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The Worm Ouroboros: The Prelude to Zimiamvia
James Francis Stephens
E. R. Eddison
Orville Prescott
Douglas E. Winter
The lost classic masterpiece of magical realms, admired by Tolkien and the great prototype for The Lord of the Rings and modern fantasy fiction.On the far side of darkness lies a world where two mighty forces are making ready for a war of kingdom against kingdom, warrior against witch, and honour against treachery. It is a world that beckons Edward Lessingham and is totally at odds with his Edwardian background.Torn by greater passions than mere mortals can know, the adventure-loving lords of Demonland are pitted against the cruel enchantments of the witch-king Gorice XII. As swords cross with clash of steel, they begin their odyssey in glory and terror.E.R. Eddison’s masterpiece stands as one of the great prototypes of modern fantasy fiction. The intricately woven themes of high adventure, sorcery and the conflict between good and evil transport the reader to epic worlds beyond imagination.
A high epic of royal revenge and romance, wizardry and warfare … and a quest that has no end.
Copyright (#ulink_0af330d8-65ab-552c-9749-0cd8a43f2846)
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
77–85 Fulham Palace Road
Hammersmith, London W6 8JB
www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
Copyright © E. R. Eddison 1922
Jacket illustration by John Howe © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 2014
E.R. Eddison asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780007578115
Ebook Edition © October 2014 ISBN: 9780007578122
Version: 2014-09-09
Dedication (#ulink_900c8127-88b0-56eb-b0b9-87a19db9fb8b)
To W. G. E.
and to my friends K. H. and G. C. L. M.
I dedicate this book
It is neither allegory nor fable but a Story to be read for its own sake.
The proper names I have tried to spell simply. The e in Carcë is long, like that in ‘Phryne’, the o in Krothering short and the accent on that syllable: Corund is accented on the first syllable, Prezmyra on the second, Brandoch Daha on the first and fourth, Gorice on the last syllable, rhyming with ‘thrice’: Corinius rhymes with ‘Flaminius’, Galing with ‘sailing’, La Fireez with ‘desire ease’: ch is always guttural, as in ‘loch’.
E. R. E.
9th January 1922
True Thomas lay on Huntlie bank
A ferlie he spied wi his ee;
And there he saw a Lady bright
Come riding down by the Eildon Tree.
Her skirt was o the grass-green silk,
Her mantle o the velvet fyne,
At ilka tett of her horse’s mane
Hung fifty siller bells and nine.
True Thomas he pulld aff his cap,
And louted low down on his knee:
‘Hail to thee, Mary, Queen of Heaven!
For thy peer on earth could never be.’
‘O no, O no, Thomas,’ she says,
‘That name does not belong to me;
I’m but the Queen of fair Elfland,
That am hither come to visit thee.
‘Harp and carp, Thomas,’ she says,
‘Harp and carp alang wi me.
And if ye dare to kiss my lips,
Sure of your bodie I will be.’
‘Betide me weal, betide me woe,
That weird shall never daunton me.’
Syne he has kissed her rosy lips,
All underneath the Eildon Tree.
