Kesrick, p.17
Kesrick, page 17
Quinapalus. A classical authority known only to us from his being mentioned in Shakespeare’s comedy, Twelfth Night.
CHAPTER VII
Abaris. This Hyperborean magician is mentioned by some of the ancient Greek writers, but little of his story has survived.
Arthame. A special sort of knife used in magical ceremonies.
Aipolos, et al. Yet more of the Forgotten Gods; Aipolos was one of the gods worshipped by the Phrygians; Merodach was the Babylonian sun god from whom the Kings of Babylon claimed descent; and Tuisco was worshipped by the ancient Teutons.
Zaqqum, and Zamzam. Islamic oaths; see Burton’s notes to his Arabian Nights.
Mahoum. According to François Rabelais, in his Gargantua and Pantagruel, suchlike Paynims as Moors and Saracens swear by Mahoum, and who am I to dispute him?
CHAPTER VIII
Potion, etc. This is the identical spell used by the wicked witch, old Mombi, to remove the transformation she had earlier placed upon the Princess Ozma, in L. Frank Baum’s beloved childrens’ classic, The Land of Oz, first published in 1904 as a sequel to the immortal Wizard, and the first of more than forty Oz books by various writers. Mr. Baum knows much more about magic than I do (in every sense of the term), so I yield happily to his authority on rites of disenchantment.
Golfarin. Another idol worshipped, or at least sworn by, among the Paynims in Rabelais.
Termagant. A Paynim goddess mentioned in Sir John de Mandeville.
CHAPTER IX
Phrygia, Paphlagonia, etc. These are ancient countries of Asia, long since invaded, conquered, absorbed and forgotten, and concerning which very little is known.
Soccotra. An Oriental country or island mentioned in the old travelers’ tales, such as the Travels and Voyages of the famous Sir John de Mandeville.
Agathodaemon, et al. Forgotten gods, Agathodaemon was the serpent-god of the Phoenicians, while Zababa was the vulture-headed god of the Babylonians. As for Latobius, he was the war god of the Gauls.
CHAPTER X
Low, brutish cunning. As shall later be made explicit, the Efreet was one of the cronies or confederates of the Egyptian Wizard, Zazamanc, and I suspect the Garden of Jewels was his idea.
Melcarth. The Carthaginian Hercules.
St. George, etc. For this story you will have to consult an old Elizabethan chapbook, called The Seven Champions of Christendom, or a more recent retelling.
Well named. The word for “blue” in Arabic is “ ’azraq.”
Kashkash. The Genie here swears by the very oldest of all the Genii.
CHAPTER XI
Acoran, et al. Acoran was a divinity worshipped by the Canary Islanders; Qat was the creator-god of the Melanesians, and Abraxas one of the gods worshipped by the heretical Gnostics.
Calphurnius Bassus, Alcofribas Nasier. The first of these is an imaginary authority mentioned in Rabelais, while the second—whose name, you will notice, is an anagram of “François Rabelais”—is the pretended author of Gargantua and Pantagruel.
CHAPTER XII
Pantharb. A “fiery red magnetic jewel” owned by the Hindoo magician, Iarchas, who showed it to Appolonius according to the Roman biographer, Philostratus in his Life of Appolonius of Tyana.
Deggial. The future “Antichrist” of the Mussulmans.
Ampharool. The Genie who can teach the secret of flying to men, according to a medieval grimoire called The Book of Power.
Aptly named. “Gaglioffo” is an Italian name which may be translated as “scoundrel.”
CHAPTER XIII
Sauromatia. The Scythian capital was left unnamed by those classical historians and geographers who discussed the nation, so I have taken the liberty of naming it after one of the royal tribes of Scythia, the Sauromatae, who dwelt upon the banks of the Tanais.
Antipodes. Lands presumed by the ancient geographers to exist in the extremest south, beyond the Ocean River.
Getiafrose. The Queen of All Genii, according to Burton’s Arabian Nights.
