The King of Elfland's Daughter (1924) by Lord Dunsany

 The 1924 trade edition

When The King of Elfland’s Daughter was first published one hundred years ago, it was Dunsany’s second novel (of fourteen, eventually, including one published nearly fifty years after his death), following The Chronicles of Rodriguez (1922; titled Don Rodriguez in the US edition), which is an oddly structured book, for Dunsany, in writing his first novel, seemed to think that all he needed to do was write a bunch of chronicles about the same character until he had enough pages to call it a novel. Dunsany learned to do much better in his second novel, which is perhaps his best, and one which has been hailed a fantasy classic for many years.

It didn’t start with that reputation. Early reviewers didn’t know who should read it. The Saturday Review of Literature said:  “Children would be delighted by the book, but adults should find it a source of unique enjoyment” (11 October 1924).  While The Outlook warned: “The King of Elfland’s Daughter cannot be read to children; it is too grown up for them; and, despite its indubitable appealing poetic quality, it is likely to seem not quite grown up enough for most grownups” (29 October 1924).

 The 1924 limited edition

Other contemporary reviewers made interesting comments.  Forrest Reid, in The Nation and Atheneum, noted that the novel is: “Delicate, imaginative and persuasive. In the fantasy there is no hint of terror, the magic is a white magic, the enchanted light that touches both worlds is soft and benign” (5 July 1924). Edward Abbe Niles, the writer on jazz and the American promoter of the works of E.R. Eddison, found it: “A strange and beautiful book, wanting in the extremes of terror or of farce found respectively in "The Laughter of the Gods" and in part of "Don Rodriguez" but with all their sorcery; few primary colors here, but pastels, and the deep blue of the night sky” (The Independent, 20 December 1924).

The publisher, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, did an oversized edition, limited to 250 signed copies, with a frontispiece by S.H. Sime.  This came out in May 1924, while the UK trade edition (also containing Sime's frontispiece), from the same publisher, came out in June. The US edition, from the NY offices of G.P. Putnam’s Sons, came out in October. After which, the book drifted into obscurity.  It was not reissued until June 1969, an early title in the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, with evocative cover art by Bob Pepper. This edition was successful, and was reprinted a number of times. Other Dunsany titles appeared in the Ballantine series, and Dunsany’s reputation as a master fantasist grew. 

One odd paratext by Dunsany about the novel is found not on its own dust-wrapper, but on the dust-wapper of the US edition (1928) of Dunsany’s fourth novel, The Blessing of Pan. The comment (quoted in a publisher's advertisement) does not appear on the UK dust-wrapper. It is the only hint Dunsany ever gave about his setting of the book “about a thousand years ago,” putting it firmly in this world in the past, rather than in a invented fantasy world.  The full comment appears below:

 THE KING OF ELFLAND'S DAUGHTER

Of this novel, Lord Dunsany writes:

"My Tale concerns some people living about a thousand years ago, in a perfectly ordinary village in a quite ordinary land, only not far from them, little more than one hard day's walk, lies the border of Elfland. Determining that their village and valley, which they love, should at last become well-known among other lands, they took too much interest in magic. Their traffic with Elfland brings their village that touch of mystery which they think will make it as famous as they had planned. It grows more and more magical and gets quite beyond their plans. And one day Elfland moves and passes over the village, leaving them to dream in the eternal calm of Elfland; but their village passes out of all human remembrance." 

 This tale was written, much of it, at Lord Dunsany's Castle in Ireland, the home of elves and leprechauns, and much of their quality has found its way into the pages of his book. The story is filled with all the gorgeous trappings of a super-fairy tale . . .  enchanted swords,and magic tunes, trolls and unicorns, kings and witches, a great hunter and a Princess.