This post is simply a summary of all things Black, one of GW’s most intriguing villains. His true name is not entirely clear. Below are some theories for GW’s intent with this character. Some are true, but probably not all:
- Goldwurm, Zwart Black, Alexander Skotos and Old Nick are the same person.
- Zwart means “black” in Dutch.
- Skotos is Greek, and means “darkness.” It also apparently has a secondary meaning for spiritual darkness, including ignorance of divine and mortal obligations. This fits Zwart, who doesn’t really care for his offspring at all.
- I think Zwart is an allusion to a number of characters. I have already talked about Long John Silver from Treasure Island. Both had crutches (Zwart in his Old Nick role), used pistols, had a friend named Jim, etc.
- I think the Alexander Skotos identity is also a historical allusion to Aleister Crowley, the English occultist. “Aleister” is Scottish version of the name Alexander. Crowely sounds like crows, which are black. Crowley founded a religion called Thelema, and interestingly Martha’s sister is named “Thelma”. Perhaps another a clue pointing to the Crowley identity. Crowley fancied himself a magician.
- Zwart may have a Roman/Greek counterpart in Pluto/Hades.
- Pluto was noted for having a bident, and Zwart has his forked staff.
- Pluto/Hades had Cerberus, a dog, as their guardian. Zwart has Toby as his dog familiar.
- Pluto/Hades was famous for kidnapping the goddess Persephone. Because she ate pomegranate seeds, she had to stay in the underworld for part of the year. Martha may represent Persephone, and her aged sister may be Persephone’s mother Demeter. Bax mows his and Thelma’s lawn, recalling the harvest that Demeter was the goddess of. Martha splits her time between Faerie and Earth, like Persephone splitting her time between Earth and Hades.
- I have said before that Zwart is related to the Asmodeus figure of the Bible and King Solomon legend. Asmodeus was described in various works of being a member of demonic royalty, and associated with the sin of lust. Asmodeus appeared in the Book of Tobit, and Zwart has a dog named Toby.
- I have stated that I think Zwart’s main objectives are to reclaim Martha and recover Ambrosius’ weapon of sorcery, which is the ring Bax finds in the fish. He doesn’t really care for his children, the inheritance he leaves to Bax is an elaborate ruse to stage a family reunion and get back Martha.
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The Duchy of Cumberbatch 