The Worm Ouroboros

By: E. R. Eddison

Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell

E.R. Edison’s The Worm Ouroboros inspired the epic-fantasy writers that followed him. This production is of the first edition (1922).

The Lords of Demonland are celebrating Lord Juss's birthday when an envoy arrives from Witchland. He brings demands from King Gorice XI of Witchland that the Lords of Demonland "kiss his toe, and acknowledge him to be their King and they, his ill-conditioned, disobedient children". The Lords of Demonland reject this utterly and, to settle the matter, they challenge King Gorice to a wrestling match against their champion, Lord Goldry Bluszco.

But the situation is worsened by the result of that match and ultimately, war is declared. A war that includes dark magic, sorcery, quests, mystical lands, and heroic high-adventure. Ursula K. Le Guin called it "An eccentric masterpiece", C. S. Lewis said it represented "A new climate of the imagination", Orville Prescott said it was "A literary event of the first order."

Critics compared Tolkien’s writing to it when he first published The Lord of the Rings and he freely acknowledged its influence. Eddison writes his narrative in a lyrical, medieval style and in the tradition of Norse mythology, Arthurian myths, and Greek tragedy. In his short dedication he says, "It is neither allegory nor fable but a story to be read for its own sake", however, the theme of repetition (the cyclical nature of life, history, and war), is undeniable. The "worm (serpent or dragon) Ouroboros" is, after all, “The serpent which eats its own tail”.

Public Domain (P)2018 Chris MacDonnell

Ideal

Jacobean prose fits best to ear, not the eye. Narrator complements perfectly. Comes together just as Eddison intended, as a reinvention of the Northern Epic.

Lacking for me.

For me the story was lacking and felt like I kept stopping and picking back up at a later date. just didn't pull me in. just took to long to finish.

NoTolkien

I really love Tolkien, and enjoy C.S. Lewis, but did not enjoy this book.

The language is dense middle English, the gods are Greek, the society is a combo of Norse and middle age English, the names are not related to anything else.
For me the story lacks the basics of great fantasy, the mapping of our real world onto an alternate reality that allows a fresh examination of our challenges and ourselves. Instead this is rather one dimensional heroic epic that describes only events and actions with almost zero internal states, with, for me, a completely unbelievable and unsatisfying ending.

There are several inclusions of historical, including Shakespeare, poetry, which instantly stands out favorably from the rest of the text.

The narrator does an excellent job with the very difficult material.

The Wyrm

I will revisit The Worm Ouroboros again. Outstanding adventure and the basis of Fantasy the came here after ✨❣️💫

Epic Tale Told in Archaic Language

Witchland and Demonland shared a common peace for many years until Witchland arrives and begins making unpopular and humiliating demands. Peace becomes nothing more than a memory and war ensues. Juss and Spitfire send their brother Goldry to defeat the witch king, King Gorice, and exact revenge. Goldry’s success is short lived as he must be rescued. There are manipulations and using magic and deception, the quest to overcome the evil doers of Witchland begins.

This is not a book one can listen to in one setting for several reasons – first, it is an epic length audiobook; second, it is spoken in archaic English; and third, there are several things at the beginning that are distracting – I had to listen to the first couple of chapters two times just to be able to follow the plot. This is not necessarily bad, I found I had to do this with many medieval based stories. The language is difficult to understand at times but once the listener gets into the flow of things, it becomes easier. It is well worth the listen.

Chris MacDonnell, the narrator, did a magnificent job! His voice flowed without error. His voice was very relaxing but engaging as well. His reading was smooth and seemed almost effortless. An amazing feat given the use of the ancient style of language. MacDonnell saved the book for me – his voice kept me interested.

If you are a fan of JR Tolkien – Lord of the Rings series, this book is perfect for you. There are light moments as well as dark ones, but the style follows Tolkien.

Although I enjoy medieval style writing – Shakespeare, Tolkien, Chaucer, etc. this one was difficult for me because it is not something I am used to hearing. The distracting bit – the man in the beginning who then just fades away … that bothered me throughout most of the book. I don’t like loose ends, and this was a major one for me.

There were no issues with the quality or production of this audiobook.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author/narrator/publisher.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog.

[If this review helped, please press YES. Thanks!]