Knight Notes: The Wizard, Chapters 22-23

This post covers the Room of Lost Loves through the battle of Utgard

Chapters 22 and 23: Lost Loves, The Battle of Utgard

Chapter Summaries

In Chapter 22, Able and Lynnet (and Mani) enter the Room of Lost Loves. They arrive at a version of Goldenlawn before it was destroyed, and Lynnet sees her family. Able meets Mani in a grotto, of which he will not speak. Able then emerges by the sea, and sees Parka again. He swims out to the Isle of Glas, and meets Mag, who tells her story.  Able leaves the Room, and then talks with Vil, Uri and Mani.

In Chapter 23, the conversation with Vil, Uri and Mani continues. The embassy meets with King Schildstarr, and make ready to leave. Gifts are given, but the giants intend an ambush.  Beel’s embassy is attacked as it leaves, but the ambush is spoiled by the arrival of Duke Marder’s group coming up from the south. The giants are defeated.

The Room of Lost Loves

The name of the room is an allusion to the “Inn of Lost Loves” from The Book of the New Sun. Severian finds his father, Ouen, there.  Able meets Mag, who is at least the “Real Able’s” mother, in the Room of Lost Loves.

The Room as the River Eunoe

Dante’s Divine Comedy is one of the books that is repeatedly referenced in the WK.  One way may be with the Room.  The Room restores memories of lost love. In the Comedy, souls that reach the top level of Purgatory drink from the River Eunoe, which restores memory of good deeds that happened in their lives.  In another chapter, Able talks of how the Valfather’s mead causes those in Skai to forget much of their lives, which sounds like the River Lethe of Greek myth and the Comedy.

Why Did Thiazi Build the Room?

Thiazi says that the Angrborn love, though they are not loved.  Gilling loved Idnn. They have a need that is not being met.  So Thiazi builds the Room so they can experience it. Its in his study though, which no giant enters without invitation.

I think its use must “humanize” them to some extent. Thiazi is the most “human” of all the giants we meet. He is reasonable, restrained, the most well spoken, and by his own claim not cruel for cruelty’s sake.  He probably has used it the most. I suspect Gilling has used the room as well. He is less human than Thiazi, but more human than the rank and file Angrborn. He has a sense of humor, is capable of negotiation, and has genuine affection for Idnn.

I wonder if the Room is GW’s vision of a really good VR simulation system, something that may be available before too long to humanity.  Will our descendants have their own “Rooms of Lost Love” where they can obtain the love they don’t find in their real lives?

Mag

We learn Mag’s story: the birth of Able, how she was kidnapped by a dragon, and then taken to the Isle of Glas. She and other women on the Isle were used to lure sailors there to feed at least one dragon, Setr. Thinking on this some more, I am satisfied that it was Garsceg who came to Griffinsford. Mag says she “believed” it was Grengarm. However, the old man persona used by the dragon persuades me that it was Garsceg. Ulfa offers thanks to Garsceg in an early scene in The Knight, and Glennidam was a nearby village.

The persecution of Griffinsford may have been part of Garsceg/Setr’s plan to take over Mythgarthr. I have another theory for why Griffinsford was singled out for persecution, which involves Arnthor and his ability to see the future. It’s another allusion to The Once And Future King, and I will detail it later. Glennidam surrendered to Garsceg rather than suffer Griffinsford’s fate.

I have not talked about Black Berthold much, but I think he is modeled on Saint Joseph.  Black Berthold does not appear at all in the events of the WK.  This is similar to Joseph, who apparently had died by the time Jesus began his public ministry.  Ben and Art’s father on Earth ran a hardware store, so Berthold and Able’s father may have been a carpenter, like Joseph.

The Real Able visited Mag on the Isle at some point, but she couldn’t escape with him. It’s not clear why.  She then committed suicide with Setr’s poison. She leaves a message for Able in a glass tube on the island. Able found her bones, the cup, and the tube on his prior visit to the Isle of Glas. Her delivery of Able was very difficult, which is similar to the birth of Heracles.

Able mentions in this chapter that he eventually went back to the Isle after the events of the WK and buried her remains, and raised a monument. Its an interesting remark because it shows that Able did not stay in Aelfrice 100% of the time after the end of the WK.

Was Mag  both the Real Able and Art’s mother?  I think they are two different women.  Mag speaks through Lynnet to Able before the River Battle. She says she knows that Art/Able is not her son.  On a different night, Lynnet comes to Able, and a woman speaks through her, telling him of “her girlhood in America.” I think that two different women’s spirits came into Lynnet.  But I am not positive. I should say that I think the two spirits in Lynnet are more like living memories than conscious entities.

As an aside, I note that there are a large number of characters with the name Mag or one its variations (e.g. Margaret, Maggie, Maisie, Gretchen, etc.) in the GW bibliography (novels and short stories). Anyone have a theory? The name means “pearl.”

