The cover page is adapted from At the Edge of the Forest, a painting completed circa 1820 by August Heinrich. The cover and title pages feature the League Spartan and Sorts Mill Goudy typefaces created in 2014 and 2009 by The League of Moveable Type. www.theleagueofmoveabletype.com/
The King of Elfland’s Daughter
Chapters (36)
- Dedication 0:00
- Preface 0:04
- I: The Plan of the Parliament of Erl 0:33
- II: Alveric Comes in Sight of the Elfin Mountains 15:17
- III: The Magical Sword Meets Some of the Swords of Elfland 29:50
- IV: Alveric Comes Back to Earth After Many Years 45:52
- V: The Wisdom of the Parliament of Erl 54:26
- VI: The Rune of the Elf King 1:08:10
- VII: The Coming of the Troll 1:16:28
- VIII: The Arrival of the Rune 1:28:20
- IX: Lirazel Blows Away 1:43:26
- X: The Ebbing of Elfland 1:54:03
- XI: The Deep of the Woods 2:06:57
- XII: The Unenchanted Plain 2:20:33
- XIII: The Reticence of the Leather-Worker 2:34:27
- XIV: The Quest for the Elfin Mountains 2:45:20
- XV: The Retreat of the Elf King 2:57:17
- XVI: Orion Hunts the Stag 3:10:29
- XVII: The Unicorn Comes in the Starlight 3:25:10
- XVIII: The Grey Tent in the Evening 3:31:20
- XIX: Twelve Old Men Without Magic 3:42:59
- XX: A Historical Fact 3:59:49
- XXI: On the Verge of Earth 4:11:27
- XXII: Orion Appoints a Whip 4:25:24
- XXIII: Lurulu Watches the Restlessness of Earth 4:40:03
- XXIV: Lurulu Speaks of Earth and the Ways of Men 4:54:55
- XXV: Lirazel Remembers the Fields We Know 5:07:36
- XXVI: The Horn of Alveric 5:26:44
- XXVII: The Return of Lurulu 5:45:51
- XXVIII: A Chapter on Unicorn-Hunting 5:59:52
- XXIX: The Luring of the People of the Marshes 6:10:10
- XXX: The Coming of Too Much Magic 6:22:07
- XXXI: The Cursing of Elfin Things 6:33:29
- XXXII: Lirazel Yearns for Earth 6:40:18
- XXXIII: The Shining Line 6:52:17
- XXXIV: The Last Great Rune 7:06:43
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The people of the obscure village Erl demand to be ruled by a magic lord, so their ruler sends his son Alveric to Elfland to wed the elfin princess Lirazel. He brings her back to Erl and the couple have a son, but Lirazel has trouble integrating with human society. When a scheme by her father spirits her away and Elfland vanishes, Alveric begins a mad quest to find where Elfland went.
The King of Elfland’s Daughter is written in the pseudo-archaic prose style for which Dunsany is known. Some contemporaries thought the style did not suit a novel-length work, but contemporary Irish writer George Russell called the book “the most purely beautiful thing Lord Dunsany has written.” The book touches on a range of themes, including the longing for fantastical things lost, the perception of time, sanity and madness, the fear of the unknown, and being careful what you wish for. Large passages are also devoted to hunting; the original edition even featured an illustration of a unicorn hunt opposite the title page. Neil Gaiman wrote an introduction to the 1999 edition, and Christopher Lee was a featured vocalist on a 1977 progressive rock album based on the book.