Lord Dunsany, The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories; London: George Allen & Sons, 1908 title page
Merimna in “The Sword of Welleran”
Merimna stands where the plain of Tarphet reaches into the Cyresian mountains. Its avenues, fountains, bronze kings and trophy hall preserve the fame of former conquerors. Yet the citizens have forgotten warfare. An unarmed purple guard sings the names of old heroes while distant sentinels sleep. Neighbouring peoples remain afraid because the figures on the ramparts seem to be the warriors themselves. They are lifelike statues, and two spies eventually discover the marble beneath that appearance. Four kings prepare an attack. The souls of the six heroes return from Paradise, but their voices cannot be heard and their hands cannot hold swords. They reach the citizens through dreams, sending them out with ancestral weapons. Welleran brings Rold to his own preserved sword. The city survives, but the victory ends in lament: the people now understand that Welleran is dead because another holds his sword. The city’s safety and the loss of its comforting belief arrive together.
Also known as Merimna
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In the sources
A city built around heroic memory
DocumentedThe opening places Merimna among mountains and plains, describing monuments to its former warriors while saying that the art of war has been forgotten.
The apparent guardians are statues
DocumentedThe mounted figures are lifelike works of coloured stone. The spies’ discovery that they are marble removes the fear that has protected Merimna.
Defence through dreams
DocumentedThe returning heroes cannot fight directly. Welleran proposes entering the citizens’ dreams to move them to take up old weapons and leave the city.
Context & interpretation
The fictional city in the complete title story, printed pp. 3–37 of this illustrated 1908 edition. No identification with an actual city or account of Dunsany’s other imagined places is inferred.
Original passages
Source 1
The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories
the city of MerimnaOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories, “The Sword of Welleran”, printed p. 3
Exact cleared Reader page visually inspected; complete title-story prose, printed pp. 3–37, reviewed. Documents a fictional portrayal, not an actual location, surviving object or verified supernatural event.
- Edition
- IMJ-0256-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0256-E001-P0012
- Original scan leaf
- 23
- Recorded leaf number
- 23
- Current Reader position
- 12
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories
the art of war had been forgotten in MerimnaOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories, “The Sword of Welleran”, printed p. 5
Exact cleared Reader page visually inspected; complete title-story prose, printed pp. 3–37, reviewed. Documents a fictional portrayal, not an actual location, surviving object or verified supernatural event.
- Edition
- IMJ-0256-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0256-E001-P0014
- Original scan leaf
- 25
- Recorded leaf number
- 25
- Current Reader position
- 14
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 3
The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories
they were not living menOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories, “The Sword of Welleran”, printed p. 14
Exact cleared Reader page visually inspected; complete title-story prose, printed pp. 3–37, reviewed. Documents a fictional portrayal, not an actual location, surviving object or verified supernatural event.
- Edition
- IMJ-0256-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0256-E001-P0023
- Original scan leaf
- 34
- Recorded leaf number
- 34
- Current Reader position
- 23
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 4
The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories
and it was marble.Open this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories, “The Sword of Welleran”, printed p. 21
Exact cleared Reader page visually inspected; complete title-story prose, printed pp. 3–37, reviewed. Documents a fictional portrayal, not an actual location, surviving object or verified supernatural event.
- Edition
- IMJ-0256-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0256-E001-P0030
- Original scan leaf
- 41
- Recorded leaf number
- 41
- Current Reader position
- 30
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 5
The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories
We are but dreams, let us go among dreams.Open this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories, “The Sword of Welleran”, printed p. 27
Exact cleared Reader page visually inspected; complete title-story prose, printed pp. 3–37, reviewed. Documents a fictional portrayal, not an actual location, surviving object or verified supernatural event.
- Edition
- IMJ-0256-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0256-E001-P0036
- Original scan leaf
- 47
- Recorded leaf number
- 47
- Current Reader position
- 36
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 6
The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories
their old inviolate city slumbered safe.Open this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories, “The Sword of Welleran”, printed p. 37
Exact cleared Reader page visually inspected; complete title-story prose, printed pp. 3–37, reviewed. Documents a fictional portrayal, not an actual location, surviving object or verified supernatural event.
- Edition
- IMJ-0256-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0256-E001-P0048
- Original scan leaf
- 59
- Recorded leaf number
- 59
- Current Reader position
- 48
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
