Showing results by author "Lord Dunsany" in All Categories

The Gods of Pegana is the first book by Anglo-Irish fantasy writer Lord Dunsany, published on a commission basis in 1905. The book is a series of short stories linked by Dunsany's invented pantheon of deities who dwell in Pegana, and was a huge influence on authors such as Lovecraft and Tolkien. This is one of my favorite works of weird fantasy fiction by Lord Dunsany, and is a masterful cosmological piece of indulgent prose that actually contains some sublime wisdom between the lines.

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 Parliament of Erl tells their king that they want a more magical king for the future. They believe magic will bring fame to their beloved, but unknown, little village. Honoring their request, the king sends his son to Elfland to seek as his bride the King of Elfland's Daughter. The story travels from Erl to Elfland and back again meeting along the way magical creatures and enchanted lands as well as landscapes among the fields we know. The story unfolds as the magical and mundane worlds fail to mix quite as easily as the Parliament of Erl had planned.

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 Ghosts begins as straightforward haunted house story, one coming out of the Gothic tradition. Our hero, a skeptic, is staying with his brother at an ancient baronial estate. There, he argues with his brother about the existence of ghosts, and what sorts of evidence for their existence would be acceptable. Then, in order to make his point, he proceeds to induce in himself a ghostly experience by means darkness, drugs, and deprivation.

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.

Here is a very short, a very slight sort of tale which may yet manage to hold either a very big ghost or a very potent allegory. Lord Dunsany penned this sometime about the period of the First World War. Yet in what period of history, from the most ancient past up to very present, has not something of the spectre of Andelsprutz been perceptible to those with a sense of history. For those, this story will prove a "thought-piece" as well as a compelling fantasy.

Travel along as award-winning audiobook narrator Mike Vendetti and Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany, better known as Lord Dunsany take us on a trip an early 20th century stoner.

Time and the Gods is a collection of short stories involving Lord Dunsany’s invented pantheon of deities who dwell in Pegana. Dunsany was a key figure in the development of the fantasy genre, and his influence was noted by a diverse assortment of later writers of speculative fiction, including H. P. Lovecraft, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Arthur C. Clarke. Evocative, poignant, and bitingly clever, the legends and fables in Time and the Gods draw the listener into a singular world of dreamlike imagination and unforgettable characters.

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.

Journey with us through realms of wonder in these tales from the quill pen of Lord Dunsany.

Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany, (July 24, 1878 - October 25, 1957), commonly known as Lord Dunsany, was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist who published more than 90 books during his lifetime, as well as hundreds of short stories, plays, and essays. He gained a name in the 1910s as a great writer in the English-speaking world. The following recording includes the short stories "The Sword of Welleran" and "Carcassone."

The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories is the third book by Anglo-Irish fantasy writer Lord Dunsany, considered a major influence on the work of J. R. R. Tolkien, H. P. Lovecraft, Ursula K. Le Guin, and others. It was first published in hardcover by George Allen & Sons in October 1908, and has been reprinted a number of times since. Issued by the Modern Library in a combined edition with A Dreamer's Tales as A Dreamer's Tales and Other Stories in 1917.

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.

The Charwoman’s Shadow is a mesmerizing fantasy set in old Spain. When a young man apprentices under a magician, he uncovers the dark secret of the charwoman who lost her shadow. A beautifully written, whimsical tale of magic, sacrifice, and wonder.

Don Rodriguez: Chronicles of Shadow Valley is a swashbuckling adventure set in Spain’s Golden Age. Following the journey of a young nobleman seeking his fortune, this tale blends romance, duels, and mystery in a world reminiscent of Don Quixote and Robin Hood.

Fifty-One Tales is a collection of fantasy short stories by Irish writer Lord Dunsany, considered a major influence on the work of J. R. R. Tolkien, H. P. Lovecraft, Ursula K. Le Guin and others.

"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.

The Gods of Pegana was the book that marked the transition from imaginary creatures in the real world to the gods of imaginary world. Lord Dunsany was the most influential writer in the genre that came to be known as fantasy, of which his stories set trends for that continue to this day.

Edward Plunkett, the Baron Dunsany, was just gaining his stride as the world's first modern fantasy author, and wrote this book of tales to help show that dreams still came, dark and fantastical as they may be.