Showing results by author "Lord Dunsany" in All Categories

After 700 years of being ruled by man, the Parliament of Erl is ready to be ruled by a magical lord. Obeying the immemorial custom, the lord of Erl sends his son Alveric to fetch the King of Elfland’s daughter, Lirazel, to be his bride. Alveric makes his way to Elfland, where time passes at a rate far slower than the real world, wins her hand, and they return to Erl together. Alveric and Lirazel marry and have a son, but marriage between a mortal and a fairy princess is never simple. Lirazel struggles to adapt to the customs of humans.

The poetic style and sweeping grandeur of The King of Elfland's Daughter has made it one of the most beloved fantasy novels of our time, a masterpiece that influenced some of the greatest contemporary fantasists. The heartbreaking story of a marriage between a mortal man and an elf princess is a masterful tapestry of the fairy tale following the 'happily ever after'.

Of all the weavers of magic, there is none like Lord Dunsany. During his long lifetime he wrote more than 60 books including novels, plays, poetry collections and most memorably, innumerable exotic and fantastical short stories. Here is the very best of Dunsany's extraordinarily evocative tales of Faerie, of dreamworlds and of magic.

The King of Elfland's Daughter is one of the most beloved fantasy novels of our time. Lord Dunsany, in his inventive, poetic style, tells the heartbreaking story of a marriage between a mortal man and an elf princess. This masterpiece has influenced some of our greatest contemporary fantasists, including Neil Gaiman, J.R. Tolkien, H.P. Lovecraft, Fritz Leiber, Ursula K. Le Guin, and C.L. Moore, who stated: "No one can imitate Dunsany, and probably everyone who's ever read him has tried." Dunsany's "The Gods of Pegana" follows "The King of Elfland's Daughter."

A collection of fables, vignettes, and parables from the fanciful mind of Lord Dunsany. These brief tales feature characters such as Time, Death, Fame, Winter, Spring, the Fog, the North Wind, the blackbird, the god Pan, the river Styx boatman Charon, and others - in fantastical, whimsical, allegorical, and poignant scenarios.

The audiobook is a collection of short stories linked by Dunsany's invented pantheon of deities, witches, magic, and spirits who live in Pegāna. It is a work of ironic fantasy in a unique blend of language and fantastical imagery, simultaneously occupying the science-fiction and fairy-tale genres.

Lord Dunsany mixes reality with fantasy in this forgotten collection of modern detective stories. Some are macabre, others have a lighter and more amusing touch, but every story stimulates the imagination and reveals the acknowledged master of the short story at his very best.

The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories is the third book by Irish fantasy writer Lord Dunsany, who is considered to be a major influence on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, H. P. Lovecraft, Ursula K. Le Guin, and others.

The great fantasy writer Lord Dunsany wrote very little in the way of fantasy after the onset of the First World War. This was partly because he was busy, having volunteered in 1915 and becoming a Captain in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in Derry. However, the reality of the world bore in on our hero at this time, and it is not difficult to imagine that his heart moved to more serious concerns. Dunsany’s days of high fantasy, it seems, ended with the emergence of civil unrest in his nation.

The Gods of Pegāna is the first book by influential fantasy writer Lord Dunsany. In a series of short vignettes, Lord Dunsany invents a pantheon of deities who dwell in Pegāna and chronicles the history of their imagined universe. It was followed by a further collection, Time and the Gods. In lush language and dreamlike prose, Lord Dunsany’s talents are on full display as he lays the groundwork for the fantasy genre. The Dunsany Mythos features the complete contents of The Gods of Pegāna and Time and the Gods in a single audiobook edition.

Sent forth on a quest to bring magic to the Vale of Erl, the young lord Alveric obtains a sword of thunderbolt iron, and crosses the twilight border into Elfland, returning with the beautiful Princess Lirazel as his bride. But, for two people from different worlds, however much in love, happiness is not guaranteed, and in the fields, we know, where all things are subject to the remorseless march of time, nothing truly lives happily ever after.

The story began when the lord of Erl was told by his people they wanted a magic lord to rule them. That took some doing, but he sent his son, Alveric, to retrieve Lirazel, daughter of the king of Elfland, to be his wife and thus fix the situation. At first, the king was angered and sent guards to kill Alveric, but the young man of Erl fought them off, and Lizarel fell for him and decided to leave with him. Later, under a spell, she decided she wanted to see her old home again.

"The Mermaid's Husband" is a poetic short story by Lord Dunsany, a writer known for his contributions to fantasy literature in the early 20th century. The story revolves around a mermaid and her husband, exploring themes of love, longing, and the complexities of relationships across different worlds. The narrative presents the mermaid as a creature of beauty and the sea, caught between her oceanic home and the world of humans. The husband, who is a human, represents the terrestrial life that clashes with the enchanting but perilous allure of the ocean.

This was the book that launched a genre. Modern fantasy collections trace their lineage back to Lord Dunsany, and this was his first work that today's listeners would recognise in tone and settings.

Brought to you by Altrusian Grace Media. The Book of Wonder is a collection of short stories by Lord Dunsany, published in 1912. It is a remarkable work that showcases Dunsany's imaginative storytelling and his mastery of creating vivid and fantastical worlds. The book consists of numerous individual tales, each offering a glimpse into a unique realm filled with magic, mythology, and mystery. Dunsany's prose is rich and lyrical, transporting listeners to extraordinary landscapes and introducing them to a variety of enchanting characters.

Edward Plunkett, better known as Lord Dunsany, published this tale of the Wild Things in 1908. In this story one of the creatures desires to obtain a soul in order to partake in the joy of human music and worship, which she can't experience without it.

Anyone who has to spend the better part of his days chained to a routine job in our workaday world will appreciate the sorcery that captured the heart of Mr. Sladden. That gentleman's experience in finding a private peep-hole out of this world is one we all may envy.

This is a happy, feel-good tale by Lord Dunsany aka Edward Plunkett, the 18th Baron of Dunsany. Read by award-winning narrator Mike Vendetti, the wild things take you into their world.

The Book of Wonder is one of the most important books in the lineage of fantasy fiction. It introduced themes that Lord Dunsany worked with for the rest of his career, which created tropes that you'll recognise as if you've read and loved this book many times before.

There are books that awaken the intellect, books that stir the heart—and then, rarest of all, there are books that shift the fabric of reality, that open quiet doors in the mind through which something older, stranger, and more beautiful begins to seep in. A Dreamer’s Tales is such a book. In this book, Lord Dunsany does not merely tell stories. He conjures realms beneath reason, cities where time is a superstition, and gods born from silence.