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'''''The Worm Ouroboros''''' (1922) is a [[hero]]ic [[high fantasy]] [[novel]] by [[Eric Rücker Eddison]]. 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 saga]]s. A half-finished framing story describes this world as [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]], though it is clearly a fantasy version of Earth, a "[[secondary world]]"; no effort was made to conform to the scientific knowledge of Mercury, as it existed at the time of writing.
'''''The Worm Ouroboros''''' (1922) is a [[hero]]ic [[high fantasy]] [[novel]] by [[Eric Rücker Eddison]]. The book describes the protracted war between the ��^������i��E���I(@�����J=���P���!�P�k�E��P�?��*��8uAAq3
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At a number of points the characters refer to their land as [[Midgard|Middle earth]], used here in its original sense of "the known world," and the d the other Demons recognize King [[Gorice XI]] of Witchland as their overlord. Juss and his brothers reply that they and all of Demonland will submit if the king (a famous wrestler) can defeat [[Goldry Bluszco]] in a wrestling match.

The work is slightly related to Eddison's later [[Zimiamvian Trilogy]] and collectively they are sometimes referred to as the Zimiamvian series.

==History of the Book==
Research done by Paul Edmund Thomas (who wrote an introduction to the 1991 Dell edition) shows that Eddison started imagining the stories which would turn into the ''The Worm Ouroboros'' at a very early age. An exercise book titled ''The Book of Drawings'' dated 1892 and created by Eddison is to be found at the [[Bodleian Library]]. In this book are 59 drawings in pencil, captioned by the author, containing many of the heroes and villains of the later work. Some of the drawings, such as ''The murder of Gallandus by [[Corsus]]'' and ''Lord [[Brandoch Daha]] challenging Lord [[Corund]]'', depict events of ''Ouroboros''.

As might be expected, significant differences exist between the ideas of a 10-year-old boy and the work of a 40-year-old man. Perhaps the most interesting change is the change in [[Lord Gro]]'s character. In the drawings Lord Gro is a hero of skill and courage, while in the book he is a conflicted character, never able to pick a side and stick to it. Another curious change is that [[Goldry Bluszco]] is the main hero of the drawings, but off-stage in an enchanted prison for most of the novel.

Many people (including Tolkien) have wondered at and criticized Eddison's curious names for his characters (e.g. La Fireez, Fax Fay Faz), places and nations. According to Thomas the answer appears to be that these names originated in the mind of a young boy and Eddison could not, or would not, change them thirty years later when he wrote the stories down.

==The Meaning of the Worm==
The title refers to [[Ouroboros]], the snake or [[dragon]] that swallows its own tail and therefore has no terminus. Like the great worm, the story as a whole is without true beginning or end.

At the end of the novel (as the reader perceives it) the heroes realize that their lives have little meaning without the great conflict and ask a boon of a supernatural Power. It is granted, and the story ends as it begins, with an embassy from Witchland demanding audience.

The theme of repetition pervades the work. King [[Gorice XI]] of Witchland dies early in the story; [[Gorice XII]] dies near the end. Gorice XII carries out two conjurings in the Iron Tower of [[Carcë]]; Carcë is attacked twice; there are two quests to find and recover Goldry Bluszco. Three armies chase each other in endless campaign until the heroes shatter the cycle on their quest.

==The Plot==
The novel starts with an ambassador from [[Witchland]] arriving in [[Demonland]] to demand that [[Lord Juss]] and the other Demons recognize King [[Gorice XI]] of Witchland as their overlord. Juss and his brothers reply that they and all of Demonland will submit if the king (a famous wrestler) can defeat [[Goldry Bluszco]] in a wrestling match.

The match is held in neutral territory, and Gorice is killed. His successor (or reincarnation) [[Gorice XII]] is a [[Magician (fantasy)|sorcerer]] and, with the help of [[Lord Gro]], contrives the sorcerous removal of Goldry to a magical mountain prison.

[[Lord Juss]] and his cousin [[Brandoch Daha]] attempt an assault on Carcë, the capital of the Witches, where they think Goldry is held. In this attempt they are aided by King [[Gaslark]] of Goblinland. ([[Lord Spitfire]] is sent back to raise the armies of Demonland.) The rescue fails, the Goblins flee, and the Demonlords are all captured. They escape with the aid of [[La Fireez]], the king of Pixyland, who helps them at great personal cost because he owes them a debt of honor.