CHAPTER XIV
Jarhibol and Acoran. More of the Forgotten Gods: the first was the sun god of ancient Palmyra, the second a divinity worshipped in the Canary Islands.
Kahmurath, et al. These are the ancient mythological Kings of Persia, as given in the Shah-Namah.
CHAPTER XV
Mandricardo. The history of this Tartar knight, and of his father, King Agricane, can be found in the Italian verse romance, Orlando Furioso, or any of its several retellings.
The Wandering Garden. Its real name was the Bower of Bliss, and the enchantress Acrasia invented it to entrap wandering knights, whom she then seduced, turning them into pine trees or something later on, when she got bored with them. You can read all about it in Spenser’s Faerie Queene. He seemed to think it was on an island, but maybe there were a couple of them.
Antonius Diogenes. An ancient writer whose works have been thoroughly lost; all we know about him was that he wrote about Ultima Thule.
Zipangu. A name for Japan on some of the older European maps.
CHAPTER XVI
Pirouetta. The history of this powerful Fairy seems to have hitherto gone unchronicled, but she bears a distinct resemblance to some of the Fairy Godmothers described in the wittier of the French fairy tales of Perrault and Madame d’Aulnoy.
Meropis. An imaginary continent beyond the Western Sea. No, it was not the Americas.
Bayardetto. Bayard was the name of the famous horse ridden by Amadis of Gaul, in the Portuguese romance of the same name. “Bayardetto” means “Little Bayard,” and Mandricardo probably gave his steed this affectionate name in remembrance of the more famous charger.
CHAPTER XVII
Adamant. The old poets and writers mention this metal as if it really existed, which it does not, at least here in Terra Cognita. The diamond, strongest of all gems, is named after it.
Mother Gothel. According to the Brothers Grimm, this was the name of the witch who locked up Rapunzel in that tower.
Hut on Chicken Legs. This sounds very much to me like Izbushka, the hut of the witch Baba Yaga in the Russian fairy tales.
St. Adauras. In Rabelais, the patron of those who deserve hanging; no one of this name appears on the Calendar of Saints in Terra Cognita, however.
CHAPTER XVIII
Izbushkha. I was right, then: this was the hut on chicken legs formerly owned by Baba Yaga.
Water. Witches are notoriously difficult to slay, but as L. Frank Baum reminds us, in The Wizard of Oz, they dissolve when soaked in fresh water (which was how Dorothy destroyed the Wicked Witch of the West in that book, you will remember, when she accidentally threw a pail of water on her). Mr. Baum knew a lot more than I do about witches, and I am willing to accept his authority on this point.
CHAPTER XIX
Amadis. Here in Terra Cognita, he is merely the hero of a celebrated prose romance of considerable length and of great, but now outdated, popularity. In Terra Magica, he is a figure of history, it would seem, otherwise the townsfolk would hardly have erected a statue to him in the town square.
Gluckstein. A town in the kingdom of Pantouflia; both it and the river Gluckthal are mentioned in Andrew Lang’s delightful children’s fantasy about Pantouflia (the first of three such), Prince Prigio.
Orn. A small country in Frank Stockton’s fairy tale, “The Bee-Man of Orn.”
CHAPTER XX
Eridanus. An ancient name for the river Po.
Amazonia. An imaginary country in Asia, according to the Greeks, inhabited by women warriors.
CHAPTER XXI
Sesame. The same magic phrase which Ali Baba heard used by the leader of the Forty Thieves, to open the stone portals of their treasure-cave, in the Arabian Nights. Zazamanc does not seem to have been very original in his choice of “key” words.
Lamussa, et al. These are various mythological or legendary creatures mentioned in Flaubert and elsewhere, as in Cabell’s The High Place. Only the Hippocamp, or seahorse, is of classical origin. The Myrmicolion, one of the most interesting of the hybrids, was half lion and half gigantic red ant.
Alifanfaron, et al. The first of these was the Emperor of Serendib, in Don Quixote. Fayoles was the fourth king of Numidia, according to Rabelais. Brandabarbaran also is mentioned in Cervantes.
