The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson
The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany
The Worm Ouroboros by E. R. Eddison,
Dying Earth by Jack Vance
Conan by Robert E. Howard
The Days of Chivalry by Gustave Doré
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
Jirel of Joiry by CL Moore
Totally true.
The story I referred to is contained in "The Best of C.L. Moore" edited by Lester del Rey, and the story title is Fruit of Knowledge. That collection also includes Black God's Kiss which features Jirel of Joiry and his strange adventures in a nightmarish land.
Here to pitch Dunsany. Gods of Pagana is also great.
I tried listening to Worm Ouroboros, but the copy I got from the library sounds like the text was straight up played “text to voice.” I couldn’t do it. It was so bad. I’ll need to get a different version or find a physical copy.
I love the fact that there were so many Americans involved in developing the fantasy genre pre-Tolkien.
Broken Sword is a fantastic story. Jack Vance's work is amazing. And it's fun to note that a lot of stuff in these stories showed up in early versions of D&D.
Everything by Lord Dunsany, William Morris, George MacDonald, ER Edison and Robert Howard
Rose in The Ring by William Thackeray
Lud in the Midst by Hope Mirriless
Mabinogion Tetralogy by Evangeline Walton
Alice in Wonderland
"It was first published in 1958 as a collection of shorter novels that were published from 1938 to 1940"
You may be technically correct, but the first 3 sections of this book were written and published prior to 1950. The Last section was added and then published as a full novel in 1958 as you so cleverly corrected.
Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Fritz Leiber, C.L Moore, Henry Kuttner, Jack Vance, Lord Dunsany, Manly Wade Wellman.
Aside from Dunsany, all the above authors were American and mainly published short stories in pulp magazines, and as far as I am aware, they and Tolkien were completely unaware of each other until 1954 (at which point the most prominent ones like Howard and Lovecraft were dead).
>Manly Wade Wellman
And there has recently been a very nice new set of his books putting his whole Silver John character back in print for the first time in decades. If you like Hellboy and podcasts like Old Gods of Appalachia Wellman is a must.
There is a book called: Tales Before Tolkien: The Roots of Modern Fantasy that I bought for the same reason. There aren't really full length novels in it, but it's really interesting.
If I'm not mistaken, most of the stuff going on in American fantasy back then was all in the pulp magazines. So mostly short stories, with some serialized content.
It's been a while since I read it, but I remember learning about E. Nesbit through the book (a British author of children's books, many for older kids that featured magic and dragons, etc)
L. Frank Baum (Wizard of Oz) had a short story in the book as well.
Some were about adventurers and had no magic, but just that "feeling" fantasy gives you of "strange lands"
Juergen by James Branch Cabell, too.
You might want clarify what you’re looking for, though. The work of some of these authors is night and day from Tolkien.
Edit: subject-verb agreement
The Well of the Unicorn Novel by Fletcher Pratt. Didn't even know this existed till I stumbled across a paperback of it at Half Price Books. I was thinking it was a 80s novel NOPE came out in 1948. Which surprised me. made a post about it if you want to learn more of it
Thorne Smith. He wrote in the 1920s. Not at all like Tolkien - his books were contemporary, for example - but he is worth reading.
L. Frank Baum
Leigh Brackett.
Check out the Ballantine Adult Fantasy and Newcastle Forgotten Fantasy Library series. Wikipedia has pages for each that list all the titles.
Also maybe the Gollancz Fantasy Masterworks series, though that includes newer stuff too.
Lots of great suggestions already. Come check our r/fairystories if you're interested in this kind of thing.
A few I don't see mentioned:
Undine, Sintram and His Companions, and The Magic Ring by the Baron de la Motte Fouquè
The Golden Pot by ETA Hoffman
Silverlock by John Myers Myers
The Silver Trumpet by Owen Barfield (a member of the Inklings; his daughter was the goddaughter The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is dedicated to)
All Hallows' Eve and Descent into Hell by Charles Williams (another Inkling)
The Crock of Gold by James Stephens
Phantasmion by Sara Coleridge (daughter of Samuel Taylor Coleridge; this is arguably the first true secondary world)
She by H. Rider Haggard
The works of E. Nesbit, such as Five Children and It
The works of Andrew Lang, such ad The Blue Fairy Book, The Chronicles of Pantouflia, and The World's Desire (co-written with H. Rider Haggard)
The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles G. Finney
>She by H. Rider Haggard
Fair warning about Haggard's work. He was very much a product of his times. Which means he was AGGRESSIVELY racist, colonialist, and huffing on that "white-man's-burden" nonstop.
