GW uses all the major characters in the WK to allude to a counterpart in the Bible, Christian apocrypha, or the history of the early Church in the 1st century A.D. I think it was quite a feat for GW to create double and sometimes triple allusions for each WK character. Remember the Layer Cake.
I wonder if this choice was inspired by Meynard’s The Book of Knights. Meynard’s novel featured a mythical book about the lives of various knights and their adventures. In a way, the WK is “The Book of Saints.” GW has encoded the lives of the saints into an adventure story.
I’ve identified many of these connections in other posts, so this post restates a lot of these identifications in one place. I’ve also tried to link secondary and tertiary characters to people in the Bible. Some of these connections are very tenuous, since the Biblical allusions were the most subtle ones in the WK. Wikipedia’s entry on saint symbolism is helpful. Looking for help on this post especially.
The Divine
The Most High God = God/Jesus/Holy Spirit
Parka = A version of the The Holy Spirit. The Paraclete.
Michael = Archangel Michael
Gylf = Able’s guardian angel, perhaps an echo of the Archangel Gabriel (“God is my strength”). In Kabbalah, Gabriel is identified with the Sephirot Yesod, which was alluded to with the Spiny Orange tree.
The Valfather = Skai’s version of God the Father
Tyr/Zio = Skai’s version of Jesus
The Lady of Skai = Skai’s version of the Virgin Mary
Cloud = Not sure. Skai’s representation of the Holy Spirit?
Kulili = Shekhinah, the Divine Presence in Aelfrice, also Sophia. She knits herself.
The Holy Family
Able = Mythgarthr’s echo of Jesus
Black Berthold = Joseph
Mag = Mary
The Four Evangelists
Sir Marc = Mark.
Sir Oriel = Matthew. (One of the 12 Apostles too). An angel was his symbol, and the name Oriel is based on Uriel the archangel.
Sir Lamwell = Luke. Luke was a doctor, one who makes the “lame well”.
Sir Wistan = John. (One of the 12 Apostles too). Many consider St. John the author of the Gospel of John. John was thought to be one of the youngest followers of Jesus, and Wistan is young. Able says Wistan requires “seasoning.” He talks at length about the value of books, and a book is one of John’s symbols. Wistan is at the fight with Sir Loth, which is the Transfiguration event of the WK. John was one of the three Apostles at the Transfiguration. Able hugs Wistan, an allusion to him being the disciple “Jesus loved”
The Other Apostles
Pouk = Peter. He denied Able three times before the Mountain of Fire/Golgotha.
Uns = James, Son of Zebedee. Uns is described several times as walking with a staff, and a staff was a symbol of James. Uns was at the fight with Loth, which is the Transfiguration event of the WK. (James was there). James was an early disciple, and Uns an early follower.
Vil = Thomas. Vil touches Able’s body in Utgard, like Thomas exploring Christ’s wounds. Thomas saw and believed, and Jesus blessed those who could not see and believed. Vil cannot see, being blind. One of Thomas’s symbols is the builder’s square, and Vil was a builder of sorts, working as a smith. He also says the following sentence “Its square on my tongue.” Thomas also means “twin” and Vil’s “twin” is the Norse god Vili.
Old Man Toug= Bartholomew. The bandits were throwing knives at Old Man Toug while hanging him upside down. Bartholomew was flayed alive with knives while being hung upside down.
Sir Toug = Matthias. Matthias’ saint symbol was an axe, and Toug inherited the axe like Sword Breaker from Able. He was a late addition to the Apostles, and Toug was made knight late in the story. The clincher is that Matthias is often confused with Nathanael. Bartholomew (who is Old Man Toug) was thought to be Nathanael by some scholars also. Toug and Old Man Toug share the same name.
Sir Woddet = Jude Thaddeus. Woddet battled with a mace after his sword broke at the Battle of Khazneh. One of Jude Thaddeus’s symbols was a club. Like the “dd” in both names.
Sir Gerrune = James of Alphaeus. Gerrune fought Able with halberds in the tournament at Kingsdoom, and lost and was seriously injured. In some stories of James’ death, he was killed with a halberd.
Sir Smiler = Philip. His symbol is a bundle of loaves, and Smiler provided food to Able’s army. Not confident about this one.
Kerl, Captain of the Western Trader= Andrew. Andrew was the brother of Peter. Both were fisherman, and were called at the same time. Kerl entered the story right after Pouk. Both were sailors. Andrew’s symbol was a “saltire” and Kerl sailed the salt oceans. Kerl hung a rope over the side of the ship, and a rope is also a symbol of Andrew.
