(Reread.) I reread this to compare Gaiman's depiction of Faerie to Dunsany's depiction of Elfland. Gaiman's prose is very little like Dunsany's. It's much more matter of fact than Dunsany's lilt, and rightly so, as the realm he's describing is much less otherworldly than Elfland. There are plenty of nods to Dunsany though. I was amused to see a pair of foxes running alongside the unicorn in one of the paintings (unmentioned in the text). Gaimain's story is much more involved than Dunsany's. Where Dunsany spends long, flowing paragraphs setting a tone, Gaiman can rely on the beautiful illustrations by Vess. This frees up the text to present a much more intricate plot, with many more threads.