Phantastes

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Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women is a fantasy novel by Scottish writer George MacDonald published in London in 1858. The story centres on the character Anodos ("pathless" in Greek) and takes its inspiration from German Romanticism, particularly Novalis. The story concerns a young man who is pulled into a dreamlike world and there hunts for his ideal of female beauty, embodied by the "Marble Lady". Anodos lives through many adventures and temptations while in the other world, until he is finally ready to give up his ideals. The book influenced the fantasy authors C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and G. K. Chesterton and also the poet W. H. Auden.

Read on Wikipedia · Image John Bell (illustration), George MacDonald (book), Public domain