The story begins when the town elders go to the Lord of Erl to ask that they be ruled by magic, the lord sends his only son, Alveric, to Elfland to bring back the King of Elfland's daughter. Alveric takes this challenge by going to the town witch Ziroonderel and has her make a magical lighting sword to take with him. There are a few comical scenes when Alveric barges in on the leather smith,an old man and his wife. Alveric ends up eating their supper and sleeping in their bed. Alveric makes his way east through the mists of Elfland where he cuts down with his magical sword all things in his way of getting to the princess of Elfland. The princess Lirazel ends up rescuing Alveric when her father tries to stop him and she helps him to escape to "the fields we know". They marry and have a son Orion. The books synopsis would have you believe that the magic was bad for Erl Tragically Alveric wants to change Lirazel and take the magic out of her. It's really sad because they really do love each other, but the religious human side of Alveric can't except the magical side of his wife and doesn't realize what he has until it's gone. Of course the story doesn't end there, so you'll need to pick up this book to find out how it ends. Written in 1924 this is precursor to all of the fantasies that have become so popular today, only it's written so beautifully that it's almost like poetry.

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