Lord Juss and Brandoch Daha return home to Demonland and then start an expedition to rescue Goldry Bluszco from his terrible prison, somewhere past the mountains of Impland. Again, Lord Spitfire stays behind to lead the armies of Demonland against an expected invasion from Witchland.

The expedition's fleet is smashed and its army destroyed. Juss and Brandoch Daha meet with three strange enchanted heroes of an earlier time, and Lord Juss is nearly killed by a [[manticore]]. After a year of wandering they climb the mighty peak of Koshtra Pivrarcha - in a vividly described mountain ascent - and then attempt the even more difficult peak of Koshtra Belorn. Before reaching the summit of Koshtra Belorn they encounter Queen [[Sophonisba]], an enchanted girl or goddess.

From Sophonisba (who has been blessed by the gods with immortality and other great powers) they learn that Goldry is held on the top of mount Zora Rach, a mountain which cannot be climbed and whose peak is surrounded by unceasing flames. There is only one way to free him: they must find a [[hippogriff]]'s egg, and one of them must ride the newly hatched hippogriff. Queen Sophonisba gives Lord Juss one hippogriff egg but it is soon lost through betrayal by their lone companion, Mivarsh. Lord Juss and Brandoch Daha have to return to Demonland in search of another unhatched hippogriff egg, their quest defeated for the time being.

Meanwhile, the armies of Witchland have attacked Demonland. Duke [[Corsus]] is the first commander of the Witchland army. He conquers part of Demonland but Spitfire beats him at a battle called the Rapes of Brima. A new Witchland army, under the command of the dangerous Lord [[Corinius]], defeats Spitfire and captures most of Demonland. At this point, [[Lord Gro]] changes sides and helps [[Lady Mevrian]], the sister of Brandoch Daha (and the only woman of note in Demonland), to escape from the grasp of Corinius. A few months later Lord Juss and Brandoch Daha return and soundly defeat the Witchland army at the battle of Krothering Side.

Equipped with a new hippogriff egg, Lord Juss makes a second attempt to rescue his brother and this time is successful. With their great hero, Goldry Bluszco, returned, the Demonland army then sails to Witchland and faces the army of Witchland in a climactic struggle. In battle before the gates of Carcë, the most powerful hero of Witchland, Lord [[Corund]], dies from wounds he suffers fighting with the heroes of Demonland. So also dies Lord Gro (who switches sides yet again in the battle). The night after the battle, King Gorice attempts another terrible summoning but his spell fails and he is killed. Lord Corsus poisons all the remaining nobles of Witchland but is killed himself by Corinius before Corinius dies from the poison.

Though triumphant, the Demon lords find that victory is bitter because there are no more enemies worthy of their heroism, no more great deeds to perform. The Lord Juss says to Queen Sophonisba:

{{cquote| Thou O Queen canst scarcely know our grief: for to thee the blessed Gods gave thy heart's desire: youth forever, and peace. Would that they but give us our good gift, that should be youth for ever, and war; and unwaning strength and skill in arms. Would that they might but give us our great enemies alive and whole again. For better it were we should run hazard again of utter destruction, than thus live out our lives like cattle fattening for the slaughter, or like silly garden plants. ''(page 392)'' }}

Sophonisba, gifted by the gods with the power to grant wishes, returns the world to how it was four years ago; and so, with a blare of trumpets, an ambassador from Witchland arrives, "craving present audience," and the story starts over again.

==The Kingdoms of The Worm Ouroboros==
[[Image:Ouroboros map.jpg|right|thumb|400px|Map by David Bedell.]]
Despite the names, all the people in the book (Witches, Demons, Goblins, Imps, Pixies and others) are recognizably human and they are all the same species, or at least able to intermarry (the sister of the king of Pixyland is married to Lord Corund of Witchland). Witchland, Demonland, and others appear to be country names, like [[England]] and [[France]]. When first presented, the Demons are seen to have horns on their heads, but these horns are not mentioned again, nor is it said whether the other nations have horns.

The named nations and countries are:
* [[Witchland]]
* [[Demonland]]
* Pixyland
* Impland
* Goblinland
* The Foliot Isles
* The land [[Zimiamvian Trilogy|Zimiamvia]] (beyond the known world)
* The Ghouls, wiped out in a genocidal war a few years before the story opens

The King of Witchland claims lordship over a number of locations which are not described (page 12):
* Duke of Buteny and Estremerine
* Commander of Shulan, Thramnë, Mingos, and Permio
* Warden of the Esamocian Marches
* Duke of Trace
* King Paramount of Beshtria and Nevria
* Prince of Ar
* Great Lord over Ojedia, Maltraëny, Baltary, and Toribia

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 Fantasy]]'' (compiled by Jeremiah Benjamin Post) in 1979.

