The Well at the World’s End

The King of Upmeads has four sons who are tired of living in the peaceable kingdom, and yearn to adventure abroad. Three are sent out, but the fourth, Ralph, is chosen to stay home. He can’t stand being left behind, and so he runs away, wandering to the many lands beyond Upmeads. On his travels he encounters much evil, meeting both thieves and tyrants. At the start, Ralph is somewhat naive and is merely carried along by events. But when he hears of a legendary Well at the World’s End that grants health and long life, he devotes himself to finding it—though many before him have tried. Ralph must make allies, escape evil plots, and take charge of his journey to fulfill his quest. Along the way he’ll grow into a confident warrior, and the kind of ruler that can set things right in the world. The Well at the World’s End is an early example of the high fantasy genre, as it takes place in a fictional world filled with romance and features a heroic protagonist. The magic is subtle, and the story is largely an adventure of knights, damsels, villains, and heroes. The prose is written in an archaic style of English, which inspired many later fantasy writers including J. R. R. Tolkien (who may have been influenced by the book’s King Gandolf and horse Silverfax) and C. S. Lewis.