7 h 45 minAudiobook17 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Step into a faerie romance whose vision inspires Tolkien and Lewis.
George MacDonald’s Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women invites you into a visionary faerie tale. First published in 1858, it brings the promise of faerie to adult readers, as its subtitle makes clear.
The book’s connection to Tolkien and Lewis offers another reason to begin. If those names draw your interest, here is a chance to encounter MacDonald’s own work: not through its influence alone, but through the tale itself.
What you’ll discover
- A romance of faerie Meet a work that places faerie at the heart of its invitation.
- A tale for adults Discover a faerie romance expressly addressed to men and women.
- MacDonald’s visionary imagination Spend time with the visionary tale that bears George MacDonald’s name.
- A connection worth exploring Read the work identified as an inspiration to Tolkien and Lewis.
- Beyond the familiar names Let that connection lead you to Phantastes on its own terms.
Who will love it
Readers who love fairy tales, dreamlike adventure and old legends of knights, will feel at home here. It also suits anyone who enjoys songs, symbols and strange landscapes, and who likes a story to be felt as well as followed.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A tiny woman opens the door to Faerie
- A forest cottage and a garden of fairies
- The Ash hunts him and a beech tree saves him
- A marble lady wakes to his song
- Beauty can be a trap, and kindness a refuge
- A shadow joins him and spoils what it touches
- A fairy palace, a library and tales within the tale
- Dancing statues and a lady on a pedestal
- What the book is about and how it is told
Who’s who
- AnodosA young man who has just turned twenty-one and longs to find Fairy Land, and who is led on by wonder, desire and pride.
- The tiny lady of the deskA fairy who appears from a hidden chamber, claims to be two hundred and thirty-seven, and sends Anodos into Fairy Land.
- The beech womanA tree spirit, tall and gentle, who longs to become a woman and who shelters Anodos from the Ash.
- The AshA cruel tree spirit with knobbed fingers and a great hunger, who hunts travelers in the forest by night.
- The maid of the alderA beautiful and false creature who wants to be loved by any man and tricks Anodos into trusting her.
- The knight in rusty armorA shamed knight who has been beguiled before and who rides about Fairy Land seeking brave deeds to scour his armor.
- The marble ladyA lovely woman held within a block of alabaster, who is woken by Anodos singing and then flees from him.
- The shadowA dark figure from the closet in the ogre's house that follows Anodos and withers everything it touches.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 7 h 45 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 17 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Phantastes: Ein Feenmärchen für Männer und Frauen
by George MacDonald · 1858
A young man steps from his bed onto grass and follows a stream into Fairy Land, where trees can shelter or hunt.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Phantastes is a faerie romance by George MacDonald, a Scottish writer and minister, first printed in 1858. It is a fairy tale for grown readers, and it follows no map.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A tiny woman opens the door to Faerie
Anodos is a young man who has just turned twenty-one. On that birthday he receives the keys to an old desk where his father kept private papers. He opens it alone at night, in a gloomy room that no one has lit for years. He wonders what he will find. Perhaps deeds of land, perhaps the story of the man his father really was.
Behind a row of small drawers he finds a hidden panel, and behind the panel a secret chamber. Inside lie a heap of dried rose petals and a packet of papers tied with a faded ribbon. Before he can touch them, a woman no taller than a statuette stands in the chamber doorway. Anodos is surprised, but far less than you would expect.
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What is Phantastes about?
Phantastes tells of Anodos, a young man who enters Fairy Land the morning after his twenty-first birthday. He meets spirits of trees and flowers, falls in love with a marble lady, and is followed by a shadow, learning about desire and love.
Who is Anodos and what does his name mean?
Anodos is the young man who tells the story. The tiny fairy lady calls him by that name in Chapter 1. The book does not explain it, though it suggests a wanderer with no fixed road.
What does the shadow stand for in Phantastes?
The shadow darkens everything Anodos looks at and makes him doubt people who might help him. It seems to stand for self-regard and curiosity that will not obey a warning, but the book lets you decide.
The author
George MacDonald
1824–1905 · Scottish fantasy novelist and minister
George MacDonald (1824–1905) was a Scottish writer and Christian minister. Born in Huntly, Scotland, he later lived in England and Italy. He wrote novels, fairy tales, poetry and sermons. His books include Phantastes (1858), At the Back of the North Wind (1871), The Princess and the Goblin (1872) and Lilith (1895).
More by George MacDonald
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