The Sword Of Welleran And Other Stories (2005) - Plot & Excerpts
Dunsany Would Have Written the Stories They Told in RivendellEveryone always starts articles and reviews about Lord Dunsany by observing that he was probably the finest British fantasy writer before Tolkien emerged. I have no quibble with that position. But a bit more needs to be added."Lord of the Rings" is, of course, the ultimate quest adventure, full of action and movement. People drink beer, perform noble deeds, sharpen their swords, rally for battle, and do heroic things in a vast and dangerous world. But in their quiet and contemplative moments they recount and reflect upon tales from earlier times, involving the ancient nobility of legendary heroes from barely remembered lands. Dunsany's tales feel more like those tales.It is entirely fitting that, considering his time and circumstances, Dunsany's stories are a bit more formal, a bit sadder, a bit slower, a bit "older" feeling than "The Lord of the Rings", (and pretty much anything written since). His stories are more delicate, more ethereal, and feel more like marvels and wonders than they do histories. Most of the tales have dreamlike elements, although descriptions can sometimes be as sharp as glass. The best stories feel like they were remembered rather just than written. They can be gentle or feverish; they can be pointed or vague. There is poetry in the prose and strong visual elements. These are not whimsical tales or fairy stories. This is not Victorian claptrap. These are tales filled with hard lessons and bright truths. They may be dreamlike, but these dream castles are made of stone. For all of their delicacy, these stories are written with crisp authority.As I read these I kept returning to a different book, Jan Morris's "Last Letters From Hav". Morris is one of Britain's most honored travel writers, and "Last Letters From Hav" is her brilliant book about Hav, an imaginary city-state that she created so convincingly that holiday makers clamored for flights and tours to the place. Hav feels exactly like the modern city that might have survived and grown on the ruins of one of Dunsany's cities. In a more modern form it has the same ethereal and insubstantial and romantic reality and solidity of Babbulkund or Merimna. So, for what it's worth as a genial suggestion, after this Dunsany volume you might want to bookend your reading experience with Hav.Please note that I found this book while browsing Amazon Kindle freebies. I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.
Tolkien was a curse for fantasy literature.The professor, speaking the truth, has no fault, but he and the ones who declared the commercial success of the "tolkenian" vision of fantasy (Terry Brooks and Dungeons & Dragons above all) were a curse for this genre. Today, any writer of fantasy must deal with the pattern elves-dwarves-orcs-humans-hobbits/halflings to embrace it, deny it or parody it, at least to some extent.Maybe fantasy was much more simple for Lord Dunsany: there was no Tolkien, no Terry Brooks, no Weis-Hickman; he had not to care about what other fantasy writers had written before him because there had been nearly none. Maybe he had heard something about William Morris and George Macdonald, and read some of their books, but even so fantasy at those times was like a virgin forest, waiting to be discovered. Nowadays I imagine this same forest crossed by a highway and its trees cut down to build a metropolis... but that's another story.Yes, maybe fantasy was much more simple for Lord Dunsany: in no other ways I can explain his originality, the freshness of his tales, the sense of wonder he is able to move in the reader. Lord Dunsany writes fantasy and he doesn't feel any shame in using elements which today fantasy(less) writers will firmly refuse: he makes talk an Earthquake and a Hurricane; he makes one of his characters speak with a Whirlpool resting on the sand (!!!); he makes your spine chill with his honiric landscapes (oh my god, the dreams of Gaznak); he summons the reader in his tales. And then he leaves him free.Of course, some novels in the collection are more exciting than others: I loved "In the twilight"and "The fortress Unvanquishable, save for Sacnoth" while "The Fall of Babbulkund" bored me a little. Somewhere you will find christian-influenced elements and maybe you too, you will think "Oh no, another Lewis!" as I did at first. But keep on reading: you will notice that the religious parts too, far from being moral lessons for the "pious" reader, are well inserted in the context, enriching the story.Am I forgetting something? Yes, the language. Well it's not so difficult: sometimes you will need a little patience, but nothing compared to William Morris's The wood beyond the world. So don't worry.Five stars, no doubt. And now the gods of Pegana await me.
What do You think about The Sword Of Welleran And Other Stories (2005)?
Ces nouvelles ont été écrites au début du 20è siècle. L’écriture est très poétique mais j’ai eu beaucoup de mal à rentrer dans l’univers de Dunsany. Certains contes sont assez jolis, comme "Les Cousines du Peuple elfin" (une créature des marais voudrait une âme) ou celui où l’Amour s’adresse à un vieil homme, mais la plupart m’ont laissés indifférente, voire m’ont agacés à cause de la surcharge de répétitions : "La ville invincible sauf par Sacnoth", par exemple: deux phrases sur trois commencent par "et" ou "mais", au bout de deux pages, je n’en pouvais plus des conjonctions de coordination. Cette façon d’écrire n’est pas pour moi.
—Isil
Lord Dunsany was an Irish Nobleman who was intrumental in popularizing Chess in Ireland, invented his own version of "Fantasy Chess" (one side has standard pieces and the other 32 pawns) which is still being played, and wrote fantasy books and stories which he successfully published. Tolkein was apparently influenced by Dunsany. Most of the stories in this collection are what I would classify as mood pieces, without much tension and drama. The writing is beautiful and often Victorian. Get this book if you can appreciate passages like this:"...on the summit of the dome the image of Rollery sat gazing across The Cyresian Mountains towards the wide lands beyond, the lands that knew his sword. And beside Rollory, like an old nurse, the figure of Victory sat, hammering into a golden wreath of laurels for his head the crowns of fallen kings."
—Hal Brodsky
I wanted to read this because I heard that H.P. Lovecraft felt Lord Dunsany was one of the two people who really influenced his storytelling (the other being Poe). I can definitely see that connection (word choice to set the scene, ancients gods, cities, and lands, and even a dream land), but these stories are so much brighter and cheerier than those of Lovecraft... it really surprised me. I really enjoyed these magical tales; they're mostly the sort of stories I'd be willing to read aloud to my kids, expecting questions about vocabulary. "The Kith of the Elves" was one of my favorites.
—Jay
