Beyond the Fields We Know is a collection of fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 short stories by Irish

Irish literature

For a comparatively small island, Ireland has made a disproportionately large contribution to world literature. Irish literature encompasses the Irish and English languages.-The beginning of writing in Irish:...

 writer Lord Dunsany, considered a major influence on the work of J. R. R. Tolkien

J. R. R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...

, H. P. Lovecraft

H. P. Lovecraft

Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....

, Ursula K. Le Guin

Ursula K. Le Guin

Ursula Kroeber Le Guin is an American author. She has written novels, poetry, children's books, essays, and short stories, notably in fantasy and science fiction...

 and others., edited by Lin Carter

Lin Carter

Linwood Vrooman Carter was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft and Grail Undwin.-Life:Carter was born in St. Petersburg, Florida...

. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books

Ballantine Books

Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann AG in 1998 and remains part of that company today. Ballantine's logo is a...

 as the forty-seventh volume of its celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy series

Ballantine Adult Fantasy series

The Ballantine Adult Fantasy series was an imprint of Ballantine Books. Launched in 1969 , the series reissued a number of works of fantasy literature, which were out of print or dispersed in back issues of pulp magazines , in cheap paperback form—including works...

 in May, 1972. It was the series' fourth Dunsany volume, and the second collection of his shorter fantasies assembled by Carter.

The book collects fifty-nine short pieces by the author, including stories, poems and a play, selected from some of his early collections. It incorporates the whole of his first book and collection The Gods of Pegāna

The Gods of Pegana

The Gods of Pegāna is the first book by Anglo-Irish fantasy writer Lord Dunsany, published on a commission basis in 1905. It is considered a major influence on the work of J. R. R. Tolkien, H. P. Lovecraft, Ursula K. Le Guin...

(1905) and extended selections from his second, Time and the Gods

Time and the Gods

Time and the Gods is the second book by Irish fantasy writer Lord Dunsany, considered a major influence on the work of J. R. R. Tolkien, H. P. Lovecraft, Ursula K. Le Guin and others....

(1906), and his poetry collection Fifty Poems

Fifty Poems

Fifty Poems is a collection of poetry by fantasy author Lord Dunsany. His first poetry collection, it was first published in hardcover simultaneously in London and New York by G. P...

(1929). An introduction and afterword by Carter frame the collection.

Contents

• "Return to the World's Edge" (introduction by Lin Carter
  Lin Carter
  Linwood Vrooman Carter was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft and Grail Undwin.-Life:Carter was born in St. Petersburg, Florida...
  
  )
• The Gods of Pegāna
  The Gods of Pegana
  The Gods of Pegāna is the first book by Anglo-Irish fantasy writer Lord Dunsany, published on a commission basis in 1905. It is considered a major influence on the work of J. R. R. Tolkien, H. P. Lovecraft, Ursula K. Le Guin...
  
  
• "Preface"
• "The Gods of Pegāna"
• "Of Skarl the Drummer"
• "Of the Making of the Worlds"
• "Of the Game of the Gods"
• "The Chaunt of the Gods"
• "The Sayings of Kib"
• "Concerning Sish"
• "The Sayings of Slid"
• "The Deeds of Mung"
• "The Chaunt of the Priests"
• "The Sayings of Limpang-Tung"
• "Of Yoharneth-Lahai"
• "Of Roon, the God of Going"
• "The Revolt of the Home Gods"
• "Of Dorozhand"
• "The Eye in the Waste"
• "Of the Thing That Is Neither God Nor Beast"
• "Yonath the Prophet"
• "Yug the Prophet"
• "Alhireth-Hotep the Prophet"
• "Kabok the Prophet"
• "Of the Calamity That Befel Yūn-Ilāra by the Sea, and of the Building of the Tower of the Ending of Days"
• "Of How the Gods Whelmed Sidith"
• "Of How Imbaun Became High Prophet in Aradec of All the Gods Save One"
• "Of How Imbaun Met Zodrak"
• "Pegāna"
• "The Sayings of Imbaun"
• "Of How Imbaun Spake of Death to the King"
• "Of Ood"
• "The River"
• "The Bird of Doom and the End"
• Time and the Gods
  Time and the Gods
  Time and the Gods is the second book by Irish fantasy writer Lord Dunsany, considered a major influence on the work of J. R. R. Tolkien, H. P. Lovecraft, Ursula K. Le Guin and others....
  
  (selections)
• "How Slid Made War against the Gods" (original title: "The Coming of the Sea")
• "The Vengeance of Men"
• "When the Gods Slept"
• "For the Honour of the Gods"
• "The Wisdom of Ord" (original title: "The South Wind")
• "Night and Morning"
• "The Secret of the Gods"
• "The Relenting of Sarnidac"
• "The Jest of the Gods"
• "The Dreams of the Prophet"
• King Argimēnēs and the Unknown Warrior (play)
• Fifty Poems
  Fifty Poems
  Fifty Poems is a collection of poetry by fantasy author Lord Dunsany. His first poetry collection, it was first published in hardcover simultaneously in London and New York by G. P...
  
  (selections)
• "In the Sahara" (poem)
• "Songs from an Evil Wood" (I and II only) (poems)
• "The Riders" (poem)
• "The Watchers" (poem)
• "The Enchanted People" (poem)
• "The Happy Isles" (poem)
• "A Word in Season" (poem)
• "The Quest" (poem)
• The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories
  The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories
  The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories is the third book by Irish fantasy writer Lord Dunsany, considered a major influence on the work of J. R. R. Tolkien, H. P. Lovecraft, Ursula K. Le Guin and others. It was first published in hardcover by George Allen & Sons in October, 1908, and has been...
  
  (selections)
• "The Kith of the Elf-Folk"
• "The Sword of Welleran"
• A Dreamer's Tales
  A Dreamer's Tales
  A Dreamer's Tales is the fifth book by Irish fantasy writer Lord Dunsany, considered a major influence on the work of J. R. R. Tolkien, H. P. Lovecraft, Ursula K. Le Guin and others. It was first published in hardcover by George Allen & Sons in September, 1910, and has been reprinted a number of...
  
  (selections)
• "The Madness of Andelsprutz"
• "The Sword and the Idol"
• The Book of Wonder (selections)
• "Miss Cubbidge and the Dragon of Romance"
• "Chu-Bu and Sheemish
  Chu-Bu and Sheemish
  Chu-Bu and Sheemish are characters in a short story of the same name by Lord Dunsany. The tale was first published in The Book of Wonder . Chu-Bu is the accustomed resident in a temple where he is worshiped...
  
  "
• "How Nuth Would Have Practised His Art upon the Gnoles"
• The Last Book of Wonder (selection)
• "A Story of Land and Sea"
• "The Naming of Names: Notes on Lord Dunsany's Influence on Modern Fantasy Writers" (by Lin Carter
  Lin Carter
  Linwood Vrooman Carter was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft and Grail Undwin.-Life:Carter was born in St. Petersburg, Florida...
  
  )