Preface

I hope that no suggestion of any strange land that may be conveyed by the title will scare readers away from this book; for, though some chapters do indeed tell of Elfland, in the greater part of them there is no more to be shown than the face of the fields we know, and ordinary English woods and a common village and valley, a good twenty or twenty-five miles from the border of Elfland.

Lord Dunsany

Contents

Preface
I [The Plan of the Parliament of Erl ]
II [Alveric Comes in Sight of the Elfin Mountains ]
III [The Magical Sword Meets Some of the Swords of Elfland ]
IV [Alveric Comes Back to Earth After Many Years ]
V [The Wisdom of the Parliament of Erl ]
VI [The Rune of the Elf King ]
VII [The Coming of the Troll ]
VIII [The Arrival of the Rune ]
IX [Lirazel Blows Away ]
X [The Ebbing of Elfland ]
XI [The Deep of the Woods ]
XII [The Unenchanted Plain ]
XIII [The Reticence of the Leather-Worker ]
XIV [The Quest for the Elfin Mountains ]
XV [The Retreat of the Elf King ]
XVI [Orion Hunts the Stag ]
XVII [The Unicorn Comes in the Starlight ]
XVIII [The Grey Tent in the Evening ]
XIX [Twelve Old Men Without Magic ]
XX [A Historical Fact ]
XXI [On the Verge of Earth ]
XXII [Orion Appoints a Whip ]
XXIII [Lurulu Watches the Restlessness ]
XXIV [Lurulu Speaks of Earth and the Ways of Men ]
XXV [Lirazel Remembers the Fields We Know ]
XXVI [The Horn of Alveric ]
XXVII [The Return of Lurulu ]
XXVIII [A Chapter on Unicorn-Hunting ]
XXIX [The Luring of the People of the Marshes ]
XXX [The Coming of Too Much Magic ]
XXXI [The Cursing of Elfin Things ]
XXXII [Lirazel Yearns for Earth ]
XXXIII [The Shining Line ]
XXXIV [The Last Great Rune ]

CHAPTER I
The Plan of the Parliament of Erl

In their ruddy jackets of leather that reached to their knees the men of Erl appeared before their lord, the stately white-haired man in his long red room. He leaned in his carven chair and heard their spokesman.

And thus their spokesman said.