#e.r. eddison

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Cover illustration by Barbara Remington, with decorations by Keith Henderson

Info from ISFDB

[victusinveritas]

[weirdletter]

Fantasies of Time and Death: Dunsany, Eddison, Tolkien, by Anna Vaninskaya, Palgrave Macmillan, 2020. Cover painting by Herman Henstenburgh, info: palgrave.com.

This book reveals the unique contribution made by the three founding fathers of British fantasy—Lord Dunsany, E.R. Eddison and J.R.R. Tolkien—to our culture’s perennial reassessment of the meanings of time, death and eternity. It traces the poetic, philosophical and theological roots of the striking preoccupation with mortality and temporality that defines the imagined worlds of early fantasy fiction, and gives both the form of such fiction and its ideas the attention they deserve. Dunsany, Eddison and Tolkien raise some of the oldest questions in existence: about the limits of nature, human and divine; cosmic creation and destruction; the immortality conferred by art and memory; and the paradoxes and uncertainties generated by the universal experience of transience, the fear of annihilation and the desire for transcendence. But they respond to those questions by means of thought experiments that have no precedent in modern literary history.

Contents: 1. Introduction: The Game of Life and Death 2. Lord Dunsany: The Conquering Hours 3. E.R. Eddison: Bearing Witness to the Eternal 4. J.R.R. Tolkien: More Than Memory 5. Envoi Bibliography Index

[books0977]

The Worm Ouroboros. E.R. Eddison. Illustrated by Keith Henderson. London: Jonathan Cape, (1922). First edition. Original dust jacket.

In the best traditions of Homeric epics, Norse sagas, and Arthurian myths, Eddison weaves a compelling adventure, with a majestic, Shakespearean narrative style. His sweeping tale recounts battles between warriors and witches on fog-shrouded mountaintops and in the ocean’s depths—along with romantic interludes, backroom intrigues, and episodes of direst treachery.

[yetibaba]

“Outside of deep geek and academic circles, the work of E R Eddison is rarely mentioned. Most fantasy fans have probably seen him mentioned a time of two in an introduction, or tossed out by a modern fantasy author as an influence. The truth is that Eddison is one of the authors who helped to shape modern fantasy. Tolkien and C S Lewis both cite him as a major inspiration in their own work, and he was invited by them to attend a few ‘Inking’s’ meetings as an honoured guest.” (I apologize to the author of this description, as I cannot find the attribution).

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Cover illustration by William Benson

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Cover illustration by Barbara Remington

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Illustration by Barbara Remington