Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Product Description
This reproduction was printed from a digital file created at the Library of Congress as part of an extensive scanning effort started with a generous donation from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.The Library is pleased to offer much of its public domain holdings free of charge online and at a modest price in this printed format.Seeing these older volumes from our collections rediscovered by new generations of readers renews our own passion for books and scholarship. ... Read more

Product Description
This reproduction was printed from a digital file created at the Library of Congress as part of an extensive scanning effort started with a generous donation from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.The Library is pleased to offer much of its public domain holdings free of charge online and at a modest price in this printed format.Seeing these older volumes from our collections rediscovered by new generations of readers renews our own passion for books and scholarship. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

"Time" is on your side
"These tales are of the things that befell gods and men in Yarnith, Averon, and Zarkandhu, and in the other countries of my dreams." No better summary can be given than this, a hint at what's ahead. "Time and the Gods" is best described as a collection of invented myths, dreamed up by fantasy pioneer Lord Dunsany.

In it, you will find tales of Slid, an upstart young god; the Dawnchild, who loses her golden ball, but ends up creating the Sun; the hideous Pestilence; Time and how it could overthrow even what the gods favored -- making it more powerful than the gods; laughter, prophecies, doom and hope, punishment, heroes, night and day, gods and human beings.

J.R.R. Tolkien is often credited with creating the fantasy genre as we know it. But Dunsany was one of the handful of fantasy writers who came first -- even creating mythical gods, cities, heroes and legends before Tolkien penned the Silmarillion. As a result, his stories are refreshingly original and untainted by any other writer's work.

Dunsany wrote enchantingly in this book. His prose is majestic and lush in manner, which may scare off people who prefer lighter reads. This isn't something that can be skimmed, like the Bible or the Iliad can't be skimmed. They're too complex, and too rich. Dunsany had an exquisite manner of writing, and he never skimps on lush details and beautiful descriptions.

Fans of classic fantasy -- or readers looking for something fresh and thoroughly cliche-free -- might enjoy "Time and the Gods," with Dunsany's rich writing and imagination.

"Time" is on your side
"These tales are of the things that befell gods and men in Yarnith, Averon, and Zarkandhu, and in the other countries of my dreams." No better summary can be given than this. "Time and the Gods" is best described as a collection of invented myths, dreamed up by fantasy pioneer Lord Dunsany.

In it, you will find tales of Slid, an upstart young god; the Dawnchild, who loses her golden ball; the hideous Pestilence; Time and how it overthrew even what the gods favored; laughter, prophecies, doom and hope, punishment, night and day, gods and human beings.

As usual, he wrote enchantingly in this book. His prose is somewhat biblical in manner, which may scare off people who prefer lighter reads. This isn't something you can really skim, as you can't skim the Mabinogion, the Iliad, or the Eddas. Dunsany had an exquisite manner of writing, and he never skimps on lush details and beautiful descriptions.

Fans of classic fantasy -- or readers looking for something fresh and without cliches -- will thoroughly enjoy this collection of ethereal tales. A wonderful read. ... Read more

Product Description
This reproduction was printed from a digital file created at the Library of Congress as part of an extensive scanning effort started with a generous donation from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.The Library is pleased to offer much of its public domain holdings free of charge online and at a modest price in this printed format.Seeing these older volumes from our collections rediscovered by new generations of readers renews our own passion for books and scholarship. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Brilliant, foundational work of fantasy
This was Lord Dunsany's first published novel; it was also, I believe, the first completely invented mythology in the English language, pre-dating even Tolkien's Silmarillion by about a decade. Dunsany's influence on later fantasy has been incalculable, and this is the place to start.

The style is very elevated and high biblical / "mythic",-- far closer to Kahlil Gibran than modern fantasy -- and the intent more literary. High Art fantasy, not low art. The stories are very short, but very powerful and somewhat haunting. The best way to explain the book may simply be to give a sample, as Dunsany's style (though oft imitated) is so unique.