Lynnet and Goldenlawn/The Gorgon

As discussed in other posts, Goldenlawn is an allusion to the Golden Fleece. Lynnet’s improvement after entering the room is also related to slaying of the Gorgon by Perseus. Able plays the role of both Jason and Perseus.

The Legend of Oedipus

The story of Oedipus was referenced in Able’s encounter with Michael. It is again in these chapters. Able meets Mag, the Real Able’s mother, in the Room of Lost Loves. Her spirit then enters into Lynnet.  Uri half-seriously proposes that Able could marry Lynnet, calling to mind Oedipus marrying his mother Jocasta by mistake.  Vil himself may be a reference of sorts to Oedipus. Oedipus blinded himself after he slept with Jocasta and had offspring. Vil slept with Lynnet and produced Etela.  Etela may be a version of Antigone, the beloved daughter that accompanies the blinded Oedipus into exile. I think Vil was blinded by the giants though, not for sleeping with Lynnet.

The Grotto

Able sees dead people here, but will not speak of it. Perhaps an allusion to the underworld of Greek myth sometimes visited by heroes. Not a nice place.

Mani

Mani learns he is a fusion of a cat and an elemental. He misses the lives of the two entities that he is made of, that’s his lost love. He later learns that when the cat dies, the elemental will continue on, but that “Mani” will cease to be.

The Grail

Able, as Galahad, achieves the Grail by entering the Room of Lost Loves. I am going to save what the Grail is for a future post.

The Battle of Utgard

The giants disguising themselves as rocks are an allusion to the dangerous rocks or sea monsters encountered at sea by Jason and other Greek heroes in their adventures. It even sounds a bit like the ambush Theseus survived when departing Athens.

Broken Pottery

Hela shows the group some broken pottery.  Heimir says it reminds him of Idnn. This is additional confirmation of Idnn’s counterpart in Mary of Bethany. In the Gospel of Mark, Mary of Bethany breaks an alabaster jar and pours the perfumed oil on Jesus.

Hiding The Coin

The lengthy scene of Vil hiding and finding the coin is an acting out of the Parable Of the Lost Coin. All the parables of the Gospels are acted out in one way or another in the WK.

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Knight Notes: The Knight, Chapters 43-47

This post covers the time period beginning when Able leaves Sheerwall through his joining Lord Beel’s embassy to Utgard.

Chapters 43-47: The War Way, Michael, The Cottage in the Forest, Mani, Good Master Crol

Chapter Summaries

In Chapter 43, Able takes his leave of Sheerwall Castle and heads north on the War Way with Svon as his new squire.  Svon gets under his skin, and Able walks into the woods to cool off. Able meets Michael in Chapter 44, and asks three questions.  Able finds Huld’s cottage in Chapter 45, and her familiar Mani decides to join him in the following chapter.  Able encounters Lord Beel’s embassy in Chapter 47, and and is introduced to some of its members.

The Return of Svon

In Chapter 43, and in earlier chapters, we have learned that Svon survived the fight with the Free Companies, and returned to Sheerwall. Some people did not believe his account, and suspect him of deserting Sir Ravd.  Svon was reassigned to Sir Hermad, but Hermad was crippled by Able during the joust fight.  Apparently no other knight now wants Svon as his squire. Able has gotten in trouble for striking one of the warders in Chapter 42, and Duke Marder sends Able north to take his stand in the mountains to resolve the situation.  Marder also decides to send Svon along as Able’s squire to get him out of the way, and provide another chance to become a knight. Svon is rather old for a squire, and his failure to be knighted is weighing heavily on him. He verbally provokes Able into striking him, and Able leaves him on the Way Way with Org and Pouk.  Svon and Pouk then fight, and go their separate ways. Svon and Org catch up with Beel’s Embassy before Able does. Svon leaves before Able arrives, but then returns right before the fight with the Angr at beginning of The Wizard.

The Return of Ulfa

In Chapter 44, Able learns from Uri and Baki that Org has killed and eaten the mule of a woman travelling alone on the War Way.  We later learn in The Wizard that this was Ulfa, and that she had been following Able since he left Glennidam, taking odd jobs along the way.  Ulfa meets up with Pouk and Svon, and goes with Pouk after he and Svon separate.  Pouk and Ulfa are later captured by the Angrborn and taken to Utgard as slaves.

Uri and Baki’s Double Game

Able learns that Uri and Baki are not quite the slaves they make themselves out to be. They fail to tell him about the nearby pool, apparently because they don’t want Able to meet Michael.  When Able looks in the pool, he sees Uri and Baki meeting with Setr in one of the armories in the Tower of Glas. Uri turns back into a khimaira during his vision.

