If there is an author that I wish I had read earlier in my life, its Lord Dunsany. Being a fan of Lovecraft, I had heard of Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany, before. Knowing he was a major influence on Lovecraft, I have no excuse for not reading Lord Dunsany earlier. Mea culpa. If you want to inject a bit of magic into your life, you really need to read Dunsany. He is one of the few authors who can give Tolkien a run for his money. And though I’m prone to superlatives, I’m not exaggerating here.

I recently just finished A Dreamer’s Tales, one of Lord Dunsany’s many short story collections. Like my discussion of Tolkien, labeling this a review of Dunsany feels almost insulting to a master fantasist and cornerstone of the fantasy genre. Therefore, this post is more my own feelings upon reading Lord Dunany’s tales of fantasy for hte first time. They were some of the most beautiful pieces of short fantasy I’ve ever read, and, while not all are packed with action, they possess a certain magic that very, very few authors can pull off.

Take the story Blagdaross. Lord Dunsany manages inject magic into garbage. GARBAGE!

An unstruck match that somebody had dropped spoke next. “I am a child of the sun,” he said, “and an enemy of cities; there is more in my heart than you know of. I am a brother of Etna and Stromboli; I have fires lurking in me that will one day rise up beautiful and strong. We will not go into servitude on any hearth nor work machines for our food, but we will take out own food where we find it on that day when we are strong. There are wonderful children in my heart whose faces shall be more lively than the rainbow; they shall make a compact with the North wind, and he shall lead them forth; all shall be black behind them and black above them, and there shall be nothing beautiful in the world but them; they shall seize upon the earth and it shall be theirs, and nothing shall stop them but our old enemy the sea.” Then an old broken kettle spoke, and said: “I am the friend of cities. I sit among the slaves upon the hearth, the little flames that have been fed with coal. When the slaves dance behind the iron bars I sit in the middle of the dance and sing and make our masters glad. And I make songs about the comfort of the cat, and about the malice that is towards her in the heart of the dog, and about the crawling of the baby, and about the ease that is in the lord of the house when we brew the good brown tea; and sometimes when the house is very warm and slaves and masters are glad, I rebuke the hostile winds that prowl about the world.”

Broken kettles and unused matches are magical putty in the hands of Lord Dunsany. Tolkien may have created whole mythologies and worlds full of magic. Lord Dunsany will give you a huge dose of wonder has he describes the thoughts of a piece of discarded cork! Lord Dunsany make you nostalgic for a time you’ve never lived in and a past you’ve never had.

Deserted cities, cities with souls, Kings and knights searching for a city they’re fated to never find, hashish smokers traveling through other realms, towns where you aren’t allowed to ask questions because doing so will wake up the dreamers and usher in the end of the world. This is the fantasy we need in the modern age.

Another story features the once glorious city of Bethmoora. Once great, the city now lies abandoned. The story goes that at the height of its glory, the city was visited by three messengers. Once the inhabitants of the city hear snatches of the message, they’re all possessed by a great fear that makes them all abandon the city in a single day. What did the messengers say? Wouldn’t we all like to know.

All of Lord Dunsany’s stories feature some of the finest, most poetic prose I’ve read. The King James Bible’s influence over Lord Dunsany is apparent and could very well be part of what makes his writing so magical.

Lord Dunsany hasn’t just written stories, he’s managed to awaken a sense of wonder that rivals even what Tolkien did with Middle-earth. Why Dunsany isn’t on the pedestal right next to Tolkien bewilders me and makes me think there are sinister and conspiratorial forces in the universe that are purposefully memory holing wondrous works of fantasy. Given the state of modern popular fantasy, I’m not so quick to dismiss those suspicions.

You MUST read Lord Dunsany. He’s as much a cornerstone of fantasy as Tolkien is, perhaps more so. I’ll have to pick up The King of Elfland’s Daughter very soon.