The King of Elflands Daughter, Lord Dunsany
The King of Elflands Daughter, Lord Dunsany
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The King of Elfland's Daughter

Author: Lord Dunsany

Narrator: John Rayburn

Unabridged: 7 hr 17 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/30/2022


Synopsis

Lord Dunsany himself wrote a preface to this fairy tale. He said, “I hope that no suggestion of any strange land that may be conveyed by the title will scare readers away from this book; for, though some chapters do indeed tell of Elfland, in the greater part of them there is no more to be shown than the face of the fields we know, and ordinary English woods and a common village and valley, a good twenty or twenty-five miles from the border of Elfland.”The story began when the Lord of Erl was told by his people they wanted a magic lord to rule them. That took some doing, but he sent his son Alveric to retrieve Lirazel, daughter of the King of Elfland, to be his wife and thus fix the situation. At first, the King was angered and sent guards to kill Alveric, but the young man of Erl fought them off, and Lizarel fell for him and decided to leave with him. Later, under a spell, she decided she wanted to see her old home again. The King, sorry to see his daughter ever being sad, used magic to enlarge Elfland and include the land of Erl.“Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, and dreams are forever.” —Walt Disney“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales.”—Albert Einstein“Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”—C. S. LewisFrom those wonderful viewpoints, everyone in Erl and Elfland survived eternally in the magic realm, as you will now hear.

About Lord Dunsany

Lord Dunsany (1878–1957), full name Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, Eighteenth Baron of Dunsany, was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist best known for his fantasy works. He published over eighty books as well as hundreds of short stories and many successful plays and essays. Lord Dunsany lived most of his life in Ireland at Dunsany Castle and he received an honorary doctorate from Trinity College. He was also an avid chess player, and even invented an asymmetric chess variant called “Dunsany’s Chess.”

About John Rayburn

John Rayburn (1927–2024) was a veteran of over sixty years in broadcasting. He served as a news/sports anchor and show host, and his TV newscast achieved the largest share of audience figures of any major-market TV newscast in the nation. John was a member of the Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame. He was well suited to bring fascinating stories to life concerning the people, places, and things that combine to present lively observations of our day-to-day lives.


Reviews

Goodreads review by J.G. Keely on July 16, 2012

In fantasy, I've seen magic used in many ways: as plot device, curio, religious allegory, and the personification of morals, but rarely do I find a book where magic is truly magical. Too often, it's a convenience, a cliche, but for Dunsany, magic is pervasive, mysterious, unknowable, and lovely. He......more

Goodreads review by Traveller on April 13, 2017

Recommended for: Those who have patience and are comfortable with Victorian and poetic styles in prose, who have romantic souls, and people who enjoy reading poetry and who enjoy introspective, speculative, and exploratory literature and fanciful fantasy. Not recommended for : Those who prefer fast-......more

Goodreads review by Anne on March 21, 2025

Pre-Tolkien fantasy. And if you thought Tolkien meandered... I knew going into it that I probably wasn't going to adore it, but I really wanted to see what it was all about. Mainly, because someone had recommended it to me a while back, and it looked interesting from a classic fantasy sort of view. A......more

Goodreads review by Lena on June 10, 2023

Strong ancient myths vibe. Author copies that style so good that you get lost in his legent-like story compeeletly. A lot of architypes and easy reconizable symbols, but the story still has some uniqness. Reminds a lot of Tolkien.......more

Goodreads review by mark on October 07, 2012

a tale out of time: an old myth reinvented; a new myth born. a wayward bride, a forlorn husband, their son - a pitiless hunter. a defiant old woman; a melancholy old man. trolls delight in delight; unicorns are for slaughter. question: what is Time in Elfland? answer: a fantasy! twelve men want magi......more