''A Tale of the House of the Wolfings and All the Kindreds of the Mark'' is a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

novel by

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

, 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. It was first published in hardcover by Reeves and Turner in 1889. The book, written in a combination of prose and verse, influenced

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and '' The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawl ...

's popular ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's bo ...

''.

Context

This work and its successor, ''

The Roots of the Mountains ''The Roots of the Mountains: Wherein is Told Somewhat of the Lives of the Men of Burgdale, Their Friends, Their Neighbors, Their Foemen, and Their Fellows in Arms'' is a fantasy romance novel by William Morris, perhaps the first modern fantasy ...

'', were to some degree

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ...

s, with little or no magic. Morris went on to develop the new genre established in this work in such later fantasies as '' Child Christopher and Goldilind the Fair'', '' The Wood Beyond the World'', ''

The Well at the World's End ''The Well at the World's End'' is a high fantasy novel by the British artist, poet, and author William Morris. It was first published in 1896 and has been reprinted repeatedly since, most notably in two parts as the 20th and 21st volumes of th ...

'', and '' The Water of the Wondrous Isles''.

Book

Plot

''The House of the Wolfings'' is a romantically reconstructed portrait of the lives of the Germanic Gothic tribes, written in an archaic style and incorporating a large amount of poetry. Morris combines his own idealistic views with what was actually known at the time of his subjects' folkways and language. He portrays them as simple and hardworking, galvanized into heroic action to defend their families and liberty by the attacks of

imperial Rome The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

. Morris's Goths inhabit an area called the Mark on a river in the forest of

Mirkwood Mirkwood is a name used for a great dark fictional forest in novels by Sir Walter Scott and William Morris in the 19th century, and by J. R. R. Tolkien in the 20th century. The critic Tom Shippey explains that the name evoked the excitement of t ...

, divided into the Upper-mark, the Mid-mark and the Nether-mark. They worship their gods

Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory ...

and Tyr by sacrificing horses, and rely on seers who foretell the future and serve as psychic news-gatherers. The men of the Mark choose two War Dukes to lead them against their enemies, one each from the House of the Wolfings and the House of the Laxings. The Wolfing war leader is Thiodolf, a man of mysterious and perhaps divine antecedents, whose ability to lead is threatened by his possession of a magnificent dwarf-made mail-shirt which, unknown to him, is cursed. He is supported by his lover the Wood Sun and their daughter the Hall Sun, who are related to the gods.

Publication

The book was first published in hardcover by Reeves and Turner in 1889. The edition was set in the

Chiswick Press The Chiswick Press was founded by Charles Whittingham I (1767–1840) in 1811. The management of the Press was taken over in 1840 by the founder's nephew Charles Whittingham II (1795–1876). The name was first used in 1811, and the Press continu ...

's 1854 typeface ''Basle Roman''. It was reprinted in 1896 by Longmans, Green. Longmans then reprinted it repeatedly in 1901, 1909, 1912, 1913, and 1914. With Morris's works out of copyright, the book was reprinted by other publishers including Russell in New York in 1966, Routledge in London in 1992, Inkling Books in Seattle in 2003, and Elibron Classics in 2005.

Reception

The ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', reviewing the book in 1890, wrote that in it Morris "employs a very perfect art", commenting that the "saga" has a "varied character" and is "a story after the poet's own heart, and that in it wide scope is given for the special traits of his genius". The reviewer explains that "The larger portion is prose, but the speeches are usually given in verse", while the prose is in a "peculiar and artificial style, well sustained, but having the effect to remove the work out of the domain of prose... it brings about an illusion akin to that worked by ordinary verse form. It is very beautiful in its general movement and color, and very noble in phrase; its affectation, even, sympathizes with the Gothic element in the work itself. It is such prose as only a poet could write". The reviewer adds that "the work itself is one of extraordinary beauty in detail, and rich both in minute and broad effects", illustrating this with "Each of his chapters becomes, sooner or later, a picture, admirably grouped, lovely or grand in its unit, but with that care for light and shade and posture, even for costume and framework, which discloses the artist: ... now the scene is under the sunshine of the clearings, often in the shadow of moonlight or the thicket; here a stormy dawn, there a midsummer afternoon; but throughout there is the pencil of the artist."

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

begins his 1889 review in the ''

Pall Mall Gazette ''The Pall Mall Gazette'' was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood. In 1921, '' The Globe'' merged into ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', which itself was absorbed i ...

'' with the words "Mr. Morris's last book is a piece of pure art workmanship from beginning to end, and the very remoteness of its style from the common language and ordinary interests of our day gives to the whole story a strange beauty and an unfamiliar charm. It is written in blended prose and verse, like the mediaeval 'cante-fable'". Wilde writes that "From an artistic point of view it may be described as an attempt to return by a self-conscious effort to the conditions of an earlier and a fresher age. ... When the result is beautiful the method is justified ... Certainly, Mr. Morris's work possesses this excellence. His fine harmonies and rich cadences create in the reader that spirit by which alone can its own spirit be interpreted, awake in him something of the temper or romance and, by taking him out of his own age, place him in a truer and more vital relation to the great masterpieces of all time". After an extensive quotation from the text, Wilde concludes that "In days of uncouth realism and unimaginative imitation, it is a high pleasure to welcome work of this kind. It is a work in which all lovers of literature cannot fail to delight." The literary critic Rachel Falconer, looking back at Morris's ''House of the Wolfings'',

Lord Dunsany Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany (; 24 July 1878 – 25 October 1957, usually Lord Dunsany) was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist. Over 90 volumes of fiction, essays, poems and plays appeared in his lifetime.Lanham, M ...

and David Lindsay, comments that whereas contemporary fantasy fiction has been "excessive" in emulating Tolkien, with his secondary worlds, romance quest, stock characters and story arcs, the earlier and "comparatively forgotten" authors show "how inventive fantasy can be." The scholar of English literature Anna Vaninskaya argues that in ''House of the Wolfings'' and ''Roots of the Mountains'', Morris reveals his

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

by portraying "ancient war leaders who battle on behalf of their communities rather than for personal glory."

Influence

''The House of the Wolfings'' was one of the influences on

's popular ''

''. In a 1960 letter, Tolkien wrote: 'The Dead Marshes and the approaches to the Morannon owe something to Northern France after the Battle of the Somme. They owe more to William Morris and his Huns and Romans, as in ''The House of the Wolfings'' or ''The Roots of the Mountains''."'' The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien'', #226 to Professor L. W. Forster, 31 December 1960 Among the numerous parallels with ''The Lord of the Rings'', Morris has

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

-style placenames such as

and the Mark, Germanic personal names such as Thiodolf, and dwarves as skilled smiths (e.g. "How the Dwarf-wrought Hauberk was Brought away from the Hall of the Daylings").''House of the Wolfings'', page 97

References

External links

*
University of Iowa - list of criticism of ''The House of the Wolfings''
{{DEFAULTSORT:House Of The Wolfings, The 1889 British novels British fantasy novels 1889 fantasy novels Novels by William Morris