The Enchanted World Series of books, were a set of twenty one books released in the 1980s. Each book focused on different aspects of mythology or folklore and were released by Time Life Books.[1] Their overall editor was Ellen Phillips and their primary consultant was Tristram Potter Coffin, a Guggenheim Fellowship Award winning University of Pennsylvania Professor Emeritus of English.
They were known for their beautiful art and the extensive research used in their stories. A unique part of the series was that its books were written as stories, taking place from an "in the universe" perspective, presenting its subjects as real people, places, and things. The books often overlap; for example while King Arthur and his knights only have one book completely devoted to them, Fall of Camelot, they often appear in other books. Half of Legends of Valor is about them and they appear in Wizards and Witches, Fairies and Elves, Dwarfs , and Giants and Ogres. Aside from overlap, a common thread through several of them was its documentation of the alleged decline of magical things from "when the world was young" to the modern day. The subject--dragons, dwarfs, giants--are presented as being potent and strong at the dawn of time but as humans spread and demystify the world, magical creatures grow weaker and eventually disappear, though there is always the promise that the magic will return once again.
The Series
In order of publication:
Wizards and Witches
Forthcoming
Dragons
Forthcoming
Fairies and Elves
Forthcoming
Ghosts
Forthcoming
Legends of Valor
Written by Brendan Lehane, Legends of Valor centers primarily on Cúchulainn and the world of the Ulster Cycle, and later on King Arthur and the Matter of Britain. Other heroes briefly mentioned are Perseus, Sigurd, and Roland from Greek myth, Volsunga saga, and the Matter of France/Song of Roland, respectively.
In detailing the life of Cuchulain, Lehane writes that in the early world, tribes needed champions to protect them and lead them in battle. The king could not risk his life so in his place a hero fought and were the jewels in a king's crown. It emphasizes that heroes were often born to gods and mortal Queens--it was not given to peasants to birth heroes. Such men were warriors and were expected to be fierce and savage. Their lives were short, bound to vows of vengeance and the "cruel demands of honor." The kife of Irish hero Cuchulain is retold and how while there were other men of the Red Branch he proved himself the greatest champion of Conchobar mac Nessa, King of Ulster. Cuchulain, the son of Lugh fought bravely for his king and became a warrior without peer although he was killed by Maeve who tricked him into breaking his various vows or geis. After Cuculain's death, Ireland was plunged into chaos though later as the Fenian cycle told, order was restored. Leading men milder and more civilized, but just as valiant, High King Cormac Mac Art and his Fianna protected Ireland from invasion. Even there conflicting vows could speel doom as when Grianne betrayed her husband the king by sleeping with his champion Diarmuid.
The rest of the story centers on the "Brotherhood of the Round Table." Heroes still lived but they were different from their forbears, most notably in the moralizing effects of chivalry. A knight was expected to be kind to women, to show mercy to defeated foes, and to refuse no plea for help. Horses also gave men greater mobility. Under the salvific influence of Christianity, Arthur and his men were the finest heroes in all Christendom and beyond. Despite the Christian kingdom of Camelot being at peace, such men were needed as giants, and dragons, and witches made Britain a place of wonder and danger. Some such as the fairy woman Lady of the Lake prove friends. However, those who would harm the innocent were kept at bay due to Arthur's Knights, chief among them Lancelot, the Lady's son. Unfortunately, Lancelot's love for Guinevere, Arthur's Queen, would bring down the kingdom. Camelot was already grievously exhausted by the Grail Quest. In searching for the Holy Grail, the Knights of the Round Table did prove themselves the very best heroes of all times but the loss of so many good men in the quest crippled Camelot and left it vulnerable to decay from within. Arthur's bastard son Mordred in the end destroys the perfect world his father tried to create though it is promised that one day, Arthur will return.
Night Creatures
Forthcoming
Water Spirits
Forthcoming
Magical Beasts
Dwarfs
Dwarfs (actual spelling used on book - this is the proper spelling - "dwarves" comes from Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien, and was an intentional change of spelling) opens with the Prose Edda, a narration of Norse mythology. It opens with Norse dwarves and tells how the race began soon after Odin and his Aesir killed Ymir, using his flesh to make the earth. The maggots that crawled from the flesh became dwarfs. Corpse grey and subterranean troglodytes, the gods tended to look down on them but the dwarfs, brash and brazen, knew that when Aesir needed weapons or wanted luxuries that the dwarfs by their magical craftsmanship alone could provide what was needed. While author Tim Appenzeller admits that such tales contain much fiction they still contain a grain of truth.
However, in time the dwarfs lost the ability, or the will, to stand as equals to the gods and walked among mortals. With the pagan gods dead and the God and His Church dominant, a new world had dawned. Even so the dwarf kings such as Herla or Laurin of the Tyrol's Mountinas were not afraid and outshone their cavedwelling ancestors in splendor. The dwarfs adapted well to Christian Europe, befriending mortals; Alberich, for example was famous for befriending King Otnit of Lombardy and going with him to Syria to help him win an exotic pagan princess for a bride. The tale of Elidor is also recounted.
The dwarfs decline is further explored with the dwarvish peasantry. They were friendly towards mortal peasants with whom they shared parallel lives and they often helped each other just as their respective kings did. However, as humans grew stronger forming centralized states, large cities, roads, and factories and as the dwarfs' own magic began to fail them, the fragile ties of friendship began to unravel and most dwarfs left the mortal world. Those that remained, abandoned by their fellows suffered a diaspora and placed themselves at mortals mercy. They went on to become household spirits slavishly serving as domestic help of their particular mortals though even there they would go into retreat. The last sightings of dwarfs concerned the Knockers, beings that lived in mines and watched over miners. While, the text says, miners would give them food and drink, these were offerings and not rewards. Appenzeller goes on to speculate that knockers are just the most visible members of hidden dwarf kingdoms. While some of them might be recent dwarf refugees from the outside world, some of them might have always lived there, "awaiting the day when their earth-shaping skills will once again dazzle mortals and gods alike".
Spells and Bindings
Giants and Ogres
Seekers and Saviours
Fabled Lands
Book of Christmas
Fall of Camelot
Magical Justice
Lore of Love
Tales of Terror
Book of Beginnings
The Secret Arts
Gods and Goddesses
References
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