Here you have the book in front of you. The reason you've probably read this book is that you read about it somewhere else, and doubtless heard it was a classic, "seminal" work of early fantasy. Indeed, it's not hard once you get into it to agree that Dunsany (Edward Plunkett) was a true pioneer of modern fantasy. His novel is only one notch removed from the old primary sources of fantasy literature: Celtic myths, fairy tales and Norse legends. But does it deserve the critical reputation it has, this reputation building like a snowball only gathering more snow as the years pass?
The answer about its reputation is both yes and no. Yes, it is a refreshingly short work (182 pages), and a weighty story nonetheless. On the other hand, it could be seen as slow-moving and ponderous, an eccentric novel filled with trifling, amusing oddities and near-adventures for our entertainment.
The novel's events are put in motion by a group of men who live in the imaginary county or shire of Erl, somewhere in England in the 16th century. These men decide they have a wish to "be ruled by a magic lord". Because of this, the character Alveric, son of the old King, begins a quest to cross the boundaries between the world of Earth into the magical realm of Elfland. The story then goes forward, pulling in elements of mainly Norse myths and folklore and fairy tales. Alveric seeks the help of the mysterious and Norn-like witch, Ziroonderel, a keeper of esoteric knowledge. He comes into conflict with the elves in their fairy realm , who are represented as tall, magical and seemingly immortal, definitely a Scandinavian rendering. There are "elfin mountains" reminiscent of the Svartalfheim of Norse legend; there are cunning but petty trolls, magical knights and fairy rings; and the King of Elfland is the keeper of all-powerful mystical runes, which when read aloud are capable of changing the very nature of two worlds. Another character, Alveric's son, Orion, is a hunter who encounters enchanted foxes and pursues unicorns with supernatural and "fabulous blood". Perhaps the most important central setting of the story is a fairy palace with many spires almost from the pages of a children's bedtime book, the home of the King of Elfland.
Alveric, who becomes the Lord of Earl, gains a magic sword by supernatural means. He acquires this from the witch Ziroonderel, who forges for him a sword made of metal from a star, a weapon that initially aids him. The novel mainly concerns the consequences of Alveric's actions, as he wins over a witch unable to be "won by any charms that Christians know" and deliberately seeks out a destiny involving magic. He wins his way into Elfland by violence, a headstrong lover who steals the elfin princess Lirazel from her father, the King. After some time living together in the mundane world of Erl, he makes mistakes in interpreting Lirazel's behaviour, and it is his own fault she deserts him. Once the powerful Elf-king has his daughter back, Alveric is shut out of Elfland by magic. He then forms a motley collection of mad companions to seek the land of Faerie once more. But instead Alveric is doomed to travel at the borders of human habitations in a pointless search. When he moves towards Elfland, he arrives in a barren borderland since the King has withdrawn his realm because of the magical bane he carries, the iron sword. Alveric is doomed to wander in this purgatory or limbo until he no longer carries this symbol of death. However, once he does give the sword back to the witch, ironically his two companions, Niv and Zend, stop him going into Elfland as they favour the appreciation of their status of oddness and otherworldiness inside the mundane world of Earth.
Orion, the child of the elf princess and Lord Alveric, lives up to the allusory reference of his name. He is raised by a supernatural agent, Ziroonderel, and then abandoned by both parents (like King Arthur). He grows up fascinated by the two huntsmen, Oth and Threl. His otherworldly abilities soon come to the fore in his love for hunting and his constant yearning for it when he hears "the horns of elfland" which no ordinary ears can hear. He persuades the trolls, who in turn persuade the Will-o'-the-wisps, to join him in Earth and begin the "Coming of Too Much Magic" and the transformation of the ending.