The map on this page was created by David Bedell in 1978.

For another map of these lands created by J. B. Hare in 2004 see [http://www.sacred-texts.com/ring/two/maps.htm The world of The Worm Ouroboros]. For a German map by Erhard Ringer see [http://www.fantasy-atlas.org/karten/eddisons1.html Der Wurm Ouroboros]

==Publication History==
* 1922: Original publication in [[London]] by [[Jonathan Cape]]
* 1952: Hardcover publication from [[E.P. Dutton]], featuring illustrations by [[Keith Henderson]] and an introduction by Orville Prescott
* 1967: [[Paperback]] edition from [[Ballantine Books]] (following the success of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''), with several printings in different years
* A recent UK paperback edition in the [[Fantasy Masterworks]] series
* 1999: Paperback reissue in Replica Books of Bridgewater, New Jersey
* 2008: A new edition by [[Forgotten Books]] and on Amazon's [[Kindle]]

==Comparison with other works==
{{Unreferenced|date=January 2008}}
As an early and ambitious [[high fantasy]], [[The Worm Ouroboros]] is often compared with [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' (which it predates by 32 years). Tolkien read ''The Worm Ouroboros'', and praised it in print.

Whereas Tolkien invented a backdrop of cultures, histories and languages, in ''The Worm Ouroboros'' the prose style is central. It is arguably one of the more convincing examples of mock-[[Archaism|archaic]] high [[diction]]; as a translator of old Norse sagas and a connoisseur of [[medieval]] and [[Renaissance]] poetry, Eddison had the required scholarship.

While Eddison relishes exotic personal and place names, he seems to have given little thought to plausible [[etymology]] and consistency, unlike Tolkien's layers of invented languages. On the other hand, Tolkien's prose style may seem pedestrian in comparison to Eddison's. However, Eddison's use of archaic words makes his text far less accessible to readers unwilling to take the time to look up the words.

The morality of the tale sharply contrasts with Tolkien's heroism of the common man in a fight against [[evil]] and [[C. S. Lewis]]'s [[Christian]] [[allegory]]. The protagonists, the four Lords of Demonland, are notable for their loyalty and their sense of fair play; but theirs is chiefly a warrior ethic of seeking glory in battle (and bragging about it in frequent and resonant speeches). Their antagonists are, for the most part, noble and worthy opponents even if their methods are less fair. As a further complication, the most complex and human character, [[Lord Gro]], is a serial traitor, who is motivated by an entirely unselfish, [[aesthetic]] sense of the nobility of failure and the inevitability of decay. One can arguably detect echoes of [[Nietzsche]]'s ''[[Also sprach Zarathustra]]'' in this worldview.

Eddison's novel includes several bits of song or poetry of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, all meticulously credited in an Appendix. Tolkien's fantasies likewise include lyric works but they are his own invention.

==External links==
*[http://www.sacred-texts.com/ring/two/index.htm The complete text of The Worm Ouroboros, at sacred-texts.com]
*[http://www.sacred-texts.com/ring/two/maps.htm A rough map of the world of The Worm Ouroboros] from Sacred Texts.com
*[http://mysite.verizon.net/quuxa/Eddison/ The Works of ER Eddison has notes, annotations, a bibliography, &c.]
*[http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=books/main/classicworm "Classics of Fantasy: The Worm Ouroboros by E. R. Eddison" by John D. Rateliff]
*[http://www.swordandsorcery.org/wormouroboros.asp "Where Head and Tail Meet: The Worm Ouroboros" by Ryan Harvey]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Worm Ouroboros, The}}
[[Category:1922 novels]]
[[Category:British novels]]
[[Category:Fantasy novels]]
[[Category:Zimiamvia books]]
[[Category:Mercury in fiction]]
[[Category:High fantasy novels]]

[[de:Der Wurm Ouroboros]]
[[nl:De Worm Ouroboros (boek)]]

Revision as of 06:02, 25 January 2009

The Worm Ouroboros
Original Cover
AuthorEric Rücker Eddison
IllustratorKeith Henderson
LanguageEnglish
SeriesThe Zimiamvian Series
GenreFantasy novel
PublisherJonathan Cape
Publication date
1922
Publication placeUK
Media typePrint (Hardback)
Pagesxiv, 448 pp
ISBNNA Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character

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