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Tales of God And Men
An authoritative collection of the prolific writer's seminal fantasy tales includes the complete bodies of his eight published volumes and is complemented by original illustrations by his collaborator, Sidney Sime. Original.
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First published January 1, 1917
About the author
Lord Dunsany
713 books864 followersEdward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, eighteenth baron of Dunsany, was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist, notable for his work in fantasy published under the name Lord Dunsany. More than eighty books of his work were published, and his oeuvre includes hundreds of short stories, as well as successful plays, novels and essays. Born to one of the oldest titles in the Irish peerage, he lived much of his life at perhaps Ireland's longest-inhabited home, Dunsany Castle near Tara, received an honourary doctorate from Trinity College, and died in Dublin.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 27, 2021
Underrated and underread Dunsany tome of plays that read well on the page. Laughter of the Gods and The Queen's Enemies are the finest horror works of Dunsany's I've read. The Tents of the Arabs profoundly romantic.
April 23, 2017
Four short plays by the acknowledged master of fantasy in which the simple language was at variance with the profundity of the themes.
This was the first book of any kind which I have read by Dunsany, though long aware of his glowing reputation. I'm not the biggest fan of fantasy fiction so have never been in much of a hurry to give him a go, despite the high regard afforded him by the likes of W. B. Yeats and Gene Wolfe, two writers I hold I high regard myself.
I don't know what I expected exactly but it wasn't what I found. Thinking about it I probably had intimations of lofty, elaborate prose and stuffy characterisations. These were plays not prose, but the dialogue was far from ornate, and none the worse for that.
'The Laughter of the Gods' was set in the 'time of the decadence in Babylon' where a general cynicism about the agency of the gods is evidenced at court and answered emphatically. Wives care more about shopping, husband's care more about pleasing their wives, the king cares only to watch the beauty of the sun setting on his orchids.
Moral?: 'It is a hateful thing for a prophet to prophesy falsely.'
'The Queen's Enemies' switched scenes to ancient Egypt where a seemingly frightened queen of the sixth dynasty invites all her enemies to a feast in an underwater temple dedicated to the Nile.
Conclusion: A watery grave.
In 'The Tents of the Arabs' a pair of camel-drivers lament the fact that they have to leave the walls of the city as a king captive to his duties longs for the desert, the 'olden, golden mother of happy men.'
Best line: 'Going into the desert is like throwing bone after bone to a dog, some he will catch and some of them he will drop.'
The final play, called 'A Night at a Inn,' was a pleasing change in tone. Four thieves lay in wait for the implacable Hindu assassins looking to reclaim the stolen ruby eye of their idol. The smartest of the gang, the Toff, is supremely nonchalant due to his 'knack of foreseeing things,' or so he thinks.
Where have I seen relentless Hindu's in search of a stolen gem before?: The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins.
This was the first book of any kind which I have read by Dunsany, though long aware of his glowing reputation. I'm not the biggest fan of fantasy fiction so have never been in much of a hurry to give him a go, despite the high regard afforded him by the likes of W. B. Yeats and Gene Wolfe, two writers I hold I high regard myself.
I don't know what I expected exactly but it wasn't what I found. Thinking about it I probably had intimations of lofty, elaborate prose and stuffy characterisations. These were plays not prose, but the dialogue was far from ornate, and none the worse for that.
'The Laughter of the Gods' was set in the 'time of the decadence in Babylon' where a general cynicism about the agency of the gods is evidenced at court and answered emphatically. Wives care more about shopping, husband's care more about pleasing their wives, the king cares only to watch the beauty of the sun setting on his orchids.
Moral?: 'It is a hateful thing for a prophet to prophesy falsely.'
'The Queen's Enemies' switched scenes to ancient Egypt where a seemingly frightened queen of the sixth dynasty invites all her enemies to a feast in an underwater temple dedicated to the Nile.
Conclusion: A watery grave.
In 'The Tents of the Arabs' a pair of camel-drivers lament the fact that they have to leave the walls of the city as a king captive to his duties longs for the desert, the 'olden, golden mother of happy men.'
Best line: 'Going into the desert is like throwing bone after bone to a dog, some he will catch and some of them he will drop.'
The final play, called 'A Night at a Inn,' was a pleasing change in tone. Four thieves lay in wait for the implacable Hindu assassins looking to reclaim the stolen ruby eye of their idol. The smartest of the gang, the Toff, is supremely nonchalant due to his 'knack of foreseeing things,' or so he thinks.