Sir Leort = Simon the Zealot. Relying on the similarity in the letters in “Zealot” and “Leort”. One of Simon’s symbols is a lance. Leort jousts with Able, and also uses his lance at the Battle of Utgard. Again, not confident about this one.
Garsceg/Garvaon = Both represent Judas Iscariot. Garsceg was the evil and Garvaon the good in him. Their fight may represent the inner conflict in every man.
Other Disciples
Sir Ravd = John the Baptist. See the post on Chapters 4-6 of The Knight.
Sir Svon = Paul. He converted on the road to Utgard. I think the young Svon might also be Saint Stephen the Martyr. Squire Svon had “red pants” and red is the color of martyrdom. Svon was beaten unconscious by the bandits, perhaps an allusion to Saint Stephen’s stoning.
Sir Garvaon = Lazarus. Both died twice. Garvaon “died” first in the trial by combat, the the second time against Garsceg/Setr.
Bold Berthold = James the Just. James was Jesus’ brother apparently, and Berthold was Able’s brother. Both were hit in the head with a stone. I think the alliteration in both names also supports this.
Lord Escan = Nicodemus. Both were older, learned men. Escan tried to help Able with Arnthor, like Nicodemus with the Sanhedrin. Jesus tells Nicodemus he must be “born again”, and Escan is born again on the shores of Aelfrice’s ocean, with his double coming into existence.
Duke Marder = Joseph of Arimathea. Both are wealthy, older men, and followers of Able/Jesus. Joseph provided Jesus with his own tomb, Marder provided Able with Redhall.
Payne = Silas/Sylvanus. Silas, who was thought to be the same person as Silvanus, accompanies Paul on his journeys, and they were jointly imprisoned at one point. They were then freed by an earthquake that broke their prison door. Able’s breaking the Osterland siege of Redhall is an allusion to this escape. Payne was with Svon at Redhall, and became a Baron of Jotunhome. Svon and Payne becoming subjects of Jotunhome is an allusion to Paul and Silas’s mission to the Roman Empire. Jotunhome = Rome. Payne was also born in the woods, and Sylvanus means “of the woods.”
Women of the Bible and the Early Church
Idnn = Mary of Bethany. Wept for Garvaon/Lazarus at least twice. Mary’s anointing of Jesus with perfume and using her hair to wipe his feet reminds me of Idnn’s ride on Cloud, when the scent of Idnn’s hair was in Able’s face.
Ulfa = Martha of Bethany. Ulfa, like Martha, was “heavily burdened”, and had to do a lot of menial work in Glennidam and Utgard.
Lynnet (Mag) = Mary Magdalene. Lynnet had a mental illness, and Mary Magdalene was apparently cured of mental illness by Jesus. Marigold and Mary Magdalene sound a bit alike too.
Gerda = The bleeding woman Christ healed? The infirm woman Jesus healed? Don’t have a good fit for her.
Ulfa’s Mother = The mother of Peter’s wife that Jesus healed? Peter/Pouk married Ulfa. Both are unnamed.
Morcaine = Morcaine about to be sacrificed to Grengarm is an allusion to the stoning of the “woman taken in sin”, she is also like Herodias in her less helpful role
Gaynor = Salome, Herodias’ daughter. Both are young, beautiful and not particularly wise women.
Etela = Daughter of Jairus. The only female children with parts in the Gospels and the WK. Etela “sleeps” in the same bed as Toug a few times.
Hela = Thecla. Both women fought off attackers. Thecla was a disciple of Paul, and Hela eventually becomes a subject of Idnn and Svon(Paul).
Nukara = Susanna, a woman who provided for the Apostles. Nukara provided Able and Pouk with food.
Mogduda= Mary of Clopas. Mary of Clopas took care of Jesus’ body after he was crucified. Mogduda attends to Able after he was beaten at Sheerwall, putting on and taking off bandages. She might also be Mary, Mother of James, or Joanna, two other women who also went to the tomb to tend to Jesus’s body.
Borda = Deborah. A warrior of Israel. You can make Borda using the letters in Deborah.
Political Figures
These ones are pretty speculative. I think Celidon, Utgard and Osterland may be a representation of the Roman Empire and Holy Lands of the first century A.D, and the various rulers allusions to Roman Emperors and the Herodian kings.
King Arnthor = Roman Emperor Tiberius and/or Herod the Great. Or Herod Antipas? Arnthor might be a reference to multiple leaders of the period. Tiberius was emperor at the time of the crucifixion. And Herod Antipas also had a role in John the Baptist and Jesus’s deaths.