Michael and the Two Questions and One Riddle

Able meets Michael of Kleos  at a forest pool that serves as a gate to the other worlds. Depicted as having large wings and wearing mail, this is clearly intended to be a version of the archangel Michael. This encounter is no accident.  He has been sent to offer guidance to Able. Michael affirms the cosmic order of the WK. The creatures of each level are to direct their worship to the beings of higher planes. Michael demonstrates this by summoning the Valfather, who pays homage to him.  He cautions Able against pursuit of Disiri, but acknowledges he himself is not without fault.

For Able’s first two questions, Michael states that Able summoned himself on Bluestone Island, and that it was his older self who did this. For the last question, Michael says it is “whence came the tongs that grasped Eterne?” Michael poses a question, or Riddle, and does not provide the answer.

Able is playing the role of the Greek hero Oedipus in this encounter, and Michael is the Sphinx.  The Sphinx was a creature that terrorized an area of Greece and killed those travelers who could not solve its riddle.  Like Michael, the Sphinx had the face of a human and wings.  Michael is apparently more like the Egyptian Sphinx, which were male and helpful. The encounter ends with Michael descending into the well of worlds, sort of like the Sphinx throwing herself off her rock.

Mani

In the post on Arthurian counterparts, I have linked Mani to the Menw character of the Culhwch and Olwen story.  As MAD notes in his WKC, Mani is also associated with the moon in Old Norse. Mani enters the Room of Lost Loves in Utgard. He learns that he his a fusion of an elemental spirit and a cat created by the witch Huld.  In early readings I couldn’t quite figure out what happened to Mani, as he seems to just drop out of the story. It appears that he goes to live out his remaining days with Queen Idnn in Jotunhome.  Mani has a secondary Arthurian counterpart in Sir Dagonet, Arthur’s court jester. Mani is definitely the comedian of the story.

Mani is also a sort of a running joke by GW about Manichaeism, and Mani the Prophet. Mani was from Persia, and the Mani of the WK is a cat, so “Persian Cat”!  Mani of the WK has almost a Manicheistic approach to things. In his most famous example, all cats are good, while dogs (like Gylf) are bad. Mani is a fusion of the material (a cat) and the spiritual (an elemental), and Manichaeism viewed matter as evil and the spirit as good. Mani is black colored of course, since the cat represents the “evil” physical part.

Huld the Witch

Huld has died, but her spirit seems trapped in her corpse. I think she is another version of La Befana.  Huld’s ghost uses phrases like “never die’ and “curse” calling to mind the cursed La Befana who can’t die because she missed the birth of Christ.

Able frees her spirit by providing her a food offering.  Her spirit accompanies Lord Beel’s embassy to Utgard, and follows Able as far as Kingsdoom. She helps the Embassy in Utgard by pretending to be Idnn. She seems to make her last appearance in Lord Escan’s library in Kingsdoom, and perhaps is laid to rest after that.

MAD has identified a Norse witch she is based on. In my post on Theseus, I note that Huld’s story is also based on Hecale.

The Nature of Time

Before he leaves, Michael tells Able that he goes to seek “the-far famed knight, Sir Able of the High Heart.” Michael also tells Able that his older self, Able of Skai, watched him on Bluestone Island and summoned him.

Michael makes an appearance, of sorts, in the last chapter of the WK, when he comes to Able in Aelfrice to recruit him to a new mission. GW seems to be suggesting that our perception of time is inaccurate. Perhaps time is really just an “eternal now.”  In the last chapter of The Wizard, Able says “Soon time will ripen, and we will come again.”

GW seems to be asserting a belief that all time exists “at the same time” in The Book of the New Sun. At one point, Severian is talking with a young witch (who some assert is Severian’s sister) about time, and she says:

“The young witch nodded. “All time exists. That is the truth beyond the legends the epopts tell. If the future did not exist now, how could we journey toward it? If the past does not exist still, how could we leave it behind us? In sleep the mind is encircled by its time, which is why we so often hear the voices of the dead there, and receive intelligence of things to come. Those who, like the Mother, have learned to enter the same state while waking live surrounded by their own lives, even as the Abraxas perceives all of time as an eternal instant.”

The Claw of the Conciliator, Chapter 31.

So this is how Michael is able to seek Able in another place.  Everything has already happened, or exists at the same time. Michael can travel between these strands.

Christian Allegory

Disiri told Able earlier in The Knight that the first tongs and a mass of metal was cast down at the feet of the smith, Weland. Weland then forged Eterne using the tongs. Michael says that the origin of these tongs is the wisest question Able could have asked.