Where have I seen relentless Hindu's in search of a stolen gem before?: The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins.
April 21, 2011
I'm not entirely sure how stagable some of these plays are, but I love Dunsany's style and language, his obsession with the exotic and the romantic, and his wit and quickly drawn but distinctive characters. A must read for fantasy fans, particularly turn of the 20th century fantasy with its unique blend of history, real world locations and Ruritanias, aristocrat heroes and ruffian anti-heroes.
October 21, 2021
Lord Dunsany (Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany, 1878-1957) was one of the first major writers of adult fantasy, and perhaps the first to establish it as a separate literary genre; he was preceded mainly by William Morris, and influenced subsequently many of the later writers in the genre, most notably H.P. Lovecraft. (I decided to read or re-read some collections of Lovecraft's stories for my Halloween books this year, and naturally I am ending up reading Dunsany as well; perhaps I should have started with Morris, but I didn't want to turn it into a major project.) Before reading his short stories from the library, I decided to start with this collection of plays which I already had. There are four plays in the collection.
The Tents of the Arabs [1910] contrasts a camel-driver who prefers cities to the desert and wants to be a king, and the king of the city who would rather live in the desert. The Laughter of the Gods [1911] also deals with the contrast between a king who wants to live in a small rural city in the jungle and his courtiers (and particularly their wives) who prefer the "big city". A Night at an Inn [1912] is about a group of white thieves and the way they get their comeuppance from the natives they robbed. The Queen's Enemies is about a queen of ancient Egypt who doesn't want to have enemies, and invites them to a banquet. All four plays are comedies. They were probably intended as closet dramas, although A Night at an Inn at least has been performed.
The Tents of the Arabs [1910] contrasts a camel-driver who prefers cities to the desert and wants to be a king, and the king of the city who would rather live in the desert. The Laughter of the Gods [1911] also deals with the contrast between a king who wants to live in a small rural city in the jungle and his courtiers (and particularly their wives) who prefer the "big city". A Night at an Inn [1912] is about a group of white thieves and the way they get their comeuppance from the natives they robbed. The Queen's Enemies is about a queen of ancient Egypt who doesn't want to have enemies, and invites them to a banquet. All four plays are comedies. They were probably intended as closet dramas, although A Night at an Inn at least has been performed.
June 28, 2020
Four short plays on the theme of the plans of gods and men.
While the plot is a bit on the obvious side, I loved the characterization throughout. It was done simply, yet superbly.
While the plot is a bit on the obvious side, I loved the characterization throughout. It was done simply, yet superbly.
October 12, 2025
Plays of Gods and Men, first published in 1917, is Dunsany's second collected volume of his plays. The edition I am reviewing, printed by The Educational Company of Ireland at The Talbot Press, was the first of this Anglo-Irish lord's books to be printed initially in Ireland. The frontispiece has a photo of Dunsany in military uniform, with his signature at the bottom. In the preface, Dunsany rather apologetically explains that the plays were written from 1910 to 1913—clearly meaning before the start of World War I. He signs off the preface as Captain Dunsany of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.
"The Laughter of the Gods" is the longest of the plays, consisting of three acts (i.e., three individual scenes); "The Tents of the Arabs" has two acts; the remaining two plays, "The Queen's Enemies" and "A Night at an Inn," are one act each.
All four plays in Plays of Gods and Men might be regarded as fantasy. Certainly, this is the case with "The Laughter of the Gods" and "A Night at an Inn," in which the gods play a definite role. The common theme here, shared by "The Gods of the Mountain" from Five Plays, is that the human protagonists will always come off worst against the gods when they seek to trick the gods or use them for human purposes. "The Tents of the Arabs" and "The Queen's Enemies" take place in fictional locations somewhere in Arabia and somewhere in Ancient Egypt, respectively, and are fantastic for their invention.
Compared with Dunsany's fantasy short stories, the plays have much less scope in the dialogue between the characters for Dunsany's long flights of poetic fantasy. Nevertheless, it is there, and now and then Dunsany will have one of his characters soliloquize in typical Dunsanian language.
On the other hand, the strength of these plays is their compactness and conciseness. Dunsany wastes few words. Moreover, each play has a typically Dunsanian ironic twist at the end. Sometimes, we the audience can anticipate the debacle, and the obliviousness of the characters adds to the fun.
