Often taunted as the father of heroic-fantasy, William Morris was in his time praised by Oscar Wilde, read by Tolkien, and achieved lasting fame thanks to a body of work that encompassed everything from Arthurian poetry, translation of Icelandic sagas, and dozens of proto-fantasy novels.
While much of Morris' work deserves attention, the present talk will focus on his Norse-inspired works, especially the highly influential The House of the Wolfings and The Roots of the Mountains.
We will look at how Morris discovered Saga literature, how it shaped his writings, and how his own work went to inspire future generations of fantasy writers, in particular J.R.R. Tolkien.