The answer to Michael/The Sphinx’s riddle is hinted at in the glossary in The Wizard.  The last entry is for Zio, and he is described as the “Overcyn who helped Weland. He has a lot of names.”  Zio is never mentioned in the text of the WK. Who is Zio? Zio is another name for Tyr, the Norse god of war, justice and law. In Old norse Tyr literally meant “god.”   He is associated with a rune, known as the Tiwaz rune.

Tyr is separately described in The Wizard’s glossary as “the bravest Overcyn.”  Tyr’s most famed feat was placing his hand and arm into the mouth of Fenrir, so that it could be chained up until Ragnarok. Fenrir then bit off his hand and arm.  In some versions of the legend, Tyr is slain by the hound “Garm” at the Battle of Ragnarok.

Zio/Tyr is Skai’s version of Christ, someone who also has many names. Every level of the WK’s cosmology is a reflection of something higher.  The Tiwaz rune is meant to signal the cross.  Tyr’s sacrifice in the Skai mythos is a version of Christ’s crucifixion. Zio is also the last entry in the glossary, a signal to the Alpha and Omega concept. Able is the first entry in the glossary, again reaffirming that he is an echo of Christ in pagan Mythgarthr.

Masters Crol, Papounce and Egr

Able meets these three men at the end of Chapter 47. They are part of Lord Beel’s embassy, and are high ranking servants.  Crol is Beel’s herald, while Papounce and Egr are in charge of the baggage and servants, respectively. Crol is later killed by King Gilling in Utgard, a major violation of protocol.

As I have suggested before, most of the characters in the WK have Biblical counterparts.  I am going to propose that these “Three Masters” are the WK’s counterparts of the Three Magi of the New Testament, who brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to Jesus (the three gifts are customarily mentioned in that order).  I note that we meet the men in the following order: Crol, Papounce and Egr.  These three names sound a little like Gold (Crol), Frankincense (Papounce) and Myrrh (Egr).

Crol and Papounce are gift givers to Able. Crol provides Able with food on their first meeting. He later gives Able some gilded iron spurs, and leaves the golden helmet on his bed after the archery contest. Papounce scores Able the winner of the archery contest.  Egr is also a gift giver, as he runs the baggage train that carries King Gilling’s gifts.

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Knight Notes: So What’s It All About?

In previous posts I’ve identified influences in the WK and some of the themes GW explores.  But what’s the overall purpose?  The WK can be read in various ways, and in varying depths:

• Its a boy meets girl, boy loses girls, boy gets girl back narrative. Able’s pursuit of Disiri is the central thread of the story.
• Its Joseph Campbell “hero’s journey.” Able is a representation of the “Hero with a Thousand Faces“, and this is GW’s version of the mono myth.
• Its GW’s tribute/acknowledgement/homage to some of his and our culture’s prominent literary and cultural influences: Lord Dunsany, Sir Walter Scott, George MacDonald, T.H. White, Rudyard Kipling, Alfred Tennyson, Edmund Spenser, Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant comic strip, movies about King Arthur, etc.
• Not only is it his version of the monomyth, but GW also weaves into the WK the actual stories of famous heroes, including Lancelot, Heracles, Odysseus, Theseus, Beowulf, Perseus, Bellerophon, Cadmus, Oedipus, Orpheus, Jack the Giant Killer, Robin Hood, and maybe others.  The name of the world Able visits, Mythgarthr, could arguably be translated as “Myth World”, or a land inhabited by living myths.
• At a deeper level, the WK is a Christian allegory, somewhat like Pilgrim’s Progress, the Divine Comedy or C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia. Able is a distant echo of Christ who undergoes a process of theosis and serves as an agent of a higher power to set right a broken world. GW uses Greek, Norse and other mythologies, and Arthurian legends, to code the elements of the allegory into his tale.  The events Able experiences and people he meets match up with the events and people from the story of Jesus in the Gospels and other books the New Testament. Please note that the allusions to events in the New Testament in the WK don’t happen in the same chronological order that they do in the Gospel stories.
• At its most mystic level, the WK is a parable of Men and Women, our mutual estrangement, and the hope of reconciliation.  GW alludes to and uses the Divine Comedy, Greek mythology, the Kabbalah, and color symbolism in communicating this theme.
• Finally, there are faint traces of GW’s biography in the WK.  The War with Osterland is partly based on the Korean War, similar to what he did with The Book of the New Sun.

All of the above are true, but the story can be enjoyed by a reader who only perceives the first few levels. Its the “rereading with pleasure” that allowed me to discover the remaining themes.

This is an incredibly dense book, with each character representing mulitple allusions to folklore, mythology and literature.  I don’t expect a reader to agree with everything I propose. But I would encourage a new or young reader of GW to hold the image of a layer cake in their mind when reading his books. There are usually multiple stories or narratives stacked on top of each other, like the different levels of a layer cake.  If you find yourself strongly disagreeing with another reader’s theory of a GW book, consider the possibility that you are both right.

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