Charles Nodier - a figure in the history of French literature is very peculiar His literary work is inseparable from the history of French romanticism - at the same time, among French romantics, he always stood apart. He was a contemporary of two literary "generations" of Romanticism - and did not actually belong to either of them. He was a kind of "discoverer" in Romanticism - and always found himself in opposition to the romantic literature of his time. “All of you ... have heard of the drows inhabiting the Shetland Islands, and of the elves or housewives of Scotland, and all of you know that there is scarcely a village house in these countries, among whose inhabitants there would be no domestic spirit. Trilby was the youngest, most affectionate, most adorable of the house spirits. He would not leave Dougal's hut even for a whole kingdom, because he was in love with his wife, the black-haired Gianni..."