''The Mezentian Gate'' is a fantasy novel by English writer E. R. Eddison, the third in his

Zimiamvian Trilogy The Zimiamvian Trilogy is a series of fantasy novels by English author E. R. Eddison. *''Mistress of Mistresses'' (1935) *''A Fish Dinner in Memison'' (1941) *''The Mezentian Gate'' (1958) Some chapters in each of the novels take place on Earth ...

. It is primarily a history of the rule of the fictional King Mezentius (the Tyrant of Fingiswold), and his methods of gaining and holding the Three Kingdoms of Fingiswold, Meszria and Rerek in sway. Published posthumously, ''The Mezentian Gate'' is only partially completed as prose. In many of the central chapters, only the plot outline is presented. The first edition, published in 1958, comprised those chapters completed by Eddison, supplemented by an "Argument" summarizing the unfinished portions of the novel. An omnibus edition of the trilogy, published in 1992 as ''Zimiamvia'', supplemented the 1958 text with unfinished draft texts for several never-completed chapters found among Eddison's manuscripts in the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...

.Paul Edward Thomas, "Introduction", ''The Mezentian Gate'', HarperCollins, 2014, ix–x. The expanded version was published in an independent edition by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

in 2014. ''The Mezentian Gate'' is chronologically the first book in the

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* 1958 British novels 1958 fantasy novels British fantasy novels Unfinished novels Zimiamvia books Novels published posthumously {{1950s-fantasy-novel-stub