The Princess Lirazel can be viewed as a fickle, free spirit who throughout the novel is trying to break free from the three dominant influences of her father, Alveric and the Freer. She could also be understood as the most important character in the book, a bewitching fairy princess. She is the foremost object of desire for two of the main characters, Alveric and the Elf-King, and it is she who is named in the title of the book. Alveric's desire to be in Elfland is also inextricably bound up with his desire for Lirazel. Near the beginning, it is unclear whether she enchants Alveric deliberately, but at any rate he does become besotted with her and they fall in love almost immediately. However, afterwards she can never reconcile the conflict within herself to love Alveric and please him by following the commands of the Freer, or to return to Elfland and her father the King. While initially love-struck and then caring for her child, after a disagreement she opens her father's rune-spell to return to Elfland. She realises she is not contented there, either; she convinces the Elf-King finally to use his omnipotent rune and bring about all she desires: Erl and Elfland merged together. The two men who desire her most, and her son, are incorporated into the same world and the Freer with his earthly, Christian ideology of another wondrous heaven is excluded.
As a side-mention, the character of the Freer himself is rather interesting. If his name is a version or corruption of the word "Friar", it could also be interpreted as "Free-er", i.e. a freer of men and their souls for God. But his portrait in the novel is ambiguous at best: he emerges as closed-minded, intolerant, offering officious advice and dictatorial in his demands of the Erl "parliament" men. He does not hesitate to curse what he sees as heathen practices and their welcoming of things not "justly allowed to men". While he is described using words like holy, sacred and good, it is noticeable that he does this in a "dark circle", and ultimately at the end he is literally left in the dark, outside Faeryland.
The character in the novel who I believe is the most fleshed-out and interesting, Lurulu the troll, is canny, crafty, low and cunning. He also manages to highlight the differences between the two worlds. While dancing and playing with a fox in a delightful scene, he is drawn into the world of Earth by the promise of Orion for vengeance upon the proud unicorns. Through his eyes we see the mundane setting of Erl through fresh, new eyes: from his place in the pigeon-house he sees cowslips and steeples and details of the beauty of nature in the English countryside. We appreciate the things we are already familiar with anew, through the troll's vision.
Lurulu is willing to leave Elfland along with the rest of his people. The trolls are easily swayed in a sensational way by his stories of the new wonders of Earth. They are willing to leave a realm that is enchanted and beautiful. On the other hand, people in Erl close to the boundary with Elfland have a totally different view. Like the man in the hut who meets Alveric, they don't look towards Faery beyond the earth boundary or they will have to give up their earthly desires. There is a feeling that most humans who've come in contact with the faery realm have a frustrated desire to enter: the desire to experience beauty undying, elfin mountains and spires, bewitching love and immortality. Concentration on this comes at the price of exclusion of all else.
The boundary between Elfland and Erl is created by magic and amorphous, in the beginning. However, the Elf-King pulls back this barrier because Alveric has stolen his daughter and carries a symbol of death with him, his sword formed from a metal that came from beyond Earth. Because Alveric carries death (mortality) with him, he is trapped in a state of limbo when he tries to re-enter Elfland which exists in a state of timelessness. This is a barren wasteland of rock, which could probably be seen as a kind of purgatory for his crimes. He is trapped in this in-between state on a quest for Faeryland, a hero with a madman and a moonstruck lover for company who cannot gain his heart's desire for what he has done. He is isolated with these outlandish companions because he no longer believes or follows the constricting morality of Earth, that of wise men who turn away from the enticements of Elfland which allow no returning. It is only after 10 years of fruitless wandering, when he gives up the sword, that he is able to re-enter.
Initially in the story, it is a group of old men who seek attention and notability by inserting magic into their ordinary, inconspicuous county. Alveric fulfills this role through his son, until he inadvertently shuts himself out of Elfland. The story then ultimately takes on the idea that love can knock down barriers, even the barriers between worlds. Alveric and Princess Lirazel, and their son and the Elf-King, cannot be separated by different worlds because of their bonds with each other. Like in the body of Orion himself, the two worlds need to be joined. However, it is with only one word or letter, a magical rune, that the Elf-King collapses the barriers between Erl and Elfland. With a word, a magic spell, the power of love unites two worlds together.
This world-changing transformation could be thought of as an illustration of the power of words, of tales, also. Does the story of The King of Elfland's Daughter enchant readers so that we too enter a faery realm for a short while? It is a curious tale of a strange world and otherworldly characters and one could get caught up in it, a ponderous tide of narrative moving forward slowly. But at the same time, there is still the impression that it is a flight of early 20th century fantasy and fancy; it is a folly, an eccentric thing to gaze upon, like the border with Elfland itself.
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