Tarniel. An angel of Mercury who is most powerful in the third hour of Wednesdays, and, according to the Ozar Midrashim II, 316, a guardian of the gates of the East Wind. You probably think I am making most of this up, don’t you?
Hippolyta, et al. Amazonian queens who appear in various of the Greek myths and epics. Hippolyta lived in the age of Hercules, while Penthesilaea fought at the final battles against Troy. I forget who Kaydessa was.
Megamastaia. The name is fair Greek for “Big Breasts.”
Aptly named. “Callipygia” is also fair Greek for “Beautiful Buttocks.”
CHAPTER XXII
River Cinyps, etc. Most of these are countries or tribes believed to inhabit the desert regions of Africa, and are mentioned in Pliny’s description of that part of the world, or in the Geography of Claudius Ptolemy.
Sadhuzag. A monster described in Flaubert’s Temptations of Saint Anthony.
Pastinaca. The habits and person of this fetid and gigantic weasel are given in the medieval bestiaries.
The Moghrab. In Islamic legend, and in the Arabian Nights, a desolate region in Mauretania which was notorious for being the residence of evil magicians and wicked spirits.
CHAPTER XXIII
Piast. An enormous, lake-dwelling serpent in Irish legends.
Phalmant. The appearance and habits of this curious beast Phalmant are given in Flaubert’s St. Anthony, and I have yet to discover the creature mentioned anywhere else.
Moghrabi Sufrah. This is no other than Aladdin’s uncle, the African magician; his proper name is not given in the tale, however, but comes from the biographer Schwab, in his admirable Imaginary Lives.
CHAPTER XXIV
Necromancy. This is one of the Black Arts by which cadavers or skeletons could temporarily be animated by recalling back to their former abode those spirits which had once inhabited them; this was for the principal purpose of divining the future. Zazamanc seems to have used them after the manner of zombies, as slaves or servants.
Nine heads. This was an effigy of the demon Phul, by the way. You will find him in most of the better compendiums of demonology.
CHAPTER XXV
Undoings. Obviously, Dastagerd was called the “Sword of Undoings” because it could undo, and even reflect backwards, any spell hurled against him who bore it. A useful thing to have with you, if you happen to be a hero in a magical adventure, you will agree.
Ashtoreth, etc. Dukes and Princes of Hell, according the demonologists. Abraxas was a Gnostic demiurge.
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Also by Lin Carter
Science Fiction
Hautley Quicksilver
The Thief of Thoth (1968)
The Purloined Planet (1969)
The History of the Great Imperium
Outworlder (1971)
The Man Without a Planet (1966)
Star Rogue (1970)
Callisto
Jandar of Callisto (1972)
Black Legion of Callisto (1972)
Sky Pirates of Callisto (1973)
Mad Empress of Callisto (1975)
Lankar of Callisto (1975)
Ylana of Callisto (1977)
Renegade of Callisto (1978)
The Green Star
Under the Green Star (1972)
When the Green Star Calls (1973)
By the Light of the Green Star (1974)
As the Green Star Rises (1975)
In the Green Star’s Glow (1976)
The Mysteries of Mars
The Valley Where Time Stood Still (1974)
The City Outside the World (1977)
Down to a Sunless Sea (1984)
The Man Who Loved Mars (1973)
Zarkon, Lord of the Unknown
The Nemesis of Evil (1975)
Invisible Death (1975)
The Volcano Ogre (1976)
The Earth-Shaker (1982)
Horror Wears Blue (1987)
Zanthodon
Journey to the Underground World (1979)
Zanthodon (1980)
Hurok of the Stone Age (1981)
Darya of the Bronze Age (1981)
Eric of Zanthodon (1982)
Other Novels
Destination Saturn (1967) (with Donald Wollheim writing as David Grinnell)
The Flame of Iridar (1967)
Time War (1974)
Tower at the Edge of Time (1968)
Tower of the Medusa (1969)
Fantasy
Thongor of Valkarth
Young Thongor (2012) (with Robert M. Price and Adrian Cole)
The Wizard of Lemuria (1965, 1969)
Thongor of Lemuria (1966) (revised as Thongor and the Dragon City (1970))
Thongor Against the Gods (1967)
