The Ethereal Land is suffused with the deep despair and the unreal hope that the Chieftain of Seir describes in his essay titled The Aesthetic of Despair. That is why we have chosen to make The Aesthetic of Despair the inaugural essay of our Essay of the Week column.

But rest assured gentle readers; henceforth, we will no longer take essays from the archives of the Chieftain of Seir for the essay of the week column. Most weeks, we expect the Essay of the Week column to highlight the various well written essays that can be found on the World Wide Web.

We say most weeks advisedly. When the Chief writes a new essay we shall probably feel compelled to put it in the Essay of the Week column. He is the publisher of this august publication after all.