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FIRST PUBLICATION

• Beyond Fantasy Fiction, Sep 1953.

HISTORY:

    Less than a week after sending a batch of three short stories to the SMLA, Philip K. Dick mailed in the manuscript for "Shadrach Jones And The Elves". It arrived at the SMLA on Aug 4, 1952. Somehow, between the time of its reception and its publication in Beyond in Sep 1953, the title was changed to "The King Of The Elves."

  This story, another pure fantasy of a lonely gas-station attendant chosen by the elves to replace their dying king and fight the trolls, has proven popular over the years, particularly since its publication in THE COLLECTED STORIES. 

    It was first anthologized in PKD’s Berkley collection THE GOLDEN MAN in 1980. Then in THE COLLECTED STORIES, Vol. 1 in 1987. Since then, though, with PKD’s popularity picking up and the story’s new availability to readers it appeared in six more anthologies in the ten years between 1987 and 1997.

    Philip K. Dick wrote this about "The King of The Elves:"

    This story, of course, is fantasy, not sf. Originally it had a downbeat ending on it, but Horace Gold, the editor who bought it, carefully explained to me that prophecy always came true; if it didn't ipso facto it wasn't prophecy. I guess, then, there can be no such thing as a false prophet; "false prophet" is an oxymoron." {TGM 321 'Story Notes.'}

    "The King Of The Elves" rates ô ô ô ô

Other Magazine and Anthology Appearances     More Cover Pix Here: 

1980		THE GOLDEN MAN, Berkley, pb, 04288, 1980, ?, ? (?) {Ed. Hurst}
1987		BEYOND LIES THE WUB/THE SHORT,  HAPPY LIFE OF THE BROWN OXFORD, ?,?,?,? (?)
1988		MASTERPIECES OF FANTASY AND ENCHANTMENT, SFBC, hb, ?,?,? (?) {Ed. Hartwell}
1991		FAERIES, Roc, ?,?,?,? (?) {Ed. Asimov, Greenberg, Waugh}
1991		SPELLS OF ENCHANTMENT, Viking, ?,?,?,? (?) {Ed. Zipes}
1991c		SPELLS OF ENCHANTMENT, Penguin, pb, ?,?,?,?,(?) {Ed. Zipes}
1993		THE OXFORD BOOK OF MODERN FAIRY TALES, Oxford University Press, hb, ?,?,? (?) {Ed. Lurie}
2000		FAERIES, NAL, pb, ?, Dec 2000, ?, $10.95 (?) {Ed. Asimov, Greenberg, Waugh} ISBN: 0-451-45061-2

 NOTES:

TTHC 210:

{...} The title of Goethe's ballad "Erlkonig" is echoed in Dick's short story "The King of The Elves."

Science Fiction Chronicle, Oct-Nov 1995, p18

    Russ Galen sold film rights ton three PhilipK. Dick short stories: "The Minority Report" went to 20th Century Fox, "The King Of The Elves" to Jim Henson Productions, and "Impostor" to Miramax.

Collector’s Notes

Rudy’s Books: "The king Of The Elves", Beyond Fantasy Fiction, 1953 (1^st). VG-FINE. $8.50

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