Streels of Urtah
Encyclopedia
The Streels of Urtah is a location in the fantasy
novel
s Shardik
and Maia
by Richard Adams.
Guardians and Priests live near the Streels. Their job is to kill anyone who enters the Streels, since they believe only the evil are drawn to the Streels by God. Shardik descends into the Streels and remains there overnight, and the guardian attempts to kill him, but he escapes and leaves the Streels in the morning. It is understood that he must die, and that there is no reprieve, but it is suggested that his death will be redemptive and that he will accomplish the will of God in dying.
There is a strong suggestion of the Christian
story of Christ
's sacrificial death
, even drawing perhaps on the account of the descent of Christ into the place of the dead. However, at all times, Shardik's identity is maintained in an ambiguous form; it is never explicitly stated that he was divine, but only that people believed it of him. The device gives a fascination to the plot, and in several other parts of the story, faith and belief in God are treated with a similar emphasis to that in Christianity. In effect, the story of Shardik, his life, his entry into and exit from the Streels, and his sacrificial death, strongly suggest that the author is imagining a mythical, prehistoric, pointer to the Christian story.
, Adams's other novel set in the Beklan Empire, the girl Occula also enters the Streels at the prompting of those nameless spirits who have impelled her throughout, to pursue and kill Fornis, the depraved and cruel ruler of Bekla, who has herself entered the Streels at the prompting of those same spirits. She does this by causing Fornis to stab herself, and she becomes aware that the Streels are for those who have committed crimes for which there is no forgiveness or redemption. Occula has herself entered the Streels and her life is therefore forfeit - deodand
- she has to stay apart from the world for a long time to recover herself, tended by the priest, guardian of the Streels.
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s Shardik
Shardik
Shardik is a fantasy novel written by Richard Adams in 1974.-Plot introduction:Adams's second novel Shardik concerns a lonely hunter, Kelderek, who pursues Shardik, a giant bear he believes to embody the Power of God; both of them become unwillingly drawn into the politics of an imaginary region...
and Maia
Maia (novel)
Maia is a fantasy novel by Richard Adams, published in 1984. Although not marketed as a romance novel, it also fits into that genre.-Plot introduction:...
by Richard Adams.
Shardik
Shardik is a novel of the ancient struggle between good and evil, and some of the effects of faith on the behaviour of human beings. In it the The Streels of Urtah are depicted as a dreadful place where people who have done much evil are sent, without their knowledge, by God.Guardians and Priests live near the Streels. Their job is to kill anyone who enters the Streels, since they believe only the evil are drawn to the Streels by God. Shardik descends into the Streels and remains there overnight, and the guardian attempts to kill him, but he escapes and leaves the Streels in the morning. It is understood that he must die, and that there is no reprieve, but it is suggested that his death will be redemptive and that he will accomplish the will of God in dying.
There is a strong suggestion of the Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
story of Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
's sacrificial death
Passion (Christianity)
The Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering – physical, spiritual, and mental – of Jesus in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion...
, even drawing perhaps on the account of the descent of Christ into the place of the dead. However, at all times, Shardik's identity is maintained in an ambiguous form; it is never explicitly stated that he was divine, but only that people believed it of him. The device gives a fascination to the plot, and in several other parts of the story, faith and belief in God are treated with a similar emphasis to that in Christianity. In effect, the story of Shardik, his life, his entry into and exit from the Streels, and his sacrificial death, strongly suggest that the author is imagining a mythical, prehistoric, pointer to the Christian story.
Maia
In MaiaMaia (novel)
Maia is a fantasy novel by Richard Adams, published in 1984. Although not marketed as a romance novel, it also fits into that genre.-Plot introduction:...
, Adams's other novel set in the Beklan Empire, the girl Occula also enters the Streels at the prompting of those nameless spirits who have impelled her throughout, to pursue and kill Fornis, the depraved and cruel ruler of Bekla, who has herself entered the Streels at the prompting of those same spirits. She does this by causing Fornis to stab herself, and she becomes aware that the Streels are for those who have committed crimes for which there is no forgiveness or redemption. Occula has herself entered the Streels and her life is therefore forfeit - deodand
Deodand
Deodand is a thing forfeited or given to God, specifically, in law, an object or instrument which becomes forfeit because it has caused a person's death....
- she has to stay apart from the world for a long time to recover herself, tended by the priest, guardian of the Streels.