
TALES OF WONDER - by Lord Dunsany
Preface
A Tale of London
Thirteen at Table
The City on Mallington Moor
Why the Milkman Shudders When He Perceives the Dawn
The Bad Old Woman in Black
The Bird of the Difficult Eye
The Long Porter's Tale
The Loot of Loma
This anthology gathers a dozen whimsical vignettes that drift from enchanted moors to impossible seas, each a brief doorway into a world where ordinary logic yields to wonder. The author opens the volume with a wartime note written from a makeshift barracks in 1916, reflecting on the devastation of conflict while insisting that imagination remains a lantern in darkness. That modest preface sets a quiet tone of resilience, reminding listeners that even amid turmoil, stories can nurture hope.
The opening tale invites a Sultan’s mystic to conjure a vision of London, and the city unfolds as a realm of alabaster streets, emerald lanterns, and ivory chariots drawn by white camels. Musicians glide silently over glittering sand while dancers whirl beneath balconies of amethyst and gold, creating a tableau that feels both surreal and intimate. Listeners are drawn into this luminous reverie, a fleeting escape that hints at the larger collection’s blend of the magical and the melancholy.
Language
en
Duration
~3 hours (217K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Tom Harris. HTML version by Al Haines.
Release date
2004-10-21
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

1878–1957
A pioneer of modern fantasy, this Anglo-Irish writer opened doors to dreamlike kingdoms, strange gods, and quietly unsettling adventures. His stories and plays helped shape the imaginative tradition later followed by writers such as H. P. Lovecraft and J. R. R. Tolkien.
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by Lord Dunsany

by Lord Dunsany

by Lord Dunsany

by Lord Dunsany

by Lord Dunsany

by Lord Dunsany

by Lord Dunsany

by Lord Dunsany