Dunsany's The King of Elfland's Daughter has a great deal of interwoven irony between religious and spiritual leadership. Overall, those concentrating on religion are quite far spiritually from where they think themselves to be. There are, however, those seeking spirituality outside of the guidelines of the religion that are actually much closer to the religious persons' goals than they are.
The first, and most obvious, irony in the religious leader is his collection of "holy things." The Freer's "holy things" are the tools of a witch (the ever-present bell and candle, etc…). His obsession with religious tradition and authority are classic of the medieval process, but keep him very distant and cold spiritually. His eyes are closed to anything strange and unusual; he is unaccepting of change and fears anything supernatural.
The Freer defines the supernatural as anything that he does not believe in, and is quick to denounce it. All of Elfland and everything from it naturally falls into this category. For example, the unicorn becomes quite controversial in the town; whether one believes in them or not, Orion has clearly slain one. But the freer, rather than acknowledging the course of events and giving guidance to a very confused parliament, the Freer walks around angrily cursing the unicorn. He reprimands the parliament for their excitement and pushes them away from him with his curses. Rather than giving the men the guidance they need to prevent magic from taking over, the freer just goes around cursing the magic.
The Freer is never portrayed as having the personal attributes that are supported by his religion: love, acceptance, charity, hope, etc. He is the opposite of everything that his position as a religious leader stands for; he is judgmental, cold, distant, unloving, and unaccepting.
Another example is Lirazel's crossing over the border of Elfland into Erl to live and her wedding to Alveric. The Freer fears her origin and assumes her to be beyond salvation because of it. He does not approve of Alveric's bride and makes a big deal about finding some precedence to marry them, drawing on tradition and authority to make sense of this. Rather than acknowledging the power of her place of origin and respecting it, he treats her as a freak. She must renounce her old ways and convert to their religion. As we see, his ignorant attitude does not make this other spiritual power disappear; it comes back very strong and takes over all of the village but the Freer's land.
The Freer frees no one. He keeps his eyes closed to reality and defines spirituality through his strict religious beliefs. Therefore, he is a totally ineffective spiritual leader who cannot deal with the changes that occur and lives in solitude in the end.
The witch, Ziroonderel, is an unexpected spiritual leader. She not only acknowledges the coexistence of Elfland and Erl, but understands and appreciates the powers that exist in both. She does not fear either place, and is able to change with the turbulent times and provide a spiritual wisdom for many.
The witch leads by example, spiritually. She does not get caught up in the tediousness of religion, but is more realistic. She portrays more of the attributes of Christian love than the Freer does by far. Her eyes are open and she can acknowledge her own powers and limitations, as well as those of the worlds around her. She provides comfort and understanding for Lirazel and Orion. She is even respected and loved by Alveric, although he does not acknowledge her spiritually. She is able to teach the people of Erl, but is wise enough to know when it's best not to say anything at all and take a step back and allow for events to progress naturally. The witch, Ziroonderel, is the wisest person in the story.
Alveric is very lost; he tries to cross over to and appreciate the world of Elfland, but only long enough to win his bride. As soon as they return to Erl, Alveric falls back into the religious traditions that he was brought up with. He does not appreciate his wife's attempts to cross over spiritually and closes his eyes and his heart to her own spiritual practices. Rather than simply trying to redirect them, he demands that she give up all that she has ever known spiritually and only practice his way.
Alveric never comforts or encourages Lirazel during this process, nor gives her reason to believe that his religion is superior. He does not show her the spiritual attributes in himself that are supposedly supported by this religion. While she tries to be obedient and worship his way, Alveric misinterprets her actions and becomes furious with her. He does not even have the patience to acknowledge that with her warped sense of time, it will take her longer to make the changes. He forbids her to worship her own way, and through their religious struggles, Alveric drives her back to her father in Elfland. He follows his religion, but spiritually goes the opposite direction as he intends to. He shows her no Christian love.
Lirazel definitely struggles with an ability to change in her new world, but not for lack of trying. Her heart is in the right place. She wants to worship and show appreciation for the new world around her; she is very loving. The Christian attributes are apparent in her personality more than in Alveric's or the Freer's, but yet she is the one that is religiously shunned; spiritually she is in the place that they think themselves to be.
We see irony again in the end when the border between Elfland and Erl is erased. The witch, Ziroonderel, and the Freer seem to sort of switch roles in their society. Now Ziroonderel is able to be more of a spiritual leader, being the only person who can truly understand both worlds and can make sense of their new combination. The Freer is now the one deserted on his own island and is more of the freak in society.
It is ironic how the religious leaders lack the necessary spirituality to be effective in their practice. The ones considered to be heathens portray the positive religious attributes through their spirituality. It is an ironic topic that has always been relevant; not only in a fantasy world, but in the real world as well. Many religious wars and much persecution have been started because of this contradiction.
Dunsany does a wonderful job exploring religion and spirituality with some twists here and there in The King of Elfland's Daughter. It is interesting to see how he weaves fantasy with reality to bring this truth to life: some religious leaders and some heathens will continuously struggle between religion and spirituality as the Freer, Ziroonderel, Alveric, and Lirazel have shown us. It is a timeless tale that society will always experience; a tale that will constantly contain this irony in some form, just as Dunsany's characters have shown.