Tales Before Tolkien (59 page)

MacDonald, George* (1824–1905)

Scottish writer and minister. MacDonald was a prolific writer of novels for adults, but only a few are fantasies, including
Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women
(1858), his first novel, and
Lilith
(1895), his last. His children's novels include
The Princess and the Goblin
(1872) and
The Princess and Curdie
(1883), both of which were influences upon
The Hobbit
, particularly in the depiction of goblins. MacDonald also wrote a number of fairy stories, recently collected as
The Gifts of the Child Christ and Other Stories and Fairy Tales
(1996), edited by Glenn Edward Sadler. The volume edited by U. C. Knoepflmacher and published as
The Complete Fairy Tales
(1999) contains only MacDonald's shorter fairy tales.

Machen, Arthur* (1863–1947)

Welsh writer and newspaperman. Machen wrote both supernatural fiction and fantasy, including
The Great God Pan & The Inmost Light
(1894),
The Three Imposters
(1895), and the collection
The House of Souls
(1906). Machen's best book,
The Hill of Dreams
(1907), is a kind of spiritual autobiography, written in a superb style. An omnibus containing much of his best work is
Tales of Horror and the Supernatural
(1948).

Macleod, Fiona [pseudonym of William Sharp] (1855–1905)

Scottish writer and editor. In the 1890s, Sharp's shadowy double, “Fiona Macleod,” emerged, though Sharp pretended she was real for the rest of his life. Macleod's writings, unlike Sharp's, are mystical Celtic fantasies, heavy with nostalgia and atmosphere. The best tales are collected in
The Sin-Eater and Other Tales
(1894) and
The Washer of the Ford and Other Legendary Moralities
(1896). Her allegorical novels include
Pharais
(1894),
The Mountain Lovers
(1895), and
Green Fire
(1896).

Merritt, A[braham].* (1884–1943)

American writer and editor. Merritt published only a handful of novels and short stories, most of which appeared in pulp magazines. The best of his works are
The Moon Pool
(1919), which concerns a mysterious portal activated by moonlight, and
The Ship of Ishtar
(1924), in which a man is taken by an ancient ship to an alternate world.

Mirrlees, Hope (1887–1978)

British writer and poet. Mirrlees's sole fantasy novel is the excellent
Lud-in-the-Mist
(1926), which tells of a town near the borders of Faerie and its problem with the illegal trafficking of fairy fruit.

Morris, Kenneth* (1879–1937)

Welsh writer and theosophist. Morris reworked stories from the Mabinogion into two companion novels,
The Fates of the Princes of Dyfed
(1914) and
Book of the Three Dragons
(1930). His supreme achievement lay in his short stories, ten of which were collected in
The Secret Mountain and Other Tales
(1926). His complete short stories can be found in
The Dragon Path: Collected Tales of Kenneth Morris
(1995). An excellent Toltec fantasy novel about the coming of the god Quetzalcoatl is
The Chalchiuhite Dragon
(1992).

Morris, William* (1834–96)

British writer, artist, and poet. Morris is perhaps best remembered for his association with the Pre-Raphaelite movement and for the textiles, furniture, and wallpaper he designed. Morris was also especially interested in medieval literature, translating
Beowulf
and various Icelandic sagas. Though he wrote some fantasy short stories when young, he returned to fantasy in the last decade of his life, writing seven prose romances with medieval settings:
A Tale of the House of the Wolfings
(1889),
The Roots of the Mountain
(1890),
The Story of the Glittering Plain
(1891),
The Wood beyond the World
(1894),
The Well at the World's End
(1896),
The Water of the Wondrous Isles
(1897), and
The Sundering Flood
(1897). Some of these were printed in gorgeous editions at Morris's own Kelmscott Press. Morris's pioneering works had a profound influence on J. R. R. Tolkien and many other fantasy writers.

Nesbit, E[dith].* (1858–1924)

British writer. Nesbit was an extremely popular writer for children. Her first fantasy novel,
Five Children and It
(1902), concerns a “Psammead” or sand-fairy. Tolkien certainly knew this work, for he refers to Psammeads in the early drafts of
Roverandom.
Two sequels followed,
The Phoenix and the Carpet
(1904) and
The Story of the Amulet
(1906), in which the Psammead returns. Another Nesbit title of special interest is
The Book of Dragons
(1900).

O'Brien, Fitz-James (1828–62)

Irish-born American writer and poet. O'Brien published no books during his lifetime, and the posthumous collections of his short stories were often severely edited. The authoritative two-volume edition
The Supernatural Tales of Fitz-James O'Brien
(1988), edited by Jessica Amanda Salmonson, restores the texts to their original versions. Volume 1 is subtitled
Macabre Tales;
and volume 2,
Dream Stories and Fantasies.

Pain, Barry (1864–1928)

British writer and editor. Pain was one of the most popular humorists of his day, but his fantasy and supernatural stories, written throughout his lifetime and sprinkled through numerous volumes, are the basis for his reputation today. A collection of these stories,
The Glass of Supreme Moments and Other Tales
(2003), has recently appeared from the small Canadian publisher Ash-Tree Press.