----
"And Limpang-Tung said: "The ways of the gods are strange. The flower groweth up and the flower fadeth away. This may be very clever of the gods. Man groweth from his infancy, and in a while he dieth. This may be very clever too.

"But the gods play with a strange scheme.

"I will send jests into the world and a little mirth. And while Death seems to thee as far away as the purple rim of hills; or sorrow as far off as rain in the blue days of summer, then pray to Limpang-Tung. But when thou growest old, or ere thou diest, pray not to Limpang-Tung, for thou becomest part of a scheme that he doth not understand.

"Go out into the starry night, and Limpang-Tung will dance with thee who danced since the gods were young, the god of mirth and of melodious minstrels. Or offer up a jest to Limpang-Tung; only pray not in thy sorrow to Limpang-Tung, for he saith of sorrow: 'It may be very clever of the gods, but he doth not understand.'"
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If you're interested in fantasy, you should read this, especially since it's free; Dunsany's influenced everyone from Lovecraft and Howard to Gaiman and Zelazny, and if you want to be familiar with the fantasy genre, he should be part of your bookshelf.It's a little tough going due to the style, but it's still very much worth reading.

The complete list of stories herein is as follows (remember, each of these is fairly short):

"Preface"
"The Gods of Pegna"
"Of Skarl the Drummer"
"Of the Making of the Worlds"
"Of the Game of the Gods"
"The Chaunt of the Gods"
"The Sayings of Kib"
"Concerning Sish"
"The Sayings of Slid"
"The Deeds of Mung"
"The Chaunt of the Priests"
"The Sayings of Limpang-Tung"
"Of Yoharneth-Lahai"
"Of Roon, the God of Going"
"The Revolt of the Home Gods"
"Of Dorozhand"
"The Eye in the Waste"
"Of the Thing That Is Neither God Nor Beast"
"Yonath the Prophet"
"Yug the Prophet"
"Alhireth-Hotep the Prophet"
"Kabok the Prophet"
"Of the Calamity That Befel Yn-Ilra by the Sea, and of the Building of the Tower of the Ending of Days"
"Of How the Gods Whelmed Sidith"
"Of How Imbaun Became High Prophet in Aradec of All the Gods Save One"
"Of How Imbaun Met Zodrak"
"Pegna"
"The Sayings of Imbaun"
"Of How Imbaun Spake of Death to the King"
"Of Ood"
"The River"
"The Bird of Doom and the End"

New Gods, Same Old Flavor
Herein the reader is introduced to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, who created all the lesser gods to play amongst the worlds. There is Kib, creator of all life, and Mung, who takes it away with but a signing of his hands. Meet Sish, the lord and master of Time, and Skarl the Drummer, whose beating can be heard throughout the heavens. Slid is also here, who frolics within the currents of countless rivers and rides the foam atop the waves of all the seas. There are also stories of the lesser home gods to be found, as well as the priests and prophets of Pegana.

Naturally, this isn't a book that presents a story with a beginning, middle, or end. It is really just snippets of history and gods of the land. You can't really read it one chapter at a time, it has to be read all the way through for the reader to get a complete sense of its grandeur. It stretches from the very beginning of time to its end and then back again. After you're done, you don't remember much of the details of the individual stories, but the sense of wonder remains.

This is the first installment of a five book cycle (followed by Time and the Gods, The Sword of Welleran, A Dreamer's Tale, and The Book of Wonder) concerning the fictional world of Pegana. Even though these stories were written nearly a century ago, they have had a great influence upon such well known writers as H.P. Lovecraft, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Neil Gaiman, as well as countless others. Dunsany's tales also rank up there with William Morris' and George MacDonald's for creating one of the first self-contained fantasy worlds and an accompanying imaginary mythology. (Although I've always hated the term "imaginary mythology." Aren't all mythologies imaginary to one degree or another? - not that that detracts from their power or legitimacy.)

Wildside Press has done a great service by reprinting most of the books in this series. I do wish, however, that a collected edition would be made available complete with annotations. (Not even Chaosium's "The Complete Pegana" reprints all the stories involved in the cycle.) As it stands now, readers will have to make do with these incredibly short individual volumes. This book, for instance, has 32 chapters, but is only 106 pages long. And that is using very large type and with a few pictures thrown in!

