The Sundering Flood

William Morris (1834-96) was a British textile designer, poet, novelist, translator of Icelandic sagas, and socialist activist, associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement. He was a major figure in the revival of traditional British textile arts and methods of production, and his contributions to literature helped to establish the modern fantasy genre. As an author he achieved success with his epic poems and novels, his best-known works being The Earthly Paradise (1868-70), the Utopian novel News from Nowhere (1890), and the fantasy romance The Well at the World's End (1896). The Sundering Flood was Morris's last work of fiction, completed only in rough draft with the ending dictated from his deathbed. It was edited posthumously by his daughter May and published by his own Kelmscott Press in 1897. The novel is a fantasy in the medieval tradition of chivalrous romances which unites an imaginary world with elements of the supernatural, and can be seen as a precursor to much modern-day fantasy literature. Morris employs an imitation of medieval prose that possesses a lyrical quality and remains very readable despite the archaic language. The book tells the story of the lovers Osberne Wulfgrimsson and Elfhild who live on opposite sides of the Sundering Flood, an immense river. When Elfhild disappears during an invasion by the Red Skinners, Osberne is heartbroken and takes up his magical sword and joins Sir Godrick's army, helping overthrow the tyrranical king ruling the city at the mouth of the river. He is later reunited with Elfhild, and all ends happily.