Showing results by author "Lord Dunsany" in All Categories

Edward Plunkett, the Baron Dunsany, was just gaining his stride as the world's first modern fantasy author, and wrote this book of tales to help show that dreams still came, dark and fantastical as they may be.

Fifty-One Tales is a collection of fantasy short stories by Irish writer Lord Dunsany, a major influence on J. R. R. Tolkien, H. P. Lovecraft, Ursula K. Le Guin and others. Each story is a short vignette, a single moment of strangeness or horror in the face of death.

Lord Dunsany was the most influential writer in the genre that came to be known as fantasy, which his stories set trends for that continue to this day. In this collection you’ll find sixteen stories from the first and greatest master of the fantasy genre.

A fun adventure in a Spain that never was, in the vein of Dumas and Stevenson, with more than a taste of Cervantes. Don Rodriguez is a young nobleman who is banished from the family castle, and must set out with his rapier and mandolin to win his own estate, and perhaps even a bride. Along with his trusty servant Morano, he journeys far into the heart of the mythical Shadow Valley. Echoes of The Princess Bride resonate throughout.

The Gods of Pegana was the book that marked the transition from imaginary creatures in the real world to the gods of imaginary world. Lord Dunsany was the most influential writer in the genre that came to be known as fantasy, of which his stories set trends for that continue to this day.

The great fantasy writer Lord Dunsany wrote very little in the way of fantasy after the onset of the First World War. This was partly because he was busy, having volunteered in 1915 and becoming a Captain in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in Derry. However, the reality of the world bore in on our hero at this time, and it is not difficult to imagine that his heart moved to more serious concerns. Dunsany’s days of high fantasy, it seems, ended with the emergence of civil unrest in his nation.

Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett was born into a very unusual situation in 1878. He was the eldest scion of a family that had lived in the oldest castle in Ireland since its construction in 1180 CE, and became the 18th Baron Dunsany in 1899 at the age of 21, when his father passed away. He was a soldier, lord, military trainer, propaganda writer, activist, and invented Dunsany’s Chess, in which one player has four ranks of pawns and no other pieces. He published mostly first drafts, writing short stories, fantasy novels, plays, and poems, with over 90 publications in his lifetime.

Set in a fairy-tale version of medieval Spain, the story follows Ramon Alonzo's initiation to the "Dark Arts" with a magician in order to procure the gold necessary for his sister's dowry. He befriends his master's charwoman, an old, despairing figure who has given up her shadow in exchange for immortal life. Ramon vows to help her while staying true to his initial purpose of helping his sister who, as it turns out, is willing to embrace her shadows in order to choose her own destiny...

The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories is the third book by Irish fantasy writer Lord Dunsany, who is considered to be a major influence on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, H. P. Lovecraft, Ursula K. Le Guin, and others.

Journey with us through realms of wonder in these tales from the quill pen of Lord Dunsany.

A collection of fables, vignettes, and parables from the fanciful mind of Lord Dunsany. These brief tales feature characters such as Time, Death, Fame, Winter, Spring, the Fog, the North Wind, the blackbird, the god Pan, the river Styx boatman Charon, and others - in fantastical, whimsical, allegorical, and poignant scenarios.

The audiobook is a collection of short stories linked by Dunsany's invented pantheon of deities, witches, magic, and spirits who live in Pegāna. It is a work of ironic fantasy in a unique blend of language and fantastical imagery, simultaneously occupying the science-fiction and fairy-tale genres.

The Ghosts begins as straightforward haunted house story, one coming out of the Gothic tradition. Our hero, a skeptic, is staying with his brother at an ancient baronial estate. There, he argues with his brother about the existence of ghosts, and what sorts of evidence for their existence would be acceptable. Then, in order to make his point, he proceeds to induce in himself a ghostly experience by means darkness, drugs, and deprivation.

This is a happy, feel-good tale by Lord Dunsany aka Edward Plunkett, the 18th Baron of Dunsany. Read by award-winning narrator Mike Vendetti, the wild things take you into their world.

Here is a very short, a very slight sort of tale which may yet manage to hold either a very big ghost or a very potent allegory. Lord Dunsany penned this sometime about the period of the First World War. Yet in what period of history, from the most ancient past up to very present, has not something of the spectre of Andelsprutz been perceptible to those with a sense of history. For those, this story will prove a "thought-piece" as well as a compelling fantasy.

Anyone who has to spend the better part of his days chained to a routine job in our workaday world will appreciate the sorcery that captured the heart of Mr. Sladden. That gentleman's experience in finding a private peep-hole out of this world is one we all may envy.

Edward Plunkett, better known as Lord Dunsany, published this tale of the Wild Things in 1908. In this story one of the creatures desires to obtain a soul in order to partake in the joy of human music and worship, which she can't experience without it.

TIME AND THE GODS is the second book by Irish fantasy writer Lord Dunsany, considered a major influence on the work of J. R. R. Tolkien, H. P. Lovecraft, Ursula K. Le Guin, and others. It is a collection of short stories linked by Dunsany's invented pantheon of deities who dwell in Pegāna. It was preceded by his earlier collection The Gods of Pegāna and followed by some stories in The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories. Dunsany included a brief preface in the original edition and added a new introduction to the 1922 edition.

Brought to you by Altrusian Grace Media. The Book of Wonder is a collection of short stories by Lord Dunsany, published in 1912. It is a remarkable work that showcases Dunsany's imaginative storytelling and his mastery of creating vivid and fantastical worlds. The book consists of numerous individual tales, each offering a glimpse into a unique realm filled with magic, mythology, and mystery. Dunsany's prose is rich and lyrical, transporting listeners to extraordinary landscapes and introducing them to a variety of enchanting characters.

Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany, (July 24, 1878 - October 25, 1957), commonly known as Lord Dunsany, was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist who published more than 90 books during his lifetime, as well as hundreds of short stories, plays, and essays. He gained a name in the 1910s as a great writer in the English-speaking world. The following recording includes the short stories "The Sword of Welleran" and "Carcassone."