Terry Brooks. David Eddings. George R. R. Martin. Robin Hobb. The top
names in modern fantasy all acknowledge J. R. R. Tolkien as their role
model, the author whose work inspired them to create their own epics.
But what writers influenced Tolkien himself? Here, internationally
recognized Tolkien expert Douglas A. Anderson has gathered the fiction
of authors who sparked Tolkien's imagination in a collection destined to
become a classic in its own right.
Andrew Lang's romantic swashbuckler, "The Story of Sigurd," features
magic rings, an enchanted sword, and a brave hero loved by two beautiful
women-- and cursed by a ferocious dragon. Tolkien read E. A.
Wyke-Smith's "The Marvelous Land of Snergs" to his children, delighting
in these charming tales of a pixieish people "only slightly taller than
the average table." Also appearing in this collection is a
never-before-published gem by David Lindsay, author of Voyage to
Arcturus, a novel which Tolkien praised highly both as a thriller and
as a work of philosophy, religion, and morals.
In stories packed with magical journeys, conflicted heroes, and terrible
beasts, this extraordinary volume is one that no fan of fantasy or
Tolkien should be without. These tales just might inspire a new
generation of creative writers.
Tales Before Tolkien: 22 Magical Stories
"The Elves" by Ludwig Tieck
"The Golden Key" by George Macdonald
"Puss-Cat Mew" by E. H. Knatchbull-Hugessen
"The Griffin and the Minor Canon" by Frank R. Stockton
"The Demon Pope" by Richard Garnett
"The Story of Sigurd" by Andrew Lang
"The Folk of the Mountain Door" by William Morris
"Black Heart and White Heart" by H. Rider Haggard
"The Dragon Tamers" by E. Nesbit
"The Far Islands" by John Buchan
"The Drawn Arrow" by Clemence Housman
"The Enchanted Buffalo" by L. Frank Baum
"Chu-bu and Sheemish" by Lord Dunsany
"The Baumhoff Explosive" by William Hope Hodgson
"The Regent of the North" by Kenneth Morris
"The Coming of the Terror" by Arthur Machen
"The Elf Trap" by Francis Stevens
"The Thin Queen of Elfhame" by James Branch Cabell
"The Woman of the Wood" by A. Merritt
"Golithos the Ogre" by E. A. Wyke-Smith
"The Story of Alwina" by Austin Tappan Wright
"A Christmas Play" by David Lindsay