Pyle, Howard (1853–1911)

American writer and illustrator. His most famous works are illustrated retellings of Arthurian legends, but his original fairy tale
The Garden behind the Moon
(1895) deserves to be better known.

Ruskin, John (1819–1900)

British writer and art critic. Ruskin's
The King of the Golden River,
written in 1841 but published ten years later, is probably the first English fairy story written for children. Influenced by the German
Kunstmärchen,
it still manages to create an identity of its own and remains a supreme achievement in the literary fairy tale. The original illustrations by Richard Doyle are also very striking.

Stephens, James (1882–1950)

Irish writer, primarily remembered for
The Crock of Gold
(1912), about an Old Philosopher and his problems with leprechauns and Irish gods.

Stevens, Francis* [pseudonym of Gertrude Barrows Bennett] (1883–1948)

American writer. Stevens published only a small number of stories. Her
The Heads of Cerberus
(1919) is a pioneering work of alternate history. Many of her stories mix elements of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. A long overdue collection of her work is
The Nightmare and Other Tales of Dark Fantasy
(2003).

Stockton, Frank R[ichard].* (1834–1902)

American writer and editor. Stockton was a prolific writer of novels and short stories, but it is for his children's stories that he is remembered. His collections
The Floating Prince and Other Fairy Tales
(1881),
The Bee-Man of Orn and Other Fanciful Tales
(1887), and
The Queen's Museum
(1887) were very successful. A recent omnibus is
The Fairy Tales of Frank Stockton
(1990), edited by Jack Zipes.

Tieck, Ludwig* (1773–1853)

German writer. Tieck was one of the primary figures of Romanticism, and many of his best tales were collected in the three volumes of
Phantasus
(1812–16). Translations of Tieck's stories have been widely anthologized, but only an incomplete translation of
Phantasus
has appeared in English, as
Tales from the Phantasus
(1845), translated by Julius C. Hare, James Anthony Froud, and others.

Wells, H[erbert]. G[eorge]. (1866–1946)

British writer, best remembered for his early scientific romances, including
The Time Machine
(1895),
The War of the Worlds
(1898), and
The First Men in the Moon
(1901). Wells's short stories include a number of fantasies. The best omnibus is
The Complete Short Stories of H. G. Wells
(1998), edited by John Hammond.

Wilde, Oscar (1854–1900)

Irish writer and dramatist. Wilde's two volumes of fairy tales,
The Happy Prince
(1888) and
A House of Pomegranates
(1891), contain nine tales, two of which, “The Happy Prince” and “The Selfish Giant,” are considered classics.

Wright, Austin Tappan* (1883–1931)

American writer and professor of law. At his death in an automobile accident in 1931, Wright left behind the manuscript of a very large novel, along with various background and ancillary matter associated with the book. The novel,
Islandia,
was edited for publication in 1942 by Wright's daughter.

Wyke-Smith, E[dward]. A[ugustine].* (1871–1935)

British writer and mining engineer. Wyke-Smith published eight novels, four of which were for children.
Bill of the Bustingforths
(1921) is, like
The Marvellous Land of Snergs
(1927), a delightful anti–fairy tale. Of Wyke-Smith's adult novels,
The Second Chance
(1923) is science fiction, concerning an old man rejuvenated to his youth by a drug made from ape glands.

Young, Ella (1867–1956)

Irish writer and poet. Young published three volumes of stories retelling Irish folk tales,
Celtic Wonder Tales
(1910),
The Wonder-Smith and His Son
(1927), and
The Tangle-Coated Horse
(1929). Her
Unicorn with Silver Shoes
(1932) is an original children's fantasy and probably her finest book.

A Del Rey
^®
Book

Published by The Random House Publishing Group

Introduction, headnotes, compilation and author notes © 2003 by Douglas A. Anderson

“Chu-bu and Sheemish” by Lord Dunsany. Copyright © Lord Dunsany. Reprinted by permission of Joe Doyle, Curator, on behalf of the present Lord and Lady Dunsany.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright
Conventions. Published in the United States by The Random House Publishing Group,
a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously
in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

“The Coming of the Terror” by Arthur Machen. Copyright © Arthur Machen. Reprinted by permission of A. M. Heath & Co. Ltd.

“Golithos the Ogre” by E. A. Wyke-Smith,
reprinted from
The Marvellous Land of Snergs
. Copyright © 1927
by E. A. Wyke-Smith, © 1996 by Edward S. Wyke-Smith and Nina Wyke-Smith.
Reprinted by permission of Edward S. Wyke-Smith and Nina Wyke-Smith.

“The Story of Alwina” from
Islandia: History and Description (By Jean Perrier, Translated by John Lang)
by Austin Tappan Wright. Copyright © 1981 by William Wright,
Phyllis Wright, Benjamin Wright, and Paul J. Mitarachi.
Reprinted by permission of Henry Holt and Company, LLC.

“A Christmas Play” by David Lindsay. Copyright © 2003 by Mrs. Diana Moon
and Mrs. Helen Baz. Printed by permission of the copyright holders.

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