I should note that once or twice in "A Night at an Inn" Dunsany has his characters use racist language. We should remember, however, that language use changes over time, and "A Night at an Inn" was written by Dunsany in 1912. He was a man of his time and surely used words without intending any racial slur.
In my view, no keen admirer of Lord Dunsany's fantasy short stories and novels should miss his plays
"The Laughter of the Gods" is the longest of the plays, consisting of three acts (i.e., three individual scenes); "The Tents of the Arabs" has two acts; the remaining two plays, "The Queen's Enemies" and "A Night at an Inn," are one act each.
All four plays in Plays of Gods and Men might be regarded as fantasy. Certainly, this is the case with "The Laughter of the Gods" and "A Night at an Inn," in which the gods play a definite role. The common theme here, shared by "The Gods of the Mountain" from Five Plays, is that the human protagonists will always come off worst against the gods when they seek to trick the gods or use them for human purposes. "The Tents of the Arabs" and "The Queen's Enemies" take place in fictional locations somewhere in Arabia and somewhere in Ancient Egypt, respectively, and are fantastic for their invention.
Compared with Dunsany's fantasy short stories, the plays have much less scope in the dialogue between the characters for Dunsany's long flights of poetic fantasy. Nevertheless, it is there, and now and then Dunsany will have one of his characters soliloquize in typical Dunsanian language.
On the other hand, the strength of these plays is their compactness and conciseness. Dunsany wastes few words. Moreover, each play has a typically Dunsanian ironic twist at the end. Sometimes, we the audience can anticipate the debacle, and the obliviousness of the characters adds to the fun.
I should note that once or twice in "A Night at an Inn" Dunsany has his characters use racist language. We should remember, however, that language use changes over time, and "A Night at an Inn" was written by Dunsany in 1912. He was a man of his time and surely used words without intending any racial slur.
In my view, no keen admirer of Lord Dunsany's fantasy short stories and novels should miss his plays
May 21, 2022
This collection of 4 plays by Lord Dunsany contains some of the haunting fable-like atmosphere of his short stories, but the real-world setting of two of the plays is a bit awkward. The strongest is "The Laughter of the Gods." It returns to a theme of the danger of arrogance and pride.
"Because of me the holy gods have lied; they that have spoken sooth through a thousand prophets. Because of me they have lied. They will be proudly silent and inspire no more prophet again, and the nations will wander blindly and fall unwarned to their doom, or stray away and be lost in unchronicled time. Or though they should speak again yet how shall Man believe them?"
The genre of a play allows Dunsany to display another skill: a slow building tension. However, if someone wants to try Lord Dunsany, I'd suggest his collections of short stories instead.
"Because of me the holy gods have lied; they that have spoken sooth through a thousand prophets. Because of me they have lied. They will be proudly silent and inspire no more prophet again, and the nations will wander blindly and fall unwarned to their doom, or stray away and be lost in unchronicled time. Or though they should speak again yet how shall Man believe them?"
The genre of a play allows Dunsany to display another skill: a slow building tension. However, if someone wants to try Lord Dunsany, I'd suggest his collections of short stories instead.
January 17, 2008
Man! I know Dunsany was inspirational to a lot of later SF and fantasy authors but... Sheesh! I guess this just shows how empty the field once was, that he was considered a giant.
I mean, I'm pretty forgiving of early fantasists, but... ugh! I don't know how else to say it. The first play, "The Laughter of the Gods", was so stilted and predictable that I almost didn't get through it. "The Queen's Enemies" was equally predictable, as was "Tents of the Arabs", though the writing was better in that one. The last, "A Night at an Inn" is almost good -- it's at least somewhat entertaininly written. But it's not worth slogging through "The Laughter of the Gods" for, that's for sure.
I mean, I'm pretty forgiving of early fantasists, but... ugh! I don't know how else to say it. The first play, "The Laughter of the Gods", was so stilted and predictable that I almost didn't get through it. "The Queen's Enemies" was equally predictable, as was "Tents of the Arabs", though the writing was better in that one. The last, "A Night at an Inn" is almost good -- it's at least somewhat entertaininly written. But it's not worth slogging through "The Laughter of the Gods" for, that's for sure.
Want to Read
August 25, 2011I have to admit, I bought a 1919 edition of this some years ago, but it was so old and creaky I never tried to read it. I just wanted another Dunsany book for my collection, since I enjoy his other works...
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews