William Morris 4 hr 31 min read

In times long past, the folk of the Mark dwell in their hall beside the wood, until word comes that the legions of Rome are marching to enslave the free tribes, and the Wolfings must rise to war.

William Morris's 1889 novel is a foundational work of modern fantasy, a heroic tale of the Germanic tribes. Majestic, lyrical, hugely influential. Read it for a cornerstone of the genre, an epic of a free people's stand against empire, in the archaic prose-and-verse style that directly inspired Tolkien.

In its time

Published in 1889, during the 1880s, lost races and dying earths.

Reading it

4 hr 31 min read (a novel-length work, settle in).