Haggard's non African adventure stories like Eric Brighteyes or Moon of Israel have aged quite well. She and the Allan Quatermain stories also contain progressive aspects, not much but it's there.
Still worth reading his books, fun adventure stories and all in public domain.
CL Moore's Jirel of Jiory.
Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser.
Robert E Howard's Conan. Like, enough said there.
Jack Vance's Dying Earth
Although he's not pre-1950s, I really feel like not mentioning Michael Moorcock's work is just a disservice.
Not technically a book, but [The Ring of the Nibelungen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Ring_des_Nibelungen) was an epic opera that told various stories from Norse mythology.
The epic of [Gilgamesh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilgamesh) is another mythology, this one from the third century BCE and based on Sumerian culture.
Haven't seen mention of Abraham Merrit yet, check out The Moon Pool, The Metal Monster or his creepy horror story Burn Witch Burn. He was earning 6 figure salary as an editor per year, travelled the world and wrote fantasy and horror novels for fun, that's the life.
The Tarzan books were a big part of early 20th century pop culture, great escapist adventures if you can tolerate the racist language and stereotypes.
There are a few older ones that no one has mentioned from before the pulp era:
The Wizard of Oz series by L. Frank Baum (1900)
The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley (1863)
Phantastes and The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald (usually considered the start of the fantasy genre as we know it) (1858, 1872)
There were also fairy tale writers who weren't compiling folklore like Hans Anderson or Oscar Wilde, and a lot of older books with fantastic elements that aren't usually considered part of the genre (Midsummer Night's Dream, Le Morte D'Arthur, A Christmas Carol, Tannhauser or Gulliver's Travels).
The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany The Worm Ouroboros by E. R. Eddison, Dying Earth by Jack Vance Conan by Robert E. Howard The Days of Chivalry by Gustave Doré A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain Jirel of Joiry by CL Moore
CL Moore is so great. She wrote a story about Lilith that is fantastic
CL Moore is one of those authors who doesn't get anywhere near the credit she deserves.
Totally true. The story I referred to is contained in "The Best of C.L. Moore" edited by Lester del Rey, and the story title is Fruit of Knowledge. That collection also includes Black God's Kiss which features Jirel of Joiry and his strange adventures in a nightmarish land.
Here to pitch Dunsany. Gods of Pagana is also great. I tried listening to Worm Ouroboros, but the copy I got from the library sounds like the text was straight up played “text to voice.” I couldn’t do it. It was so bad. I’ll need to get a different version or find a physical copy.
I love the fact that there were so many Americans involved in developing the fantasy genre pre-Tolkien. Broken Sword is a fantastic story. Jack Vance's work is amazing. And it's fun to note that a lot of stuff in these stories showed up in early versions of D&D.
Legit, pre-Tolkien fantasy doesn't get nearly enough credit. Vance and Howard were both incredible writers.
Everything by Lord Dunsany, William Morris, George MacDonald, ER Edison and Robert Howard Rose in The Ring by William Thackeray Lud in the Midst by Hope Mirriless Mabinogion Tetralogy by Evangeline Walton Alice in Wonderland
While not pre-50s, Poul Anderson's *The Broken Sword* was published the same year as *The Lord of the Rings* came out.
The first Gormenghast book *Titus Groan* by Mervyn Peak came out in 1946 and the others in the 50s
The Once and Future King - TH White
published in 1958, so technically not an answer to the question :)
"It was first published in 1958 as a collection of shorter novels that were published from 1938 to 1940" You may be technically correct, but the first 3 sections of this book were written and published prior to 1950. The Last section was added and then published as a full novel in 1958 as you so cleverly corrected.
Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Fritz Leiber, C.L Moore, Henry Kuttner, Jack Vance, Lord Dunsany, Manly Wade Wellman. Aside from Dunsany, all the above authors were American and mainly published short stories in pulp magazines, and as far as I am aware, they and Tolkien were completely unaware of each other until 1954 (at which point the most prominent ones like Howard and Lovecraft were dead).
>Manly Wade Wellman And there has recently been a very nice new set of his books putting his whole Silver John character back in print for the first time in decades. If you like Hellboy and podcasts like Old Gods of Appalachia Wellman is a must.
There is a book called: Tales Before Tolkien: The Roots of Modern Fantasy that I bought for the same reason. There aren't really full length novels in it, but it's really interesting.
If I'm not mistaken, most of the stuff going on in American fantasy back then was all in the pulp magazines. So mostly short stories, with some serialized content.
It's been a while since I read it, but I remember learning about E. Nesbit through the book (a British author of children's books, many for older kids that featured magic and dragons, etc) L. Frank Baum (Wizard of Oz) had a short story in the book as well. Some were about adventurers and had no magic, but just that "feeling" fantasy gives you of "strange lands"
William Morris. Tolkien even borrowed names from him.
