The Wood Beyond the World

When his wife cheats on him, Golden Walter leaves his mundane life to start a new one at sea. Horrific news forces him to turn around, however, but before he can reach home, a storm carries his ship to a faraway country. A country inhabited by people he has seen before. In a vison. With novels like `The Wood Beyond the World‘ (1894) William Morris has gone down in history as the forerunner for much of the modern-day fantasy genre. C.S. Lewis, who wrote `The Chronicles of Narnia‘, cited Morris as one of his favourite authors, and J.R.R. Tolkien was influenced by Morris‘ fantasies in writing `The Lord of the Rings‘ trilogy.

William Morris (1834-1896) was a British writer, textile designer and Socialist. His earliest works were historical fiction, but today he is known for being the forerunner of modern-day fantasy. He took a keen interest in Iceland and translated a series of Icelandic sagas to English together with the Icelandic scholar Eiríkur Magnússon.