In a different world, and a different time, “The King of Elfland’s Daughter” is a fantasy novel that came before fantasy was even an actual genre. Lord Dunsany, an Irish writer & poet, known heavily for his short stories, was a one of a kind talent in his time — painting new, lush, imaginative worlds with strange an engaging characters and plots. To put it as clear as possible, Mr. Dunsany crossed the boundaries of twilight when it came to creative writing, and is in many ways, a pioneer of the genre itself. Written before more mainstream and well known fantasy works such as The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, “The King of Elfland’s Daughter” is a beautifully written fairy tale of elves, unicorns, princesses, magic, and so much more. Set in the vale of Erl, “The King Of Elfland’s Daughter” starts it’s tale with one of our main characters, Alveric, who is sent beyond the fields we know; into the world of faerie. His mission, assigned to him by his father and lord of erl, is to cross the border of twilight and bring back the elven princess of Faerie for the purpose of enchanting Erl with magic — breaking it free from its mundane, all-to-worldly existence. Well, all goes well quite fast..and the story starts as many would end — with a happily ever after — or should I say, where the happily ever after would start. Though unlike most books where the happily ever after is on the closing page, THIS happily ever after is brought to the forefront just within the first few chapters, and soon goes sour, and that, in essence, is where the heart of the story begins and lies. The experience after the happily ever after.
Filled with beautiful, descriptive, and poetic imagery, “The King Of Elfland’s Daughter” is a book that should not be devoured — but savored. Lord Dunsany is a true story teller, and wraps this unique tale with a complex writing style of his own — one that archaically paints the picture — bringing the words and characters and actions to life. Enhancing them with a certain kind of magic – the magic of wonder, imagination, and power. While some may find his style a bit much — perhaps, a bit TOO descriptive or wordy, I found it enchanting in it’s own right — for without this special touch, the story would not have been as majestically effective.
Aside from the brilliant writing style, and poetic feel of this lovely piece, I also must point out that I enjoyed the contrast between Elfland and Erl. The distinct variation in time, in motion, in change. While Elfland stood nearly changeless, frozen in it’s perfective beauty, the real world went on and withered, and died, and bloomed, and prospered. The sun would rise, and then set. The stars would come out – the moon would grace the sky. And while the people of Erl longed for the ageless beautify of the magnificent Elfland, other creatures in Elfland we’re equally fascinated and entranced by the beauty of change – the beauty of the fields WE know. I liked this concept – the concept of the grass always being greener on the other side, and how true it really is.
In truth, “The King of Elfland’s Daughter” is not for everyone. At times the story seemed to be plod along a bit slowly, and on some nights, after such hectic days with so many thoughts and words rolling in and out of my mind, I found keeping focus on this story a bit tough — for reading this novel without concentration rather disturbs the experience. But all in all, I found this to be a great and interesting read — a fascinating look into what fantasy really was and how it started — and how it became the phenomenon that it is today. And while this in itself, made the read interesting — I found the story to be fulfilling and the characters to be engaging in their own right – especially the troll, Lurulu .
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