Herod the Great’s massacre of the innocents of Bethlehem is matched by King Arthur’s drowning of the innocents in T.H. White’s The Once and Future King and Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur. I have previously suggested that the drowning of the men of Griffinsford is an allusion to this incident from The Once and Future King and Malory.
King Uthor = Augustus Caesar? Uthor preceded Arnthor like Augustus preceded Tiberius.
King Gilling = Emperor Caligula. Both were insecure in their thrones and were stabbed to death.
Thiazi = Emperor Claudius, Caligula’s uncle, became Emperor after him. A scholar, like Thiazi. Or Elymas the sorcerer.
The Old Caan = King Herod the Great?
The Old Caan’s sons = Herod the Great’s many sons. His Kingdom was divided among his many offspring, most of whom came to a bad end. Rome eventually absorbed their territories
The Black Caan = One of King Herod’s sons? Herod Antipas? Don’t have a good fit. Maybe no one is alluded to.
Baron Thunrolf = Pontius Pilate. See the post on the visit to the Mountain of Fire for further discussion
Baron Olof = Lucius Vitellus, Pilate’s replacement. Olof replaced Thunrolf. Olof was described favorably by Able, and Lucius apparently had a good reputation, for a Roman of the times.
Everyone Else
most low god, Lothur, Setr, Seaxneat = Versions of Satan/Lucifer on the different levels of the WK cosmology. The most low god was a being of Kleos that was cast down to Niflheim. Lothur was his reflection in Skai. My theory is that Seaxneat was the “devil” of Mythgarthr. Seaxneat is red-bearded and “pigeon-toed”, and in folk lore the devil has been described as red colored. “Pigeon-toed devil” is an expression I have also read. Finally, you can make “Satan” using the letters in Seaxneat. Garsceg/Setr was the devil of Aelfrice and Muspel.
Masters Crol, Papounce, Egr: The Three Magi (Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh). They gave Able gifts.
Duns = The man with a withered hand healed by Jesus? Duns’ arm was almost taken off by Org
Master Agr = Annas.
Master Caspar = Caiaphas
Org = The Gerasene Demoniac. The demon said they were “Legion”, or many, and Org is described in one scene as a “swarm” of vermin. Believed to be from the village of Gergasa.
Lord Beel = Zacchaeus. Both were short tax collectors who dined with Jesus/Able.
Scaur and Sha = Zebedee (a fisherman) and his wife, Salome the Disciple
Baki = The penitent thief. She renounced Setr/Satan.
Uri = The impenitent thief. She mocked Able before his fight with Kulili.
Mani = Mani the prophet. The portrayal of Mani in the WK may be a parody of Manichaeism. Mani was from Persia, so making him a cat might be a little joke by GW: the Persian Cat.
Heimir = I don’t have a good fit. Could it be the deaf mute Jesus healed? Heimir didn’t say much.
Huld = Anna the Prophetess? Anna was an older woman known for fasting, and Huld was fed by Able. The Witch of Endor? Also La Befana.
Seaxneat and Disira = Seaxneat may also be part of the Ananias and Sapphira pair. Seaxneat and Disira traded with bandits, and Ananias withheld money owed to the early Church. Both killed by the Holy Spirit for lying.
Ossar = Ossar is the boy possessed by a demon that Jesus healed. The boy could not speak and would foam at the mouth. Ossar was too young to speak, and “spit up” the blackberries that Able fed him.
Master Thope = Saint Longinus, the Roman who pierced Jesus’ side with a lance. Master Thope jousted with Able, and knocked him off his horse with a lance a few times. According to legend, Longinus later converted. He is believed to have been martyred, and Thope was stabbed for protecting Able.
Sir Manasen = Manahen
Jer the Bandit = Barabbas?
Sir Sabel, who was Ravd’s deceased mentor= A gender switched reference to Elisabeth, mother of John the Baptist, and Zechariah, his father. Ravd said he was once beaten by Sabel for something he said or didn’t say. This is an allusion to John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, being struck dumb by the Archangel Gabriel for questioning whether his wife could bear a child.
Other
“Truthful Vil” = Veronica’s Veil. The name Veronica is believed to derive from Latin and Greek, and may have originally meant something like “true image.” And Vil = Veil. The Veil allegedly had miraculous powers, and could cure blindness, perform healings, etc. Vil was a “conjurer”, and in his Truthful Vil role had almost magical powers, like Veronica’s Veil.
The Duchy of Cumberbatch 