The Water of the Wondrous Isles

The Water of the Wondrous Isles

Infobox Book |
name = The Water of the Wondrous Isles
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = William Morris
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Fantasy novel
publisher = Kelmscott Press
release_date = 1897
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Hardback)
pages = 340 pp
isbn = NA
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"The Water of the Wondrous Isles" is a fantasy novel by William Morris, perhaps the first modern fantasy writer to unite an imaginary world with the element of the supernatural, and thus the precursor of much of present-day fantasy literature. [L. Sprague de Camp, "Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers: The Makers of Heroic Fantasy", p 40 ISBN 0-87054-076-9] It was first published in hardcover by Morris' Kelmscott Press in 1897. Its importance in the history of fantasy literature was recognized by its republication by Ballantine Books as the thirty-eighth volume of the celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in November, 1971. The Ballantine edition includes an introduction by Lin Carter.

Morris considered his fantasies a revival of the medieval tradition of chivalrous romances, in consequence they tend to have sprawling plots of strung-together adventures.

Plot summary

Stolen as a child and raised in the wood of Evilshaw as servant to a witch, Birdalone ultimately escapes in her captress's magical boat, in which she travels to a succession of strange and wonderful islands. During much of the first quarter of the novel, Birdalone is naked, a highly unusual detail in Victorian fiction. She is occasionally assisted out of jams by Habundia, her lookalike fairy godmother. She encounters three maidens who are held prisoner by another witch. They await deliverance by their lovers, the three paladins of the Castle of the Quest. Birdalone is clad by the maidens and seeks out their heroes, and the story goes into high gear as they set out to rescue the women. Ultimately, one lady is reunited with her knight, another finds a new love when her knight is killed, and the last is left to mourn as her champion throws her over for Birdalone.

Copyright

The copyright for this story has expired in the United States, and thus now resides in the public domain there. The text is available via Project Gutenberg.

Footnotes

References

*cite book | last=LeMire | first=Eugene D. | authorlink=Eugene D. LeMire | title=A Bibliography of William Morris | location=New Castle, Del. | publisher=Oak Knoll Press | pages=212-216 | date=2006

External links

*gutenberg|no=8778|name=The Water of the Wondrous Isles


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • The Story of the Glittering Plain — Infobox Book | name = The Story of the Glittering Plain title orig = translator = image caption = author = William Morris illustrator = cover artist = country = United Kingdom language = English series = genre = Fantasy novel publisher =… …   Wikipedia

  • The House of the Wolfings — Infobox Book | name = The House of the Wolfings title orig = translator = image caption = Title page of 1890 American edition author = William Morris illustrator = cover artist = country = United Kingdom language = English series = genre =… …   Wikipedia

  • Development of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion — An in game screenshot showing Oblivion s user interface, HDR lighting and long draw distance, improvements made as part of a goal to create advanced graphics. The development of video game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion began in 2002, immediately …   Wikipedia

  • Ballantine Adult Fantasy series — The Ballantine Adult Fantasy series was an imprint of Ballantine Books. Launched in 1969 (presumably in response to the growing popularity of Tolkien s works), the series reissued a number of works of fantasy literature, which were out of print… …   Wikipedia

  • William Morris — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Morris. William Morris William Morris, photographie par Emery Walke …   Wikipédia en Français

  • List of fantasy novels — This page lists a broad variety of fantasy novels (and novel series) some old, some new; some famous, some obscure; some well written, some ill written and so may be considered a representative slice of the field. The books appear in alphabetical …   Wikipedia

  • Великобритания — I Содержание: А. Географический очерк: Положение и границы Устройство поверхности Орошение Климат и естественные произведения Пространство и население Эмиграция Сельское хозяйство Скотоводство Рыбная ловля Горный промысел Промышленность Торговля… …   Энциклопедический словарь Ф.А. Брокгауза и И.А. Ефрона

  • William Morris — For other people named William Morris, see William Morris (disambiguation). William Morris William Morris by George Frederic Watts, 1870 Born 24 March 18 …   Wikipedia

  • Великобритания (дополнение к статье) — конституционная монархия В. (The British Empire) состоит из собственно В., или Соединенного королевства (The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland), и колоний (вместе со странами подвластными и находящимися под протекторатом). Вместе с… …   Энциклопедический словарь Ф.А. Брокгауза и И.А. Ефрона

  • Morris, William — (1834 1896)    Poet, artist, and socialist, b. at Walthamstow, and ed. at Marlborough School and Oxf. After being articled as an architect he was for some years a painter, and then joined in founding the manufacturing and decorating firm of… …   Short biographical dictionary of English literature

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”