The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories #324992

Lord Dunsany’s The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories is a landmark collection of early modern fantasy, transporting readers into dreamlike kingdoms of legendary warriors, ancient gods, ghosts, monsters, enchanted fortresses, mysterious travelers, and forgotten worlds. First published in 1908, the collection includes “The Sword of Welleran,” in which the memory of a city’s legendary defenders continues to protect it after their deaths; “The Kith of the Elf-Folk,” “The Ghosts,” “The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth,” “The Doom of La Traviata,” “The Onlooker,” “The Highwayman,” “Churchill,” “The Whirlpool,” and “The Way of the Woods.” Dunsany combines fairy-tale imagery, myth, melancholy, adventure, and a distinctive archaic style to create stories in which ordinary people encounter the supernatural and heroes venture into realms governed by forces beyond human understanding. With its legendary swords, supernatural beings, strange lands, doomed heroes, and atmosphere of otherworldly wonder, The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories helped establish the literary foundations of modern fantasy and remains essential reading for anyone interested in the origins of the genre.