It was a time when each man’s world was limited to what he could reach on foot or on horseback. Most men were content to stay within the fields we know, listening to the tales of the restless ones who travelled and brought back visions of strange places and stranger times. All was possible and true for none but the travellers had seen with their own eyes—eyes that were always filled with the dazzle of stars and wonder.So all men knew of Elfland—indeed, many had seen its misty beginnings that bordered on the fields we know—never getting too close, of course, for all also knew the special powers of elves. Nevertheless, the good burghers of the peaceful Vale of Erl were eager to benefit from this special magic; consequently they were happy indeed when Alveric, Prince of Erl, ventured off through the mists and brought back with him Lirazel, the shining daughter of the King of Elfland.This was an auspicious beginning. But Lirazel was elf, not mortal. There was no malice in her but neither was she suited to the limited ways of man. No elf could ever be content. And certainly not in the fields we know…

This book contains thirty of the finest stories written by the man many connoisseurs—including myself—consider the greatest fantasy writer of all time.

Among the great writers of fantasy, Lord Dunsany was one of the first: not merely innovative, he was a stylist whose prose has been echoed but never imitated. As Baird Searles has remarked, “His constant repetition of ’the fields we know,’ for instance, is not just a clever phrase. Through it and its ramifications, there is a constant pointing up of the difference between the mundane and the twilit depths of Elfland, where time stands still.”And L. Sprague de Camp says: “Dunsany’s stories are a priceless possession for any lover of fantasy. Like first-rate poetry, they are endlessly rereadable. Those who have not read them have something to look forward to, and an assortment of Dunsany is the foundation stone of any fantasy collection.” The publishers are pleased to announce that this collection includes the entire contents of THE GODS OF PEGANA, unavailable since its original publication in 1905, and never before published in its entirety in America. 

 RODRIGUEZ TRINIDAD FERNANDEZ  CONCEPCION HENRIQUE MARIA—  Lord of Arguento and Duke of Shadow Valley sets forth on his thoughtful, elegant adventures—sword in one hand (for he has been instructed to seek out a war) and mandolin in the other (for any possible ladies who might like to be serenaded en route). His innocent search for war and ladies is conducted in the courtly, leisurely fashion only to be expected from the scion of an ancient house in the Golden Age of Spain. And (as in the case of a slightly more famous compatriot) he quickly acquires a Sancho Panza to assist him in his toilette and travels. But in that happy while, wars were hard to come by. So it is a long time, and many mystical (and even dangerous) adventures later, before Rodriguez feels he has fulfilled his father’s dying request and can return, conscience-free, to complete his destiny and reign as Duke of Shadow Valley.

NO SUBJECT seems less likely for an elegant, romantic fantasy than a woman who spends her days scrubbing away at floors. Ah, but there is something very special about this particular charwoman. Observe, she stoops and bends and squeezes and scrubs. She is performing the commonest of tasks.But she has no shadow.And therein lies magic, and wherein lies magic, there also is beauty…Certainly, of all the weavers of beautiful magic, there is none like Dunsany. He can take the most prosaic of subjects and make a miracle of it. Perhaps his Irish heritage had something to do with his extraordinarily evocative prose, perhaps also it accounts for his own obvious joy in tales of wonder.Whatever the reason, he has made us the lucky inheritors of some of the most lovely fantasies in the English language—of which THE CHARWOMAN’S SHADOW is an outstanding example.

An excellent collectionCertainly, of all the weavers of beautiful magic, there is none like Dunsany. And perhaps his magic is so powerful because he himself believed in basing his stories in the roots of reality. Of writing he said: “It is my belief that those sudden visionary pictures which are the true essence of any art arise like a flower from a seed that has fallen into the mind, sometimes in infancy, sometimes in later childhood, sometimes in adult years, but often as imperceptibly as any seed blown on the wind finds a home for itself in the earth at the end of its wandering. Bricks without straw are more easily made than imagination without memories.”  Dunsany’s life was extraordinarily rich in experience—he was globetrotter, sportsman, poet, peer, lecturer, playwright and much more. However, although he set the matrix for many a following writer of adult fantasy, the richness and individuality of his writing came from a special talent that has never been equalled or duplicated.