Eddisons classic fantasy novel, with illustrations by keith henderson. The worm ouroboros 1922 is a heroic high fantasy novel by eric. For those who have known and loved these works in the past. This is one of the top five fantasy novels ever written, an epic tale of swords and sorcery comparable to tolkien and howard.
Er eddisons first novel anticipated the modern fantasy novel, and inspired the likes of jrr tolkien and cs lewis. Worm ouroboros in concert dreamy and haunting, worm ouroboro s set at le poisson rouge felt like a processional. The worm ouroboros by eric rucker eddison free ebook. Internet, including the original illustrations, at. Media in category the worm ouroboros the following 3 files are in this category, out of 3 total. This classic 1922 fantasy novel brings you to a strange and lovely world where a young lord wrestles king gorice for his lands freedom, where unscalable mountains can only be conquered by stubbornness and hippogriffs, where the great explorer lord gro finds himself continually driven to betrayal, where sweet young women occasionally fall for evil wizards, and where the heroes actually win. It took me three tries to get through this book, so take that for what its worth. Eddison this classic 1922 fantasy novel brings you to a strang. The worm ouroboros is a heroic high fantasy novel by english writer e. In these days when language, both spoken and written, has evolved to virtual monosyllabic structure and form, this book allows escape to a world where saying just enough to be clearly understood is quite simply not acceptable. The worm ouroboros and millions of other books are available for instant access. It can also be found on the he worm ouroboros is now in the public doma. The worm ouroboros project gutenberg selfpublishing. Eddisons the worm ouroboros for your kindle, tablet, ipad, pc or mobile.
The worm ouroboros is a fanfare to the english language. The story of a remote planets great war between two kingdoms, it ranks as the iliad of heroic fantasy. Eddisons the worm ouroboros is a link between the late nineteenth century fantasy novels of william morris and the work of j. Led by two vocalists, the bands quiet, almost medieval melodies led. The great thing about it is that its written from a different perspective than narnia or lord of the rings in that both of those stories are explicitly or implicitly christian. British and american editions with hendersons illustrations are available as pdf files from the library of congress site. The worm ouroboros wikisource, the free online library. Eddison tells the tale of lord juss and his quests as well as of the battles between the lords of demonland and king gorice and his minions from witchland. Originating in ancient egyptian iconography, the ouroboros entered western tradition via greek magical tradition and was adopted as a symbol in gnosticism and hermeticism and most notably in alchemy. Generations of readers have joyfully lost themselves in the timeless worlds of the worm ouroboros. What links here related changes upload file special pages permanent link page information wikidata item cite this page. The worm ouroboros is the mo n and successful of the six or seven of his books published in his he began well. The worm ouroboros is an undisputed classic of fantasy literature, and has been an avowed influence on the likes of j.
The worm ouroboros is incredibly dense and its written in faux jacobean english. This work is in the public domain in the united states because it was. When the lord of the rings first appeared, the critics inevitably compared it to this 1922 landmark work. Witchland is a large and powerful country in eric rucker eddisons fantasy world, described in the worm ouroboros.
Lord juss sat in the high seat midmost of the dais, with goldry on his right in the seat of black opal, and on his left spitfire, throned on the alexandrite. The worm ouroboros its a 520page epic with an elizabethan twang, but er eddisons circular myth, the worm ouroboros, has won me over. This is the book that shaped the landscape of contemporary science fiction and fantasy. This kindle edition is well done and i was happy to find an old friend in this new format. In the best traditions of homeric epics, norse sagas, and arthurian myths, author e.