I've discovered the works of Edward Plunkett The 18th Baron of Dunsany

He's been on my reading list for some time and now thanks to the holiday break I have been exploring some of the great works of fantasy of Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany (24 July 1878 – 25 October 1957) known as Lord Dunsany

Over the weekend I read his early works The Gods of Pegāna and
Time and the Gods which is an epic tale of a pantheon of great and lesser gods in the world of Pegana. There are certainly some evidence of Tolkien's Valar peering out. There is an interesting God of Mirth and Melodious Minstrel called Limpang-Tang which reminds me of Tolkien's Tinfang Warble from the Book of Lost Tales. Behind the Pantheon of Gods there is the mysterious figure of Mana-Yood-Sushai who sleeps while the lesser gods play and again has some interestng parallels to Tolkien's Iluvatar.

Lord Dunsany also wrote some really witty tales which combine primary and secondary worlds. In his short story Miss Cubbidge and the Dragon of Romance a rather prim Victorian lady is whisked away to another world on the back of a
Dragon. In The Coronation of Mr. Thomas Shap a rather ordinary man sub creates a world and then actually starts to live in it an become the king of the world. In "The Wonderful Window" a piece of glass becomes a magical window into another world.








Dunsany was a bit older than Tolkien and came from very aristocratic background. Both Tolkien and Dunsany fought in World War One.

I have heard that his best book is The King of Elfland's Daughter and look forward to reading this one and then will do some more postings on this very interesting sub-creator of secondary worlds,


There is also a book about Lord Dunsany on Google books


Posted from Andrew Higgins IPAD asthiggins@me.com