Phantasmion: A Fairy Tale

Sara Coleridge (1802-1852) published her longest original work Phantasmion, A Fairy Tale in 1837, the same year her family moved to London. Essentially a fantasy novel, Phantasmion was a product of both her education and her illness. The chivalry of the Knight, Bayard, shows through in the (mostly) kind-hearted acts of King Phantasmion. The fantastical quality of the story is reminiscent of Gawain and the Green Knight and similar Arthurian legends. Phantasmion has since faded from memory, to the detriment of the reading public. Today, we may look back upon Coleridge’s work as one of the first modern fantasy novels, set in an unknown world where contending magical beings alternately aid and thwart the characters’ quests for love and power.