THOMAS THE RHYMER
CONTENTS
Cover (#ua2bc2d38-a23e-567c-a496-010abcb8b1ec)
Title Page (#u3fd9ec03-701e-5e3e-8ea7-559a4778600f)
Copyright (#uf99e76a2-d0b1-5335-8fe5-cf6fd87da49c)
Dedication (#ucb159979-52b0-5647-9448-4f4ea245e861)
Epigraph (#u8d4b8cfe-2872-5192-9715-9156b1406f2c)
Foreword by Douglas E. Winter (#ubd59c467-74a0-5742-8d3c-a4ac29b33dec)
Introduction by Orville Prescott (#u0e650aae-d3a5-5406-b8f6-33dff761a004)
Introduction by James Stephens (#u9e14c4e0-3873-51d8-a736-db9b7546a79e)
THE INDUCTION (#u9f2c01d7-c37c-51d4-8242-e21d2ee79042)
I. The Castle of Lord Juss (#ue39435f3-3960-540e-8202-ed79ffeab43c)
II. The Wrastling for Demonland (#u3f6f37f7-57b0-5f86-9147-ea077c0e847d)
III. The Red Foliot (#u50a3bd91-8e11-55f0-8f59-92870a651101)
IV. Conjuring in the Iron Tower (#ub7d041b1-a04e-5fb0-a695-ed0cd503a9b7)
V. King Gorice’s Sending (#ue4c3156f-4ac4-58bf-81f8-22365851a915)
VI. The Claws of Witchland (#udf0eaf3c-c277-54ab-a764-629944ac97ab)
VII. Guests of the King in Carcë (#u2652dc4e-3586-584a-9f5f-01d7e4ec618c)
VIII. The First Expedition to Impland (#ua6e39c94-878e-5dac-ad73-4427953f8b6a)
IX. Salapanta Hills (#u35770e03-f407-503f-9b98-a83ce1d52611)
X. The Marchlands of the Moruna (#u308c9b74-e758-5ae8-ba4c-50a4acd74a15)
XI. The Burg of Eshgrar Ogo (#ucebde567-3821-5fa4-8923-ca9d7b771ae9)
XII. Koshtra Pivrarcha (#u9001ce50-279e-5e19-82ba-cb8d9718242d)
XIII. Koshtra Belorn (#ud9f7af0b-fdf7-5ba5-9aa1-8407d0af7209)
XIV. The Lake of Ravary (#u0ffaab80-23fa-5bf9-8aa1-c2ee72fcc291)
XV. Queen Prezmyra (#uaa11f3bf-861b-5660-8b7f-78da9f45afe4)
XVI. The Lady Sriva’s Embassage (#u7197c46f-6c84-56c3-8535-3bfd812530d4)
XVII. The King Flies His Haggard (#u1d5d7663-c80b-5a94-bc66-77fec914d4b8)
XVIII. The Murther of Gallandus by Corsus (#uf7c38122-935d-5617-ad38-7267ee7675e1)
XIX. Thremnir’s Heugh (#ueea63b49-332d-5439-9fc8-08a44fcb14eb)
XX. King Corinius (#u9e4ca73e-de59-5b25-8620-34750499117d)
XXI. The Parley Before Krothering (#u7e36f0af-52c0-5934-9e93-c925fe79ff57)
XXII. Aurwath and Switchwater (#u1d53394d-7368-5825-9d89-bccc0934af5a)
XXIII. The Weird Begun of Ishnain Nemartra (#u269b57fa-0892-5124-99e1-c0047e21746c)
XXIV. A King in Krothering (#u514b16ce-c7a0-5fe1-91fc-20f2b3db7298)
XXV. Lord Gro and the Lady Mevrian (#ub5fd8080-d316-5db7-8ad8-ef5fa4fb5718)
XXVI. The Battle of Krothering Side (#u54556fe7-3e82-555e-aefa-03c917953812)
XXVII. The Second Expedition to Impland (#uebbfbdf2-e293-5439-8847-714aefb6c64e)
XXVIII. Zora Rach Nam Psarrion (#u0c41f6d3-9b42-5650-9144-3a4d86bea606)
XXIX. The Fleet at Muelva (#u31f35fd1-9627-55f6-aa2d-45b201e74d03)
XXX. Tidings of Melikaphkhaz (#ueb5f4cd7-c1b5-5113-b2c6-b8a96ec7f9e5)
XXXI. The Demons Before Carcë (#u85e51124-8d16-55e9-aa0c-ffa5f0bfa0d3)
XXXII. The Latter End of All the Lords of Witchland (#uddede756-4740-5bca-ae17-af9e5c2fd764)
XXXIII. Queen Sophonisba in Galing (#u6ffdeef1-1d43-529e-a80e-edafd2478252)
ARGUMENT: WITH DATES (#u28b12724-9f4a-5259-a591-f5c8ca062ca4)
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES ON THE VERSES (#u762bc659-a132-5d5f-a702-7030187ed642)
Also by E. R. Eddison (#u84d2c472-2055-5f88-a3b8-1ff76e622720)
About the Publisher (#uf3391e33-0dc1-50ec-9b95-a01f857bf092)
