played using the seeds of [[horse chestnut]] trees—Dahl recollected, "at the ages of eight, nine and ten, conkers brought sunshine to our lives during the dreary autumn term".{{sfn|Dennison|2023|p=9}}