There are 14 short stories in Lord Dunsany's 1912 collection The Book of Wonder. He is credited with having a significant influence on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, H. P. Lovecraft, Ursula K. Le Guin, and other authors.The first short story, The Bride of the Man-Horse, is about a centaur who journeys into the outside world for unknown but seemingly natural reasons.The famous thief Slith and his two criminal friends set out to steal a golden box believed to hold the most beautiful writings ever considered by man in Probable Adventure of the Three Literary Men. The story follows the three thieves' journey, the strange dangers they dodge, and finally, their final strategy for stealing the golden box.Only the final two stories-"Chu-Bu and Sheemish" and "The Wonderful Window"-were not based on a Sime drawing.The stories are a tapestry of language, conjuring images of people, and places and are short and full of wonder.Although they are written in an almost fairytale or allegorical form, Dunsany's stories don't usually have happy endings, and these are no exception. Instead, each of them has a sad, vengeful, or even insane edge to it.
Anglo-Irish author and dramatist Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany also known as Lord Dunsany, lived from 18 July 1878 to 25 October 1957. His fantasy book The King of Elfland's Daughter, published in 1924, is his best-known work. Lord Dunsany was a well-known member of the Plunkett family and a distant relative of several prominent Irish figures. In 1916, he separated from Sir Reginald Drax, his only sibling, for unspecified reasons that appear to be connected to his mother's will. One person's infant brother passed away. He sustained injuries from a bullet that became lodged in his skull during the Easter Rising during World War One. He was prosecuted and found guilty of court-martial contempt during the Irish War of Independence. In Shoreham, Kent, he was particularly active during the Battle of Britain. In 1919, Dunsany traveled to America for the first time to promote his writing. He had a good relationship with people like Lady Gregory, Padraic Colum, Oliver St. John Gogarty, "AE" Russell, Percy French, and W. B. Yeats. In 1957, Lord Dunsany passed away from an appendicitis attack. He was laid to rest at the Shoreham, Kent, churchyard of St. Peter and St. Paul. At a memorial service in Meath's Kilmessan, "Crossing the Bar" was read.
