The King of Elfland’s Daughter

Lord Dunsany’s The King of Elfland’s Daughter is one of the most beloved fantasy novels of our time. The surpassingly charming, dreamlike, and wildly imaginative tale takes place in the ancient land of Erl, which borders the ethereal world of Elfland. When the elders of Erl decide they wish to be ruled by a magic lord, Alverac, the firstborn son of the king, must venture to Elfland for a bride. Magical adventures and mysterious encounters ensue in this story about the power of bonds that are forged in the heart. Praised by the likes of H. P. Lovecraft, J. R. R. Tolkien, Guillermo del Toro, Neil Gaiman, Jorge Luis Borges, and Ursula Le Guin, this poetic, sweeping tale is a timeless masterpiece. This Warbler Classics edition includes a biographical timeline.

Lord Dunsany was an immensely prolific Anglo-Irish writer of fantasies, novels, dramas, short stories, and poetry. An Irish aristocrat whose peerage stretched back to medieval times, Lord Dunsany is considered one of the earliest and most significant authors of modern fantasy literature. He has been described as a “fantasist’s fantasist” and his work has strongly influenced a genre that stretches back to the medieval Romances populated by wizards and dragons and reaches forward to the edge of contemporary science fiction.

“One of the seminal fantasies of the century.”
—The Encyclopedia of Fantasy

“No amount of mere description can convey more
than a fraction of Lord Dunsany’s pervasive charm.”
—H. P. Lovecraft