Nevertheless, it has often been said that some of the best things in life come in small packages. In this case, it is most definitely true.

Word magic
Pegana's interlinked stories are perhaps the most underrated work of fantasy of all time.The poetic beauty and philosophical depth of Dunsany's stories are unmatched by any other writer and his skill with the english language borders on the scary.
This slim volume, as well as subsequent collections such as The Time and the Gods and Sword of Welleran, has more beauty, poetry and sense of wonder than the vast majority of"big fat" fantasy novels written nowadays.Don't missed it.

Thank the "Gods"
"In the mists before the Beginning, Fate and Chance cast lots to decide whose the Game should be." With that enticing opener, Lord Dunsany kicked off "The Gods of Pegana," an intriguing collection of heroes-and-gods tales that the Irish nobleman created.

It starts off by describing the creator of the gods, MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI (always in capitals), and how the gods created the worlds "to amuse Ourselves." And then Dunsany describes the lord of death Mung and his encounters with a poor man, the "chaunt of the priests," the God of Mirth, the rebellion of the Home Gods, prophets and cities and temples and finally the end of Pegana ("For at the last shall the thunder, fleeing to escape from the doom of the gods, roar horribly among the Worlds").

When it comes to fantasy, nobody has equalled the "fictional Bible" of J.R.R. Tolkien, the Silmarillion. But "The Gods of Pegana" (first published in 1905) got to that turf first, with the littler gods under an overseeing deity (MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI -- isn't that a great name?) who made all of them, the lush language and complex histories. It's not hard to see why Tolkien was a fan of Dunsany's.

Dunsany seems to have been having a good time creating his own myths and legends. But even so, there's a feeling of melancholy to "The Gods of Pegana," and the sense that even at the beginning of the world, things are headed straight for the apocalyptic end. There's little of Dunsany's humor and irony in these stories, though his semi-mythic, descriptive language is very much present ("... then shine the blue eyes of the gods like sunlight on the sea, where each god sits upon his mountain.")

Before the Silmarillion, there was "The Gods of Pegana." This enticing early fantasy is a wonderful example of the invented myth, and a good read for fans of the classic fantasies. ... Read more

Product Description
This reproduction was printed from a digital file created at the Library of Congress as part of an extensive scanning effort started with a generous donation from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.The Library is pleased to offer much of its public domain holdings free of charge online and at a modest price in this printed format.Seeing these older volumes from our collections rediscovered by new generations of readers renews our own passion for books and scholarship. ... Read more

Product Description
The Irish writer Lord Dunsany (1878-1957) has suffered a regrettable decline in critical esteem. Although one of the most popular and critically acclaimed writers of the early 20th century, he seems to have fallen out of fashion with both the Irish critical community and with enthusiasts of fantasy literature. But Dunsany was one of the critical figures in modern fantasy, a significant influence on Tolkien, Le Guin, and other writers. His own work, written over a 50-year span and covering nearly every literary mode (short story, novel, play, essay, poem), is itself rich with meaning. In this, the first academic study of Dunsany's work, Joshi establishes that Dunsany has a remarkable grasp of the symbolic function of fantasy, and that he used fantasy, horror, and the supernatural as metaphors for his most deeply held convictions on life and society. His entire work is unified by a single overriding theme--the need for human reunification with the natural world--even though this theme takes on many different forms (e.g., scorn of industrialization, demonstration of the moral superiority of animals over human beings, rumination on the extinction of the human race). The course of Dunsany's long career--proceeding from early short stories and plays about the "edge of the world" to full-length novels to tales of comic fantasy (such as the popular Jorkens stories) to sensitive works about Ireland--reveals a writer constantly searching for new ways to express his central philosophic and aesthetic conceptions. Joshi's volume may best be described as an exercise in literary excavation--an attempt to unearth an unjustly forgotten writer and to show that his work is in need of further study and analysis. ... Read more