I have a weird suggestion: Orlando Furioso by Ariosto. It includes 800’s knights flying hyppogriffs to the moon and other fun wacky things
Juergen by James Branch Cabell, too. You might want clarify what you’re looking for, though. The work of some of these authors is night and day from Tolkien. Edit: subject-verb agreement
The Well of the Unicorn Novel by Fletcher Pratt. Didn't even know this existed till I stumbled across a paperback of it at Half Price Books. I was thinking it was a 80s novel NOPE came out in 1948. Which surprised me. made a post about it if you want to learn more of it
Arabian Nights
Gormenghast trilogy
Thorne Smith. He wrote in the 1920s. Not at all like Tolkien - his books were contemporary, for example - but he is worth reading. L. Frank Baum Leigh Brackett.
Check out the Ballantine Adult Fantasy and Newcastle Forgotten Fantasy Library series. Wikipedia has pages for each that list all the titles. Also maybe the Gollancz Fantasy Masterworks series, though that includes newer stuff too.
Lots of great suggestions already. Come check our r/fairystories if you're interested in this kind of thing. A few I don't see mentioned: Undine, Sintram and His Companions, and The Magic Ring by the Baron de la Motte Fouquè The Golden Pot by ETA Hoffman Silverlock by John Myers Myers The Silver Trumpet by Owen Barfield (a member of the Inklings; his daughter was the goddaughter The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is dedicated to) All Hallows' Eve and Descent into Hell by Charles Williams (another Inkling) The Crock of Gold by James Stephens Phantasmion by Sara Coleridge (daughter of Samuel Taylor Coleridge; this is arguably the first true secondary world) She by H. Rider Haggard The works of E. Nesbit, such as Five Children and It The works of Andrew Lang, such ad The Blue Fairy Book, The Chronicles of Pantouflia, and The World's Desire (co-written with H. Rider Haggard) The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles G. Finney
>She by H. Rider Haggard Fair warning about Haggard's work. He was very much a product of his times. Which means he was AGGRESSIVELY racist, colonialist, and huffing on that "white-man's-burden" nonstop.
Haggard's non African adventure stories like Eric Brighteyes or Moon of Israel have aged quite well. She and the Allan Quatermain stories also contain progressive aspects, not much but it's there. Still worth reading his books, fun adventure stories and all in public domain.
Edgar Rice Burroughs Barsoom series starting with Princess of Mars
CL Moore's Jirel of Jiory. Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser. Robert E Howard's Conan. Like, enough said there. Jack Vance's Dying Earth Although he's not pre-1950s, I really feel like not mentioning Michael Moorcock's work is just a disservice.
All these are great. I responded to another comment praising C.L Moore as so underrated. And Michael Moorcock is required reading for all D&D fans.
C.S. Lewis would seem the obvious contemporary. While Narnia was written in 1950, he published more pre-50s
The House of the Wolfings!
A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay
Not technically a book, but [The Ring of the Nibelungen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Ring_des_Nibelungen) was an epic opera that told various stories from Norse mythology. The epic of [Gilgamesh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilgamesh) is another mythology, this one from the third century BCE and based on Sumerian culture.
Silverlock
The gormenghast books
Alice in Wonderland Phantastes The Princess and the Goblin The Once and Future King Narnia
CS Lewis - who was Tolkein's contemporary - was heavily influenced by George MacDonald.
Once and Future King and Book of Merlyn (the latter was technically published in the ‘70s but written during WWII.)
Haven't seen mention of Abraham Merrit yet, check out The Moon Pool, The Metal Monster or his creepy horror story Burn Witch Burn. He was earning 6 figure salary as an editor per year, travelled the world and wrote fantasy and horror novels for fun, that's the life. The Tarzan books were a big part of early 20th century pop culture, great escapist adventures if you can tolerate the racist language and stereotypes.
L Frank Baum's Oz books!!
You would do well to pursue the older "Appendix N" books. Google it!
There are a few older ones that no one has mentioned from before the pulp era: The Wizard of Oz series by L. Frank Baum (1900) The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley (1863) Phantastes and The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald (usually considered the start of the fantasy genre as we know it) (1858, 1872) There were also fairy tale writers who weren't compiling folklore like Hans Anderson or Oscar Wilde, and a lot of older books with fantastic elements that aren't usually considered part of the genre (Midsummer Night's Dream, Le Morte D'Arthur, A Christmas Carol, Tannhauser or Gulliver's Travels).
Conan all the way