Magic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Magic - Essay Example In the novel of Lord Dunsany’s The King of Elflands Daughter, magic was first described as the folly of Alveric’s people. Through its parliament, they demanded from Alveric, the son of the Lord of Erl, for magic to rule over them. This wish was granted only that it had terrible consequences. Such, the clichà © â€Å"be careful what you wished for† might have originated from this novel because Alveric’s people got what they wished for, no matter how seemingly impossible it was but with an unthinkable consequence, they themselves became part of magic. Magic should not have been granted but Alveric yielded to the demand of the parliament no matter how foolish it was. Its folly of demanding magic to rule over earth was encapsulated in this passage in the novel delivered by the spokesperson as; â€Å"For seven hundred years, the chiefs of your race have ruled us well; and their deeds are remembered by the minor minstrels, living on yet in their little tinkling songs. And yet the generations stream away, and there is no new thing† (Dunsany 1). Magic, as pronounced by the anxiety of Alveric meant as something inappropriate for the people of the earth. It is because magic follow different laws which is only applicable to the nature of the fairies and cannot be applied to earth. Magic here meant a wish that is desirable that should not be done but was demanded anyway by the parliament of Elk demonstrating the folly of man. The quest and victory of Alveric in the Elfland proved that magic is not compatible on earth. True, he may have initially prevailed over the magic of Elfland, but in the end, he was lost when his elven wife Lirazel was gone. During the entire quest from acquiring magic until actually having it in the Elfland, magic proved to be precarious among the people of Elk and is something more than they can handle. Magic in Lord Dunsany’s The King of Elfland’s Daughter first meant the