Thongor in the City of Magicians (1968)
Thongor at the End of Time (1968)
Thongor Fights the Pirates of Tarakus (1970)
Conan
Conan (1967) (with Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp)
Conan of the Isles (1968) (with L. Sprague de Camp)
Conan the Wanderer (1968) (with Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp)
Conan of Cimmeria (1969) (with Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp)
Conan the Buccaneer (1971) (with L. Sprague de Camp)
Conan of Aquilonia (1977) (with L. Sprague de Camp)
Conan the Swordsman (1978) (with L. Sprague de Camp and Björn Nyberg)
Conan the Liberator (1979) (with L. Sprague de Camp)
Conan the Barbarian (1982) (with L. Sprague de Camp)
Sagas of Conan (2004) (with L. Sprague de Camp and Björn Nyberg)
The Chronicles of Kylix
The Quest of Kadji (1971)
The Wizard of Zao (1978)
Kellory the Warlock (1984)
Godwane (World’s End)
The Warrior of World’s End (1974)
The Enchantress of World’s End (1975)
The Immortal of World’s End (1976)
The Barbarian of World’s End (1977)
The Pirate of World’s End (1978)
Giant of World’s End (1969)
Terra Magica
Kesrick (1982)
Dragonrouge (1984)
Mandricardo (1987)
Callipygia (1988)
Tara of the Twilight
Tara of the Twilight (1979)
“For the Blood is the Life” (1984)
“The Love of the Sea” (1984)
“Pale Shadow” (1985)
Other Novels
The Black Star (1973)
Found Wanting (1985)
Lost World of Time (1969)
The Star Magicians (1966)
Collections
King Kull (1967) (with Robert E. Howard)
Beyond the Gates of Dream (1969)
Lost Worlds (1980)
The Xothic Legend Cycle: The Complete Mythos Fiction of Lin Carter (1997)
A WORD OF APPRECIATION
I am indebted to three of my friends in The Trap Door Spiders for certain of the linguistic puns which occur in this book, and would like to thank them now for adding to the richness and wit of this true and veritable History: to Dr. L. Sprague de Camp, for supplying me with the names of the Efreet and his brother in Arabic; to Dr. Gilbert Cant for assisting me with the Greek names of the Amazon queen and her daughter; and to Dr. Jean LeCorbeiller for giving me the scrap of Latin quoted in Chapter IV. Good men all!
Dedication
To the undying memory of James Branch Cabell and Lord Dunsany, perhaps the two greatest fantasy writers of us all.
Lin Carter (1930-1988)
Lin Carter is the working name of US author and editor Linwood Wrooman Carter, most of whose work of any significance was done in the field of Heroic Fantasy, an area of concentration he went some way to define in his critical study of relevant texts and techniques, Imaginary Worlds (1973). Born in St Petersburg, Florida, Carter was an avid reader of science fiction and fantasy in his youth. He was also quite active in fandom. Carter served in the United States Army between 1951 and 1953, after which he attended Columbia University. He is best known for editing the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in the 1970s, which introduced readers to many overlooked classics of the fantasy genre, including James Branch Cabell, Lord Dunsany, Hope Mirrlees and Clark Ashton Smith. He began publishing sf with “Masters of Metropolis” for the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1957, with Randall Garrett, and the story “Uncollected Works” (1965) was a finalist for the annual Nebula Award for Best Short Story. He resided in East Orange, New Jersey in his final years, and died in nearby Montclair, New Jersey.
* Or, “The sword is my companion.”
Copyright
A Gollancz eBook
Copyright © Lin Carter 1982
All rights reserved.
The right of Lin Carter to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This eBook first published in 2020 by Gollancz
The Orion Publishing Group Ltd
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50 Victoria Embankment
London, EC4Y 0DZ
An Hachette UK Company
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978 1 473 22078 2
All characters and events in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
