Witchland
Encyclopedia
Witchland is a large and powerful country in Eric Rücker Eddison
's fantasy
world, described in The Worm Ouroboros
. Contrary to what one might think based on the name, Witchland is not home to witches
. Instead the people who live in Witchland are recognizably human and - with one exception - seem to have no interest in magic.
Witchland is the setting for some of the events in the story. Witchland's geography seems to be flat and well suited for farming. The Demonlords somewhat dismissively call it watery. Witchland has a large city on the coast, the great walled city of Carcë. Witchland is one of several important realms in the book. The others are Demonland
, Impland, Goblinland, the Foliot Isles, and Pixyland.
Witchland bears a slight resemblance to the kingdom of Gondor
in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings
. It has also been compared to Troy
, Babylon
, and Rome
.
Witchland is less well described than Demonland. The port next to Carcë is called Tenemos. Other lands nearby are: Pixyland and the Foliot Isles. Other lands and cites which owe loyalty to Witchland are: Buteny, Estremerine, Shulan, Thramnë, Mingos, Permio, Ar, the Esamocian Marches, Trace, Beshtria, Nevria, Ojedia, Maltraëny, Baltary, and Toribia. However Eddison, unlike his better known contemporary Tolkien, never mapped his world so the location of these places is uncertain.
. Previous kings were conquerors and sword masters. The king, ruling from Carcë, has a number of nobles who do his bidding.
The main nobles of Witchland are:
Two battles are fought in Witchland during the book:
Eric Rucker Eddison
Eric Rücker Eddison was an English civil servant and author, writing under the name "E.R. Eddison."-Biography:...
's fantasy
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...
world, described in The Worm Ouroboros
The Worm Ouroboros
The Worm Ouroboros is a heroic high fantasy novel by Eric Rücker Eddison, first published in 1922. The book describes the protracted war between the domineering King Gorice of Witchland and the Lords of Demonland in an imaginary world that appears mainly medieval and partly reminiscent of Norse sagas...
. Contrary to what one might think based on the name, Witchland is not home to witches
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
. Instead the people who live in Witchland are recognizably human and - with one exception - seem to have no interest in magic.
Witchland is the setting for some of the events in the story. Witchland's geography seems to be flat and well suited for farming. The Demonlords somewhat dismissively call it watery. Witchland has a large city on the coast, the great walled city of Carcë. Witchland is one of several important realms in the book. The others are Demonland
Demonland
Demonland is a large island in Eric Rücker Eddison's fantasy world, described in The Worm Ouroboros. Contrary to what one might think based on the name, Demonland is not home to demons. Instead the people who live in Demonland are recognizably human, though they are adorned with small horns on...
, Impland, Goblinland, the Foliot Isles, and Pixyland.
Witchland bears a slight resemblance to the kingdom of Gondor
Gondor
Gondor is a fictional kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings, described as the greatest realm of Men in the west of Middle-earth by the end of the Third Age. The third volume of The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, is concerned with the events in Gondor during the War of the Ring and with...
in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
. It has also been compared to Troy
Troy
Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
, Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
, and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
.
Witchland is less well described than Demonland. The port next to Carcë is called Tenemos. Other lands nearby are: Pixyland and the Foliot Isles. Other lands and cites which owe loyalty to Witchland are: Buteny, Estremerine, Shulan, Thramnë, Mingos, Permio, Ar, the Esamocian Marches, Trace, Beshtria, Nevria, Ojedia, Maltraëny, Baltary, and Toribia. However Eddison, unlike his better known contemporary Tolkien, never mapped his world so the location of these places is uncertain.
Government of Witchland
Witchland is ruled by a king who, on death, is instantly reincarnated into another, somewhat different form. Each King of Witchland goes by the name of Gorice. The two kings in the story are Gorice XI, the wrestler, and Gorice XII, the sorcererMagician (fantasy)
A magician, mage, sorcerer, sorceress, wizard, enchanter, enchantress, thaumaturge or a person known under one of many other possible terms is someone who uses or practices magic that derives from supernatural or occult sources...
. Previous kings were conquerors and sword masters. The king, ruling from Carcë, has a number of nobles who do his bidding.
The main nobles of Witchland are:
- Duke Corsus, old and fat. He has a wife and sons (named Dekalajus and Gorius) as well as a beautiful daughter named Sriva.
- King Corund, a mighty warrior with many sons (named Hacmon, Heming, Dormanes, Viglus, and Cargo). His second wife is the Lady Prezmyra, the sister of King La Fireez of Pixyland.
- Corinius, a young and dangerous man, only slightly less capable than Corund.
- Lord Gro, a Goblin, foster-brother of King Gaslark of Goblinland, now allied with Witchland, one of the novel's main characters.
- Laxus, the great admiral of the Witchland fleet and a noble man.
- Gallandus, second-in-command to Corsus in the invasion of Demonland.
Two battles are fought in Witchland during the book:
- 1st Battle of Carcë - Corund, Corsus, and Corinius defeat a small Goblin army led by King Gaslark, capturing Lord Juss and Brandoch Daha with nets.
- 2nd Battle of Carcë - Corund is mortally wounded by Lord Juss, Corinius is forced to flee from battle by Brandoch Daha and the armies of Witchland are broken. This is the last battle and grand climax of the book.
Maps
- Gerald Hayes, a cartographer with the Royal Navy, created the first map for The Worm Ouroboros circa 1925 - initially from internal evidence, and later in consultation with Eddison. He states in a letter to C.S. Lewis that he secured Eddison's approval "as a true presentation of all the lands, seas, and countries of his history." Source: Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Vol II, page 559. Not sure if it still exists! States crude copy made for Lewis.
- Another map of the world by Bernard Morris was published in Twilight Zine No. 4 and reprinted in the book An Atlas of FantasyAn Atlas of FantasyAn Atlas of Fantasy, compiled by Jeremiah Benjamin Post, was originally published in 1973 by Mirage Press and revised for a 1979 edition by Ballantine Books. The 1979 edition dropped twelve maps from the first edition and added fourteen new ones...
(book author: Jeremiah Benjamin Post) in 1979. - For a map of the world created by David Bedell in 1978, see The Worm OuroborosThe Worm OuroborosThe Worm Ouroboros is a heroic high fantasy novel by Eric Rücker Eddison, first published in 1922. The book describes the protracted war between the domineering King Gorice of Witchland and the Lords of Demonland in an imaginary world that appears mainly medieval and partly reminiscent of Norse sagas...
. - For another map of Witchland created by J. B. Hare in 2004 see The world of The Worm Ouroboros.